S E RMO N S ON T H E CANTICLES.

ST. BERNARD, ABBOT OF CLAIRVAUX.

CANTICA CANTICORUM:
Eighty-Six
ON

THE

Sermons

SONG

OF

SOLOMON.

BY

SAINT

BERNARD,

A B B O T OF C L A I R V A U X , A . D . 1115-1153.

TRANSLATED

AND

EDITED,

WITH

NOTES,

BY

S A M U E L J . E A L E S , M.A., D.C.L.,
Vicar of Stalisfield, Kent,
Chaplain to the Most Honourable the Marquess of Bath.

LONDON:
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER
1895.

ROW, E.C.

TO THE

RIGHT

HONOURABLE

AND

EDWARD

MOST

REVEREND

WHITE,

BY D I V I N E PROVIDENCE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,
PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND, AND METROPOLITAN,

THIS ENGLISH VERSION OF

ST. B E R N A R D ' S S E R M O N S ON T H E
Is

CANTICLES

Dedicated,

JN TOKEN OF DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS HIGH OFFICE,
AND OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS PERSONAL
KINDNESS,

BY THE

TRANSLATOR.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

TITLE

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DEDICATION

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INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

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TABLE OF SERMONS

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V

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PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

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vii

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ix
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XXV
I

SERMONS

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7.528

INDEX

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529

INTRODUCTORY

ESSAY.

O L L O W I N G his
invariable custom,
the learned and
laborious editor of
St. Bernard's coll e c t e d w o r k s , F.
John Mabillon, has
prefixed to the ' Sermons on the Canticles' a critical Introduction, which is
here translated. It
is, however, both
exceedingly brief,
and does not include (what perhaps
might have been exl^pected from it) any
information as to
the general lines of
interpretation adopted respectively by the very numerous
commentators who have written upon the Song of Songs,
and the relation to these in which the Sermons of St.
Bernard will be found to stand; much less does he supply
anything in the nature of a Bibliography of the subject.
Yet without some help of this kind, it will not be easy for
the reader to form a just idea of the place which these
Sermons occupy in the history of interpretation; and it
seems needful, therefore, to furnish here a sketch of the
principal facts bearing upon these subjects.
Considerations of space would, in any case, make this
necessarily a brief one, and that must prevent it from being

X

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

complete, since the number of commentators upon the Song
of Songs is very great, and their works, generally speaking,
excessively lengthy. This is of the less consequence for our
present purpose, as the critical editions of the Song of Songs
are many and excellent, and we are not proposing to add
another to them. Our purpose is a much simpler one,
namely, to furnish sufficient information to enable the reader
to come to the perusal of St. Bernard's Sermons with a
general idea of the interpretations given to the book by
other pious and learned authors, so that he may see at once
the position among them taken up by the Saint.
I I . There are to be distinguished four great schools of
interpretation:
A. The Jewish allegorical, which is mystico-historical, and
sees in the Song of Songs an allegorical description of
various periods of the history of the Theocracy of Israel.
B. The Christian allegorical, which adopts a method of
treatment similar to the former, and differs from it principally in referring the allegory to the Lord Christ, and His
relations with either (a) the soul of the individual believer,
(b) the Church, or (c) The Blessed Virgin Mary.
C. The prophetic-mystical or chronological. This regards the
Song as being, so to speak, the Apocalypse of the Old Testament ; that is to say, as affording a continuous view of
human history, and being partly, therefore, historical, and
partly prophetic; and which takes its scope as extending
from the Creation to the Final Judgment and Consummation of all things.
D. The literal or erotic. This explains the Song as being
an ordinary epithalamium, or love-song, which may have
been founded upon actual fact or not; but in either case
has no mystical character, is composed of a number of
separate lyric poems, and is, in fact, a mere anthology of
amatory songs, the Idyls or Bucolics of an earlier period.
III. As to A., there is no clear proof that the Song was
interpreted in an allegorical manner by any Rabbi before
the Christian era. The passage from the LXX. (Cant. iv. 8),
adduced for this purpose, is apparently a mistranslation.
Ecclus. (xlvii. 14-17) and the Book of Wisdom (viii. 2) have
been referred to as showing that the Song was customarily
understood in a mystical sense, but without any certain
result, and it is even asserted that an allegorical mode of
interpretation was the conditio sine qua non of its reception
into the Canon; but of this there is no proof whatever.
R. AKIBA (lived in the first century A.D.) said that ' all the

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

XI

Scriptures are holy, but this sublime Song is most holy,'
showing that he regarded it as containing mysteries; but
we do not know what he considered these to be. The
Talmud of Jerusalem, and also that of Babylon, contain
tracts in which passages of this Song (as i. 2 ; i. 3, 13, 14;
and v. 13) are quoted and commented upon; and in the
Targum or Chaldee paraphrase (pub. A.D. 550) occurs the
first complete commentary on the Song which has come
down to us. It is in that on the five Megilloth, i.e., Song,
Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecclesiastes. It ' explains the
Song of Songs as an allegory describing prophetically the
history of the Jewish nation, beginning with their exodus
from Egypt, and detailing their doings and sufferings, down
to the coming of the Messiah, and the building of the third
Temple' (Ginsburg, Introd., p. 28). It is not known who
was the author.
(A.D. 892—942). After the Chaldee paraphrase there
occurs a long interval of about 350 years, during which
there was no Jewish literature of which we know anything.
The Dark Ages exercised the same benumbing effect
apparently upon the Jewish school of Biblical interpretation
as upon every other kind of intellectual culture, and the next
Rabbinical commentator is R. SAADIAS, who was born at
Pithom, in Egypt, in A.D. 892. He was Gaon, or spiritual
head of the Jews in Babylon, and executed a translation of
the Old Testament into Arabic, of which the Pentateuch
portion is inserted in Walton's Polyglot. He wrote, also in
Arabic, a ( Commentary on the Song of Songs,' which was
translated into Hebrew by some person unknown.
He
agrees with the Targum in the general view he takes of the
scope of the Song, but differs widely from it in the details
of his interpretation.
He allows that there is a great
diversity of opinions as to its meaning, and assigns as a
reason for this that ' t h e Song of Songs is like a lock, the
key of which hath been lost.'
(A.D. IOOO—A.D. 1040). The allegorical interpretation
was in course of time introduced into the Jewish Liturgical
services, when they endeavoured to compose sacred hymns
and poems upon it, to be said or sung at their feasts or fasts.
' The Song of Songs is used in a poetical paraphrase on the
first and second morning services of the Passover feast.'
R.

S O L O M O N B E N ISAAC ( R A S H I ) , A . D . 1 0 4 0 — 1 1 0 5 ,

D A V I D K I M C H I , A . D . 1190—1250,
I B N E Z R A , d. A . D . 1167,
M O S E S M A I M O N I D E S , d. A . D .

1204,

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

xu

were the chief commentators of this school. With these
may be mentioned, as agreeing in the main idea of their
interpretations, a certain number of Christian commentators,
e.g., S. AUGUSTINE, de Civitate Dei, Lib. XVII., c. 8, 13, 20;
L U T H E R , Brevis Enarratio in Cant. Canticor.; J. B R E N T I U S ,
L E O N . H U G , KAISER, ROSENMULLER.

B. T h e Christian allegorical. This may be said, speaking
generally, to comprehend all the Fathers and mediaeval
writers. Of these, both the earlier in point of time, and
the larger in point of number, is that school (a) which
' sees in the Bride of the Canticles the soul pining for union
with God, and in the Bridegroom the Divine Love which
sanctifies, purines, and elevates it to Itself (Dr. Zockler).
W e can only name the chief among these: O R I G E N (d. A.D.
253. His Homilies were translated • by St. Jerome, and
Commentary by Rufinus, but the latter is only extant in
p a r t ) ; E U S E B I U S of CAESAREA, d. A.D. 340 (Comment, lost
except a few questions); MACARIUS the EGYPTIAN (d. A.D.
390); GREGORY of NYSSA (d. A.D. 394); T H E O D O R E T , Bishop
of Cyrus (d. A.D. 457); MAXIMUS CONFESSOR ; W I L L I A M ,
Abbot of E B E R S B E R G (d. A.D. 1085); HONORIUS of A U T U N ,
RICHARD of

S T . VICTOR, S T . THOMAS AQUINAS,

GERSON,

ST. BONAVENTURA (Cardinal Bishop of Alba), S T . T E R E S A

of J E S U S , S T . J O H N of the Cross, and most of the Spanish
mystics.
Other names might be quoted, but the later
writers seem to have borrowed a good deal from the earlier
(as, for example, Madame Guyon, Le Cantique des Cantiques,
interprets selon le sens mystique—Grenoble, 1685), a n d to have
few points of originality in their works.
It is to this class that the Sermons of St. Bernard on the
Canticles are to be referred. From them, and from the
works of St. Teresa, the Commentary of Madame Guyon, t
mentioned in the last paragraph, seems to have been in a
great measure derived.
A second class (b) among Christian writers interprets the
Song of Songs of ' t h e relation between Christ and His
Church/ Of these the chief are :
S T . ATHANASIUS, Expositio in Cant. Canticorum (now lost).
EPIPHANIUS, Commentarius super Cant. Salomonis (of doubtful authenticity).
S T . CYRIL of JERUSALEM, Catechesis XIV.
CASSIODORUS,

Expositio

in Cant.

Cantic,

(of doubtful

authorship).
J U S T U S ORGELITANUS, ISIDORUS HISPALENSIS, G E N E BRAND, Bishop of Aix (d. A.D. 1597), H I E R O N . OSORIUS (circa

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

xiii

1600), J O H N PISCATOR (1647), J O H N GERHARD (1666, STARKE,
Synopsis, Part IV.), M. F . Roos (1773); and in modern
times O. von GERLACH, K E I L , HAVERNICK, H E N G S T E N BERG.

(c) A third class may be styled Mystico-Mariological, and
takes Shulamith in the Song of Songs to be mystically the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Among these a r e : S T . AMBROSE
(Sermo de Virginitate perpetud 5 . Mar ice), who explains
Cant. iv. 12, ' a garden inclosed . . . a spring shut up, a
fountain sealed ' of the perpetual virginity of St. Mary.
S T . GREGORY the G R E A T , Expositio super Cantica Canticorum.
M I C H A E L P S E L L U S the younger wrote in the eleventh
century a metrical paraphrase of the Song of Songs and a
prose commentary on it—both in Greek.
R U P E R T of D E U T Z extends the suggestion made by S T .
AMBROSE in his Sermon (see above) to a continuous explanation of the whole book.
DIONYSIUS CARTHUSIANUS, G U L I E L M U S PARVUS, M I C H A E L
G H I S L E R I U S , SALMERON, carrying out the hermeneutical

rule, then universally received, of the threefold sense of
every part of Holy Scripture, interpret all that is said of
the Spouse in the Song of Songs (1) To the Church; (2)
To the soul of the individual believer; (3)'To the Blessed
Virgin. But the most striking example of this school of
interpreters is CORNELIUS A L A P I D E (Van der Steen, d.
1637), who in his ' Commentary on the Song of Songs'
deduces, indeed, a threefold sense; but while he makes the
'primus sensus,9 which he calls 'totalis et adcequatus9 to refer
to Christ and the Church, and the second 'lateralis et
partialis' to Christ and the holy soul, makes the third to
be 'principalis,' and to denote Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Like most of the mystical writers after the time of St.
Bernard, he quotes freely from these Sermons.
A fourth kind of interpretation is ventured upon by a few
writers, who imagine ' the figurative language of Canticles to
have been the offspring of some esoteric doctrine or Egyptian
hieroglyphical wisdom of Solomon' (Zockler). It m a y b e
called the Mysiico-hieroglyphic Interpretation. This idea is
advocated by VON PUFFENDORF, ' Umschreibung des Hohenleides, oder die Gemeine mit Christo und den Engeln im Grabe9
(1776). (' Paraphrase of the Song of Solomon, or communion
with Christ and the Angels in the Grave.') ' The object
described is supposed to be the participation of the believers
of the Old and New Testaments in the grave and death of

XIV

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

the Saviour, in which also their desire for His appearing is
likewise represented, and the future of the Church until the
general resurrection is prophetically prefigured' (Zockler).
KISTEMACHER, ' Cantic. Canticor. illustratum ex hierographid
Orientali' (1818).
C. The chief writers of this school, beginning with S T .
A U G U S T I N E , have been named above.
D. The literal or erotic school of interpreters may be said
to comprise the majority of the moderns, beginning with
' t h e reformed humanist' SEBASTIAN CASTELLIO (1544),
HUGH

GROTIUS,

J.

D.

MICHAELIS,

LESSING,

HERDER,

Bishop L O W T H (De Sacra poesi Hebrceorum), B O S S U E T ,
Bishop of Meaux, E W A L D , H I T Z I G ; and still later E R N E S T
R E N A N , J. F . T H R U P P , Dr. Otto ZCCKLER (in Lange's BibelWerk, and particularly the translation with additions by
W . H . Green, D . D . : T. and T. Clark, 1870), Dr. CHRISTIAN
D. GINSBURG ('The Song of Songs translated from the original
H e b r e w ' : 1857). The two latter works are especially rich in
the bibliography of the subject. W e have made much use
of them here, and refer to G R E E N ' S ed. of ZOCKLER, and
DARLING'S ' Cyclopaedia Bibliographica/ especially for lists of
English commentators.
We cannot omit to mention here that Bishop C H R I S T O P H E R
WORDSWORTH (' Commentary on the Bible/ vol. iv., p. 3)
regards our subject i as a prophetic allegory, suggested by
the occasion of Solomon's marriage with Pharaoh's daughter,
and descriptive of the gathering of all people into mystical
union with Christ, and the consecration of the world into
a church espoused to Him as the Bride.'
These Sermons of St. Bernard, then, may be reckoned
among * Christian-allegorical' works, in which the Song of
Songs is so treated as to substitute a religious and mystical
meaning for the apparent one, in which it is a drama, or
series of lyrics, of human love. They do not constitute a
Commentary upon it, as well for the obvious reason that
throughout the eighty-six Sermons only chapters i., ii., and
part of iii. are treated, 1 as also because no serious attempt
is made to comment upon the Song as a whole. Each
verse is considered, for the most part, independently. The
preacher's usual method of proceeding is to isolate a verse,
and to apply it in a way more or less arbitrary to some
great spiritual t r u t h ; which he then proceeds to develop
1
His disciple, Gilbert of Hoiland, in continuing the task in forty-eight
sermons more, only carried it on to v. 10, little more than half the book.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

XV

independently, and most generally with great beauty and
wealth of original thought. It is this strain of lofty and
mystical teaching which gives to the Sermons their great
attraction and principal value.
But there is one fundamental conception which runs
through the Sermons, and gives them such unity as they
have. St. Bernard never loses grasp of the idea that the
Bridegroom in the Song is the Lord Jesus, and the Bride,
either the soul of the individual believer, or the totality of
such souls; that is, the Church. It is, however, the individual soul that he describes, that he analyzes, that he
counsels and exhorts, habitually in these Sermons. His
gaze turns from time to time upon the Church—it may be
said to do so even frequently—but it always comes back
again to the soul of the believer as to its proper subject.
To him the Divine Life in the soul was a matter of the
most awful sacredness. In his thought all spiritual forces,
whether for good or for evil, converged upon the soul of
each individual believer, and out of it, as the result of their
working, came the issues of life or of death. That the
soul needs to have a thirst for Divine wisdom, and that
this opens to it or in it new perceptions, which enable it
to transcend outward things, to have an intuitive discernment of spiritual realities, a dim, glorious vision of mighty
secrets of the higher region of thought and life, he was
never tired of repeating. This was, in his view, the essential operation by which the spirit of man was made
one with the Spirit of God, and it was of a nature wholly
inward and spiritual, entirely hidden from the external
sight, independent of outward things, and known only to
the soul and to God. Thus he says in Sermon L, n. 1 1 :
' T h a t canticle the anointing of grace alone teaches, and
experience only makes the soul to be familiar with it. Those
who have had experience of it know it well; let those who
have not had that happiness earnestly desire, not to know
it, but to experience it. It is not a cry from the mouth, but
the gladness of the heart; not the sounding of the lips, but
the impulse and emotion of joys within; not a concert of
words, but of wills moving in harmony. It is not heard
without, nor does it make a sound in the streets. Only she
who sings, and He in whose honour it is sung; that is, the
Bridegroom and the Bride, hear the accents of that song/
This, then, he held to be the indispensable element in
the process of the soul's transformation, and so emphatic
was his conviction of this, that he seems to have regarded

XVI

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

it well-nigh as the only element that was indispensable.
Though no one ever believed more fully than St. Bernard
in the vivifying grace of which the Sacraments are the
channels, or valued them more devoutly than he, yet he is
never more emphatically a Mystic than when treating of the
Sacraments. No one was to neglect them or abstain from
t h e m ; no one was to think lightly of them ; but at the same
time the near Presence of God was (he held) better than
they, and the direct action of the Spirit in the soul more
manifestly efficacious. Thus he could write of the Holy
Eucharist in Sermon X X X I I I . , n. 3 :
' I have the W O R D also here below, but in the Flesh; the
Truth also is set before me for nourishment, but in the
Sacrament. An Angel is rendered fat with the finest of the
wheat, and filled with the pure grain ; but it behoves me
[since I am on earth] to be content during this life with
the Sacrament, as with a husk; with the Flesh, as with
b r a n ; with the letter, as with chaff; with faith, as with a
veil [upon the truth]. And such things as these bring death
in the tasting (Rom. viii. 6-13), unless they be seasoned in
some degree with the firstfruits of the Spirit. Assuredly, I
can find only death in the pottage, unless it be rendered
sweet with the meal of the Prophet (2 Kings iv. 41). Indeed,
without the Spirit even the Sacrament is received only to
condemnation; the flesh profiteth nothing (John vi. 63) ;
the letter killeth (2 Cor. iii. 6) ; and faith itself is dead.
But it is the Spirit that quickeneth these [means of grace],
that I may live in them. But with whatever abundance of
the Spirit those things may be enriched, it is not possible to
find the same sweetness in the husk of the Sacrament, and
in the fatness of the wheat; in faith as in vision; in remembrance as in presence; in time as in eternity; in the
reflection in a mirror as in the countenance itself that is
reflected; in the form of a servant as in the Image of God.'
Yet he fully valued the sacramental principle, as priceless
for edification and for training in righteousness. There may
have been dimly present to his mind the consciousness that
it was not given to all souls to dwell upon these lofty heights
of serene contemplation and mystical rapture ; and that for
the vast majority of Christian souls, the Sacraments form
both the necessary means of salvation, as well as the nearest
approach they are capable of sustaining, in this life, to the
Ineffable Presence. H e would even have extended the
principle farther, so as to invest a beautiful and symbolical
usage of the Cistercian Order, the washing of the feet of the

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

XV11

brethren—pedum ablutio—with somewhat of sacramental
grace, and remarks : ' That we may have no lingering doubt
regarding the forgiveness of our daily trespasses : we have a
Sacrament which symbolizes it, the* * washing of feet " . . . .
And that there is somewhat hidden in this which is necessary
for salvation, is shown in that not even Peter himself had,
without it, any part in the kingdom of Christ and of God '
(John xiii. 8). (Sermon in Carta Domini, n. 4).
Doubtless it was this sentiment that the soul of man is the
fittest tabernacle here below for the Divine Presence, that
made him so uncompromising a Puritan with regard to
Church architecture and art. For the beautiful in art he
seems to have had no taste whatever; it was even repulsive
to him ; and ornamented Churches he blamed in the Cluniac
and other orders, and positively forbade to the houses of his
own Rule. ' O vanity of vanities,' he says of it in one place,
' and not more vain than foolish ! The Church glistens on
all its walls, but the poor are not there ! It clothes its stones
with gold, but leaves the poor, its children, to their nakedness. At the expense of the needy it feasts the eyes of the
rich. The curious find what pleases them, but the wretched
find nothing to give them succour.' (Apolog. ad Guil. Abbat.
c. xii.)
This horror of outward ornament in things sacred he
sedulously impressed upon his followers. While he lived,
the Cistercian Abbeys were, in their Churches, vestments and
ritual, the emphatic expression of a bare and unadorned
simplicity. * Scarcely any ornament was admitted; no
sumptuous hangings, no splendid paintings or mosaic pavements, no crucifixes made of silver or gold and set with
jewels. The chalice alone might be of silver, and the vestments of the clergy of plain linen only. Their Church
windows were to be entirely of white glass without coloured
enrichments. No bell-towers in their Abbeys, whether of
stone or wood, were to be of immoderate height. Every
detail of construction was to show a studied bareness and
plainness.' 1 W e know little of the appearance of the earliest
Church of Clairvaux, which would enable us to judge how
St. Bernard carried out this principle, so to speak, in his
own house. But the Church of Fontenay, the second
daughter-house of Clairvaux, which was founded in 1119,
less than four years after he became an Abbot, is still extant,
though secularized ; and it exhibits, in the opinion of so
1

' St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux,' p. 66, S.P.C.K.
b

xvm

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

competent a judge as M. Viollet-le-Duc, the true type of the
primitive Cistercian basilica. ' Of extreme simplicity, of a
robust and masculine beauty, it bears the deep impress of
that rigorous asceticism which was the especial stamp of
the new and growing institution. . . . Those austere
cenobites, who waged with their senses a war without truce
or mercy, who kept their eyelids lowered before the Pope
and the splendours of his suite, who had fled from the world
in order to be nearer heaven, and to obtain it the more
quickly, took care to give to the architecture of their
Churches the special character which it was intended, in
their view, to discharge. It was apparently in their thought
that the severe aspect of the building, and its wide bare
surfaces, should conduce to grave meditation, should inspire a kind of religious awe, favourable to collectedness and
pious contemplation.' 1
The inward, not the outward, kind of beauty was to be the
aim of all endeavour; and this aim the Saint, in these
Sermons and elsewhere in his writings, was never wearied
of urging.
If, then, the Holy Spirit, in his direct action upon the
human soul, was to St. Bernard the causa causans of the new
creation which issued in a perfect salvation and blessedness,
and if some degree of spiritual aspiration and effort were the
condition which rendered that action fruitful, he would
never fail, in his exhortations, to insist also upon the
necessity of Charity or Love. This he constantly teaches
must be sincere, living, and continually increasing so as to
have no limit; so as to surge over every obstacle, either in
the nature or circumstances of the individual soul, or those of
others, unless all progress in a spiritual direction was to be
nugatory or even hurtful. Great gifts and lofty aspirations,
if without charity, he holds to be, if not sins themselves, yet
but too easily, or almost inevitably, the cause of sins. To
these he traces the fall of the devil, and finds in him the
perfect exemplification of knowledge and ability without
love. (Sermon III., Pro Dominica i. Novembris, nn. i, 2, 3, 4).
' In vain/ he says, ' does one who has no knowledge of love
come to hear, or to read, the Song of Love, since it is in
nowise possible for a cold and icy heart to comprehend a
discourse fervid and glowing. As one who does not understand Greek comprehends nothing said by him who speaks
in that tongue . . . so the language of love, to one who
1
See Chomton, St, Bernard et h Chateau de Fontaines-les-Dijon, ii.,
p. 82. Dijon, 1894.

