Notes on Solomon's Canticle of Canticles (Author Bishop Richard Challoner (ed.))
2:1 I am the flower of the field: Christ professes himself the flower of mankind, yea, the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns.
Original Douay-Rheims from Project Gutenberg - Massive cleanup of OCR problems and editing done locally.