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XIX

knows it not, will be (as it were) barbarous; it will be
as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal/ ((Serm. in
Cant.' lxxix., n. i).
Yet another striking characteristic of these Sermons is
their Scriptural character. No reader of them can help
noticing how small is the number of quotations in them
from the writings of the Fathers, and how vast the number
from every part of the Holy Scriptures. Of Bernard it
may truly be said that, like the Psalmist, he might have
declared, 'Lord, what love have I unto Thy law : all the day
long is my study in it! There are not, throughout all these
Sermons on the Song of Songs, a dozen quotations from
any extraneous source whatever; 1 while those from the
Holy Scriptures may be numbered by hundreds, so that in
many passages his sentences form a continuous cento of
Scripture language and phrases. He was so familiar with
the text of the Vulgate, particularly in the Psalms and the
writings of the Prophets, that their language became his
own, and his thoughts naturally expressed themselves in it.2
1
Generally speaking, and exceptions apart, the only Fathers that
St. Bernard ever quotes are St. Augustine and St. Gregory.
2
A magnificent MS. Latin Bible in two volumes folio, belonging to the
first half of the twelfth century, was preserved at Clairvaux down to
the time of the suppression of the Abbey in 1790-92, and thence transferred
to the Municipal Library at Troyes, in which it bears the number 458.
It is written in two columns to the page, and has the initial letters
adorned in colours and gold, many of them also with pictures. At the
beginning of the first volume is the inscription in Gothic characters, in a
hand of the twelfth century :

$ar:s J3rtma Bible Btatt IfornartK &bbatts (Elareballte*
These details are extracted from a notice inserted in the Me'moires de
la Societe Academique de PAube (Troyes, 1842, p. 246), by M. H a r m a n d ,
Librarian of the city of Troyes. It is known, therefore, as the ' Bible of
St. Bernard/ and * appears to have really belonged to that illustrious man '
(D'Arbois de Jubainville, Etudes des Abbayes Cisterciennes, p. 97, Paris,
1858). It is said to have been that used by him when composing these
' Sermons on the Canticles.' In this Bible, the Cantica
Canticorum
occupies two leaves only. ' I n examining them, it seems/ says a celebrated bibliophile, ' that the eyes still discern resting upon them the
venerable hand which has almost worn them out with continually turning
them over and over, while engaged in drawing from them those eighty-six
sermons.' M. L'Abbe Serisier, Cure Doyen of Ervy (Aube), and formerly
a vicaire of the Cathedral at Troyes, informs me that there are MS. notes
on the margins of this Bible in the handwriting of the Saint.
In 1517 an ancient room in the Abbey of Clairvaux, panelled in wood
above, was still shown and known as the Chamber of St. Bernard, in
which he was said to have composed Cantica Ca?iticorum,' qui est de bois
a la mode anticque, lambrissee dessus en maniere d'eglise . . . et joignant
ladicte chambre y a ung petit oratoire, en maniere d'une chapelle, appellee

XX

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

But apart from that, his mind was too rapid and vigorous in
its action to lend itself easily to the habit of discursive quotation which may delight a thinker of a more deliberate and
leisurely character. He pioneered for the most part his own
luminous track of thought, and there are very few provinces
•of the spiritual life, as conceived from the monastic point of
view, which he does not find occasion to traverse. There is
indeed this one obvious limitation. He was addressing an
audience of monks; he looks at all things through the
loopholes of the cloister; he treats of the occupations, the
studies, the dangers, the besetting temptations, and the
ideals of monks; and for each and all of these subjects he
finds an occasion in the Song. Either he finds in it, or
perhaps he not unfrequently reads into it, and extracts from
it by a loving casuistry, the deepest lessons of Christian
duty, the most touching and pathetic experiences of Christian
life. The Sermons are tremulous with an incessant shimmer
of allegories, allegories wholly arbitrary, in most instances
wholly without foundation in the text treated of, and yet
so rich in their spiritual suggestiveness, that they strike
upon the mind like rays straight from heaven, and belonging to 'the light that never was on sea or shore.' Thus he
explains the kiss of the Mouth of God, desired by the Bride
in the Song, of the Holy Spirit, by whom the mystery of the
Holy Trinity is communicated to the Church (Sermon VIII.).
Of the kiss itself of God (he distinguishes between the two),
he says that it is the miracle of the Incarnation, in which
the Divine Word is joined, in the Hypostatic Union, to
human nature (Sermon II.). To kiss the Foot of God is
the sign of forgiveness ; to kiss His Hand, that of sanctity and
virtue; but to kiss His Mouth is the sign of self-consuming
spiritual fervour, perfect love, and mystical communion with
the Divine Nature (Sermons III., IV.). The sense of religious
hope, or fear in the soul, is the impress of mercy or of
j u d g m e n t ; that is, of one or of the other Foot of God
(Sermon VI.). The Breasts of the Bridegroom, that is,
Christ, are, the one, the patience with which He waits for
the sinner; the other, the willingness and kindness wherewith He receives him (Sermon IX.).
The three chief ointments of the spirit are contrition,
La Chapelle Sainct Bernard^ sur le pas et marche de laquelle est escript
ce mot: Hie : qui est le lieu ou monseigneur sainct Bernard rendit
l'esprit sur des cendres' (Record of a visit made by the Queen of Sicily,
the Count and Countess of Guise, to Clairvaux in 1517, LAbbaye de
Clairvaux en 1517 et en 1709, Paris, 1866, p. 23 and note).—ED.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

XXI

devotion, goodness. The first stinging, and giving pain ; the
second anodyne, and relieving pain ; the third healing, which
drives out the disease (Sermon X.). And so on, through a
veritable forest of brightly-coloured allegorical fancies, hanging in a kind of Debatable Land, or Limbo Puerorum, between
the earth of prosaic fact and the heaven of settled dogma.
This is, in fact, a phrase of his own, as when he says: ' I
thought that we should quickly traverse that forest, sombre
and shady with allegories, and arrive, in a journey of perhaps
one day, at the open plain of the moral meanings of our
subject; but it has proved otherwise. . . . The eye of an
observer at a distance traverses in a moment the tops of
great masses of verdure, and marks the mountain peaks;
but it cannot pierce into the vast depths of the low-lying
valleys, or penetrate the obscure coverts of the thickets
(Sermon XVI., n. i ) .
Perhaps the most singular fact with regard to these wonderful Sermons, or, at least, that which strikes a modern
reader of them with most surprise and astonishment, is that
they have throughout, as a theme absolutely fundamental,
just that very element in human life which was forbidden to
every monk by the rigid conditions of his profession, which
it was sin in him to desire, or even to make the subject of
his contemplation: that is to say, the conjugal relation, the
solace and the sweetness of the mutual affection of husband
and wife. To the faithful monk this was forbidden ground.
It was his strenuous endeavour eventually to root out altogether, and, in the meantime, to crush down with ruthless
severity, every faculty and feeling, every regretful longing or
momentary tenderness of thought which tended to render
him like unto the general mass of human kind who * marry
and are given in marriage.' The ideal of his conventual profession, as well as the specific vows which he had taken upon
him at entering it, equally forbade this. Yet in these Sermons
we find the saintly Abbot, as if he had been addressing an
audience of persons who were actually married, or who
might hereafter be so, selecting for his subject the impassioned affections of a Bridegroom and a Bride, and making
the ebb and flow of their feelings, the tender or romantic
incidents of their attachment, the vehicle of his moral teachings. Surely this is the strangest paradox in the history of
the pulpit, that St. Bernard should discourse upon marriage
to those who could never be married, and paint before their
eyes, in rich and glowing colours, idyllic pictures of an affection which they had all definitively renounced.

XXI1

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

Upon this strange tour de force two observations may be
made. First, that it is a glorified and idealized marriage
which is his subject. It is but the terms of his narrative
which he borrows from earth, for that which he uses them to
describe belongs to heaven. All that is distinctive, all that
is individual in sentiment, is merged in the deep and flowing
stream of spiritual experiences. The saintly preacher is the
opposite of Antaeus in a well-known Greek myth, the antagonist of Heracles, for though he ever and anon touches
the earth, his strength and his persuasiveness, the staple of
his teaching, and that which gives to it its peculiar character,
are altogether unearthly. * He spoke to men/ says the historian Fleury, ' the language of Angels, and they were scarcely
able to understand it.' 1 In the second place, if he addresses
himself in a marked degree to that element which in the
monastic character was, as it were, a force unappropriated
and unused, it is that he may utilize it for good, and in
employing it may transform it into something higher than
itself. It has ever been the wont of the Church to make use
of all the elemental forces of human nature, however far
removed they may appear to be from her especial sphere.
Thus there can hardly be any feeling farther alien to the
character of the ' Gospel of p e a c e ' than the combative
instinct which drives men on to war and bloodshed. Yet
the Church (needfully and warily, it is true) enlists it in her
service, and teaches her people to sing:
' Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war.'

The Christian is bidden to ' put on the whole armour of
God.' He is to be ' Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto
his life's end '; and thus the forces which give energy, and consistency, and patience to human effort are enrolled in the army
of Salvation, and made to do yeoman's service against evil.
It is probably a similar utilization of the primitive forces
of human nature that we are to see in these Sermons on the
Canticles.
There is still another characteristic quality of these
Sermons, that no attentive student <)f them will be able to
overlook, that is to say, their prodigal wealth of imagination.
' One would hardly know,' says a recent lecturer on Bernard, 2 ' where to find a brighter exaniple of the power which
1
2

Histoire Ecclesiastique^ vol. xiv., p. 193.
Dr. R. S. Storrs.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

XX111

is imparted to the preacher by this always noble, if sometimes misleading and dangerous, faculty. It is perpetually
apparent in Bernard. Whatever else he is or is not, he is
never commonplace. His mind is fruitful in large suggestions, and the text is often hardly more than the nest from
which, like the eagle, he lifts himself on eager wing to touch,
if he may, the stars of light. One of these Sermons on the
Canticles, for example, treats of the angelical love toward
God, according to the differing orders of angels; another, on
the darkness and beauty of the Bride, discusses the question
why it is that hearing is of more value than seeing in matters
of faith; another, on the ointments of the beloved, exhibits
the nature of four principal virtues ; another presents the
excellency of the Vision of God, and the measure in which
the sense of the Divine Presence will vary in good men
according to their varying aspirations; another still, impresses the truth that while knowledge of literature may be
profitable for intellectual culture, the knowledge of one's own
weakness is more profitable for salvation. There is hardly
any theme of practical spiritual religion for which he does
not find suggestion, toward which he does not take incentive,
in the parts of the Song which come under his view ' (' Bernard of Clairvaux,' p. 400).
Upon the whole, we cannot but think that every reader
will find these, notwithstanding the old-world mould in which
they are cast, emphatically helpful Sermons. The writer
had the gift of spiritual sympathy in a marvellous and
almost unexampled degree ; his sentences palpitate, as it
were, with an ardent love for souls. To teach, to reprove,
to encourage, to warn his hearers; to lead them onward in
ways of pleasantness, and along paths of peace,
* T o warn the sinner, cheer the saint,
To feed Thy lambs and tend Thy sheep,'

is the intention and object always present to the preacher.
In him the pastor and the poet meet. ' Whatever his object,
however familiar, or even apparently trivial, there is always
a light thrown upon it by his imagination, which is like the
light of golden brown or royal purple which rests upon
Italian hills. Cottage and villa, the rocky cliff, the squalid
town, are in that light as if transfigured. So the commonest
theme stands to Bernard invested with an unworldly radiance,
because connected with infinite truths and immeasurable
destinies. Whatever his immediate point of view, he sees

xxi y

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

the glory of God before him, in Creation and Redemption, and the majestic meaning and pathos in all human
life.'
Sermons of which this may be truly said cannot, however
antique be their form, be altogether out of date ; nor can
they have wholly lost their power to attract and to influence
readers of this generation. It is with the conviction that
this is the case that they are here put before the English
public.
S A M U E L J.

EALES.

TABLE
OF

ST. BERNARD'S SERMONS ON T H E
SONG OF SONGS.
SERMON

I. T h e Title (Cant. i. i) II. T h e Incarnation of Christ expected (Cant. i. i)
I I I . W h a t it is to kiss the Feet, the Hand, and the Lips of the
Lord (Cant. i. 1) IV. T h e threefold progress of the soul, arising from the kiss of
the Foot, the Hand, and the Lips of the Lord (Cant. i. 1)
V. Of the Four Orders of Spirits ; viz., the Spirit of God, of the
Angels, of man, and of the beast (Cant. i. 1)
VI. Of the Supreme and Infinite Spirit, who is God ; and of the
sense in which mercy and judgment are called the Feet of
God (Carit. i. 1) V I I . Of the ardent love of the soul for God ; and of the care and
attention that ought to be given to prayer and to psalmody
(Cant. i. 1)V I I I . That the kiss of God is the Holy Spirit ; and that the Church
asks for this kiss, that she may have the knowledge of
the Holy Trinity (Cant. i. 1)
IX. Of the breasts of the Bridegroom: of which the one is patience
in waiting for the conversion of sinners ; the other, benignity in receiving them (Cant. i. 2)
X. Of the three spiritual perfumes : namely, penitence, devotion,
and piety (Cant. i. 2)
XI. Of two principal facts in human redemption : the manner in
which it is accomplished, and the benefits which we
derive from it (Cant. i. 2) X I I . Of the perfume of piety, which is the most excellent of all ;
and of the respect which those who are under authority
ought to have for those set over them (Cant. i. 2)
X I I I . That praise and glory is always to be rendered unto God, for
all the good gifts which we receive of H i m (Cant. i. 2) XIV. Of the Church of faithful Christians ; and of the Synagogue
of perfidious Jews (Cant. i. 2)
-

PAGE

7
12
17
21
24

29

33

38

43
49

55

60
67
74

XXVI

TABLE OF ST. BERNARD'S SERMONS

SERMON

XV. In what manner the N a m e of Jesus is a salutary medicine
to faithful Christians in all adversities (Cant. i. 2) X V I . Of contrition of h e a r t : and of the three kinds of true
confession (Cant. i. 2)
X V I I . That it is needful to observe with care the approach and
the departure of the Holy Spirit ; and of the envy of
the devil towards the human race (Cant. i. 2)
X V I I I . Of the two operations of the Holy Spirit, of which the
one is called effusion, and the other
infusion
(Cant. i. 3)
•
X I X . Of the nature, manner, and properties of the Angelical
love towards God, according to the several Orders
of Angels (Cant. i. 3)
XX. Of the three ways in which we love God (Cant. i. 3)
X X I . In what manner the Bride, that is, the Church, asks that
she may be drawn to follow after her Spouse, who
is Christ (Cant. i. 3) X X I I . Of the four perfumes of the Bridegroom : and of the four
cardinal virtues (Cant i. 3) X X I I I . Of three ways of contemplating God, represented under
the figure of three storerooms (Cant. i. 4) XXIV. Principally against the detestable vice of detraction :
and in what rectitude in a man chiefly consists
(Cant. i. 4) XXV. That the Bride, namely, the Church, is black, yet comely
(Cant. i. 5)
X X V I . St. Bernard laments the death of his brother Gerard
(Cant. i. 5)
X X V I I . Of the adornment of the Bride : and in what sense the
holy soul is called heaven (Cant. i. 5)
X X V I I I . Of the blackness, yet beauty, of the Bride : and in what
manner hearing, rather than sight, avails in matters
of faith, and to the knowledge of the truth (Cant. i. 5)X X I X . Of the complaint of the Church against her persecutors ;
that is to say, against those who sow division
amongst brethren (Cant. i. 6)
X X X . That the faithful people, or the souls of the elect, are
signified by the vineyards, of which the Church is
called the g u a r d i a n ; and that the prudence of the
flesh is death (Cant. i. 6)
X X X I . T h e excellency of the Vision of God. How at the present time the delight in the Divine Presence felt by
holy men varies according to the varying desires of
their soul (Cant. i. 7)
X X X I I . Christ communicates Himself to the holy soul as Bridegroom, and to the soul that is weak and imperfect

PAGE

79
86

95

100

104
109

116
123
130

143
149
155
167

176

186

192

201

ON T H E SONG OF SONGS
SERMON

XXXIII.

XXXIV.
XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

X L I.

XLII.
X L I I I.

XXVH
PAGE

as Physician.
Of the moods of the soul; how they
differ from each other, a n d from what causes
(Cant. i. 7) - 207
Of those things which a devout soul ought to seek without ceasing. W h a t is to be understood by the word
'noon? a n d of four classes of temptations to b e
sedulously avoided (Cant. i. 7)
-214
Of humility and of patience (Cant. i. 8) - 224
Of the sharp reproof which the Bridegroom gives to the
Bride: and of two kinds of ignorance which are
especially to be feared and avoided (Cant. i. 8) - 227
That the knowledge of literature is good for our instruction, but the knowledge of our own infirmity is more
useful to salvation (Cant. i. 8)
- 233
Of the two kinds of knowledge and the two kinds of
ignorance : the evils or injuries caused by these
(Cant. i. 8) - 238
How from ignorance of God comes despair : and how
the Bride is called the fairest among women
(Cant. i. 8) - 243
Of the chariots of Pharaoh, that is, the devil ; a n d of
the chiefs of his army, who are malice, sensuality,
and avarice (Cant. i. 9)
- 247
W h a t is meant by the face of the soul ; what constitutes
its beauty or its deformity, its solitude a n d its
modesty (Cant. i. 10)
- 252
Of the great consolation which the Bride feels from the
contemplation of the Divine Glory, before she
attains to the clear vision of it (Cant. i. 10)
- 255
Of two kinds of humility : the one born of truth, the
other warmed by charity (Cant. i. 12)
- 259
H o w meditation on the Sufferings a n d the Passion
of J E S U S

CHRIST

enables the Bride, that is, the

faithful soul, to pass uninjured alike through
the prosperity a n d the adversity of this world
(Cant. i. 13) - 266
X L I V . That correction ought to be adapted to the character
of offenders, so that those of humble and complying
disposition should b e gently dealt with, but the
stubborn and obstinate severely chastened to oblige
them to reform (Cant. i. 14)
- 271
XLV. Of the twofold beauty of the soul : how the soul speaks
to God the W T ORD, and the W O R D to the soul, and

what language they employ (Cant. i. 15) - 275
X L V I . Of the state and composition of the whole Church. Also
of the manner in which, by an active life spent

XXViii
SERMON

TABLE OF ST. B E R N A R D ^

SERMONS
PAGE

under obedience, the life of contemplation may be
attained (Cant. i. 16) - 281
XLVI I. Of the threefold flower [of holiness], namely, of virginity, of
martyrdom, and of good works ; and of the devotion
with which we should participate in Divine Service
(Cant. ii. 1) -287
XLVIII. Of the praises which the Bride and the Bridegroom
address reciprocally to each other ; and how by the
Shadow of Christ is to be understood His Flesh, and
faith in Him (Cant. ii. 2)
- 292
XLIX. How charity is regulated by discretion, so that all the
members of the Church, that is, the elect, are held
together by mutual bonds (Cant. ii. 4)
297
L. Of two kinds of charity, namely, that of feeling and
that of action: and how they are co-ordinated
(Cant. ii. 4) - 302
LI. How the Bride makes petition that the fruits of good
works and the perfumes of faith may be made to
abound with her as flowers: and also concerning hope
and fear (Cant. ii. 5) - 308
LI I. Of that ecstasy, which is called contemplation: in which the
Bridegroom causes the holy soul to attain peace and
rest, being earnestly desirous of its blessedness
(Cant. ii. 7) - 314
LI 11. By ' mountains' and 'hills' are signified the heavenly
spirits, over whom and through whom the Bridegroom passes in His Coming to earth ; that is, in
the Mystery of His Incarnation (Cant. ii. 8) - 319
LIV. Another interpretation ; in which by mountains are
signified Angels and men ; and by hills, demons.
Also of the threefold fear with which everyone ought
to feel anxiety, lest he should lose the grace of
acting rightly, which he has received from God
(Cant. ii. 8) - 324
LV. How it is possible, through a true penitence, to escape the
judgment of God (Cant. ii. 9)
332
LVI. That sins and vices are as walls, interposing between God
and the sinner (Cant. ii. 9) - 335
LVI I. That the visitations of the Lord are to be carefully and
reverently observed : and by what signs and tokens
they may be known (Cant. ii. 10)
- 340
LVIII. How the Bridegroom bids the Bride, that is to say, those
men who are perfected, to undertake the rule and
training of souls less perfect. Also of the cutting
down of vices in them, that virtues may grow and
increase (Cant. ii. 10)
347

ON THE SONG OF SONGS

LIX. Of the groans of the soul which sighs for its heavenly
fatherland : and of the commendation of chastity
and widowhood (Cant. ii. 12)
LX. Of the incredulity of the Jews ; and of their slaying Christ,
by which they filled up the measure of their fathers
(Cant. ii. 13) L X I . How the Church finds the riches of Divine mercy in the
hollows of Christ's open Wounds : and of the fortitude of the martyrs, which they have received of
Christ (Cant. ii. 13) LXI I. W h a t is meant by the abiding of the faithful soul in the
clef ts of the rock, and what in the secret places of the
stairs. T h a t it is needful rather to search what is
the Will of God than to search into His Majesty.
And that purity of intention is necessary to the
preaching of the truth (Cant. ii. 14) L X I 11. That a man who is pious and wise ought to cultivate carefully his vineyard, that is to say, his life, his soul,
and his conscience; that there are two kinds of foxes,
namely, flatterers and detractors ; and of the temptations of monks in their novitiate (Cant. ii. 15) .
L X I V . Of the temptations of more mature monks ; by what foxes
they are infested, that is, by what temptations they
are most tried. Also of the taking of heretics, who
are the foxes of the Church (Cant. ii. 15)
Letter of Eberwin, Provost of Steinfeld, to Abbot Bernard,
respecting the heretics of his time LXV. Of secret heretics, whose perverse doctrines and studied
care to hide their mysteries St. Bernard severely
censures ; also their scandalous behaviour (Cant.
ii. 15) '
"
'
'
L X V I . Concerning the errors of heretics with respect to marriage,
to the Baptism of infants, to purgatory, to prayers
for the dead, and to the invocation of the Saints
(Cant. ii. 15) L X V I I . Of the wonderful expression of the love of the Bride,
which is called forth by the affection of her Bridegroom, Christ (Cant. ii. 16) L X V I I I . How Christ the Bridegroom inclines unto and gives
attention to His Bride, which is the Church ; and
how she likewise inclines unto Him. Of the care
which God has for His elect. Also of the merit, and
the confidence, of the Church (Cant. ii. 16) L X I X . All that lifts itself up against the knowledge and service
of God is to be abased. In what way the F A T H E R
and the WORD come into a soul that loves, and take

XXIX

354

360

366

371

378

383
388

393

399

408

415

XXX

TABLE OF ST. BERNARD'S SERMONS

SERMON

LXX.

L X X I.

LXXII.

LXXIII.

LXXIV.

LXXV.

LXXVI.

LXXVII.

LXXVIII.

PAGE

up their abode in i t ; and of the close relation that
is thus entered into between God and the soul
(Cant. ii. 16)
W h y the Bridegroom is called Beloved; and of the truth,
the gentleness, the righteousness, and the other
virtues, which are called lilies, and among which H e
is said to feed (Cant. ii. 16) Of spiritual lilies, that is, good works : of which the
fragrance is a right intention, and the colour a good
reputation; a n d h o w t h e Bridegroom both nourishes
these, and is nourished by them. Also of the unity
of God the Father with the Son, and of the holy soul
with God (Cant. ii. 16)
T h e meaning of the words ' T h e day breaks and the
shadows flee away.'
T h e various days in the
lives of men expounded. That the righteous live
in light, and that a brighter day awaits them ; but
that the wicked, who are devoted to works of darkness, can look forward only to eternal night
(Cant. ii. 16, 17)
How Christ shall come to judge in human form, that
H e may appear delightful to the elect: and how
H e is less than the Angels, yet loftier than they
(Cant. ii. 17)
Of the visitations of the Bridegroom, the W O R D , to the
holy soul, and the secrecy with which they are
made. St. Bernard states his own experience of
this, with great humility and modesty, for the
edification of his hearers (Cant. ii. 17)
God is to be sought in due time, place, and manner.
That now is the acceptable time, in which anyone
may find God for himself by good works, and may
work out his salvation (Cant. iii. 1)
Of the glory of the Bridegroom, in which H e sits at the
Right H a n d of His Father,and is coequal with Him.
How careful, watchful, and discreet good Pastors
ought to be in feeding the souls given into their
charge (Cant. iii. 2) Concerning the bad pastors of the Church. Also how
the Blessed in Heaven, and the Angels, come to
the aid of the elect, who are still pilgrims upon the
earth (Cant. iii. 2) That the Bride, that is to say, the Church of the elect,
was predestinated by God before all a g e s ; and
prevented by His grace that she should seek H i m
and be converted (Cant. iii. 2)
-

420

426

432

441

448

454

461

468

474

479

ON T H E SONG OF SONGS
SERMON

L X X I X . Of the strong and indissoluble love wherewith the soul
holds to its Lord ; also of the Return of the Bridegroom at the ending of the age, to save the
Synagogue of the Jews (Cant. iii. 3)
LXXX. An acute and profound argument respecting the Image
or W O R D of God, and the soul, which is created in
that image : and concerning the error of Gilbert,
Bishop of Poictiers (Cant. iii. 3)
L X X X I . Of the similarity and likeness of the soul to the W O R D ,
in respect of its identity of essence, its immortality
of existence, and its freedom of will (Cant. iii. 3) L X X X I I. How the soul, while still remaining like unto God, loses
by sin a portion of its likeness to H i m in its
simplicity, immortality, and liberty (Cant. iii. 3) L X X X I I I . Of the manner in which the soul, however corrupted
it may be with evil habits, is still able, by a chaste
and holy love, to recover its resemblance to the
Bridegroom, that is, Christ (Cant. iii. 3) L X X X I V . T h a t the soul, seeking God, is anticipated by H i m : and
in what consists that search for God in which it is
thus anticipated (Cant. iii. 1)
LXXXV. Of the seven needs of the soul, on account of which it
seeks the W O R D . W h e n the soul is once reformed,
it draws near to contemplate Christ, and to enjoy
the sweetness of His Presence (Cant. iii. 1)
L X X X V L Of the caution and modesty becoming to the soul in
seeking the W O R D , and of the praise of modesty
(Cant. iii. 1) -

XXXI
PAGE

483

487

494

501

507

511

516

525

SERMONS

ON THE

SONG OF SONGS

P R E F A C E OF DOM J O H N MABILLON
(TO VOL. IV. OF HIS SECOND E D I T I O N ) .

A

L T H O U G H all the works of St. Bernard are filled with the
sap of solid piety and sound doctrine, yet there are two of
them which are especially valued by all, namely, the [five]
' Books on Consideration,' and the ' Sermons on the Song of Songs.'
In the former work is, in fact, contained, in a form as elegant as
it is concise, whatsoever is most sacred in the Holy Scriptures, and
in the decrees of councils, as also whatsoever is most salutary in the
writings of the ancient Fathers, and in the decrees of Pontiffs with
regard to the government of the Church.
Similarly in these sermons will be found all that our holy Doctor
has penned throughout all his other works for the purpose of forming
a [religious] character and arousing piety; all that has relation to
vices, to virtues, and to the whole of the spiritual life. All these
subjects, I repeat, are treated anew in the sermons before us, and
that with added solidity and loftiness.
The preacher brings into
view the mystical and allegorical senses of the text, and finds in
them all the secrets of perfection, doing this in a manner as useful
and delightful as it is sublime. So that these sermons may be considered, as it were, a treasury of chaste delights for pious souls. This
manner of writing we call both delightful and useful. For this is,
according to the testimony of St. Bernard himself, ' the condition, at
once wonderful and pitiable, of human souls, that, although by the
vivacity of their genius they are capable of perceiving so many things
external to themselves, they nevertheless need corporeal figures and
similitudes, in order that from these outward and visible things they
may conjecture something of the invisible and inward realities.' 1 In
attaining which object St. Bernard has admirably succeeded in the
sermons before us.
2. St. Bernard made a commencement upon this remarkable work
1
'Sermons de Diversis,' vi. I. But the passage is quoted in a condensed form,
some sentences having been omitted.—ED.

2

PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

in the year 1135, after his return from Aquitaine, as appears from his
* Life' (' Ernald,' Bk. II., c. 6 ) : ' The man of God, having obtained an
interval of quiet, occupied himself with other affairs ; and, withdrawing into a bower formed of a trellis covered with sweet peas, he
occupied himself in solitary meditations upon Divine things. And
suddenly there came to him in that humble hermitage, as to one
sitting in the Lord's dwelling, songs of love, and the feasts of spiritual
nuptials.' For a long time he poured forth his soul in meditation
upon these things ; he has expounded them in many forms ; and it is
manifest to all who read them how greatly he, who feasted daily upon
those dainties, benefited thereby; and how great benefit we may
also derive, for whom the remains of that blessing in [the study of]
Scripture have been preserved.' Geoffrey also, in his continuation of
the ' L i f e ' (Bk. iii., c. 7), thus expresses himself: ' I n the sermons
upon the Song of Songs, he shows himself both a magnificent investigator of the mystical sense, and expounds the moral to edification.'
It is evident, from the exordium of the second of those sermons,
that this book was begun during the Advent of the year named above,
viz., 1135. For he speaks thus: 'Behold, how many there are
who shall rejoice in this, His Nativity, which is shortly to be celebrated,' etc.
3. It is evident that Bernard des Fortes, the Carthusian, was, if
not the suggester, at least the encourager, of this undertaking; and
this appears from the letter of Bernard (No. 153) to him, in which
the Saint alleges his want of ability, in answer to his earnestly
begging for an exposition, or some spiritual work upon the Canticles
from his hand ; yet at length yields to his fervent request, whether
this is to be explained of the undertaking of the work, or the publication of one already commenced. The words of Ep. 153 favour
this latter opinion : ' I yield to your importunity, so as to put an end
to all your doubts. I am dealing with a friend. I no longer spare
my modesty, and in doing what you wish, I will not think that I am
committing a folly. 1 am having transcribed for you some sermons
lately delivered on the beginning of the Canticles, and I send them
to you as quickly as possible before they are made public. When I
have time, according as Christ assigns me my tasks, I will endeavour
to proceed with this work.' From which words it comes out clearly
that Bernard des Portes had asked for some spiritual work from our
Bernard, who had sent to him the first sermons on the Song of
Songs. I do not know whether it is to this Bernard that the passage
in Sermon I., n. 3, is to be taken as referring: ' I do not think that
the friend who has come to us from his journey will have reason to
murmur against us, when he shall have taken of that third loaf; that
I must leave to others to decide. Lastly, it was to Bernard des Portes
that the earlier sermons were addressed, at the same time as Ep. 154,
in which I read these words: ' I am sending on to you the sermons
on the beginning of the Song of Songs, which you asked for, and I
promised; and when you have read them, I beg you to give me your

PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

3

advice as soon as possible, whether I ought to give them up, or proceed with them,' which may be understood indifferently of the planning out and of the completion of the work.
4. Although St. Bernard was in the habit of preaching almost every
day to his monks at Clairvaux, yet he was not able, during the eighteen
years which he lived after this, to complete the work which he had
begun ; he found himself often distracted by various affairs both of
Church and State, not to speak of the multitudes of eager visitors, of
which he complains not once only, as at the end of Sermon I I I . :
'But the evil craft of the day calls me away. For those people,
whose coming has just been announced to me, oblige me to break
off, rather than to finish, a discourse which is agreeable to me. I
must go out to our guests, that no offices of that charity, of which we
speak, be left unperformed.' And in Sermon LII., n. 7 : 'Scarcely
is an hour of intermission left to me by the visitors who come.' It
is indeed wonderful that the holy Father, distracted as he was by the
cares of a numerous community, and of a multitude of affairs which
pressed upon him, was enabled to compose those sermons full of wisdom
so deep, and to preach them daily. For he himself declares that he did
this, in Sermon XXII., n. 2 : ' It is a task, not without some labour
and fatigue, for me to come daily to draw from the streams, the open
streams of Scripture, to give to each of you according to his need.'
For he preached these sermons on festival days, even when these
were almost continuous, as appears from Sermon LXXXIIL, where
he says that he has exhausted his strength in expounding one passage
during three successive days. Furthermore, he delivered these sermons
viva voce. Thus he says at the end of Sermon XLII. : ' My weakness,
which you well know, does not permit me to go further.' And at the
end of Sermon XLIV. : ' This suffices for the present. And, indeed,
my weakness warns me to cease, as it frequently does.'
5. The Saint was wont to unite prayer to meditation to prepare
the material of his sermons; nevertheless, out of the abundance and
fertility of his mind he sometimes preached them when not yet
written, as is proved by various passages. For in various parts of
his sermons there are many passages which were evidently spoken
ex tempore. Such is that, for example, in Sermon XXXVI., in which
he chides those who were sleepy, and says : ' I thought that I should
be able to say to you in one sermon what I had promised, of the two
kinds of ignorance; and this I should have done, if this discourse
did not seem already too long to such as are fastidious; for I perceive some yawning, and others even asleep. I do not wonder at
this; the vigils of last night, which were indeed very long, are their
excuse.' But there is no passage which affords proof so distinct that
it was extemporaneous as one in Sermon IX., n* 6 : ' Another sense
also occurs to me, which I had not thought of before, but which I
cannot pass over.' Add to this that the Saint himself informs us in
the following words that many of his sermons were written down by
his disciples after he had delivered them : ' They have been written

4

PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

down as they were delivered, in the same manner as other sermons
also, so that, with the exception of the style, anything that may have
been lost is easily recovered ' (Sermon LIV., n. i). To this also
relates what we read in Sermon LXXVIL, n. 2 : * Even though what
I say were perchance put in writing, they would disdain to read
them.'
6. St. Bernard used to preach these sermons invariably in the
auditorium of the Brethren, and even the Novices (Sermon LXIIL,
n. 6) were present, but not the 'Conversi,' who did not attend
meetings of that kind at all. Wherefore he often asserts that his
auditors were well skilled in the Scriptures ; and even more, he
declares in his sermons that the ' rapid apprehension' of his hearers
wrould 'anticipate' what he had to say (Sermons XV., n. 2; XVL,
n. 1 ; XXXIX., n. 2). Again, as to the hour at which these sermons
were delivered, it was sometimes in the morning, before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist (as was said with regard to other
sermons in the preface to a former volume), and sometimes in the
evening. It is apparent that it was sometimes in the morning, from
two passages in which he brings the sermon to an end, because of
their manual labour, and of the Divine office. Thus in Sermon I.
towards the e n d : 'But the hour passes by,' he says, ' at which both
our poverty and our settled rule summon us to the labour of our
hands/ Still plainer in this respect is a passage in Sermon XLVII.,
which he, in fact, broke off because of the approach of the hour for
the Divine office. As to the evening preaching, the testimony is clear
in Sermon LXXL, ^ . 1 5 : 'But while I prolong this argument, the
end of the day has come.' But enough has been said of these small
matters, though here they are not altogether out of place.
7. St. Bernard had finished four-and-twenty sermons in the year
1137, in which year he set forth into Italy for the purpose of composing the schism. He returned thence in the following year, and
at once betook himself to the work which had been interrupted,
repeating Sermon XXIV. with another exordium and another
peroration, by which has been occasioned a diversity of reading,
which I shall treat of in its place. Sermons LXV. and LXVL,
which begin from the exposition of that verse, ' Take us the little
foxes' (ii. 15), the Saint composed against the heretics of Cologne,
having been induced to do this by a letter written to him by Everwin,
provost of Steinfeld, which letter he seems on that account to have
placed at the head of those two sermons. Finally, Sermon LXXX.
was delivered after the Council of Rheims in 1148, held in the
presence of Pope Eugenius, in which was condemned the error of
Gilbert de la Porree, Bishop of Poitiers, which Bernard himself
refers to in that sermon.
8. In most MSS. the sermons are in number eighty-six, in a few
eighty-seven; but this is either because they have repeated
Sermon XXIV., as is the case with the Colbertine MS., or have
divided another into two, as is done in our MS. of St. Germain. Of

PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

5

five MSS., which our brother, John Durand, consulted at my request,
one has only eighty-six sermons ; but in another, bearing the number
665, is found a preface which no other MS. has, nor any edition. It
begins thus : * Preface of the blessed Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to
the Song of Songs. The highest incentive which God has proposed
to virtue is that of the delight of future blessedness; just as pleasure
is the most powerful spur to wrong-doing which the devil has discovered. Of the truth of each of these sentiments we have a proof
in Adam, the chief of the human race, since he was placed by the
Lord God in a Paradise of pleasure, that he might thus be attracted
to virtue, and enjoy eternal felicity in future ages.' The writer
goes on to say that the loss of innocence by sin was followed by the
loss of happiness, but that this loss was repaired by the melody and
sweetness of the Psalms and Song of Songs. There is not a word in
this preface which approaches the style or genius of Bernard. This
preface is followed by eighty-three sermons only, under this title :
* Exposition of the Song of Songs, by the blessed Bernard, Abbot of
Clairvaux.' Another codex has, 'Bernard upon the Song of Songs,'
and others, 'Treatise of the blessed Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux,
upon the Song of Songs.' One Colbertine MS. bears for title
'Treatise' instead of 'Sermons/ according to the ancient usage.
But these are small details. That exposition breaks off in the third
chapter of the Song of Songs at the verse, ' By night upon my bed I
sought Him ' (rerse 1), from which point Gilbert of Hoiland, who
was himself a Cistercian of England/ continued it to this verse of
the fifth chapter, ' M y beloved is white and ruddy' (verse 10), in
forty-eight sermons. H e was a man assuredly not much inferior to
Bernard in the gravity and piety of his style. Death withdrew him
from the world before he had carried his endeavour any further, as if
he wrere indignant (if we are to believe Sixtus of Sienna) that the
work of Bernard, which he had interrupted, should be continued a
second time, and that Gilbert should dare even to wish to bring it to
completion. Sixtus is mistaken when he says that this work was
begun by Bernard ' in the last year of his life.'
9. Besides this exposition, Bernard dictated another and shorter
one to William of St. Thierry, as William himself declares (' Life,'
Bk. I., c. 12) ; but it will be a fitter place to speak of this when I
shall refer to a brief comment on the two first chapters of the
Canticles, drawn from St. Bernard's work.
10. In the first sermon of this longer exposition St. Bernard
seems to hint that he had written commentaries on the Proverbs of
Solomon, and on Ecclesiastes. He speaks thus (n. 2): ' For as to
the words of Ecclesiastes, I believe that by the grace of God you are
sufficiently instructed how to recognise and to contemn the vanity of
this world. What as to the Proverbs ? Is not your life and conduct
sufficiently formed and ruled on the teaching which they contain ?
1
Mabillon says 'of Ireland,' but he has apparently confused the Abbey of
St. Mary at Swineshed with that of St. Mary at Dublin.—ED.

6

PREFACE OF DOM JOHN MABILLON

Wherefore, having tasted of both of these, which you have accepted,
nevertheless, as it were, two loaves offered from the chest of a friend,
draw near and taste of the third also, and see if it be not still better.'
But these words seem to signify only this, that the brethren of Clairvaux had been occupying themselves in reading the Proverbs and
Ecclesiastes, and had adapted their conduct to the rules given in
those books. Certainly Geoffrey, who has framed a list, sufficiently
accurate, of the works of St. Bernard, has never attributed to him
any commentaries on those books, nor has any contemporary author
done so, as far as I am aware. Perhaps by that word ' of a friend '
St. Bernard meant to refer to some author of that time, such, for
example, as Hugo of St. Victor, who composed nineteen homilies
upon Ecclesiastes.
n . I return to the sermons upon the Song of Songs. What
Guerric, Abbot of Igny, and himself a most pious disciple of our
holy Doctor, thought of these, he declares in his third sermon for
the Festival of SS. Peter and Paul, in which- he says : * Our master,
that interpreter of the Holy Spirit, resolved to explain to us the
whole of that nuptial Song, and from those parts of his exposition
which he put forth gave us good ground to hope that, if he had
attained to treat of that passage, respecting which you inquire,
" until the day break and the shadows flee away," he would bring
those shadows into the light of knowledge. He shall tell us in the
light that which was spoken, or shall be, in darkness.' These are
the wrords of Guerric.

SERMON I.
ON THE TITLE OF THE BOOK : * THE SONG OF SONGS, WHICH IS
SOLOMON'S.'

O you, brethren, it is
needful to speak of
other truths than to
those persons who are
of the world; or, at
least, to speak of them
in a different manner.
To them, if a preacher
wishes to observe the
order of teaching which
the Apostle has prescribed (i Cor. iii. 2),
milk, not meat, is to
be given. H e himself
teaches us, by his own
example, to offer more
solid nourishment to
such as are spiritual,
as when he says : ' We
speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which
the
Holy
Ghost
teacheth,
comparing
spiritual things with
spiritual.' And also :
' We speak wisdom
among them that are perfect' (1 Cor. ii. 13, 6), such as I trust that
you, my brethren, are ; unless it is in vain that you have been long
occupied in the study of heavenly things, in meditating upon the law
of God day and night, and in training yourselves to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Prepare, therefore, to be nourished, not with milk,
but with bread. There is bread in [these words of] Solomon, and
that white and delicate; I mean in this book which is called ' The
Song of Songs.' Let us set it before us, and break it according to
our need.
2. As for the Book of Ecclesiastes, you are, if I do not mistake,

8

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

sufficiently well instructed by the grace of God to recognise and
despise the vanity of the world, which is treated of therein. And
what as to the Proverbs ? Is not your life and conduct sufficiently
formed and ruled on the teaching which they contain ? Wherefore,
having tasted of both of these, which you have accepted nevertheless as [it were loaves] offered from the chest of a friend, draw near
and taste of this third loaf also, and see if it be not still better. 1
There are, then, two evils, which are the chief, if not the only
ones which war against the soul, namely, the vain love of the world,
and the excessive love of self. The two former books prescribe the
remedy for each of these diseases, the former, by cutting away, with
the sharp blade of discipline, whatever is corrupt in the character
and superfluous in the desires of the flesh ; the latter, by wisely
penetrating with the light of reason the deceitful glamour of this
world's vanity, and distinguishing it accurately from that which is
real and solid. Finally, Solomon prefers the fear of God and the
keeping of His commandments to the pursuit of human knowledge
and of worldly desires. And rightly so. For the first of these is the
beginning of true wisdom, and the second its consummation ; if,
that is to say, true and perfect wisdom consists only in departing
from evil and doing good ; and if, also, no one is able perfectly to
depart from evil without the fear of God, as no one is able to do
good without the keeping of His commandments.
3. These two evils having then been put to flight by the reading of
those two books, it is possible to approach fitly in order to listen to
that sacred and sublime discourse, which being, as it were, the fruit
of both [the previous books], is not to be listened to except by ears
and hearts which are chastened and wise. For otherwise, unless the
flesh has been mastered by discipline, and subjected to the spirit;
unless the burdensome pomp of the world has been despised and
cast away as insupportable, the heart is impure and unworthy to
peruse the sacred Song. Just as the pure light is poured, vainly and
to no purpose, upon blind eyes, or upon eyes that are closed, so
* the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of G o d '
{1 Cor. ii. 14). For the holy spirit of discipline will flee from the
-deceitful (Wisd. i. 5), that is, from one who leads an unregulated
life. Never will He, who is the Spirit of Truth (John xiv. 17), have
part or lot with the vain things of this world. What alliance can
there be between the wisdom which is from above, and the wisdom
of this world, which is foolishness with God (1 Cor. iii. 19), or the
wisdom of the flesh, which is positively hostile to Him (Rom. viii. 7) ?
But I think that the friend who comes to us from his journey 2 will
have no reason to murmur against us, when he shall have taken of
this third loaf.
1
There is a reference here to Luke xi. 5 : ' Friend, lend me three loaves.'
Whether the words in the text imply that St. Bernard had made a comment upon
those two books is discussed in the preface.
2
There is a question whether this ' friend' may not have been Bernard des Portes.
See the discussion in Mabillon's preface.—ED.

THE TITLE OF T H E BOOK

9

4. But who shall break it ? The Master of the house is present;
do ye recognise the Lord in the breaking of bread. What other is
there who is capable of doing this ? As for me, I am by no means
so rash as to arrogate the task to myself. If you look to me, yet do
so as looking for nothing from me. For I myself am one of those
who await their meat from God ; I entreat with you, for the food of
my soul, the sustenance of my spirit. Truly poor and needy as
I am, I knock at the door of Him who openeth and no man
shutteth (Rev. iii. 7), to obtain a knowledge of the deep mystery
which lies hidden in this book. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, O
Lord. Thy little children seek bread, and there is no one to break
it for them. From Thy goodness we hope for that blessing. O
most merciful One, break Thy bread to the hungering souls that are
before T h e e ; by my hands, if Thou shalt see fit, but by the strength
of Thy grace.
5. Make known to us, we entreat, by whom, and of whom this verse
is said, and to whom it applies (Cant. i. 1). Why is it so abruptly
spoken that it seems to plunge the hearer suddenly into the mid-action
of a drama ? The speaker breaks forth suddenly, as if someone had
spoken before, and as if a second character in the dialogue were then
introduced, whosoever it may be, who makes this impassioned request.
Then again, why is this unusual manner of speech made use of? But
assuredly the very novelty and abruptness of this manner of beginning
is not otherwise than very pleasing. Thus is it with the Holy Scripture ;
it has an attractive countenance, which wins upon us at once, and
carries us on to the reading of it, in such wise that, however laborious
it may be to investigate the hidden mystery which it enfolds, that labour
becomes pleasure, and however great the difficulty of the inquiry, it
does not weary, inasmuch as the sweetness of the discourse recompenses and charms the inquirer. Who is there whom that commencing without commencement, that novel mode of speaking in a book
so old, would not render attentive ? From this it appears that this
work is not due to human powers, but was thus composed by the
wisdom of the Holy Spirit; so that, however difficult it might be to
understand, the searching out of its meaning might be a delightful task.
6. But are we'to pass over the title in silence ? By no means. We
ought not to neglect the least iota, remembering that our Lord gave
command that the fragments should be gathered together, that
nothing might be lost (John vi. 12). The title is thus worded:
4
Here begins the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.' Observe
first that the name of Solomon, that is, the Peaceful,1 well becomes
the beginning of this book, which commences by the sign of peace;
and remark at the same time also that only the peaceful are invited
to the consideration of this scripture, that is to say, those who have
tranquil and peaceful souls, delivered from the agitation of evil
passions, and the tumult of earthly cares.
1 n b V = Shel6m6h, the 'Peaceful One.'—ED.

IO

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

7. Do not suppose either that it is without significance that the title
of this scripture is not simply * a song,' but ' the Song of Songs.' I
have read many songs or canticles in Scripture, and I do not remember one on which such a title as this was set. Israel sang to the
Lord a song of praise, because they had escaped both from the
sword and the slavery of Pharaoh, because they had been at once
wonderfully delivered, and avenged, as by a twofold miracle, at the
Red Sea. But yet their song was not styled ' Song of Songs.' The
Scripture says, if I remember rightly, 'Then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song unto the Lord' (Exod. xv. 1). Deborah,
too ; Judith, and the mother of Samuel, each gave utterance to a song.
Not a few of the Prophets also raised their voices in song ; but we
do not read that any of all these called his canticle ' the Song of
Songs.' You will find, I believe, that each and all of these sang to
celebrate some advantage conferred upon themselves or their people;
for example, because they had gained a battle, escaped from some
peril, obtained some wished-for benefit, or object of that kind.
They uttered their songs, then, each for some object more or less
private, that they might not be found ungrateful for the Divine
benefits, as it is written : ' When Thou hast blessed him he will
praise Thee ' (Ps. xlix. 18, Vulg.). But this King Solomon, who
was endowed with admirable wisdom, exalted glory, overflowing
wealth, and enjoyed profound peace, is known to have needed
nothing, the attainment of which would have given him occasion
to lift up his voice in this song of praise. There is no statement of Scripture anywhere which seems to suggest any such
reason.
8. It was, then, by inspiration from above that he sang the praises
of Christ and His Church, the grace of holy love, and the mysteries
of everduring marriage ; and at the same time gave expression to the
yearning aspirations of the holy soul. Thus he has composed a
nuptial song or epithalamium, rejoicing in spirit, and in an ornamental
and figurative style. Doubtless he veiled his face, as it were, after
the example of Moses (Exod. iii. 6), which was perhaps not less
resplendent [in the glory of its meaning] as also because in that day
there were few, or none, who were capable of sustaining that glory if
fully revealed. Therefore I conclude that this nuptial anthem is
named ' Song of Songs ' for its surpassing excellence, just as H e
who is above all is for that reason called alone ' King of Kings and
Lord of Lords' (1 Tim. vi. 15).
9. If you consult your own experience, 1 after the victory which
your faith has gained over the world, and at your coming forth from
the abyss of misery and filthy bog, have not you also sung a new song
unto the Lord, because He hath done wonderful things? Again,
when H e has set your feet upon a rock, and ordered your goings, I
1
The MS. of Citeaux adds here : * The songs which we ought to sing through
at each advance;' which seems to be an error. (Or is there a reference to the
4
Psalms of Degrees? 5 )—ED.

T H E TITLE OF THE BOOK

II

think that then also in like manner, in thankfulness for the renewal of
your life, a new song was put into your lips, even a thankfulness unto
our God. And when, after your repentance for sin, H e has not only
put away your offences, but has even promised you rewards also, has
not that joy with which you were inspired by the hope of future
blessings made you to ' sing in the ways of the Lord, that great is the
glory of the Lord ' ? Again, when some one of you who had found
some passage of Scripture to be hitherto obscure and impenetrable
has gained a certain degree of light upon it, then, without doubt, in
thankfulness for the nourishment of heavenly bread which he has received, he should delight the Divine ear with the voice of gladness
and the sound of one that feasts. Finally, in the struggles and combats of every day, which are at no time wanting to those who live
piously in Christ, whether it be with the flesh, the world, or the devil,
so that the life of man upon the earth is a continual warfare, as you
experience incessantly in your own selves, it is needful day by day to
raise new songs of thanksgiving for the victories which you gain. As
often as temptation is overcome, vicious inclination restrained, imminent danger escaped, a snare of the tempter discovered, or some
ancient and inveterate fault of the soul healed perfectly and once for
all, or as often as some special favour long desired and frequently
besought from God is at length obtained from Him, ought we not so
often, according to the prophet's saying, to make the voice of joy and
praise resound, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody (Is. li. 3), and
at each of His benefits let God be praised in His gifts ? Otherwise,
he shall be counted as ungrateful in the day of judgment who is not
able to say unto G o d : Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of
my pilgrimage (Ps. cxix. 54).
10. I imagine that you have yourselves already noticed that in the
psalter we have psalms called not ' Songs of Songs/ but songs or
psalms 'of degrees' (Pss. cxx.-cxxxiv.) ' because in the measure that
you make progress in the spiritual life, according to the steps upward
that each makes in his heart, he ought to render songs to the praise
and glory of Him who is the inspirer of them all. I do not see
how in any other manner that verse could be accomplished : The
voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the dwellings of the righteous
(Ps. cxviii. 15), or that beautiful and salutary exhortation of the
Apostle : Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord
(Eph. v. 19).
n . But there is a canticle which, by its excellence and incomparable sweetness, rightly surpasses those which I have mentioned
and all others, if there be any, and this I may call * the Song of
Songs,' seeing that it is itself the fruit of all others. That canticle
the anointing of grace alone teaches, and experience only makes the
soul to be familiar with it. Those who have had experience of it
know it well; let those who have not had that happiness earnestly
desire, not to know it, but to experience it. It is not a cry from the

12

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

mouth, but the gladness of the heart; not the sounding of the lips,
but the impulse and emotion of joys within ; not a concert of words,
but of wills moving in harmony. It is not heard without, nor does
it make a sound in public. Only she who sings, and H e in whose
honour it is sung, that is the Bridegroom and the Bride, hear the
accents of that song. It is a nuptial song, which is expressive of the
chaste and sweet emotions of souls, the entire conformity of character,
the blending of affections in mutual charity.
12. But for the rest, this song is not to be sung or to be understood by a soul which is as yet a neophyte in the infancy of its virtue,
and but newly turned from the world. It belongs to the advanced
and instructed soul, which, by the progress in grace made by it
through the power of God, has grown as far as to reach a perfect age,
and, as it were, to have become marriageable (remember that I speak
not of years, but of virtues), and fit for the nuptials with its heavenly
spouse, such as will be more fully described in its place. But the
hour is passing, at which both our poverty and the precept of our
rule call us forth to the labour of our hands. To-morrow we will
continue in the name of God what we had entered upon with respect
to the opening verse, since the sermon of to-day has furnished the
explication of the title.

SERMON II.
OF THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST, WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED BY T H E
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, AND ARDENTLY EXPECTED BY THEM.

' Let Him kiss me zvith the kisses of His mouth.''—Cant. i. I.

T H I N K very often of the deep earnestness and ardour
with which the ancient Fathers desired the presence of
Christ in the Flesh, and I am touched with a feeling of
extreme grief and shame in myself, I am scarcely able
even now to restrain my tears, so much am I ashamed
of the coldness and insensibility of the unhappy times
in which we live. Who is there among us that feels joy
as great at the actual showing forth of this wonder of
grace, as the desire and longing wherewith the ancient
saints were fired at the promise only of so great a thing ?
How many there are who will rejoice at that Festival of
His Birth, which we are soon about to celebrate! But
would that their rejoicings were, not on account of vain things, but
really on account of His Birth ! This verse seems, then, to me to
breathe the ardent desire and pious impatience of those great men.

T H E INCARNATION

OF

CHRIST

13

The little band of those who then were animated by the Holy
Spirit felt in advance how great would be the grace which would
be diffused upon those Divine Lips. Therefore it was that speaking
in the ardour of that desire, wherewith their heart was fired, they
said these words, passionately wishing not to be deprived of happiness so great.
2. For each of these saintly souls would, as it were, say : To what
end do these wordy 1 utterances from the mouths of the prophets
come to me ? Let Him rather who is fair beyond the sons of
men, let Him come to me with the touch of His Lips. Not now
do I listen to Moses: he has become slow of speech to me, and of a
slow tongue (Exod. iv. 10). The lips of Isaiah are impure (Is. vi. 5).
Jeremiah knows not how to speak, for he is a child (Jer. i. 6) ;
yea, all the prophets are speechless. Let Him of whom they bear
witness, let Him speak Himself to me. Let Him speak to me no
longer in them or by their means, for their words are as a darkening
cloud in the air of heaven ; but let Him whose presence is full of
grace, whose teaching shall become in me a fountain of water
springing up into eternal life (John iv. 14), let Him come to me
with the touch of His Lips. Shall not He whom the Father hath
anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 8),
pour upon me from His fulness a more abounding grace, if H e
shall indeed deign to do this ? H e it is whose speech, living and
powerful, is to me as a kiss, and that not the mere meeting of the
lips, which ofttimes is but a deceptive sign of peace in the heart,
but rather the imparting of joys, the revealing of things hidden, and
a certain wonderful, intimate, and wholly ineffable mingling of the
heavenly light which enlightens the soul, and the soul which is
illuminated by it. For he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit
(1 Cor. vi. 17). Rightly, then, do I receive neither visions nor
dreams; I turn away from parables and metaphors ; even angelic
glories themselves I hold in disdain. For even these Jesus, who is
mine, by His fairness and His attractiveness to my soul, far surpasses.
Of no other, then, whether angel nor man, but of Him alone do I
make his entreaty. Yet I have not the presumption to require to
be kissed with His mouth. That is the unique privilege and incommunicable felicity of the Man whom the Word has assumed to
Himself in the incarnation. My petition is more humble : and this
is a privilege common to all who are able to say, Of His fulness have
we all received (John i. 16).
3. Observe : It is the Word becoming Incarnate, who is the Mouth
who gives the kiss. It is the Human Nature which is assumed
which receives it. The kiss, which is perfected equally by Him
who gives and Him who receives it, is that Person constituted of
each nature, the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
1
Seminiverbia,
i.e., <T7repjuo/\6yoc, as in Acts xvii. 18. This is a rare word, and
the corresponding Greek is used only this once in the New T e s t a m e n t . — E D .

14

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Jesus. On this account none of the saints presume to say, ' Let Him
kiss me with His mouth,' but only ' With the kiss of His mouth.'
They reverently respected the sole prerogative of that [Nature] on
which the adorable Mouth of the Word was impressed once for all,
when the Fulness of the Godhead was united corporeally with it.
Happy the sign, wonderful and stupendous the condescension, in
which, not lip is pressed to lip, but God is united to Man. There,
indeed, the pressure of the lip does signify the union of souls, but
here a union of Natures joins that which is Divine and that which is
Human, and reconciles those things which are on earth and those in
heaven. For He is our Peace, who hath made both one (Eph. ii. 14).
It was, then, for this that every saint of the old time longed, because
they felt the assurance beforehand that upon Him joy and gladness
were abundantly poured, and in Him were hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3 ) ; and they earnestly desired to
have part with Him and in His fulness.
4. I feel that what has been said meets with your assent; but listen
to still another sense of the words. It was not hidden from holy
souls, even before the coming of the Saviour, that God was meditating designs of peace towards the race of mortals (Jer. xxix. n ) .
Nor did He speak as regarding the earth without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets (Amos iii. 7). Yet this saying
was hid from many (Luke xviii. 34), for in that time faith was rare
upon the earth, and hope faint among most of those who waited
for the redemption of Israel. But those who had foreknowledge,
predicted that Christ should come in the Flesh, and that with Him
should come peace. Thus one of them says : Peace shall be in our land
when He shall have come (Micah v. 5). Nay, more, they confidently
predicted what they had learned from above, that men through Him
should recover the favour \_gratiam\ of God. And this John, the
Forerunner of the Lord, recognized to have been fulfilled in his time,
and declared : Grace a?id truth came by Jesus Christ (John i. 17), an
assertion of the truth of which the whole Christian people has experience at this day.
5. But though they foretold peace, yet, as the Author of peace delayed to come, the faith of the people was weak and tottering, there
being none to redeem or to save. That brought men to complain of
the delay, because the Prince of Peace, so oft announced, had not
yet come, as He had for so many ages promised by the mouth of His
holy prophets; and holding these promises, as it were, in suspicion,
they eagerly demanded the sign of the reconciliation, that is to say, the
Incarnation. As if one of the people should reply to the messengers
of peace, ' How long do you hold our minds in suspense? You have
long been foretelling peace, and it does not come ; you promise every
kind of good, yet behold trouble and misery. Behold, how many
times and in what divers manners have angels announced this very
thing to our fathers, and our fathers have handed it down to us, crying Peace, peace, yet there is no peace (Jer. vi. 14). If God desires

THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST

15

that I should be convinced of the determination of His good pleasure,
which H e so frequently promised by His messengers, but does not as
yet make manifest, let Him come to me with the touch of His Lips, and
the sign of peace shall be for me an assured pledge of peace. How
can I put my trust any longer in words ? It is instead needful to
strengthen words by action. Let God approve His messengers, if,
indeed, they be His, as men of truth, and let Him follow them Himself, as they have so often promised; for without Him they can do
nothing (John xv. 5). He has sent a servant, and by the servant
His staff; but there is neither voice nor breath thereby (2 Kings
iv. 29-31). I rise not, I am not lifted up nor brought out of the
dust, I do not breathe the freew air of hope, unless the Prophet
Himself shall come down, unless He shall come to me with the sign
of peace.
6. It is farther to be added, that H e who declares Himself our
Mediator before God, is the Son of God, is Himself God (1 Tim. ii. 5).
And what is man that H e takes knowledge of him, or the son of man,
that He has consideration for him ? What ground of confidence have
I, that I should dare to trust myself to majesty so great ? Wherefore,
I repeat, should I, who am but dust and ashes, presume to think that
God would take care for me ? Between Him and His Father is indeed
love; but H e has no need of me, nor of my goods. How, then, shall
it be made clear to me that H e who is my Mediator is impartial ?
Yet if God has truly determined, as you say, to have mercy upon me,
and still meditates greater acts of favour on my behalf, let Him
establish a covenant of peace, let Him make a perpetual alliance
with me by this sign. In order that the words which proceed out of
His Lips be not made of no avail, let Him empty Himself, let Him
humble Himself, let Him stoop from His high heaven, and kiss me
with the kiss of His Mouth. Let the Son of God, if H e will be a
Mediator acceptable to both parties, and suspected by neither,
become Man, become Son of Man, and establish my trust on a sure
ground by this. With assured confidence shall I take the Son of
God as Mediator when I perceive that He is also a son of my own
human race. I can no longer retain any suspicion of Him, since H e
is my brother and my flesh. For I hope that H e will then not be
able to despise me, when He is bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh.
7. It was thus, then, that the ancient plaint of humanity earnestly
begged for that Kiss sacrosanct, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation
of the Word; while faith failed, being exhausted with long and
weary expectation, and the unbelieving people, abandoning itself
to discouragement, murmured against the promises of God. This
is not an invention of mine; you will find it for yourselves in the
Scriptures. Thence arise those sayings mingled with complaint and
blame : Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a
little (Is. xxviii. 10). Thence those prayers also, coming from hearts
anxious and troubled, yet loyal: Recompense, O Lord, them that wait

i6

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

for Thee, and let Thy prophets be found faithful and true. And again,
Accomplish, O Lord, the predictions of Thy ancient prophets}
From thence also those promises so sweet and full of consolation :
The Lord shall appear, and shall not lie : if He tarry, wait for Him ;
for He shall surely come, He shall not tarry (Habak. ii. 3). And
again : His time is near to come, and His days shall not be prolonged
(Is. xiii. 22). And again, in the person of Him who is promised :
Behold L will extend peace to her as a river, and the glory of the
nations as a flowing stream (Is. lxvi. 12). In which words are
sufficiently apparent both the persevering constancy of the preachers,
and the distrust of the peoples. Thus it was that the mass of men
murmured, that faith was tottering, and that, according to the foreboding of Isaiah, The angels of peace themselves wept bitterly
(Is. xxxiii. 7). Therefore that the whole human race, while Christ
so long delayed His coming, might not perish from mere despair,
suspecting its feeble and helpless mortality to be contemned and
scorned, and distrusting its reconciliation with God by grace, so
often promised; the saints, who had been kept firm in faith by the
Spirit which animated them, desired earnestly the confirmation of
their faith by His presence in the flesh, and urged eagerly, on
account of those who were weak and incredulous, the sign of peace
to be regained.
8. O Root of Jesse, who standest for an ensign of the peoples,
how many prophets and kings have desired to see Thee, yet have not
seen ! Surely of all the most happy was Simeon, whose old age was
rich in mercy ! H e rejoiced that he saw the sign so greatly desired :
he saw it, and was glad: and having received the kiss of peace,
departed in peace; yet not before he had declared that Jesus was
born, to be a sign; but a sign which should be spoken against (Luke
ii. 25-35). And thus indeed it was. Opposition arose to the sign of
peace, from the time that it appeared; but from those who hate
peace. For it was peace to men of good will; but to the evil
disposed a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (Rom. ix. ^T,).
Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matt. ii. 3), so it
was that the Lord came unto His own, and His own received Him not
(John i. 11). Happy were those shepherds in their watch by night,
who were deemed worthy to behold that sign in a vision. Even
then H e was hiding Himself from the wise and prudent, and revealing Himself unto babes. Even Herod wished to behold Him, but
he was not found worthy, for his motive was not pure. For this was
the sign of peace, and was given only to men of good will; but to
Herod, and to those like him shall be given only the sign of Jonas
the prophet (Luke xi. 29). To the shepherds, on the contrary, the
angel said, 'This shall be a sign unto you] you who are humble, who
are obedient, who do not exercise yourselves in high things; you
1
Precationes. This was the ancient reading, but the Vulgate reads prcedicationes,
and the LXX. agrees, rag 7rpo(p7]Teia£. Ecclus. xxxvi. 17, 18.—ED.

THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST

17

who are watchful, who meditate day and night in the law of the
Lord, to you, H e says, this shall be the sign. What sign? The sign
which the angels promised, which the peoples asked for, which the
prophets had predicted, this sign the Lord has now brought to pass,
and shows it to you; so that in it the unbelieving may obtain faith,,
those who are fearful hope, and they who are perfect entire security.
This then, he says, shall be to you a sign. Of what is it the sign ?
Of pardon, of grace, of peace; and of that peace which has no end.
This is the sign : Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes',
lying in a manger. Yet in Him is God reconciling the world unto
Himself (2 Cor. v. 19). H e shall die for your sins, and rise again
for your justification; so that being justified by faith, you may have
peace with God (Rom. v. 1). This sign of peace a prophet formerly
proposed to King Ahaz, that he should ask it of the Lord his God,
either in the heaven above, or in the depth beneath. But the impious king refused (Is. vii. 11, 12), not believing, unhappy man that
he was, that in this sign the highest and the lowest should be joined
in fellowship and peace : inasmuch as the dwellers in the very depths
of the grave should receive the sign of peace, when the Lord descending thither, should salute them with this holy kiss; and the celestial
spirits also should share in it, and that with joy everlasting when H e
should return to heaven.
9. This sermon must be brought to a close. But to sum up in a
few words what has been treated of in it. It appears that this holy
kiss was necessarily accorded to the world for two reasons : that it
might produce faith in the weak, and satisfy the longing desire for it
in the perfect, since by this kiss is meant no other than the Mediator
between God and men, the Man CHRIST JESUS, who with the
FATHER and the HOLY SPIRIT liveth and reigneth, God, for ever
and ever. AMEN.

SERMON I I I .
WHAT IT IS TO KISS THE FEET, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF
THE LORD.

'Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mozith?—Cant. i. 1.

W

E shall read to-day in the book of experience. Turn your
minds inward upon yourselves, and let each of you examine
his own conscience in regard to those things which are to
be mentioned. I desire to make examination, whether to any of you
it has been given to speak out of the deep desire of his heart, these
words of the text which we are to consider. Not to all men does it
belong to take these words upon their lips with sincere desire ; he alone
is able to do so, who has received even once only, the spiritual kiss
2

i8

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

from the lips of Christ; him his own experience incessantly urges to
obtain a renewal of that which he found so full of sweetness. It is
my strong opinion that no one can comprehend what it is, save he
who has experienced it; it is, as it were, a hidden manna; and he
who tastes of it, still hungers for it again. It is a fountain sealed,
from which no stranger may draw ; but he who drinks of it still thirsts
to drink again. Listen to one who had experienced that which he
again asks for: Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation (Ps. li. 13).
Let not a soul then which is laden with sin, and still subject to the
passions of the flesh, which has not yet tasted the delights of the
Holy Spirit, which is wholly ignorant of, and inexperienced in, inward
joys; in short, a soul like mine, make the least pretension to such a
degree of grace.
2. Nevertheless, to such a one I will point out the position in
regard to this saving grace which is befitting to him. Let him not
have the rashness to lift himself so high as to the lips of the Divine
Bridegroom, but let him, with holy fear, lie with me at the Feet of
that Lord so severe; let him, like the publican, tremble nor dare to
lift up his eyes unto heaven (Luke xviii. 13), for fear lest his eyes,
accustomed only to earthly gloom, should be dazzled by the light of
heaven, should be blinded by its glory; and, being stricken by the
unaccustomed splendour of that majesty, should be whelmed anew
in a still deeper darkness. It is not for thee, O sinful soul, whosoever thou art, to regard that place and posture, in which the woman
that had been a sinner and became a saint, laid down her sins and put
on the garment of holiness, as being vile or contemptible. There the
Ethiopian changed her skin, and, being restored to a new whiteness,
was enabled to respond with as much confidence as truth to those
who reproached her: JJaughters of Je?'usalem, though black, I am
comely (Cant. i. 4). If you wonder how she was enabled to do this,
or by what merits she obtained it, I will answer in a few words.
She wept bitterly; she drew long sighs of remorse from the depths
of her soul; her frame was convulsed with salutary sobs, and thus
the deeply-seated poison was cast forth. The heavenly Physician
came promptly to help; for His Word runneth very swiftly
(Ps. cxlvii. 15). Is not the Word of God a medicine? It is so in
truth, and a medicine strong and powerful, trying the very heart and
reins (Ps. vii. 10). For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. iv. 12). According to
the example of this happy penitent, do thou also, O unhappy soul,
prostrate thyself that thou mayst cease to be unhappy; prostrate thyself even to the earth, embrace His Feet, appease them with kisses,
bedew them with thy tears; yet not that thou mayest wash them, but
thyself; and that thou mayest become one of that flock of sheep
newly shorn, which come up from the laver of cleansing (Cant. iv. 2).
And do not have the boldness to lift up your countenance suffused

WHAT IT IS TO KISS THE FEET OF T H E LORD

ICJ

with tears of shame and grief, until you hear, you also, the words of
absolution, Thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke vii. 36-48); until you
hear, Arise, arise, O captive daughter of Zion ; shake thyself from the
dust (Is. Iii. 2).
3. Having then imprinted this first kiss upon the Feet, do not
presume immediately to lift up thyself to the kiss of His Lips, but
let the kiss of His Hand be for thee a gradation or second step by
which to reach the higher blessedness. Take notice of the reason
for this. If Jesus shall have said to me, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee;
what shall even this avail me if I do not cease to commit sin ? If I
have put off my tunic, and then put it on again, what doth it profit ?
Or if I wash my feet and then defile them anew, will it avail anything
that they were once washed? Long have I lain in the filthy mire,
wallowing in every kind of vice; but if, after escaping therefrom, I
shall unhappily fall back into it, my state will undoubtedly be worse
than it was at first. For I remember how H e who healed me spake
to me thus : Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse
thing come unto thee (John v. 14). What is needed, then, is that He
who gave me a goodwill to repent for the past, should also add to
this another gift of grace, whereby I may abstain from sin for the
future, so that I may not again commit crime upon crime, and my
last state be worse than the first. Woe to me if He, without whom
I can do nothing, shall suddenly withdraw His supporting Hand
from me, even in the midst of my penitence ! Nothing, I repeat,
am I capable of doing without Him ; neither to repent of the past,
nor to keep myself from fresh sin. I bear in mind the counsel which
the Wise Man gives : ' Do not make a vain repetition in thy prayer'
(Ecclus. vii. 14). And I tremble at the decree which the Judge has
it in mind to pronounce against the tree which bringeth not forth
good fruit (Matt. iii. 10); I confess that on this account I shall not
be wholly content with the former grace, by which I am enabled to
be repentant for my former sins, unless I shall have received a second
to make me bring forth fruits worthy of penitence, and thenceforth
not to return to my former pollution.
4. This, then, remains for me to ask and to receive before I presume to approach the higher and more sacred degrees of blessedness.
I do not desire to reach the highest point suddenly, but to proceed
towards it by gradual steps. For inasmuch as the shamelessness of a
sinner is displeasing to God, in the same degree is the modesty of a
penitent pleasing to Him. Thou mayst the sooner please Him, if thou
shalt observe a becoming measure in thy desires, nor seek for thyself
the higher degrees of privilege. From the foot to the lips the ascent
is long and difficult, and it would be wanting even in reverence to pass
from one straight to the other. What ! shalt thou, still marked with
recent dust-stains, touch those sacred Lips ? and having been but
yesterday drawn out of the mire, aspire to-day to the glory of His
Countenance ? For thee there must be a mid-stage of preparation ;
and that is by His Hand ; it shall first cleanse thee from thy stains,

20

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

and then it shall lift thee up. But how shall it raise thee up ? By
bestowing upon thee that which shall be aground for aspiring higher :
the grace of continence, the fruits worthy of penitence, which are
works of piety. These shall lift thee from the dunghill, and infuse
into thee the hope of higher things. In receiving this gift, then
assuredly thou shouldest kiss the Lord's Hand—that is, give the
glory to Him, not to thyself. Give it to Him once, and yet again :
the first time because of His pardon to your sins ; the second, because
of the virtues H e has bestowed. For otherwise, what reply have you
to make to such reproaches as these : What hast thou that thou hast
not received? Now if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory, as
though thou hadst not received it7 (i Cor. iv. 7).
5. After you have, then, made in those two kisses, a double proof
of the Divine condescension, perhaps you may be so bold as to enter
upon the endeavour to reach still higher and more sacred things.
For in proportion as you grow in grace, your confidence also will
augment, you will love more fervently, and knock at the door with
more assurance of success, to seek that in which you feel you are
wanting : for to him who knocks it shall be opened. And to you,
when in such a disposition of mind and soul, I believe there will not
be refused that kiss, the loftiest and most sacred of all, which contains in itself at once a supreme condescension and a sweetness ineffable. This is the way, and this the order, which must be followed.
In the first place, we fall at the feet of the Lord, and lament before
Him who has made us, the faults and sins which we ourselves have
committed. In the second, we seek His helping Hand to lift us up,
and to strengthen our feeble knees that we may stand upright. In
the third, when we have, with many prayers and tears, obtained these
two former graces, then at length we perhaps venture to lift our eyes
to that Countenance full of glory and majesty, for the purpose not
only to adore, but (I say it with fear and trembling) to kiss, because
the spirit before us is Christ the Lord, to whom, being united in a
holy kiss, we are by His marvellous condescension made to be one
spirit with Him.
6. Rightly, O Lord Jesus, yea, rightly has my heart declared to
T h e e : My face hath sought Thee: Thy face, Lord, will T seek
(Ps. xxvi.. 8). Thou hast made me to hear Thy mercy in the morning when I lay prone in the dust, and kissing the prints of Thy sacred
steps, Thou didst pardon the evil of my former life. Then, as the
day of my life went on, Thou hast rejoiced the soul of Thy servant;
since, by the kiss of Thy Hand, Thou hast accorded unto me the
grace to live well. And now what remains, O good Lord, unless
that in deigning to admit me, in the fulness of Thy Light, in the
fervour of my spirit, to the kiss of Thy Divine Lips, Thou shouldest
fulfil me with the joy of Thy Countenance? Teach me, O most
dear and tranquil One, teach me where Thou dost dwell, and at noonday dost repose. Brethren, it is good for us to be here ; but lo ! the
evil of the day calls us away. They, indeed, who just now announced

THE THREEFOLD PROGRESS OF THE SOUL

21

an arrival of guests, oblige me to break off, rather than conclude, a
subject so agreeable. I go, then, to the care of these guests, lest anything be wanting in the discharge of those duties of charity of which
we speak, and lest we should hear those words spoken of u s : They
say, and do not (Matt, xxiii. 3). Do ye in the meantime pray that
God will make the free will offerings of my mouth acceptable unto
Him, that they may be to your edification, and to the honour and
glory of His Name.

SERMON IV.
OF THE THREEFOLD PROGRESS OF THE SOUL, ARISING FROM T H E
KISS OF T H E FOOT, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF T H E LORD.

' Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.'—Cant. i. I.

T

H E sermon of yesterday was occupied in describing the threefold progress of the soul, under the name of three kisses.
That, I dare say, is still in your remembrance. In the discussion of to-day I propose to continue the same subject in so far as
God in His goodness shall deign to assist my poor powers. I said,
if you remember, that those were given severally to the Feet, to the
Hand, and to the Lips of Christ our Saviour. In the first are dedicated the first fruits of our conversion; the second shall be accorded
to those who are making progress in holiness ; but the third is rarely
experienced, and by those only who are perfect. From this alone,
which is placed last, it is that the Scripture which we have undertaken
to expound takes its point of departure, and for that reason I have
joined the other two to it. Whether that was needful you will judge ;
but I think that the very nature of the subject suggested, and indeed
required, that course. And I think that you will observe also this,
that the Bride desired to indicate a distinction when she said, using
a phrase very unusual, ' of His Mouth.'' Why, when it would have
sufficed simply to make her request, should she have added expressly
and precisely beyond the usual phrase and manner of speaking,
words which show that the grace for which she asked was not the
only one, but was the highest ? When the Evangelist relates how the
false Apostle betrayed our Lord with a kiss, he says, ' And he kissed
H i m ' (Mark xiv. 4 5 ) ; nor does he add ' with his mouth,' or ' of his
mouth.' It is thus that everyone expresses himself either in writing
or speech. There are, then, three states or modes of souls sufficiently
well-known at least to those who have experienced them, when, as far
as is possible in these weak bodies of ours, they are enabled to take
knowledge either of the pardon which they have received for their evil
actions, or the grace which has enabled them to do good ones; or
lastly, of the very presence of Him who is their patron and benefactor.

22

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

2. Let me repeat to you more plainly why I have spoken of the
first and the second of these under this name. We all know that a
kiss is a sign of peace. Now if, as the Scripture declares, our iniquities
separate between us and our God (Is. lix. 2), let that be taken away
which interposes between us, and then there is peace. When, then,
we make satisfaction so that we are reconciled with God by the taking
away of the sin which separates us, what else can I call the pardon
which we receive except a kiss of peace ? Now, that kiss cannot be
imprinted elsewhere than upon the Feet; for the satisfaction, which
is the remedy for a transgression of the law of God, which arose from
pride, ought to be humble and shame-faced.
3. But when we are endowed with fuller grace, and in a manner,
so to speak, more familiar, and so are enabled to lead a life purer and
more worthy of God, we begin to lift up our heads from the dust with
greater confidence, in order to kiss, as is usual, the hand of our benefactor, provided that we seek, not our own glory, but that of our Creator,
in the good things we have received, and provided also that we ascribe
His gifts to Him, and not to ourselves. For otherwise, if instead of
glorying in the Lord you glory in yourself, you are plainly shown to be
kissing, as it were, your own hand, not the Hand of God ; and this,
according to the saying of the blessed Job, is a very great iniquity,
and the denial of God who is above (Job xxxi. 28). If, then, following
the testimony of Scripture, to seek one's own glory is, as it were, to
kiss one's own hand, it follows that he who gives glory to God is said,
not unfitly, to kiss the Hand of God. We see that it is thus even
among men, that slaves are accustomed to kiss the feet of their offended
lords when they are asking pardon of them for their faults ; and those
who are poor kiss the hands of the rich when they have received
assistance from them.
4. But as God is a Spirit, a pure Substance, not distinguished into
parts or members, there will be, perhaps, someone who cannot at all
accept what I have said of Him ; but will demand of me that I should
show to him the Hands and the Feet of God, and so justify what I
have said upon the kiss of the hand or foot. But if I, in my turn,
shall become a questioner, what will he reply to me with regard to the
mention in Scripture of ' the kiss of His Mouth ' ? For these [parts
of a body] either exist together, or if the one is wanting, the others are
wanting also. We say, then, that God has a Mouth, wherewith ' H e
teaches man knowledge'; and a Hand, wherewith * He giveth food
to all flesh'; and Feet, for which ' the earth is His footstool,' and at
which the sinners of the earth ' fall down low upon their knees.' All
these, then, God has; but in making that assertion, we reason, as it
were, from effects, for it is not by His Nature that H e has these. A
confession, full of penitence and shame, finds in God that at which
[the sinner] may fall dowrn and humble himself, an ardent devotion
finds a source of refreshment and renewal, and a joyful contemplation
an object of safe repose in its ecstasies. H e who governs all things is
all things to all His creatures ; yet, to speak with accuracy, H e is not

THE THREEFOLD PROGRESS OF THE SOUL

23

any of all these things. If we consider Him as H e is in Himself, H e
divelleth in the Light that no man can approach unto (1 Tim. vi. 16), His
' peace passeth all understanding' (Phil. iv. 7), His wisdom is infinite
(Ps. cxlvii. 5), there is no end of His greatness (Ps. cxlv. 3), and no
man can see Him and live (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Not that He is far from
everyone of us, for H e is the Principle of Being {Esse) of all things
that exist, and without Him they would fall back into nothingness;
but yet, to make a statement still more wonderful, though nothing is
more certainly present than He, nothing is more incomprehensible.
For what can be more surely present to everything than its own
Principle of Being ? Yet what can be more incomprehensible to each
individual than the Principle of Being of all things ? But when I say
that God is the Principle of Being to all things, it is not that they are
the same being as H e ; but it is that all things proceed from Him,
subsist by Him, and are in Him (Rom. xi. 36). He, then, that has
created all things is the Principle of Being to all things created; but
with regard to Cause and Principle, not with regard to substance. In
such a manner it is that the Divine Majesty condescends to all His
creatures. He is assuredly the Principle of Being to them all—He is
life to all that live ; and, furthermore, He is Light to them who have
the use of reason, Virtue to them who use their reason rightly, and,
finally, H e is Glory to them who triumph [in the probation of this life].
5. Finally, in the creation of all these things, in governing them,
administering them, in giving them motion and growth, in renewing
and in strengthening them, He has no need of any bodily instruments,
since H e created all things, both bodies and spirits, by His mere word.
Souls have need of bodies and of bodily senses, by which they become
known the one to the other, and are enabled to act the one upon the
other. But it is not thus with the Almighty God ; for from the volition of His Will alone follows promptly the effect H e bids, whether
it be in the creation of things, or in the ordering of them according
as H e shall please. What He wills H e carries into effect, and to the
fullest extent of His good pleasure; nor in performing it has H e any
need to employ bodily organs. What! do you suppose that to have
relation with those things which H e has Himself created H e requires
the assistance of bodily senses ? Of all things that exist, nothing hides
itself or escapes from His light, which is everywhere present; nor has
He any need, in order to take knowledge of anything, to make use of
the ministry of any sense. Not only does He have knowledge of all
things without Himself having body, but also without body He makes
Himself known to those who are of pure heart. I am repeating the
same truth in different words that you may understand it the better ;
but as the little time remaining is insufficient for finishing the subject,
it will perhaps be better to defer its farther consideration until the
morrow.

24

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON V.
OF THE FOUR ORDERS OF SPIRITS—NAMELY, THE SPIRIT OF GOD,
OF T H E ANGELS, OF MAN, AND OF THE BEAST.

F

OUR orders of spirits are known to you—that of the animals, our
own, the angelic, and His who created all these. To each of
these a body is necessary, either for its own sake or for the sake
of others, or for both of these reasons, excepting only that One to whom
every creature, whether corporeal or spiritual, justly bears witness and
says : Thou art my God: my goods are nothing unto Thee (Ps. xvi. 2).
As to the first order, that of animals, it is plain that it has such need
of a body that it cannot in any wise exist without o n e ; for when the
creature dies, that [class of] spirit ceases at once both to be the source
of vivifying power, and itself to live. But we live on after the body
dies; still, there is no access open to us, except through the body, to
those things whereby we live in happiness. H e had perceived this
who said : The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood
by those things which are made (Rom. i. 20). For, indeed, those things
which are made—that is, corporeal and visible things—unless they be
perceived by the instrumentality of the body, do not come to our
knowledge at all. The spiritual creature, therefore, which we are,
must necessarily have a body, without which, indeed, it can by no
means obtain that knowledge which is the only means of attaining to
those things, to know which constitutes blessedness. If anyone object
to me the case of little children who have been made regenerate [in
Baptism], that should they go forth from the body without knowledge
of things corporeal, they are believed to pass, nevertheless, into a life
of blessedness, I reply, briefly, that it is grace, not nature, which confers this upon them. And what have I, now that I am discoursing of
things in the course of nature, to do with a miracle of God ?
2. Again, that heavenly spirits have need of bodies is proved by
that true and plainly Divine declaration : Are they not mifiistering
spirits, sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation ?
(Heb. i. 14). But how can they without bodies fulfil their ministry,
especially towards those who are living in bodies ? Then, again, it
is a property of bodies only to move about, and to pass from one
place to another, a thing which angels are shown to do by well
known and undoubted authority, Hence it is that they were seen
by the patriarchs, that they entered in unto them and ate with
them, and washed their feet. Thus spirits both of the higher and
the lower order require bodies of their own, but for this reason only,
that they may render assistance, not that they may receive it.
3. But the lower animals, though under an obligation by their
creation to perform service, are able to help only in matters of a
temporal and corporeal kind, and therefore the spirit which is

THE

FOUR ORDERS OF SPIRITS

25

in an animal passes away with time and dies with the body. H e
which is but a servant does, indeed, abide not in the house for ever
(John viii. 35), although those who use him will apply all the profit
of his temporal servitude to the gaining of things eternal. But the
angel performs these duties of benevolence with an entire freedom of
spirit, showing himself to men, as to his future fellow citizens and coheirs of heavenly blessedness, a prompt and ready minister of good
things to come. Both orders, then, without doubt, need bodies, that
they may render service ; the one [the animal] that he may serve us
from obligation, the other [the angel] that he may assist us from
benevolence. As for themselves, I do not see what advantage they
derive from bodies, at least, with regard to eternity. The irrational
spirit participates in the knowledge of things temporal by means of
its body, nevertheless its body never assists it to such a point that, by
the corporeal and sensible objects with which it is thus brought into
connection, it should be led onwards to the knowledge of* things
spiritual and intelligible. Yet, as we know, it helps, by its service of
body and, in time, to the attainment of such things, those who, using
this world as though they used it not, transfer every use of temporal
things to the profit of things eternal.
4. Moreover, the heavenly spirit, without any help from the body,
or perception of those things which are felt by means of the body, is
able to apprehend the highest things, and to penetrate the most
secret, by its native force and the kinship of its nature to them. Was
not this the Apostle's meaning when, having said, ' The invisible things
of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made,''
he added forthwith, ' by the creature of the world' PSurely because it is not so with the creature of heaven. For what
the spirit clothed in flesh and a sojourner upon earth strives laboriously, by slow degrees and by little and little, to attain from the consideration of things presented to his senses, that the dweller in the
heavens can most swiftly and easily reach by his natural [ingenita\
fineness and loftiness of perception, without help from bodily senses
or from any limb or organ, nor yet as instructed by the contemplation
of any material thing. Why should such a spirit search among corporeal things for spiritual meanings and spiritual truths which he
reads in the Book of Life without contradiction, and understands
without difficulty ? Why should he labour in the sweat of his face
to thrash grain, to press wine from grapes and oil from olives, who
has enough and to spare of all ready to his hand ? Who would beg
his food at the houses of others that has abundance of bread in his
own ? Who would dig a well and seek for veins of water in the
1
Rom. i. 20. This is, of course, a merely fanciful argument, and does not give the
meaning of the Greek cnro KT'IGWQ KOGHOV. But St. Bernard was led to it by the
ambiguous rendering of the Vulgate, ' a creaturd mundiS
St. Anselm has much
the same idea about this passage, though he supposes the creatura mundi to be
man : ' Hominem, qui dominus est, participium,
nodus, et vinculum omnis creaturce.
Homo enim ex seipso, suisque partibus et potentiis tarn corporis quam anima,
vel
maxime cognoscere potest creatorem suum
Deum?—ED.

26

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

bowels of the earth if a living spring of limpid waters gushed up
for him spontaneously ? Neither the brutish spirit nor the angelic,
therefore, are assisted in any wise by their bodies in the requirement
of those things which render a spiritual being blessed ; the former
because it is unequal by the dulness of its nature even to the comprehension of them, the latter because it so excels in glory and power
that it has no need of such help.
5. Now, the spirit of man holds a certain middle place between
the highest and the lowest, and it is plain that a body is necessary to
it for each of these two purposes, so that without one it can neither
help others nor be helped itself. For, to say nothing of the other
members of the body and their offices, how, I ask, could you either
instruct a hearer if you had not a tongue, or if yourself without
ears could you comprehend the words of an instructor ?
6. Since, then, without the assistance of a body neither the brutish
spirit can perform the duties of its servile condition, nor the angelic
and heavenly spirit can discharge its ministry of kindness, nor, again,
can the rational soul be of service to his neighbour, nor, indeed, to
himself, in regard to his salvation, it is plain that every created spirit
has need of a body, whether simply to help others, or at once to help
and to be helped. What if there are some animals which, as far as
use is concerned, are unprofitable and altogether unadapted to the
supplying of human necessities ? They are good to look at, if not to
use; and are of more advantage to the hearts of those who behold
them, than to the bodies of those who make use of them. Though
they appear to be injurious, and even dangerous to human safety in
this world, still their bodies are not without that wThich works together
for good to those who, according to the Divine purpose, are called to
be saints. And although they be not beneficial by affording us good,
or by rendering to us service, they are so, assuredly, by affording a
subject on which to exercise the intellect, according to that helpful
system of mental and spiritual training which is common to all
who have the gift of reason, and by which ' the i?ivisible things of Godare clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made? For
both the devil and his satellites, whose intention is always malignant,
are ever desirous to do injury; but God forbid that they should
succeed against those who are aiming at good, of whom it is said:
Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good'I
(1 Peter iii. 13); yea, rather, they are of service to them, though
against their will, and work together for good to those who are good.
7. On the other hand, whether the bodies of angels be natural to
them, as those of men are to them ; and whether they are animal
bodies, as [those of] men are, though immortal, which men are not
yet; whether, also, they change those bodies, and give to them such
form and figure as they choose, when they desire to become visible ;
rendering them as dense and solid as they will, although they are in
reality subtle and impalpable, and imperceptible to our sight, because
of the fineness and purity of their nature and substance; or whether,

THE FOUR ORDERS OF SPIRITS

27

again, remaining in their simple spiritual substance, they put on bodily
forms when they require them, and when their need of them is over
suffer them to dissolve again into the same material out of which they
were taken : these are points upon which I am unwilling to reply.1
The Fathers appear to have held diverse opinions respecting them.
I do not see any clear reason for teaching the one or the other, and
confess that I do not know. I do not think, moreover, that a knowledge of these things will assist you much in your spiritual progress
8. Know only this one fact, that no created spirit can by itself
reach unto our minds—that is, supposing it to have no assistance from
either our body or its own. No spirit can so mix with or be poured
into us that we should become by the participation of it either learned
or more learned, either good or better. No angel, no soul, is capable
of possessing itself of me in such a manner ; nor am I capable of possessing any other. Nor have the angels themselves any such power
with regard to each other [i.e., without bodily organs]. This prerogative is reserved for the supreme Spirit, who is not limited by time or
space, and who alone, when He imparts knowledge either to angel or
man, does not need that we should have ears to hear, or that He
should have a mouth to speak. By His own inherent power H e pervades our souls; by His own inherent power H e is made manifest;
and being Himself a pure Spirit, He is apprehended by the pure. H e
alone has no need of any person or thing ; He alone is sufficient, both
to Himself and to all, by His Almighty Power alone. 2
1
St. Bernard propounds the same doubt in ' D e Consideratione,' Bk. v., c. 5.
Among the Fathers and chief Doctors of the Church there was great difference of
opinion upon this point : some affirming that Angels are incorporeal (bodiless) ;
others, and not a few, denying this, so that the Master of the Sentences, Bk. ii.,
distinct. 8, has not ventured to define anything in face of this variety of opinions.
I see that St. Augustine has spoken doubtfully upon this matter, but yet rather
inclines to the view that Angels have bodies. For as he had been imbued with
the Platonic teaching, he elsewhere mentions the opinion of the Platonists respecting the bodies of Angels in such a way as that he appears to agree with it
( ' D e Civitate Dei,' Bk. viii., c. 14-16). And in other passages he frequently calls
Angels living beings, and assigns bodies to them. In ' E n c h i r i d i o n ' (c. 59) he
says that the question as to the bodies of Angels is a very difficult one. T h e r e
is not space to point out other passages ; Estius has noted a great many in
Sentences, Bk. ii., distinct. 8.
At the present time it appears certain, and the opinion is approved by all, that
Angels are incorporeal; that is to say, have not bodies united to them by their
nature. (See St. Thomas, ' Summa,' part i., q. 50, art. I ; and q. 51, art. 1 and 2.)
W h e t h e r this is a part of the faith or no is a question on which all are not agreed.
(See Estius, loco citato.)
Sixtus of Sienna ('Biblioth. Sanct.,' Bk. v., annot. 8),
commends St. Bernard's modesty in confessing ignorance and not hazarding an
opinion on this question.
2
St. Bernard treats of this question rightly in * D e Consideratione' (Bk. v.,
cv. 12) : ' A n Angel is influential by the good thoughts which he suggests in us, not
by the good which he works in us ; he exhorts us to good, but does not create
it in us. God is in us in such a way that H e affects our soul expressly, that H e
pours into it H i s gifts, or rather is Himself poured into our soul, and causes us to
have union and participation with and in H i m , in so much that a certain one has
not feared to say that H e is one Spirit with our spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17). A n Angel,
then, is with the soul, God is in the s o u l ; the former dwells with it under the same
roof, but God is with it as its life.'

28

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

9. Yet He works effects unbounded and unnumbered by the
creatures corporeal or spiritual which are subject to H i m ; but as commanding them, not as entreating their aid. For example, H e has at
this moment employed my tongue to do His work, that is, to instruct
you ; whereas H e could undoubtedly have done it far more easily
and sweetly. But this is through His indulgence, not through His
indigence. In your spiritual progress He desires not a relief for Himself but the acquiring of merit by me. This every man w7ho is doing
any good needs to know, lest he should glory in himself, and not in
the Lord, with regard to the good works of the Lord. There are those
who do good without intending it, as an evil man or an evil angel.
And in this case it is certain that the good which is done by his means
is not done on His account, seeing that no good done can be of advantage to an unwilling doer of it. It is then only a dispensation
which is entrusted to him. But (I know not how or why) we feel the
good done by an evil minister to be more grateful and pleasant; and
that is the reason why God sometimes does good to the just by the
means of evil men, not that H e needs their assistance in doing good.
10. As for those creatures which have neither reason nor sense, who
can doubt that God has still less need of them ? But when even they
concur in the performance of some good work, then it appears how
all things serve Him who can justly say, The world is Mine, and the
fulness thereof (Ps. 1. 12). Assuredly, seeing that H e knows the
means best adapted to ends, H e does not in the service of His
creatures which are in bodies seek efficacy, but suitability. Suppose,
then, that the ministry of such creatures is generally made use of in
carrying on the various works of Divine Providence—as, for example,
in the showers falling to vivify the seeds, or to increase the crops, or
to ripen the fruits—what need of a body, I ask, has H e to whom all
bodies whatever, whether heavenly or earthly, are known to yield
instant obedience ? Clearly He, who finds no body alien to Himself,
would find a body of His own superfluous. But if I tried to include
in the present discourse all that occurs to me to be said upon this
subject 1 it would exceed its proper limits, and perhaps would overtax the strength of some of you, therefore I reserve for another occasion what remains unsaid on this.
1
Compare what is said upon the same subject in the treatise Concerning
and Free Will (c. xiii., n. 44, 45)-

Grace

THE SUPREME AND INFINITE

SPIRIT

29

SERMON VI.
OF THE SUPREME AND INFINITE SPIRIT, WHO IS GOD ; AND OF THE
SENSE IN WHICH MERCY AND JUDGMENT ARE CALLED THE FEET
OF GOD.

I

N order that this sermon may be continuous with that which went
before it, let me remind you of what was last said, that the
Supreme and Infinite Spirit, and He alone, has no need of the
help of any body or of the agency of any bodily organ to do whatever
H e wills to do. We have, then, no difficulty in saying that as God
alone is truly immortal, so H e alone is truly incorporeal, because He
alone, of all spirits, is so raised above the entire nature of a body, and
transcends it to such a degree, that H e has no need of its ministry in
any of His works, but when it so pleases Him, acts by the sole Fiat
of His Will, and thus performs whatever is His good pleasure. It is
that Divine Majesty alone, therefore, which has no need of any bodily
organization, neither on its own account nor for the sake of others,
because to Its omnipotent bidding obedience is swiftly rendered;
every high thing bends before it, every obstacle yields, every created
thing submits, and this without the intervention or help of any creature,
corporeal or spiritual. H e teaches or H e warns without a tongue;
H e gives or withholds without the use of hands; without feet H e
runs, and comes to the succour of those who perish.
2. Thus H e was wont to do with our fathers in former ages. Men
felt a continual stream of benefits, but they did not know who was
their Benefactor. By His strength He did indeed order all things
from the height even unto the depth; but as He at this same time
disposed them sweetly and gently, His action, though perpetual, was
unfelt by men. In the good gifts of the Lord they rejoiced, but the
Lord of Sabaoth was unknown to them, because all His judgments
were calm and tranquil. From Him were men, but they were not
with Him ; by Him they lived, but not for H i m ; it was from Him
that they had any wisdom, but they did not use it to gain the knowledge of H i m ; they were insensate, ungrateful, and altogether
alienated from Him. Thus at length it came about that they no
longer attributed their being, their life, their reason, to their Creator,
but to nature, or even (which was still more utterly unreasonable) to
chance ; while there were many who attributed not a few of the good
things which came to them to their own labour and skill. How great
praise these seducing spirits thus arrogated to themselves ! How
much was given to the sun and moon ! how much attributed to earth
and to water ! Even things which the hand of man had made, plants,
shrubs, and the commonest of seeds, were honoured as divinities.
3. Alas ! it is thus that men have degraded the object of their
worship, and changed their glory into the similitude of a calf that

3o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

eateth hay (Ps. cvi. 20). And God had pity upon their errors; H e
deigned to come forth from the clouds and darkness of His holy
mountain, and to set His tabernacle in the light of the sun
(Ps. xviii. 6). To those who knew only the flesh, H e offered His
Flesh, in order to teach them by it to know also the Spirit. For
whilst He was in the Flesh, He made use of the Flesh indeed, but to
do by it, not the works of the flesh, but the works of G o d ; commanding nature, fixing and rendering certain the uncertainty of
chance, rendering the wisdom of men foolishness, and breaking
down the tyranny of the demons, and thus plainly manifested that it
was He by whom the same wonders were worked in earlier ages also.
H e did, 1 repeat, in the flesh and by means of the flesh actions of
power, plainly miraculous; He spake words of salvation, He endured
cruel indignities ; and yet He showed evidently that it was H e who
had created the world by His power, sovereign, though invisible;
who ruled it by His wisdom, and protected it in His love and mercy.
Lastly, when He preached the Gospel to those ungrateful ones, when
H e gave signs and wonders to those who were unbelieving, when He
prayed even for those who crucified Him, did H e not clearly declare
Himself to be that High and Lofty One, who, with His Father,
makes His sun to shine daily upon the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust? (Matt. v. 45). As
H e Himself said : If1do not the works of My Father, believe Me not
(John x. 37).
4. Behold Him ! He who in a deep adorable silence imparts
eternal wisdom to the angels in heaven, He in the Flesh opens His
Mouth and teaches His disciples upon the mount. See how the
leper is healed at the mere touch of His Hands, how blindness is dispersed, hearing restored, the silent tongue set free, the disciple about
to be whelmed in the deep caught by the hand and saved : and can
you fail to recognise that great Being to whom David had said long
before : Thou openest Thine Hand and satisfiest the desire of every
living thing (Ps. cxlv. 16); and again, Thou openest Thine Hand and
they all are filled with good (Vs. civ. 28). See how the woman that
was a sinner, now a penitent and upon her knees at His Feet, hears
Him say: Thy sins are forgiven (Luke vii. 48), and recognises Him
of whom she may have read what had been written many ages
before: The devil shall go forth from before His Feet (Hab. iii. 5,
Vulg.). For where sin is remitted, there without doubt, the devil
is driven forth from the heart of the sinner. Therefore it is that H e
speaks in general terms of all true penitents : Now is the judgment
of this world; now shall the Frince of this world be cast out
(John xii. 31), because God forgives sins to him who humbly confesses them ; and thus the devil loses the dominion which he had
usurped in the sinner's heart.
5. Lastly, He walks with the Feet of His Flesh upon the waves
(Matt. xiv. 25); H e of whom the Psalmist had sung before'as yet
H e was incarnate : Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great

THE SUPREME AND INFINITE

SPIRIT

31

waters (Ps. lxxvii. 19). That is to say, Thou shalt tread under foot
the swelling hearts of the proud, and repress the disordered desires
of carnal men; shalt render the ungodly righteous, and lower the
pride of the arrogant. Yet because He does this invisibly, ;the carnal
man does not recognize whose Hand it is that brings it to pass.
Wherefore also it is that the Psalmist adds: And Thy Footsteps are
not known. Hence also the Almighty Father saith to the Son : Sit
Thou at My Right Hand until 1 make Thine enemies Thy footstool
(Ps. ex. 1), that is, Until I shall render all those who despise Thee
subject to Thy will, whether unwillingly and to their destruction, or
gladly and to their happiness. Now, since the flesh was not capable
of comprehending this, which is a work of the Spirit (for the natural
ma?i receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. ii. 14), it was
needful that the sinner should prostrate herself in the body, kneeling
upon mortal knees, and with mortal lips imprinting a kiss upon the
Feet of the Redeemer, and thus receive the pardon of her sins.
Thus is this change which the Right Hand of the Most High hath
wrought (Ps. lxxvii. 10), by which H e marvellously, yet invisibly,
justifies the unrighteous, made apparent even to carnal men.
6. But I must not omit to refer to those spiritual Feet of God
which it behoves the penitent, first of all, in a spiritual and mystical
sense, to kiss. I know the inquiring temper of your minds, which
will not, with its own goodwill, pass over the least detail without
thorough examination. Nor is it a matter to be neglected as of
small importance to know what is meant by the Feet of God so frequently referred to in Scripture. At one time H e is represented as
standing, as in this : We will worship in the place where His Feet have
stood (Ps. cxxxii. 7 ) ; at another as walking, as in the verse: I will
dwell in them and walk in them (Lev. xxvi. 12, and 2 Cor. vi. 16) ;
at another even as running, as here : He rejoiceth as a strong man to
run a race (Ps. xix. 5). If it seemed right to the Apostle to speak of
the Head of Christ as the Deity (1 Cor. xi. 3), then I think that we
may not unfitly speak of His Feet as the Humanity, and call the one
mercy, the other judgment. These two words are well known to
you, and if you reflect, many passages of Scripture will occur to you
in which they are each so employed. That God has taken the Foot
of mercy, in assuming the Flesh which H e united with Himself, is
taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews, whence we learn that Christ
was tempted in all points like as we are, though without sin, that H e
might be compassionate and merciful (Heb. iv. 15). And as for that
other, which has been named the foot of judgment, does not He who
is God and Man plainly signify that it belongs to Himself as Incarnate, where H e declares that the Father hath given Him authority to
execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Ma?i ? (John v. 27).
7. With these two Feet, then, fitly conjoined under the one Divine
Head, it was that the invisible Emmanuel was born of a woman,
made under the Law, was seen upon earth, and had converse among
men (Baruch iii. 37). It is, again, on these two Feet that He passes

32

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to and fro even now, but spiritually and invisibly, benefiting and
healing all those who are oppressed by the devil. On these, I repeat,
H e traverses the souls of those vowed to His service, enlightening
and penetrating constantly the hearts and reins of the faithful. These
are, it may be, the legs of the Bridegroom which are so strikingly
commended by the Bride in a later passage of this book, where she
likens them, if I do not mistake, to pillars of marble, set upon sockets
of fine gold (Cant. v. 15). And this is very beautifully phrased, for
it is in the Incarnate wisdom of God, which is represented as gold,
that mercy and truth have met together (Ps. lxxxv. 10), and elsewhere it is said that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and ti'uth
(Ps. xxv. 10).
8. Happy is the soul 1 in which the Lord Jesus has once set these
His Feet ! There are two signs by which you may recognise the
soul in which this is the case, and such a soul bears of necessity the
prints of those Divine footsteps. These are fear and hope : the one
bearing the print of judgment, the other of mercy. With reason it is
that God taketh pleasure in them that fear Him^ in them that hope in
Bis mercy (Ps. cxlvii. n ) ; since the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom (Prov. i. 7); hope, the progress in i t ; and charity its consummation and perfectness. And since that is the case, the benefit
{functus) is of no small value which is derived from that first kiss 2
which is imprinted upon the Feet of Christ, provided only that
neither the one nor the other of them be neglected. For if you are
deeply touched with grief for your sins and with fear of God's judgment, then you have pressed your lips upon the footprints of truth
and of judgment. If you temper that fear and that grief by a consideration of the Divine goodness, and by a hope of obtaining pardon,
then you may know that you are embracing the foot of mercy. But
to embrace the one without the other is not expedient, for the remembrance of judgment alone precipitates the soul into the abyss of
despair, and a deceptive assurance of mercy wherewith a mind
flatters itself, generates a most pernicious security.
9. It has been given even to me, a miserable sinner, sometimes to
sit at the Feet of the Lord Jesus, and to embrace now the one, now
the other, with a devotion as full and complete as His benignity
deigned to enable me to feel. But if it ever happened that, beingpressed by the reproaches of conscience, I was forgetful of mercy,
and attached myself too long to judgment, I was soon cast down by
incredible fear and pitiable shame, and surrounded by the darkness
of horror, so that trembling in the shadow, I could only cry : Who
knoweth the power of Thine anger: even according to Thy fear, so is
Thy wrath (Ps. xc. 11). But if, on the other hand, leaving that, I
had embraced the other, the foot of Mercy, more than was meet,
I was dissolved in negligence and indifference so great that I
speedily became less earnest in prayer, less prompt in action, more
inconsiderate in speech, more given to idle laughter—in short, less
1

Lit. mind, mens.

2

See Sermon IV.

THE ARDENT LOVE OF T H E SOUL FOR GOD

33

steady and stable in every part of my nature, whether of the inward
or outward man. Therefore, having learned from that best of
teachers, experience, I no longer dwell upon judgment alone, any
more than upon mercy alone; but unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing
of mercy and judgment (Ps. ci. i). Those two sources of righteousness for ever I will not forget; they shall both equally be my songs
in the house of my pilgrimage; until mercy having been exalted high
above judgment, my unhappy condition shall cease and come to a
full end, and the glory which shall be granted to me shall alone inspire my hymns of praise to Thee, without the least mingling of pain
or grief, for ever.

SERMON VIL
OF THE ARDENT LOVE OF THE SOUL FOR GOD ; AND OF THE CARE
AND ATTENTION THAT OUGHT TO BE GIVEN TO PRAYER AND
TO PSALMODY.

I

H A V E undertaken a new labour in inviting, of my own accord,
your questioning. For, since on the first occasion I took pains to
make clear to you, over and above indeed what was needed, the
names and the meanings, spiritual and mystical, of the Feet of God,
you are proceeding to inquire similarly what is the meaning of the
Hand of God, which, as we said, was in the second place to be
kissed. Well, I consent; I will meet your wishes—nay, I will do more
than you have asked, for I will show you not one Hand only, but
two, and each bearing its distinct name. I call the one Liberality, and
the other Force; because God gives liberally, and preserves powerfully that which H e has given. Now, he who is not ungrateful will,
in recognising and confessing that God, as He is the liberal Bestower
of all good things, so H e is their powerful Preserver, will, I say, kiss
each of these. Enough, I think, has been said of these two; let us
go on now to speak of the third.
2. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth. Who is it speaks
these words ? It is the Bride. Who is the Bride ? It is the Soul
thirsting for God. But I first specify the dispositions of men in
various relations to each other, so that those which belong properly
to a bride may appear more clearly. If a man is a slave, he fears
the face of his lord ; if he is a hireling, he looks for wages from
his lord's hand ; if a disciple, he gives attention to his teacher; if a
son, he renders honour to his father; but she who asks this is held
by the bond of love to him from whom she asks it. Of all the sentiments of nature, this of love is the most excellent, especially when it
is rendered back to Him who is the principle arid fountain of it—
that is, God. Nor are there found any expressions equally sweet to
signify the mutual affection between the Word of God and the soul
3

34

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

as those of Bridegroom and of Bride ; inasmuch as between individuals who stand in such a relation to each other, all things are
in common, and they possess nothing separate or divided. They
have one inheritance, one dwelling-place, one table; and they
are, in fact, one flesh. On this account it is that a man shall leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they
shall be two in one flesh (Gen. ii. 24). A woman also on her part
is bidden to forget her own people and her father's house, that her
husband may have pleasure in her beauty (Ps. xlv. I T , 12). If,
then, mutual love is especially befitting to a bride and bridegroom, it
is not unfitly that the name of Bride is given to a soul which loves.
It is a sign of her love that she makes this request.
She asks
neither for liberty, nor for wages, nor for an heritage, nor, finally, for
knowledge, but only for this ; and she does this as a chaste and
modest bride, who does not deny or dissimulate the sacred affection
which she feels. Notice how abruptly she breaks into her discourse.
She has a great favour to ask of one who is great, yet she does not
have recourse, as is too often the case, to caresses or flatteries ; she
does not wind her way to her request by gradual approaches. She
employs no preface, nor makes any attempt to win goodwill or
favour; but her request bursts forth openly and abruptly out of the
abundance of her heart, and, even, as it were, with a sort of
effrontery.
3. Does it not appear to you that she wished to say: Whom have I
in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire i?i comparison of Thee (Ps. Ixxiii. 25) ? Without doubt the love is chaste
which seeks the object of its love alone, without care for anything he
may possess. And that love is sacred which dwells not in fleshly
concupiscence, but in purity of the spirit. That love is ardent which is
so absorbed and, as it were, inebriated with its own affection that it
loses all thought of the greatness of its object. What! He looketh
upon the earth, and it trembleth (Ps. civ. 32), and from Him she presumes to ask this ? Is she inebriated ? Undoubtedly it is so with
her; and perhaps, when she burst forth thus passionately, she had
come forth from the banqueting-house, into which, at a later time, she
gloried so greatly to have been led (Cant. i. 3, and ii. 4). For this is
what David also said of certain saints in addressing the Holy One :
They shall be inebriated with the fatness of Thy House: and Thou shall
make the?n to drink of the rushing river of Thy pleasures (Ps. xxxvi. 8).
Oh, how great is the power of love ! how perfect the confidence which
is felt under the influence of the Spirit of liberty. How abundantly
manifest it is that perfect love casteth out fear (1 John iv. 18)!
4. It is, nevertheless, from a feeling of modesty and timidity that
she directs her address, not to the Bridegroom Himself, but to
others, as if H e were not present. It is, indeed, a great thing that
is asked, and there is every need that the petition should be accompanied with modesty, and that the petitioner should be recommended. That is wherefore she seeks, through the friends of her

THE ARDENT LOVE OF THE SOUL FOR GOD

35

well-beloved and the dwellers in His house, to commend herself
to Him. But who are these friends ? I believe that they are the
holy angels who are present wTith human beings who pray, and
offer to God their prayers and vows, since they are known to l i t
up pure hands unto heaven without anger or variance. This is
shown by the angel of Tobias, who said to Tobit: When thou didst
pray, I did bring the remembrance of thy prayers before the Holy One :
and when thou didst bury the dead, I was with thee likewise (Tobit
xii. 12, 15). I think you are sufficiently persuaded of that truth from
other testimonies of the Scriptures also. Furthermore, that the angels
deign to be present, and to associate themselves with the praises of
those who sing Psalms, is shown with great plainness by the Psalmist:
i
The chiefs (principes) went before, and with them were joined the
players upon stringed instruments: in the midst were the maidens
who played the timbrel' (Ps. lxviii. 25, Vulg.). Wherefore he says
also : ' In the presence of the angels will I sing praise unto T h e e '
(Ps. cxxxviii. 1, Vulg.). On this account, I greatly regret that some of
you are weighed down by heavy sleep during the sacred vigils. Such
persons do not pay due reverence to the citizens of heaven, but, in
the presence of the ' chiefs,' appear as men dead; whereas they are,
on the other hand, touched by your vigilance when you are awake,
and delight to assist at your solemn services. I fear lest, revolted by
your sloth, they will some time or other withdraw with indignation, 1
and that then each of you should begin thus late to say to God with
a lamentable voice: Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from
me: Thou hast made me an abomination unto them ; and again : Lover
and friend hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into
darkness (Ps. lxxxviii. 8, 18); and again : My lovers and my friends
stand aloof from my sore, and they that seek after my life lay snares for
me (Ps. xxxviii. 11, 12). For if the good spirits thus depart from us,
who will be able to sustain the attacks of evil spirits ? I say, then, to
those who are in the habit of thus giving way to sleep : Cursed be he
that doeth the work of the Lord negligently (Jer. xlviii. 10, Vulg.). To
them also saith, not I, but the Lord : L would thou wert cold or hot :
so then, because thou art lukewarm, L will spew thee out of My Mouth
(Apoc. iii. 15, 16). When, then, you are engaged (statis) in prayer,
or the chanting of the Psalms, have some thought of your chiefs;
perform that in which you are occupied with reverence and according
to the Rule, and you may glory in the thought that your angels always
1
Sixtus of Sienna ('Biblioth.,' Bk. v., annot. 216) makes the following observations upon this passage: 'Divines are in the habit of referring to words of
St. Bernard in Sermon VII. in Cantic. to show that guardian Angels do sometimes
abandon the charge of those of whom they have been given the care.' Albertus
Magnus, in the first volume of his ' Summa,' quaes. 1-8, expounding this passage,
says: ' Men are deserted by their Angel guardians, not as regards place or local
guardianship, but only as regards power and efficacy ; but this is not because of
any sloth on the part of the Angel, but is the fault of the man.' The Saint was
accustomed to say in a similar manner, that a sinner departs from God [and abides
in] a region of unlikeness to Him, by distance not of place, but of merit !

^

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

behold the Face of the Father (Matt, xviii. 10). They are, in fact, sent
to perform their ministry for our benefit, who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. i. 14); they bear to heaven our devotion, and bring back
grace to us from thence. Let us take part in the functions of those
with whom we are to be sharers in glory, that as in the mouth of babes
and sucklings praise may be perfected (Ps. viii. 2). To them let us say:
Sing praises unto our God, sing praises; and let us hear their answering
response : Sing praises, sing praises mito our King (Ps. xlvii. 6).
5. Associate yourselves, then, with the sweet singers of heaven to
chant in common the praises of God, since you are yourselves fellowcitizens of the saints, and of the household of God; and Sing praises
with understanding (Ps. xlvii. 7). As food is sweet in the mouth, so
are Psalms in the heart. Only let the soul that is faithful and prudent
grind them, as it were, between the teeth of his intelligence, for fear
lest if they be swallowed in great fragments, and not masticated, the
palate be defrauded of their sweetness, which is above honey and the
honeycomb. Let us offer a honeycomb, as did the Apostles at the
banquet of heaven, at the Table of the Lord (Luke xxiv. 42). Honey
in the comb—that is, spiritual devotion in the letter of Scripture.
The letter, says an Apostle elsewhere, killeth if it be swallowed down
without the seasoning of the Spirit (2 Cor. iii. 6). If, then, with
the Apostle, thou wilt sing with the Spirit, sing with the understanding also (1 Cor. xiv. 15), and then you, too, shall know the truth of
that saying of Jesus : The words which I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life (John vi. 63); and also of that which we
read as from the mouth of wisdom : My Spirit is sweeter than honey
(Ecclus. xxiv. 20, Vulg.).
6. Thus thy soul shall delight itself in fatness ; thy burnt offering
shall be fat and perfect. Thus thou wilt placate the King; thus thou
wilt give pleasure to the chiefs of the heavenly hosts, and render all
the dwellers above favourable to thee. At the sweet odours of thy
devotion, they shall say of thee : Who is this that cometh up out of the
wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with 7iiyrrh and frankincense,
and with all powders of the merchant ? (Cant. iii. 6). Replies the
Psalmist: The princes ofjuda are their leaders* the princes of Zabulon
and the princes of Naphthali (Ps. Ixviii. 27)—that is, the princes of
those who praise God, who observe continence, and who love contemplation. For our princes know well that the praises of those who
sing Psalms, the firmness of those who observe continence, and the
purity of those who delight in contemplation, are accepted by their
King; and they have it much at heart to require from us the firstfruits of the Spirit, which are no other than the first and purest fruits
of wisdom. For you know, brethren, that, in Hebrew, Juda signifies
'praising' or 'confessing/ Zabulon ' a settled or strong dwelling,7 and
Naphthali ' a hind let loose J (Gen. xlix. 21); for its leaps and bounds
well typify the ecstasies of the speculative mind, and it is able to
thread the closest thickets of forests, as those [of that disposition can
penetrate] the greatest difficulties of meaning. We know, also, who

THE ARDENT LOVE OF THE SOUL FOR GOD

37

it was that said : Whoso otfereth the sacrifice of praise shall honour Me
(PS.1.23). .
7. But since 'praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner'
(Ecclus. xv. 9), have you not extreme need of the virtue of continence, so that sin may not reign in your mortal body ? But continence has no merit before God when it seeks glory from man.
Wherefore there is especial need of a pure intention, so that the mind
craves to please God only, and is able to attach itself simply to Him.
For to cleave to God is nothing else than to behold G o d ; and this is
a singular felicity, and it is bestowed upon those only who are of a
pure heart (Matt. v. 8). David had this pure heart, for he said to
God, My soul has attached itself closely to Thee (Ps. lxiii. 8 ) ; and also,
/ / is good for me to draw near to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28). In beholding
God he was drawn near to Him ; and in drawing near to God he
beheld Him. When, therefore, souls are in the continual exercise of
these lofty virtues, the heavenly messengers converse frequently and
familiarly with them, especially if they shall have perceived them to
be frequent in prayer. Who shall accord unto me, O kindly chiefs
of the heavenly hosts, the privilege of making known my requests
before God by your means ? I do not say to God, for to Him the
thoughts of man lie open, but before, and in the presence of, God ;
that is to say, to those who are with God, the archangels (virtutibus),
and those blessed ones who are delivered from the burden of the
flesh. Who shall raise out of the dust, and free from the dunghill, a
being as poor and as helpless as I am, that I may have a place among
the princes, and sit upon a throne of glory ? I do not doubt that
they receive with joy and affection in the palace him whom they have
deigned to visit in a filthy hovel. After all, how can they, after having
rejoiced in the conversion of a sinner, fail to acknowledge him in his
exaltation ?
8. That is why I think that it is to them, who are the attendants
and the companions of the Bridegroom, that the Bride communicates
her prayer, and makes known the desire of her heart, in these words.
And see with what familiarity and confidence the soul, sighing under
the burden of the flesh, converses with the heavenly powers. She
desires earnestly the affection of her Spouse; she asks for that
which she desires; but she does not name Him whom she loves,
inasmuch as she does not doubt of their knowledge, because she
converses with them frequently of Him ; just as Mary Magdalene
does not mention by name Him whom she sought, but said to Him
whom she thought was the gardener, Sir, if thou have borne Him
hence (John xx. 15). Of whom does she say Him ? It is not stated,
because she believes that everyone knows Who it is that is not for
one moment absent from her heart. So it is with the Bride. Speaking with the companions of her Spouse, as to her confidants, to whom
she is aware that every thought of her heart is known, she does not
mention the name of her Beloved, but bursts forth in these words.
What is meant by this kiss I will not keep you longer to explain ;

3S

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

but you shall hear in the sermon of to-morrow what (in response to
your prayers) shall be suggested to me by the goodness of Him who
teacheth all things. For flesh and blood does not reveal this secret,
but only He who searcheth the deep things of God ; that is, the
Holy Ghost, who proceedeth from the Father and Son, with whom
H e liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON V I I I .
THAT THE KISS OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT j AND THAT THE CHURCH
ASKS FOR THIS KISS THAT SHE MAY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF
T H E HOLY TRINITY.

T

O-DAY, in discharge of the promise made yesterday, I propose to consider the third and highest of these sacred
mysteries. Listen very attentively to this hallowed secret,
which is indeed of consummate sweetness, but which is rarely experienced, and is comprehended with difficulty. It seems to me
(to go a little farther back still) that H e who saith, No man knoweth
the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but
the Son, and he to who?nsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27),
has here designated a certain kiss ineffable and unknown to any
created being. For the Father loves the Son, and embraces Him
with a love which is unlike every other—the Supreme embracing
His Equal, the Eternal His Co-eternal, the One Being His Sole
One. But H e is united to the Son by an affection not less, proceeding from the Son, as H e Himself attests when H e says, That the
world may know that I love the Father, arise, let us go hence (John
xiv. 3 1 ) ; that is, without doubt, to His Passion. Now, this cognition
of mutual love between Him who Begets and Him who is Begotten,
what is it but a kiss, as deeply mysterious as it is sweet ?
2. I hold it for a thing certain that even the angelic creation is not
admitted to the knowledge of that arcanum of Divine Love, which is
at once so august and so sacred. And, in fact, St. Paul, knowing
this, speaks of that peace which passeth all understanding (Phil. iv. 7),
even that of angels. On this account even the Bride, although she
may be so bold as to ask much, does not dare to ask for this, which
is reserved for the Father only; her request is a lesser one. Behold
the newly-made Bride receiving a new proof of the affection of her
Bridegroom; yet not that mentioned above. He breathed on them,
says St. John, speaking of Jesus breathing upon His Apostles, that
is, the primitive Church; and said u?tto them, Receive ye the Holy
Ghost (John xx. 22). That was, without doubt, a kiss which H e
gave to them. What ? that physical breath ? Nay, but the invisible
Spirit, who was thus communicated by the breathing of the Lord, so

THAT T H E KISS OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT

39

that by this very action it might be understood that He proceeds
from the Son equally as from the Father. It is sufficient for the
Bride if she receive the gift of grace from her Bridegroom, though it
be not that highest grace of all. Let no one suppose that this is a
small favour, or of little value ; for this signifies nothing else than to
receive the inpouring of the Holy Spirit. For if the Father is
rightly understood as bestowing the kiss, and the Son as receiving
it, we shall not err in understanding by the kiss the Holy Spirit,
inasmuch as H e is the peace unalterable, the bond indissoluble,
the indivisible love, the inviolable unity, between the Father and
the Son.
3. It is, therefore, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, that the
Bride has the boldness to ask trustingly, under this name or figure,
that the inpouring of the Holy Spirit may be granted to her. She
does indeed hold, as it were, a pledge, which deprives her request of
any shadow of presumption. I mean the declaration of the Son,
when H e said: No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither
knoweth any man the Father but the Son ; and then added, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27). But the Bride
has no doubt that if He wills to grant this knowledge to any, it will
be to her. Therefore, she prays boldly that this may be given to
her; that is, that Holy Spirit, in whom both the Son is revealed,
and the Father. For the One is not made known without the Other :
according to that saying : He that hath seen Me, hath seen My Father
also (John xiv. 9). Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father. But he that acknowledged the Son hath the Father also
(1 John ii. 23), from which it appears plainly that neither is the
Father known without the Son, nor the Son without the Father.
And it follows from this that he who said : This is life eternal, to know
Thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent
(John xvii. 3), placed the highest blessedness in the knowledge, not
of either Divine Person, but of Each. Finally, we read that those
who follow the Lamb have His Name, and the Name of His Father,
written in their foreheads y1 that is to say, that their knowledge of
Each Divine Person is a glory to them.
4. But someone perhaps says : The knowledge of the Holy Spirit,
then, is not necessary, since, when it-is declared that life eternal consists in knowing both the Father and the Son, no mention is made of
the Holy Spirit. That is true; but how can anyone who knows
perfectly the Father and the Son be ignorant of the Goodness of the
One and of the Other ? And this Goodness is the Holy Spirit. For
a man does not wholly know another man, as long as he is ignorant,
whether the will of that other is good or evil. And we may add to
this, that when it is said : This is life eternal, that they might know Thee,
1
Rev. xiv. 1, according to the Vulgate. Codd. Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus
have this reading; but others, which are followed by the English A.V., omit
4
His Name and.' The R.V. restores the words, and there can be little doubt
that it does so rightly.—ED.

4Q

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, ivhom Thou hast sent; if mention
be made of that mission as showing the goodness and benignity of
the Father in deigning to send the Son, and that of the Son in
willingly obeying, that proves that the speaker is not wholly silent
respecting the Holy Ghost, since the goodness and grace of the
Father and the Son are referred to, and Their Love and Goodness is
the Holy Ghost.
5. When, therefore, the Bride is praying that this gift may be conferred upon her, her entreaty is for the inpouring of the grace of this
threefold knowledge, as far as it can be experienced in this mortal
body. But it is the Son of whom she entreats it, since it is the
function of the Son to reveal it to whom H e will. The Son reveals
Himself then to whom H e will, and H e reveals also the Father. This
revealing is doubtless made by the Holy Ghost; for such is the sense
of the words spoken by the Apostle : For God hath revealed [them]
unto us by His Spirit (1 Cor. ii. 10). But in giving the Spirit by whom
H e reveals this knowledge, H e reveals also the Spirit Himself; in
giving H e reveals Him, and in revealing gives. Now, that revelation which is made by the Holy Ghost not only enlightens [the soul] to
knowledge, but also enkindles it to love, as St. Paul says : The Love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given
unto us (Rom. v. 5). And therefore also perhaps it is not said of
those who, when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, that their
knowledge was an effect of the revealing of the Spirit, because when
they had knowledge of God, they did not love Him (Rom. i. 21).
It is true that you have: God hath showed it unto them (i. 19); but
it is not added: ' By His Spirit,' lest those impious minds who were
contented with the knowledge which puffeth up, and cared not for
that which edifieth, should arrogate to themselves the having received
the kiss which belongs to the Bride. Finally, the Apostle states by
what means they had this knowledge : The invisible things of God are
clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made (1. 20),
whence it appears that they have not perfectly known Him for whom
they had no love. For if they had known Him completely, they
could not have overlooked that goodness which impelled Him to be
born in the Flesh, and to die for our redemption. Listen, then, and
learn what it was that had been revealed to them of God: His
Eternal Power and Godhead (Ibid.). You see that, exalting themselves in the presumption of their own spirit, and not under the
influence of the Spirit of God, they wished to peer into those things
which were great and sublime in God, and have failed to discern
that God [Incarnate] was meek and lowly of heart. Nor is this
wonderful, for we read that Behemoth, who is their head, scorns to
cast his eye upon what is humble and low; but beholdeth all high
things (Job xli. 34). Whereas, on the contrary, David did not exercise
himself in great matters, nor in things too high for him (Ps. cxxxi. 1),
lest the searcher out of glory should be overwhelmed with glory
(Prov. xxv. 27, VULG.).

THAT THE KISS OF GOD IS T H E HOLY SPIRIT

41

6. And do you also, brethren, that you may conduct yourselves
with prudence while searching out Divine mysteries, bear in mind
the warning of the wise m a n : Seek not out the things that are too
hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength
(Ecclus. iii. 21). Walk among those exalted subjects in the Spirit,
and not in thy own judgment. The teaching of the Holy Spirit does
not sharpen curiosity, but kindles charity. Rightly thus does the
Bride, when seeking Him whom her soul loveth, not trust herself to
the judgment of the flesh, nor follow the futile reasonings of human
curiosity, but, as here, prays for this Gift, that is, she invokes the
Holy Spirit, so that through Him she may receive at once the love
for knowledge, and the seasoning of grace to accompany it. Well is
it said that the knowledge thus given is accompanied with love,
since a kiss is the sign of love. But the knowledge which puffeth
up, being without love, is not thus conveyed. Nor can they who
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, arrogate this
to themselves at all; but this gift conveys both the one and the
other of these graces; both the light of knowledge and the unction of
piety. For H e is a Spirit of wisdom and knowledge ; and as a bee
bears honey and wax, so H e has in Himself both that which enkindles the light of knowledge, and that which infuses the savour of
grace. Let not him who has understanding of the truth, but without
love, nor him who loves, without understanding the truth, think that
he has received that gift, for in it there is no place either for error
or for lukewarmness. That is the reason why the Bride, in order
to receive this twofold grace, presents her two lips; I mean the
reason full of intelligence, and the will full of love for heavenly
wisdom; so that, being full of joy at having received an embrace
so full and so perfect, she may have the happiness to hear : Grace
is poured upon thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever
(Ps. xlv. 3). Therefore the Father, in His Kiss to the Son, communicates to Him the depths of His Divinity in their fulness, and breathes
[upon Him] the sweetness of His Love. And Scripture intimates
this, where it is said : Day unto day uttereth speech (Ps. xix. 2). In
this Embrace, eternal, unique, and blessed, it is not given to any
created being to have part; the Spirit alone, who is both of the One
and of the other, is conscious of that mutual Recognition and Love,
and is a Witness of it. For who hath known the Mind of the Lord ?
or who hath been His Counsellor ? (Rom. xi. 34).
7. But someone will perhaps say to m e : ' How, then, have you
come to a knowledge of that which you say is hid from the ken of
every creature?' Undoubtedly the Only Begotten Son, which is in
the Bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (John i. 18). Yes, it
is He who hath declared Him, not to me, a miserable man, unworthy
of such an honour, but to the friend of the Bridegroom, to John,
whose words these are; and not only to him, but to John the
Evangelist, as the disciple whom Jesus loved. For his soul was
pleasing to God, truly worthy of the name and of the dowry of the

42

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Bride, worthy of the embraces of the Bridegroom, worthy, finally, to
recline upon the Breast of the Lord. In the Bosom of the only
Begotten Son John drank in that which He had from the Bosom of
the Father. Yet it was not H e alone who received that great grace,
but all those also to whom the same, who is the Angel of great
counsel, said : / have called you friends, for all things that I have
heard of My Father I have made known unto you (John xv. 15).
This also did Paul drink in, who had received his Gospel neither
from man, nor by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ
(Gal. i. n , 12). Assuredly all these holy men can say as truly as
happily, ' T h e Only Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the
Father, hath declared Him unto us.' And that revelation, what
was it but the bestowal of this embrace sacred and eternal; as it
is said : / and My Father are One. And again: The Father is in
Me, and I in Him (John x. 30, 38). That is, indeed, as it were,
a kiss, but one to which no creature draws near. A kiss it is of
love and of peace, but the love surpasses all knowledge, and the
peace all understanding. But that which eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, God
revealed to Paul by His Spirit, that is, by the Kiss of His Mouth.
Therefore the relation of the Father to the Son, and of the Son to
the Father, is, so to speak, a kiss by the mouth. But that [relation]
of which we read : We have received, not the spirit of this world,
but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know those things
which are freely given unto us by God (1 Cor. ii. 12), is of and from
this.
8. Now, to distinguish more clearly between these two, he who receives the fulness itself has the one, but he who receives only of
the fulness has but the other. Paul was indeed a great man, but
how high soever he might lift his head (os), and even though it
should reach unto the third heaven, he must of necessity remain far
below the Countenance of the Most High (os Altissimi), and must
resign himself to remain within the limits of his condition. And
since he will not be able to attain to that Countenance of glory, he
must humbly entreat that God will condescend to him, and send to
him a gift from on high. But H e who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God (Phil. ii. 6), so that H e could say without fear / and
My Father are One, because H e is united to [His Father] as to an
equal, and is embraced by Him as by an equal, H e does not, from a
lower station, beg for a gift, but is joined in an embrace with equality
of rank, and by a privilege which is the right of Him alone. T o
Christ, therefore, the kiss is fulness, to Paul it is participation.
9. Happy, nevertheless, is the sign by which comes not only the
knowledge of God, but also the love of Him as our Father, who
cannot be fully known unless H e be at the same time perfectly loved.
What soul among you has ever felt in the depths of his conscience
the Spirit of the Son crying, Abba, Father•? (Gal. iv. 6). That soul
which feels itself animated by the same Spirit as the Son, that soul,

THAT T H E KISS OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT

43

I say, may believe that it is the object of the affection of the Father.
Trust in Him, O soul, whosoever thou art, that hast the happiness to
be in that condition ; trust in Him, doubting nothing. In the Spirit
of the Son recognise that thou art a daughter of the Father, the
sister, or the Bride, of the Son. Such a soul is, in fact, you will find,
called by one or by the other name.
The proof of this is at
hand ; it will not be difficult to produce it. For what is the voice of
the Bridegroom to her? Is it not, Come info My garden, My sister,
My spouse ? (Cant. v. i). She is sister because she has the same
Father; she is spouse because she is in the same Spirit. And if a
marriage in the flesh makes of two persons one flesh, shall not a
spiritual bond much more join two into one Spirit ? And, in fact,
the Apostle declares that he who is joined unto the Lord is one
Spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17). But hear also with what affection and what
condescension the Father names her His daughter, and as His
daughter-in-law invites her to the kind embrace of His Son : Hearken,
O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people
and thy father's house; so shall the Xing greatly desire thy beauty
(Ps. xlv. 10, n ) . It is from Him that she makes this request. But,
O holy soul, maintain the deepest reverence, for He is the Lord thy
G o d ; not to be embraced, perhaps; but rather to be adored, with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON IX.
OF T H E BREASTS OF T H E BRIDEGROOM THAT IS, CHRIST : WHEREOF
T H E ONE IS PATIENCE IN WAITING FOR THE CONVERSION OF
SINNERS ; T H E OTHER, BENIGNITY OR WILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE
THEM.

L

E T us come now to the exposition of the book, and give the
reason for the words of the Bridegroom, as well as the result
which follows from them. For without a commencement,
they seem to hang in mid-air, and then abruptness, as it were,
renders their sense obscure. Therefore it will be well, in the first
place, to ascertain upon what previous facts or truths they rest.
Suppose, then, that those whom we have called the companions of
the Bridegroom now approach the Bride, as yesterday and the day
before, to visit and to salute her. They find her plunged in sadness,
uttering sighs and groans; their surprise is excited, and they question
her thus : What has occurred ? Why do we find you more sad than
usual ? What is the cause of these unexpected sighs ? When, alienated
and turned away from the path of right, you were following your earthly
companions, you saw yourself obliged, by the sad condition to which
their cruelties had brought you, to return at length to your true Lord,

44

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

did you not entreat with many prayers and tears to be permitted but
once to touch his feet ? ' I remember it,' she replies. ' Very well,
then,' they continue, ' after having obtained that grace and received
pardon for your offences in the permission to kiss His Feet, did you
not again become impatient; and not content with such a condescension, but desiring still greater favour, you asked with the same
eagerness, and obtained the second grace, that you should kiss His
Hand, and by that grace have obtained virtues neither few nor
small?' ' I do not deny it,5 she replies again. But they still continue : ' Were you not accustomed to protest and declare with an
oath, that if ever it were granted to you to attain to kiss His Hand,
that favour would suffice for you, and that you would ask for nothing
more ?' ' It was even so.' ' What then ? Do you complain that
anything has been taken away of what has been bestowed upon
you?' 'Nothing.' 'Then, do you fear that you will fall again
under condemnation for those offences of your past life which you
believed had been pardoned ?' ' No, not at all'
2. 'Come, then, say in what way we can satisfy your need.' ' I
shall not be at rest,' she replies, 'unless H e complete His goodness
to me.' I am thankful that I have been permitted to kiss His
Feet; it is still more a cause of gratitude to me to kiss His Hand ;
but if H e has any care for me at all, let Him grant unto me the third
and crowning grace. I am not ungrateful, but I love. I have received, T confess it, favours which are far above my merits, but yet
they are far below my desires. It is not reason which bears me on,
but the vehement yearning of my soul. Do not, I entreat, complain
of my presumption, which is but the effect of my ardent love. It is
true that shame would withhold me, but love overcomes shame. I am
not unmindful that the King's honour loveth judgment (Ps. xcix. 4),
but the violence of love does not wait for judgment; it is not
moderated by advice, nor restrained by shame, nor controlled by
reason. I beg, I supplicate, I entreat again and again that H e
grant unto me this my request. Lo, in His grace for many years
now I strive to live chastely and soberly, I apply myself to reading,
I resist all manner of vices, I occupy myself continually in prayer, I
keep watch against temptations, I reflect upon my past years in
bitterness of my soul, I study to conduct myself among my brethren
as far as in me lies peacefully and without quarrel, I submit myself
to the higher powers, going forth and coming in at the command of
my elders ; I desire not the goods of any other—on the contrary, I
have given up all that I have, and my own self also; in the sweat of
my face I eat my bread. But yet I go through all these practices of
piety from mere custom, and not for the sweetness felt in them.
What else am I, to borrow the language of a Prophet, than as
Ephraim, a?i heifer that is taught to tread out the corn ? (Hos. x. n ) .
And is it not said in the Gospel, that he who does only that which
it is his duty to do is an unprofitable servant? (Luke xvii. 10). I
fulfil perhaps my appointed tasks as best I can, but throughout them

THE BREASTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM

45

all my soul does not cease to be as a land without water. That my
offering may be a perfect one, let Him, I entreat, grant the grace for
which I pray.
3. I remember that many of you also were accustomed in their
private confessions1 to complain of a similar languor and dryness of
soul, and of a kind of heaviness and stupor of mind which rendered
them incapable of entering into high or refined thoughts, so that they
felt little sweetness of spirit, or none at all. What do those souls
yearn for, if not for this? Yes, they long and sigh for the Spirit
of wisdom and of understanding; of understanding that they may
reach knowledge ; of wisdom that they may love and take delight in
that which they grasp with the understanding. I suppose that the
Psalmist was referring to this disposition of mind when he uttered
the prayer : Let my soul be satisfied as ivith marrow and fatness,
and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips (Ps. lxiii. 5). He
sought certainly for this mystical kiss, which, after having spread
upon his lips the unction of special2 grace, should be followed by
the effect which in another prayer he asks for : Let my mouth be
filled with Thy praise, that L may sing of Thy glory and honour all
the day long (Ps. lxx. 8). Lastly, when he has tasted that heavenly
sweetness, he bursts forth : Oh, how great is Thy goodness, O Lord,
which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee! (Ps. xxxi. 19).
We have, however, lingered over [the explanation of] this, yet I
have not, I fear, even yet expounded it as it deserves. But let us
pass now to the rest, for that great truth is better known by the impression it makes [for itself], than by the expressions which are used
of it.
4. The text goes on to say : Thy breasts are better than wine, and
their fragrance than the choicest perfumes (Cant. i. 1, 2, Vulg.).
Whose are these words, the author does not say, and thus leaves us
at liberty to assign them freely to the person they best befit. There
seem to me to be reasons for attributing them not unsuitably to
the Bride, or to the Bridegroom, or even to the Bridegroom's companions. First I will state those in favour of attributing them to the
Bride. W^hile she is conversing with the friends of the Bridegroom,
H e draws near who is the subject of their discourse. He is wont to
approach those willingly who are speaking of Him. It was thus that
H e joined Himself to those who were going to Emmaus, and discoursing of Him by the way, and to them H e showed Himself a
pleasant and conversible companion (Luke xxiv. 15). It is this very
thing which is promised in the Gospel: Where two or three are
gathered together in My Name, there am L in the midst of them
1
The monks under the charge of St. Bernard were in the habit of revealing to
him their faults of negligence (as the Saint calls them in Sermon I. for the Day of
the Circumcision, //. 5); and they did this in private. Guy, the fifth Prior of the
Chartreuse, gives this name to confessions made in private cells ; those which
were made on Saturday, though in private, he calls common or public. See
'Life,' Bk. i., n. 28.
2
Specialis. Another reading is spiritualis.

46

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

(Matt, xviii. 20); and by the prophet: Before they call, L will ansiver,
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Is. lxv. 24). So also in
this instance, though not called, H e is present; and delighting in the
words spoken, H e anticipates the petitions offered. And I judge
that sometimes H e does not wait for the spoken words, but appears
in response to thoughts alone. Thus speaks the man who was found
to be after God's own heart: Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the
humble : Thine ear has heard the preparatio?i of their heart (Ps. x. 17,
Vulg.). Do you also, brethren, keep watch over yourselves whereever you are, bearing in mind that God knoweth all your thoughts,
that H e trieth the very heart and reins, that He has fashioned the
heart of each of you individually, and understands all your actions.
The Bride, then, feeling that the Bridegroom is present, stops short.
She is ashamed of the presumption in which she finds herself surprised. In her modesty, she had thought to make her attempt by
means of intermediaries, but now she turns suddenly to Him, and
endeavours to excuse her temerity as best she can : Thy breasts are
better than wine, she says, and their fragrance than the choicest perfiwies. As if she said : * If I seem to raise my desire too high, it is
Thou, O my Bridegroom, who art the cause of this, in that Thou
hast deigned to nourish me with the sweetness of Thy breasts, and
thus I have laid aside all fear, not because of my boldness, but of
Thy lovingkindness, and am more bold in my requests than is
fitting. This confidence renders me mindful only of Thy kindness
to me, but unmindful of Thy Majesty.7 All this is said to make
clear the connection of the words which follow.
5. Now, let us consider after what manner the breasts of the Bridegroom are thus praised. These are the two evidences of His goodness by nature, that He patiently waits for the sinner, and receives
the penitent with clemency. It is the very essence of sweetness, 1 I
repeat, that abounds in the Breast of the Lord Jesus, and it is twofold: patience in waiting for the sinner, and freeness in granting pardon
to him when penitent. This is not a discovery of my own ; you may
read of it in the Scripture, as with regard to His patience : Despisest
thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering ?
And again, Knowest thou ?iot that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance ? (Rom. ii. 4). To this end, indeed, it is that H e long
suspends the execution of His vengeance against the despisers, in
order that He may show the grace of remission to the penitent. For
H e desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be
converted and live. Let us give also some examples respecting [what
I have called] the other breast—that is, of willingness to pardon. Of
this you read, Ln the hour when the sinner shall lame?it for his sin, it
shall be remitted unto him (Ezek. xxxiii. 11, 12); and again, Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous ma?i his thoughts, and
let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him ; and
to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Is. lv. 7). David sums
1

Didcedo suavitatis.

T H E BREASTS OF T H E BRIDEGROOM

47

both these attributes beautifully in few words : The Lord is merciful
and gracious; slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy (Ps. ciii. 8). It is
just because the Spouse has made proof of this double goodness that
she is emboldened, as she confesses, even to venture to ask of Him
this grace. ' What wonder is it,' she says, ' O my Spouse, if I presume
to ask so much of Thee, since I have had experience of such abundance
of sweetness from Thy breast ? It is the sweetness of Thy breast, not
any confidence in my own merits, which encourages me to be so bold
in my request.'
6. Of that further saying, Thy Breasts are better than wine, the
meaning is this : The unction of grace, which flows from Thy Breasts,
is more efficacious to me for my spiritual advancement than the severe
reprimand of those set over me. Not only better than wine, but their
fragrance than the choicest perfumes, because, not content with nourishing those who are present with the milk of inward sweetness, you
sprinkle over those who are absent the pleasant odour of a good
reputation, and make them to have a good report both from those
who are within and from those who are without. You have, I say,
milk within and perfumes without, since there will be none for you to
nourish with milk, if you do not first attract them to you by the sweet
odour of your perfume. We shall see later on whether those perfumes
contain any meaning worthy of consideration when we come to that
passage, We will run after the odour of Thy perfumes (i. 3). Now let
us consider, as I promised, whether the words which hitherto we have
attributed to the Bride have any fitness for the Bridegroom also.
7. The Bride is speaking of the Bridegroom; suddenly, as I have
before explained, H e is present; H e gives assent to her petition ; H e
gives her the embrace asked, and fulfils in her the Scripture, which
says: Thou hast given him his hearfs desire, and hast not withholden
the request of his lips (Ps xxi. 2), of which the fulness of breasts is a
witness. For so great is the efficacy of it, that the Bride, on receiving
it, becomes fruitful, and thus gives testimony to its power. Those
whose desire and endeavour it is to pray frequently, they have made
proof of what I say. Often we approach the altar and begin to pray
with a heart lukewarm and dry. But if we steadily persist, grace
comes suddenly in a flood upon us, our breast grows full of increase,
a wave of piety fills our inward heart; and if we press on, the
milk of sweetness conceived in us will spread over us in fruitful
flood. The Bridegroom then speaks thus: 'Thou hast, O my Spouse,
that which thou prayedst for; and this is a sign to thee that thy
breasts have become more precious than wine. Thence shalt thou
know that thou hast received it because thou hast become fruitful.
Therefore have thy breasts filled with abundance of milk better than
the wine of worldly knowledge, which inebriates indeed, but with
curiosity, not with charity, which fills but does not nourish; which
puffs up instead of edifying; which gluts but strengthens not.'
8. But, again, let us attribute these wrords to the attendants. Unjustly it is, they say, that you murmur against the Bridegroom, because

48

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that which H e has already granted to you is of more value than that
which you ask for. For that is, indeed, for your own delight and
gladness ; but the breasts from which you nourish the children you
bring forth are better—that is, more necessary, than the wine of contemplation. The one is that which maketh glad the heart of one
man alone; but the other that which edifies many. For, although
Rachel be the fairer, Leah is the more fruitful. Do not, therefore,
linger too much over the sweetness of contemplation, for the fruits
of preaching are the better.
9. There occurs to me still another sense, which I had not thought
of, but I cannot pass it over. Why should we not say that the words
befit those who are as little children, and are the first care, as little
children are to their mother or their nurse ? For souls still young, as
it were, and tender, do not bear patiently to see those whose duty it
is to instruct them fully in the faith, and to train them by their own
examples, giving themselves wholly to the repose of contemplation.
And is it not just such souls as these who become the prey of distress
and inquietude of mind at a later time, when they are forbidden with
solemn charges to disturb the repose of the Beloved until she please
(ii. 7) ? Seeing that the Bride sighs for the grace of her Beloved, that
she seeks retreat, that she flies from the world, that she avoids crowds,
and prefers her own repose to the care which she ought to take of
others, they cry, Do not thus, do not thus ; for in the helpfulness
[of preaching] there is more fruit than in all the sweetness [of
solitude] : for it is by the former that you deliver us from the
desires of the flesh which war against the soul, that you take us from
the world and gain us for God. It is this that they express in
these words : Thy breasts are better than wine. The spiritual delights
which thy breasts distil upon us are better than all the pleasures
of the flesh, with which we were formerly enthralled and intoxicated
as with wine.
10. It is with great beauty and fitness that they compare carnal
desires to wine. For as the grape once pressed has nothing more to
yield, but is condemned to lasting dryness, so the flesh, under the
pressure of death, is exhausted of all its delights, and never after
revives to the enjoyment of its passions. Wherefore the Prophet saith :
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the
field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth (Is. xl. 6, 7); and the
Apostle : He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption
(Gal. vi. 8 ) ; and again, Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats :
but God shall destroy both it and them (1 Cor. vi. 13). But see how
that comparison suits, not only the flesh, but also the world. For the
world, too, passeth away, and the lust thereof; all things that are in
the world have an end, and their end is unending. But not so with
those things of which the Breasts are the type. For when they are
exhausted they are renewed from the fount of the maternal breast, to
nourish those who draw sweetness from them. Rightly, therefore, is
it said that the breasts of the Bride are better than the love of the

T H E T H R E E SPIRITUAL PERFUMES

49

flesh or of the world, since they are never drawn dry by the number
of those who receive of them, but are fed from the deep fount of
Charity, and so flow ever new. Truly these streams come forth from
the body of Charity, and [in him who receives them] become a well
of water springing up into everlasting life (John vii. 38 and iv. 14).
The praise of them far surpasses that of the choicest perfumes, because
they are nourished not only with the taste and the savour of words,
but they exhale the sweet fragrance which good deeds send forth.
What remains to be said of them, with what milk it is that they are
expanding, with what sweet odours they are perfumed, these things I
will, Christ helping me, treat of in another sermon. Who with the
Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world
without end.

AMEN.

SERMON X.
OF THE T H R E E SPIRITUAL PERFUMES—NAMELY, PENITENCE,
DEVOTION, AND PIETY.

I

H A V E neither such depth of knowledge, nor such brilliancy of
genius, as to discover of myself anything new. But the mouth
of St. Paul is a great and unfailing fountain which is open to us.
From him it is that I draw what I am about to say on the subject of the
bosom of the Bride, as, indeed, I am accustomed frequently to do.
Rejoice, he says, with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that
weep (Rom. xii. 15). H e here expresses, in a few words, the affections
of a mother's heart, because little children cannot either be in pain
and grief, or in health and gladness, without the close sympathy of
their mother in either case, nor can she fail to feel with them. Thus,
following the opinion of St. Paul, I shall assign those two affections
to the breasts of the Bride—to the one compassion, to the other congratulation. If it were otherwise, if she had not these as yet—that
is, if she had not learned to be quick in congratulating others, nor to
be ready to condole with them in their grief—she would be but a
child, and not of a marriageable age. If a person of such character
as this is taken to discharge the oversight of souls, or to preach, he
does not profit others, and to himself he does very great harm. And
if he should thrust himself into these ministries, what a shameless
action is that !
2. But let us return to these thus typified, to the differences
between them, and to the graces they yield. Congratulation pours
forth the milk of exhortation, and compassion that of consolation.
Our spiritual mother 1 feels her pious bosom abundantly supplied from
above with both the one and the other of these as often as she is fulfilled
1

I.e., apparently the Church Catholic.—ED.
4

5°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

with the love of God. You see her occupied in nourishing her little
children out of her abundance; to one she gives consolation, to another
exhortation, according as each seems to have need. For instance, if
she sees that one of her children in the Gospel has been taken unawares by some violent temptation so that he is rendered troubled
and sorrowful, doubting and fearful, and is no longer able to bear up
against the force of the temptation, how she condoles with him and
soothes him ! how she sorrows for him and gives him comfort, and
finds many a pious reason to enable him to rise out of his state of
depression ! If, on the contrary, she sees one active, energetic, and
making good progress in the spiritual life, she rejoices greatly, she
plies him with beneficial advice, she animates him to advance still
further, instructs him in that which is requisite to perseverance, and
exhorts him so that he may go on from strength to strength. To all
she adapts herself, in her own heart she reflects the feelings and the
dispositions of all, and, lastly, she shows herself the mother no less of
the feeble and failing soul than of the strong and progressive.
3. How many are there at the present day—I mean of those who
have taken upon them the cure of souls—who are animated by sentiments the very reverse of these ? It is a fact not to be spoken of
without groaning and tears; they forge, so to speak, in the furnace of
avarice, and make merchandise of, the very instruments of Christ's
Passion—the scourge, the spitting, the nails, the lance, and, in fine,
the Cross and the Death of Christ. They squander all these things
for the making of shameful gains; they hasten to huddle into their
own pouches the price of the Redemption of the world. The only
difference which distinguishes them from Judas Iscariot is that he,
for the price of all these things, received but, comparatively speaking,
a few pence; while they, with a greed much more insatiable, exact
uncounted sums of money as their gains. They have for riches a
thirst which is insatiable; well-nigh their sole fear is lest they may
lose these; and if they should do so they grieve. Upon the love of
them they brood in satisfaction, if, perchance, there be a moment left
free from the task of keeping wThat they have or of gaining more. As
for the salvation of souls, or their loss, they think of it not at all. No
maternal care for souls assuredly have they who, being too well
nourished, having fattened and grown great upon the patrimony of
the Crucified, are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph (Amos vi. 6).
A true mother is unmistakably to be known (non dissimulat); she isnever void of nourishment for her children. She ceases not to
rejoice with them that do rejoice, and to weep with them that weep ;
to press from her bosom the life-giving milk—from that of congratulation the milk of exhortation; from that of compassion, of
consolation. I need not say more of these, and of what they
contain.
4. I have also to point out what are the perfumes with which the
same are fragrant, provided that I am assisted by your prayers, so that
by their means that which it is given me to think may also be spoken

THE THREE SPIRITUAL PERFUMES

51

worthily, and to the profit of my hearers. The perfumes of the Bride
differ from those of the Bridegroom, as they are different the one
from the other. What was to be said of those of the Bridegroom
is contained in a former discourse. Let us consider just now only
the perfumes of the Bride; and that with the greater care, because
Scripture commends them particularly to our attention in calling
them not only good, but best of all. I mention several kinds, so that
out of many those most befitting the Bride may be chosen. There
is the perfume of contrition, the perfume of devotion, and that of
piety. The first is pungent, and causes pain ; the second is soothing,
and relieves pain ; the third is curative, and removes disease. Now
we will speak of these separately.
5. There is, then, a perfume or unguent which the soul—that is, if it
be ensnared and entangled with many crimes—compounds for itself,
if, when it begins to reflect upon its ways, it collects, heaps together,
and pounds in the mortar of conscience its' sins of many different
kinds, and, putting them into the caldron, as it were, of a heart that
heaves and boils [with distress], cooks them together over a kind of
fire of grief and repentance, so that the man may be able to say, with
the Psalmist: My heart was hot within me : while I was musing the
fire burned (Ps. xxxix. 3). Here, then, is one unguent which the sinful
soul ought to prepare for itself at the commencement of its conversion,
and to apply to its still fresh wounds ; for the first sacrifice to be
made to God is a troubled and contrite heart (Ps. li. 17). Although
the sinner is poor and needy, and therefore unable to compound for
himself an unguent better and more valuable, yet let him not neglect
to prepare this, though of poor materials and of no value, for a broken
and contrite heart God will not despise {ibid.); and it shall appear so
much the less vile in the sight of God, as by remembrance of his sins
it becomes the more so to the sinner himself.
6. Yet if we say that this invisible and spiritual unguent was
designated in type by that visible ointment wherewith the Feet of
God manifest in the Flesh were anointed by the woman who was a
sinner, we shall not be able to regard it as being altogether worthless. For what do we read of it in the Scripture ? That the house
was filled with the odour of the ointment (John xii. 3). It was poured
by the hands of a sinful woman, 1 and poured upon the extremities of
the body—that is, upon the feet; yet it was not so vile and so con1
In this passage, as in several others, and particularly in Sermon III. on the
Assumption, ' the woman who was a sinner,' mentioned in Luke vii. 37, is confounded with Mary, sister of Lazarus and of Martha, who poured precious ointment upon the feet of the Lord Jesus in the village of Bethany (John xii. 3), on
which occasion, it is said, ''the house zuas filled ivith the odour of the ointmentJ
But most ancient writers before Gregory the Great, and not a few since, distinguish,
with exceedingly cogent arguments, between one of these persons and the other,
and both from Mary Magdalene, out of whom Christ had cast seven devils
(Mark xvi. 9); who, according to Luke (viii. 2, 3), followed Christ with other
holy women, even (as it seems) before the conversion of her who was a sinner.
Compare Sermon XII., n. 6.

52

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

temptible that the power and the sweetness of its perfume could not
fill the whole house. And if we consider with what fragrance the
Church is perfumed by the conversion of one sinner, and how powerful an odour of life unto life each penitent becomes if his repentance is
perfect and public, we shall be able to pronounce, without the least
doubt, that the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Assuredly the odour of penitence extends even as far as the mansions
of the blessed in heaven, so that, as the Truth Himself declares,
there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth
(Luke xv. 10). Rejoice, O penitents; be strengthened, ye that are
weak of heart. To you I speak who are but lately converted from
the world and from your evil ways, who are feeling the bitterness
and confusion of a mind touched with repentance, and in whom the
excessive pain of wounds, as it were, yet recent, still throbs and torments. Your hands may with safety drop the bitterness of myrrh
into this salutary ointment, for a broken and contrite heart God will
not despise. Nor is such an ointment as this to be despised or
counted vile, of which the odour not only draws men to conversion,
but moves the Angels to joy.
7. Yet there is a perfume as much more precious than this, as the
materials of which it is composed are of more excellent kinds. For
the materials of the former do not require to be sought from far; we
find them without difficulty within ourselves, and in our own little
garden-plots gather them easily in great plenty, as often as necessity
requires. For who is there who [does not know himself to] have sins
and iniquities of his own, enough and too many, always at his hand,
unless he desires to deceive himself upon this point ? But these are,
as you recognise, the materials of the former ointment, which I have
described. But as for the sweet spices which compose the second,
our earth does not produce them at all; we must seek them in a
land very far off. For is not every good gift, and every perfect gift
from above, and does it not come down from the Father of Lights ?
(James i. 17). For this perfume is compounded of the benefits
which Divine goodness has bestowed upon the human race. Happy
is he who with care and pains collects them for himself, and sets
them before the eyes of his mind with acts of thanksgiving proportioned to their greatness. Assuredly when these shall have been
bruised and pounded in the mortar of our breast, with the pestle of
frequent meditation, then boiled together on the fire of holy desire,
and finally enriched with the oil of joy, there will be as the result a
perfume far more precious and more excellent than the former.
Sufficient as proof of this is the testimony of Him who says : Whoso
offereth praise glorifieth Me (Ps. 1. 23). Nor can we doubt that the
remembrance of benefits is an incitement to praise of our benefactor.
8. Furthermore, while Scripture, when speaking of the former,
testifies only that it is not despised by God (Ps. li. 17), of this latter
it is plain that it is the more commended, in that it is said to glorify
God. Besides, the former is poured upon the Lord's Feet; the latter

THE THREE SPIRITUAL PERFUMES

53

upon His Head. For if in Christ the Head is to be referred to His
Divinity, as St. Paul declares the Head of Christ is God (i Cor. xi. 3),
then, without doubt, he anoints the Head, who renders thanks; for
this is addressed (tangit) to God, not to man. Not that H e who is
God is not Man also, for God and Man is one Christ, but because
every good gift, even that which is ministered through man, comes
from God, not from man. For it is the Spirit which quickeneth ; the
flesh profiteth nothing (John vi. 63). And we know that Cursed is the
man that trusteth in man (Jer. xvii. 5 ) ; although all our hope rests
rightly upon Him who is the God-Man, yet this is not because H e is
Man, but because H e is God. Therefore, the former perfume is
poured upon His Feet; but this upon His Head, because the humiliation of a contrite heart is befitting to the humility of the flesh, but
praise and glory to the [Divine] Majesty. See, then, of what a nature
is this perfume which I have been describing to you, with which that
Head, so august even to the Principalities and Powers of Heaven,
does not disdain to be touched; nay, rather regards it as an honour
to Him, as He Himself declares : Whoso offereth praise gloi'ifieth Me
(Ps. 1. 23).
9. Wherefore it does not belong to him who is poor and needy
and of small courage to compound such a perfume as this, inasmuch
as it is confidence alone which commands the sweet spices which are
its materials, but a confidence which is born of freedom of spirit and
purity of heart. For the soul which is of small courage and of little
faith is hampered by the consciousness of the little which it possesses;
its poverty does not permit it to occupy itself in the praises of God,
or in the contemplation of those benefits which produce the praises.
And if ever it has the wish to rise to that point, immediately it is
recalled to the consciousness of its cares and uneasiness about its
necessities at home, and is straitened in itself by the miseries which
press it hard. If you ask of me the cause of that misery, I reply
that you are, or have been, conscious in your own selves (if I do
not mistake) of that which I refer to. It seems to me that this
depression of mind and want of joyful trust usually comes from one
of two causes. Either, that is to say, it is from newness of conversion, or, especially if the conversion is not recent, from lukewarmness of conduct. Both the one and the other cause humiliates and
casts down the conscience, and throws it into trouble and inquietude,
since it feels that its former passions are not yet dead in it, either
because of the shortness of the time since its conversion, or because
of the feebleness and want of zeal in its efforts, and thus it is obliged
to occupy itself entirely with rooting up from the garden of the heart
the thorns of iniquity and briers of evil desires, nor is it able to divert
any thoughts from itself. What then ? how can one, who is wearily
occupied in sighing and groaning [over such a task as this], at the
same time rejoice in the praises of God ? How can thanksgiving and
the voice of'melodyr, to borrow the phrase of the prophet Isaiah (li. 3),
sound forth from the mouth of one that is groaning and lamenting ?

54

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

For, as the Wise Man teaches us, Music in mourning is a tale out of
season (Ecclus. xxii. 6, Vulg.). And the giving of thanks follows
the benefit, not precedes it. But the soul that is still in sadness
needs to receive the benefit, and does not rejoice in having obtained
it. It has a great reason to offer its prayers, but not to offer its thanksgiving. How is it to acknowledge a blessing which it has not, in fact,
received ? It was correct, therefore, for me to say that it was not the
privilege of a soul that is poor and needy and of small courage to
compound this precious perfume, which requires to be composed of
remembered benefits of God ; nor is such a one able to behold the
light, as long as its gaze is fixed upon the darkness. For it is in
bitterness—the sorrowful remembrance of past sins occupies i t ; nor
can it admit any thought of joy. It is to such that the prophetic
spirit bears testimony, saying : / / is vain for you to rise up early (Ps.
cxxvii. 2 ) ; as if he would remind them : It is in vain for you to rise
up that you may behold bounties to be a delight to your soul, unless
you have first received the light which shall comfort it with regard to
the stains of sin which trouble it. This perfume, therefore, is not for
the soul which is still in a state of spiritual poverty.
10. But see who they are who may rightly take the glory of having
it in abundance. The Apostles departed fi^om the prese?ice of the
council^ rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the
Name of JESUS (Acts v. 41). Assuredly those men were well filled
with that unction of the Spirit, whose cheerfulness did not abandon
them, I do not say, because of words, but not even because of blows.
They were indeed rich in charity, in whom it was exhausted by no
spending, and who were enabled to offer themselves as a complete
and worthy burnt sacrifice to God. Their hearts poured forth everywhere that holy unction, with which they had been imbued in
plenitude, when they spake in various tongues the wonderful works
of God as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts ii. 4, n ) . Nor can
it be doubted that they abounded in the same perfumes of whom
the Apostle thus speaks : I thank my God always on your behalf for
the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ: that in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come
behind in no gift (1 Cor. i. 4-7). Would that I too might be able to
render the same thanksgivings on your account, and to see you rich
in virtue, ready and prompt to praise God, and superabounding in
this spiritual fatness in JESUS C H R I S T OUR LORD.

FACTS IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

55

SERMON XL
OF TWO PRINCIPAL FACTS IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE HUMAN
R A C E ; THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS ACCOMPLISHED, AND T H E
BENEFITS WHICH WE DERIVE FROM IT.

I

SAID at the end of the last sermon, and I willingly repeat it
now, that I desire to see you all become sharers in that sacred
unction, by which a holy devotion acknowledges the benefits
of God with joy and thanksgiving. For this is extremely beneficial,
inasmuch as it lightens the troubles of this present life, which become
more supportable when we rejoice in the praises of God, and also
because nothing represents so perfectly on earth the state of the
blessed in heaven as the gladness of those who are occupied in
praising God ; as the Scripture declares : Blessed are they that dwell in
Ihy House: they will for ever be praising Thee (Ps. lxxxiv. 5). I
think it was this perfume that the Psalmist had particularly in view
when he said : Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity; it is like precious ointment upon the head
(Ps. cxxxiii. 1, 2). This does not seem to be a description of the
former kind. For though that be good, it is far from being pleasant,
because the remembrance of sins causes bitterness, not pleasure.
Nor do those who are compounding it dwell together, since each is
occupied in separately lamenting his own sins. But as for those who
are wholly occupied in praising God, they regard God only, and think
but of Him ; and on this account, it is truly said that they dwell
together in unity. Again, that which they are engaged in doing is
not only good because they are ascribing glory to Him to whom it
most justly belongs, but also pleasant, because they take delight in
doing it.
2. On this account I counsel you, my friends, to turn yourselves
away sometimes from the anxious and painful retracing of your past
erring lives, and to pursue paths which are easier and afford more
pleasant thoughts in the recalling of God's benefits, so that by fixing
your thoughts and your eyes upon Him, you may obtain some relief
from the shame and confusion of face which are caused by thinking
of yourself. I would that you should make trial of the advice which
the holy Psalmist gives when he says : Delight thou in the Lord, and
He shall give thee thy heart's desire (Ps. xxxvii. 4). Sorrow for sin is
indeed necessary, but it ought not to be continual; and there should
be mingled with it the more joyful remembrance of the Divine goodness, lest the heart should be burdened because of the sorrow it feels,
and despair should bring about the actual loss of it. With wormwood let us mix honey, so that the draught thus tempered with
moderate sweetness may be able to be drunk, and that its bitter may
be salutary. Listen how God Himself tempers the bitterness of a

56

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

contrite heart, so as to draw back from the abyss of desperation him
who is in fear and discouragement; to console the sorrowful by the
honey of a sweet and faithful promise ; to raise up him who is of little
faith. H e says by the prophet: With my praise will I restrain thee
as with a bridle, that thou perish not (Is. xlviii. 9, Vulg.); that is to
say,' For fear lest the sight of your sins should cast you into excessive
sorrow, and that, .carried away by despair, like a horse without rein,
you should fall down a precipice and perish, I will rein, you back
(He says) by the bridle, as it were, of My mercy ; I will raise you up
by My praises ; you shall breathe again at the sight of My benefits,
instead of being confounded at the sense of your own demerits \ and
the more blamable you find yourself to be, the more shall you find
Me kind and forgiving.' If Cain had been restrained by this bridle,
he would not have said: My iniquity is too great to obtain pardon
(Gen. iv. 13, Vulg.). God forbid! God forbid ! For His goodness
is greater than any iniquity whatsoever. That is why the just man is
not his own accuser always, but only in the beginning of his discourse, 1 for his custom was to close his discourse with praises of
God. Notice in what order a just man proceeds : / thought on my
ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies (Ps. cxix. 59); so that
after having endured contrition and unhappiness in his own ways, he
takes delight in the way of the testimonies of God, as in all manner
of riches. Do you also, after the example of the righteous, if you
have feelings of humility about yourselves, be assured also of the
goodness of the Lord. For so you read in the words of the Wise
Man : Think of the Lord in goodness, and in simplicity of heart seek
Him (Wisd. i. 1). The frequent, or, I should say, the continual,
remembrance of the Divine liberality will easily bring the mind to a
firm belief in this. Otherwise, how can that precept of the Apostle
be carried out, In everything give thanks (1 Thess. v. 18), if those
benefits for which thanks are owed are suffered to fade from the
heart ? I would not that you should be open to that opprobrium
which was deserved by the Jews, of whom Scripture testifies that they
were not mindful of His benefits, nor of the wonderful works that
H e had showed them (Ps. lxxviii. n ) .
3. But as it is impossible for any man to recount and enumerate all
the blessings which our merciful and compassionate Lord does not
cease to pour upon the children of men (for who can utter the mighty
acts of the Lord, or who can show forth all His praise ? (Ps. cvi. 2),
at least that which is the chief and the greatest of His benefits, I
mean the work of our redemption, ought never to depart for a moment
from the memory of those whom He has redeemed. And in this
1
Prov. xviii. 17, St. Bernard quotes, not the Vulgate: Justus prior est
accusator sui,' but either a translation ((Justus accusator est sui in principio
sermonis') of the LXX. text of the passage, Aiicaiog kavrov Karrjyopog ev TrpioroXoyia,
which would be an unusual thing with him; or, more probably, from his recollection of the reading made use of by one of the Fathers, perhaps St. Ambrose
('De Offic. Ministror.,' Bk. i., c. 25), 'Justus in exordio sermonis accusator est sui';
or St. Cyril (Bk. ii., in Joan. c. 14).—ED.

FACTS IN THE REDEMPTION OF T H E HUMAN RACE

57

work there are two principal things which occur to my mind at this
time, which I will commend to your meditation and study. This I
will do in as few words as possible, being mindful of that saying:
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser (Prov. ix. 9).
These two things are : the manner in which it was accomplished, and
the benefits which we derive from it. As for the manner, it was the
self-emptying (exinanitio) of God; as for the benefit derived by us, it
is that we should be filled with Him. Meditation upon the former
great mystery is the seed-ground of holy hope; upon the latter, the
incentive to the most exalted and ardent love. Both the one and
the other are necessary to our spiritual progress; to ensure, on the
one hand, that our hope be not unaccompanied by love, and therefore mercenary; and, on the other, that our love be not lukewarm,
and so become unfruitful.
4. The fruit and final reward of our love which we await, shall be
such as He, whom we love, has promised: Good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, they shall give into your
bosom (Luke vi. 38). That measure, as I hear, shall be without
measure. But that which I long to know is what that is which shall
be bestowed without measure, or rather, that eternal blessedness
(immensitas) which is promised to us. But eye hath not seen, O Lord,
except Thee, what Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee
(Is. lxiv. 4, and 1 Cor. ii. 9). O tell us what good things Thou dost
prepare, O Thou who art preparing them! We believe, we hope in
absolute confidence, as Thou hast in fact promised, that we shad be
satisfied with the goodness of Thy House (Ps. lxv. 4). But with what
good things, I pray, and of what nature ? Shall it be with corn and
wine and oil that we shall be satisfied, or, perchance, with gold and
silver and precious gems? But these things we have known and
seen; we have seen and have even contemned. That which we
seek, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath the heart of any
man risen to imagine it. This, of whatsoever nature it be, is what
we choose and we desire; and this it delights us still to seek. They
shall all be taught of God, H e saith (John vi. 45), and God shall be
all in all (1. Cor. xv. 28). As I apprehend it, then, the fulness [of
blessedness] which we await from God shall be derived from no other
than God Himself.
5. But who can comprehend how great a variety of blessedness
and sweetness is comprehended in this brief saying, God shall be all
in alii
Not to speak of the body, there are in the soul three faculties—the reason, the will, and the memory—and these three are, in
fact, the soul itself. Everyone who walks in the Spirit feels how
greatly each of these faculties is wanting in him during this present
life. Wherefore is this the case, except that God is not yet all in all ?
Hence it is that the reason very often errs in its judgments, the will
is agitated by manifold (quadruplici) troubles and passions, and the
memory is confused by the multitude of things which it has let slip.
To this threefold power of vanity a creature so noble is subjected,

5§

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

though against its will, yet it hopes one day to be delivered. For H e
who satisfieth with good things the longing desire of the soul, shall
Himself be to the reason fulness of Light, to the will the completeness (multitude*) of peace, to the memory an eternal continuity.
O Truth, O Charity, O Eternity! O Trinity, blessed and blessing!
To Thee the trinity of my unhappy being aspires in its unhappiness,
caused by its grievous separation from Thee. In how many errors,
sorrows and fears, has not that separation involved it ? Woe is me !
what a trinity have I accepted in exchange for T h e e ! My heart
panteth, and thence my pain ; my strength faileth me, and thence my
fear; the light of my eyes is also gone from me (Ps. xxxviii. n ) , and
therefore my error and wandering. O trinity of my soul, how
different a trinity hast thou found in the place of exile [from the
Trinity of my God].
6. Yet, why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
disquieted in me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him
(Ps. xlii. 5) when error shall have passed away from my reason, the
pain of wavering from my will, and every kind of fear from my
memory ; and to those troubles a marvellous peace, a perfect blessedness, an eternal security, shall have succeeded. God as Truth shall
perform the first: God as Charity, the second; and God as Supreme
Power, the third: and thus God shall be all in all, the reason
receiving a light which shall never be extinguished, the will obtaining a state of peace which cannot be disturbed, and the memory
eternally inhering in the unfailing Source of being and of fact. You
will consider whether you should not rightly assign the first of these
to the Son, the second to the Holy Ghost, the third to the Father;
yet so as not to withdraw either of these from either the Father, or
the Son, or the Holy Ghost, lest with regard to either of the Divine
Persons, either distinction should lessen the Plenitude, or Perfection
take away from that which in each is Proper and Particular. Consider also that there is a similar threefold division in that which the
children of this world make their own—namely, the allurements of
the flesh, the vain shows of the world, and the pomps of the devil;
and, nevertheless, it is by all this that the present world seduces
those unhappy ones who are lovers of it, as St. John declares : All that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life (1 John ii. 16). So much with regard to the benefits of
redemption.
7. As for the mamier of redemption which I defined, if you
remember, to be the self-emptying of God, there are three chief
points which I propose for your consideration. For this is not a
simple inanition, or one which is only limited or partial; but the
Lord emptied Himself so far as to assume flesh, to undergo death,
to endure the Cross (Phil. ii. 7, 8). Who can possibly be able to
form a just idea of the greatness of the humility, of the condescension,
of the goodness, shown by the Lord of Glory in clothing Himself
with Flesh, in suffering death, in bearing the ignominy of the Cross ?

FACTS IN T H E REDEMPTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

59

Someone will perhaps say : ' Could not the Creator repair His work
without such difficulty ?' H e could have done so, but H e preferred
to do it by the way of suffering, so that man might thenceforth find
no ground for that worst and most odious vice of ingratitude. Unquestionably H e endured many labours and pains that H e might
render man the debtor for much love, and that the difficulty of
Redemption might carry gratitude to a much greater height in those
whom the comparative ease of their Creation 1 had so little inspired.
For what did man, created and ungrateful, say in his own behalf?
' I was of free grace brought into existence, but my Creator had no
difficulty or labour in forming m e ; for H e spake, and I was made,
as were all other works of His Hands. What great gift is it that you
have bestowed at no greater cost than a word spoken ?' Thus did
human impiety depreciate the benefit of creation, and draw a reason
for ingratitude from that which ought to have been a ground for love,
and for excuses, which themselves needed excuse, on behalf of human
sins. But the mouth of those who spoke those evil words has now
been stopped. It appears more clearly than light at what vast cost
[God] has accomplished thy salvation, O m a n ; for H e has not
disdained from being Lord to become a servant, from being rich to
become poor, from being Son of God to become the Son of Man.
Remember, then, that though thou wert created out of nothing, thou
wert not redeemed for nothing. It was in six days that H e created
all things, and thee among the rest. But it occupied more than
thirty years of life upon the earth to accomplish thy salvation. How
great were [thy Saviour's] exertions, and how great His sufferings !
Did H e not endure the wants and infirmities of the flesh, the
temptations of the devil, and the ignominy of the Cross ; and was
there not heaped upon them all the horror of His Death ? And all
these were necessarily endured. Thus it was, thus, that Thou, O
Lord, hast saved men and beasts; how excellent is Thy loving kindness, O God! (Ps. xxxvi. 6, 7).
8. Meditate upon these things, revolve them continually in your
minds. With such precious perfumes steep your hearts, that you
may dissipate the evil odour of your sins which has long troubled
them, and that you may abound in their odours, as salutary as they
are sweet. Yet do not suppose that you possess the best of those
which are upon the bosom of the Bride. The want of time, and the
necessity of bringing this sermon to a close, forbids my beginning to
speak of these now. What has been said of the others, retain in
your memory, approve your possession of them by your life; and
finally, assist me by your prayers, that I may be enabled to speak
worthily worthy words concerning these joys of the Bride which are
so great; and may build up your souls in the love of the Bridegroom,
our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.
1
Conditionis. But probably we should read creationis; otherwise conditio is
used in the sense of founding or bringing into existence. But see the next
sentence.—ED.

6o

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

SERMON XII.
OF T H E PERFUME OF PIETY, WHICH IS THE MOST EXCELLENT OF
ALL ; AND OF THE RESPECT WHICH THOSE UNDER AUTHORITY
OUGHT TO HAVE FOR THOSE SET OVER THEM.

I

R E M E M B E R that I spoke to you of two perfumes: the one,
of penitence, which comprehends many sins; the other, of
devotion, which contains many benefits—both of them salutary,
but not both agreeable. The first has a stinging power which makes
itself felt, because the bitter remembrance of sins moves the soul
to compunction, and causes pain, whereas the power of the other
is soothing; it gives consolation and relieves spiritual distress by
bringing into view the goodness of God. But there is a perfume
which far excels both of these; I have called it the perfume of piety,
because it is that which results from the necessities of the poor,
the cares of the oppressed, the disquiets of the sorrowful, the
faults of sinners, and finally, from ail the misfortunes of those who are
unhappy, even though they be our enemies. Those materials seem
to be despicable, but the perfume which is distilled from them surpasses all other sweet odours. It is a perfume which cures, because
blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. v. 7).
Many miseries, therefore, collected together, and regarded with an
eye of compassionate goodness, are the materials from which is composed the best of all perfumes, worthy of the bosom of the Bride, and
agreeable to the senses of the Bridegroom. Happy is the soul which
has had the care to anoint and to enrich itself with these perfumes,
pouring upon them the oil of mercy, and heating them with the fire
of charity. Who, think you, is that happy man who has pity and
lendeth (Ps. cxii. 5), but he that is wont to compassionate others,
who is quick to help them, judging it better to give than to receive ;
to whom it is easy to forgive, hard to be angry, and almost impossible
to take revenge ; and who in all things regards the interests of his
neighbours even as his own ? O happy soul, whosoever thou art, who
art of such a disposition, so imbued with the dew of mercy, so endued
with charitable affections, so rendering thyself all things to all men, so
regarding thyself as but a broken vessel, that thou mayest be at the
service of others, and assist them in their need, whensoever and wheresoever it may be ; and who, finally, art dead to thyself, that thou
mayst live to the benefit of all. O happy soul, thou plainly possessest
this third and best of perfumes, and from thy hands have dropped
all its sweetness. In the worst of times it shall not dry up, nor shall
the fire of persecution exhaust i t ; God shall be ever mindful of every
sacrifice thou hast made, and shall render perfect thy burnt-offering.
2. There are men in the city of the Lord who are rich in virtues ;
are there any among them who possess this perfume ? The first who

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61

occurs to me, and who is met everywhere in the way of goodness, is
Paul—that vessel of election, yea, in truth a vessel of odour and
sweetness, filled with every kind of fragrant powder. For he was to God
a sweet savour of Christ in every place (2 Cor. ii. 14). Assuredly that
generous heart, which took so great care of all the Churches, scattered
far and wide fragrance of surpassing sweetness. See of what nature
those wrere which he has amassed for himself. 1 die daily, he says,
through your glory (1 Cor. xv. 3i,Vulg.); and again, Who is weak, and
I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn not ? (2 Cor. xi. 29). And
in many such passages, which are well known to you, that good man
shows how he abounded in preparing these precious perfumes. It
was fitly thus, that the bosom which nourished the members of
Christ should be redolent of the rarest and most precious perfumes,
for Paul was assuredly a mother to them, travailing in birth as it were,
once and again, until Christ were formed in them (Gal. iv. 19), and
the members reformed in the likeness of their Head.
3. Let me tell you also of another, who was rich in this respect,
who possessed materials carefully chosen for the compounding of
precious balms. What does he himself say ? The stranger did not
lodge in the street, but I opened my doors to the traveller (Job. xxxi.
32). And again : I zuas eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the la7ne.
I iv as a father to the poor. . . . I brake the jaws of the wicked, and
plucked the spoil out of his teeth (xxix. 15-17). If I have withheld
the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ;
Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten
thereof; If I have seen any peris'h1 for want of clothing; If his loins
have not blessed me, and if he ivere not warmed with the fleece of my
sheep (xxxi. 16-20). With what a sweet odour must that good man
have blessed the earth by these works of charity ! Each of such
actions is a separate perfume, and with these he had stored his conscience, so as to counteract the exhalations of his noisome flesh by
the sweet odour exhaled from his soul.
4. Joseph, after he had drawn in his train the whole of Egypt
through the sweet odour yielded by his good deeds, afforded the
same fragrance even to those who had sold him into slavery. H e
did, indeed, reproach them with an angry countenance; but his tears
burst forth from the fulness of his heart; nor were they signs of his
wrath, but betrayed the strength of his emotion (Gen. xliii. 30,
and xlv. 2). Samuel mourned for Saul, who sought to kill him
(1 Sam. xv. 35, and xvi. 2), and the unction of his kindliness coming
from within him, and warmed in his breast by the fire of charity,
found issue by his eyes. And it was because of the sweet odour
which his reputation spread throughout all the land that the Scripture
says of him, All Israel, from Ban even to Beersheba, knew that, Samuel
was established to be a prophet of the lord (1 Sam. iii. 20). What
1
St. Bernard, it is well to say, quotes * despexi prcetereuntem' (the ancient
version), { I despised the passer-by/ and varies from the Vulgate, which is rare with
him, especially in a passage of some length.—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

shall I say of Moses ? With what rich perfume had he too filled his
heart! That rebellious house, in the midst of which he was for a
time occupied, was never able, with all its murmurs, or its angry
passions, to make him lose that unction of spirit with which he had
once been imbued, or to hinder his retaining his gentleness of temper
among their constant strifes and daily quarrels. Well deserved,
therefore, was the witness which the Holy Spirit bore to him, that
' he was the meekest of all men who were upon the face of the earth '
(Num. xii. 3, Vulg.). Even with those who hated peace, he was
peacefully disposed, insomuch that he not only did not indulge anger
against an ungrateful and rebellious people, but even interceded for
them, so that the Divine anger was softened at his mediation ; as it
is written, He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His
chosen stood before Him in the gap, to turn away His wrath, lest He
should destroy them (Ps. cvi. 23). And lastly, he said : Forgive, if
Thou wilt, their sin : but if not, blot me out of the book which Thou hast
written (Exod. xxxii. 32). A man truly filled with the unction of
mercy ! H e obviously speaks with the feeling of a father, whom no
happiness can delight apart from his children. It is as if a rich man
should say to some poor woman who is a mother, ' Enter, and dine
with me, but leave without the infant you carry in your arms, for fear
that it should cry, and be a trouble to us.' What would that mother
answer, do you suppose ? Would she not rather choose to remain
without food, than to dine with the rich man alone, after having
abandoned her dear pledge of affection? So also Moses did not
choose to be admitted alone, even into the joy of his Lord, while his
people remained without; for although they were restless and ungrateful, he retained for them the affection, as he held the place, of
a mother. The bowels of his affection suffer, but he prefers to bear
the suffering that they cause, rather than they should be torn
from him.
5. What again can be a proof of greater kindness of heart than
the lament of David over the death of that man, who had always
thirsted for his death (2 Sam. i. 11), and that he bore with so much
regret the death of him, whom he succeeded in the kingdom ? How
hard it was to console him for the death of a son, even though he was
[in intention] a parricide ! (2 Sam. xix. 4). Assuredly a kindliness
of heart so great was an infallible mark of an abundant measure of
this best of perfumes; therefore, also, he addressed with confidence
his prayer to God: Lord remember David and all his kindness of
heart (Ps. cxxxii. 1, Vulg.). All these holy persons had then this
best of perfumes, of which the fragrant odours are spread through all
the Churches even at the present day. And not only they, but all
those also who, during this life, have shown themselves benevolent
and charitable, who have striven so to live humanely among men as
not to keep for their own advantage, but to use for the common
benefit of all, every grace which they possessed, regarding themselves
as debtors, alike to enemies and to friends, to the wise and to the

THE PERFUME OF PIETY

63

unwise. As they were useful to all, humble in all circumstances, and
before all things showed themselves to be dear to God and to men;
so their fragrance is held in pious memory. As many, I repeat, of
those who have gone before, who have been in character such as
this, wrere of good report as of sweet perfume in their own days, and
their sweetness remains at the present time. Thus also with you,
my brother, whosoever you are, if you shall willingly share with us,
who are your companions, the gift which you have received from on
high; if you show yourself always helpful, sympathetic, kindly, tractable, humble, you, too, will have from all of us a similar testimony
that you are fragrant with the richest perfumes. Everyone among
you who not only patiently bears with the infirmities, whether of
body or of mind, of his brethren, but also if it is permitted him, and
if he has the ability to do it, to assist them by his services, to
strengthen them by his exhortations, to train them by his wise
counsels; and if discipline does not permit him to do this, at least
he does not cease to assist them in their weakness by his earnest
prayers ; everyone, I say, who among you acts in this manner, exercises a precious influence among his brethren, sprinkles over them,
so to speak, the costliest perfumes. Like sweet balm in the mouth,
is such a brother as this in a community; he is pointed out with the
finger as a wonder, and all say of him : This is a lover of the
brethren, who prayeth much for the people, and for the Holy City. 1
6. But let us now turn to the Gospel, and look if there be anything
in it having reference to these perfumes. [And we so find that] Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, had bought sweet spices
that they might come and anoint Jesus (Mark xvi. 1). Now, what were
these perfumes so precious that they were purchased and brought to
anoint the Body of Christ, so abundant also that they suffice to anoint
it completely ? For neither of the two former was either purchased 2 or
made for the service of the Lord, nor do we read that they were poured
over His whole body. But suddenly a woman is brought before us,
who kissed His feet; and in another place, either she,' or another,
having an alabaster box of ointment, brake it, and poured the ointment upon His Head (Luke vii. 38 ; John xii. 3 ; Mark xiv. 3). But
in the instance we are considering, it is said, They bought sweet spices,
that they might come and anoint Jesus. They bought, not ointments, but
sweet spices; the ointment for embalming is not taken ready-made,
it is newly compounded; and that to anoint, not a part only of the
Lord's Body, as His Head, or His Feet, but in the phrase used by
Scripture, ' to anoint Jesus,* that is to say, His entire Body.
7. Do you also [who hear me, whosoever you may be], who art
putting on bowels of mercies, show yourself liberal and kindly, not to
your relatives or connexions only, or to those who you think have
helped you in the past, or, as you hope, may help you in the future;
for this even the Gentiles do (Matt. v. 46, 47); but, according to
1
2

2 Mace. xv. 14. The Vulgate adds * etpopidi Israel' after
Many MSS. omit purchased.

'fratrum?—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

St. Paul's precept, study to do good unto all men (Gal. vi. 10). So
your constant principle should be that for the sake of God, the
offices of humanity, wThether corporal or spiritual, are not to be
denied even to an enemy; and if you act upon this rule, you will
abound in these most precious perfumes, and will have undertaken
to anoint, not the Lord's Head or Feet only, but (as far as in you
lies) His whole Body, that is, the Church. And perhaps it was for
this very reason that the Lord Jesus would not have the sweet spices
which had been prepared expended upon His Body dead, in order
that they might be reserved for His Body living; for the Church is
living, and subsists upon the Living Bread, which came down from
heaven. It is that Body of Christ which is the more dear to Him,
because it did not taste of death; whereas the other, as no Christian
is ignorant, H e gave over unto death. It is this that He wishes to
be cherished, to be anointed, and that its weak members should be
restored to health by careful and salutary treatment. For this His
Body, then, it was that He reserved those sweet spices, when anticipating the hour, and hastening His glory, H e instructed, rather than
avoided, the devotion of the holy women.
H e declined to be
anointed, not as despising the ointment, but as sparing it; not as
refusing that pious service, but as reserving the usefulness of it to a
later time. I say 'the usefulness,' not as referring to the material
ointment, but evidently to the spiritual, which was designated or
typified by it. In those sweet spices, therefore, the Master of piety
reserved for use those choicest perfumes of piety, which H e earnestly
desired should be employed for the needs of His members, whether
those needs be bodily or spiritual. When, only a little while before,
a sweet perfume, and costly, was poured upon His Head, or even
upon His Feet, did Fie forbid it? Not at all, but, on the contrary,
reproved those who did so. To Simon, who was indignant that H e
should permit Flimself to be touched by a woman who was a sinner,
H e addressed a long parable of reproof; and to others, who complained of the pecuniary loss sustained by the expending of the perfume, He said : Why trouble ye the woman ? (Matt. xxvi. 10).
8. If I may make here a little digression, it has sometimes happened to me when, for my own good, I wras sitting at the Feet of
Jesus in great affliction, and offering to Him the sacrifice of a spirit
troubled and afflicted at the remembrance of my sins; and I might,
as in rare instances has been the case, stand up and rejoice in the
remembrance of His mercies, I, too, have heard those that said : To
what purpose is this waste ? That is, they complained that I was
spending life to my own profit alone, while, as they thought, I might
make myself useful to many. And they, too, said: This might be
sold for much, and given to the poor. But it would not be a profitable
transaction for me, even though I should gain the whole world, to
lose my own self and work my own destruction. And therefore I
regarded such scoffs as realizing what Scripture says of dead flies,
which corrupt the sweetness of perfumes (Eccles. x. i ) ; and I be-

T H E PERFUME OF PIETY

65

thought myself of that utterance of Divine wisdom: My people, they
which lead thee cause thee to err (Is. iii. 12). But let those who
accuse me, as if I were slothful, listen to the Lord replying for me,
and making my excuse : Why trouble ye the woman ? That is to say,
you see only the surface of things, and judge according to what you
see. This is not a man, as you suppose, who is able to set his hand
to heavy tasks, but [one who is in his weakness] a woman. Why do
you attempt to lay upon him a yoke wThich I perceive that he is not
able to bear? He hath done a good work upon Me. Let him
remain in that which is good, as long as he has not strength to go
on to that which is better. If ever, by progress in the spiritual life,
from a woman he shall have become a man, and a perfect man, then
he may take upon him the task of performing the work of perfection.
9. Brethren, let us revere Bishops, but let us have a dread of the
labours in which it is the duty of their charge to engage. If we consider those labours, we shall not be desirous of the honours [which
belong to them]. Let us recognise that our powers are unequal to
these, and that the weak and delicate shoulders of women can have
no call to support burdens which task men; we ought to honour,
but not to seek to obtain them. Now, there would be a want of
good manners in criticising the actions of those, the burden of whose
labours we shun. What rashness is it of the woman who spins in
the house to reproach her husband when returning from the field of
battle! I say, then, that if one who dwells in the cloister remarks
that [a prelate], whose daily duty lies among the people, conducts
himself with less discretion and self-restraint than he should, for
example, in speech, in his food, in length of slumber, in freedom of
laughter, in indulging anger, or allowing himself liberty of judgment,
let him not jump immediately to a conclusion, and that unfavourable, but let him remember that it is written : Better is the iniquity
of a man than a woman who doeth good (Ecclus. xliv. 14), for you
indeed do well in guarding yourself with vigilance; but he who is of
assistance to many does even better, and leads a more manly life. If
such an one does not succeed in fulfilling this function without the
commission of some faults, that is, without some want of uniform
observance of rule in life and conversation, we must remember that
charity covereth a ?nultitude of sins (1 Pet. iv. 8). These warnings
are given against a twofold temptation, by which men in religion are
frequently assailed, that either they should be induced to seek for
themselves by ambition the dignity of the Episcopate, or, by the
instigation of the devil, rashly to condemn the actions of Bishops.
10. But let us return to the perfumes of the Bride. Do you not
see how vastly to be preferred to the others is that perfume of piety
which alone must not, under any circumstances, be lost? So highly
is it valued, indeed, that not even the gift of a cup of cold water is
suffered to go unrewarded (Matt. x. 42). Nevertheless, that of contrition and penitence, which is composed of the remembrance of past
:sins, and is cast at the Lord's Feet, is good also; for a broken and
5

66

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

contrite heart God will not despise (Ps. li. 17). But I judge that
which is called of devotion, and made of the remembrance of the
benefits of God, to be far better, inasmuch as it is thought worthy of
being used for the Head, and that God speaks of it thus : Whoso
offereth praise glorifieth Me (Ps. 1. 23). But the unction of piety and
charity, which comes from a regard to those who are miserable, and
is diffused over the whole of the Body of Christ, vastly surpasses both
the one and the other; and when I say the Body of Christ, I mean
not that which was crucified in His Passion, but that which was
obtained by the suffering of the former. That perfume is, in truth,
the best, of which H e who says : I will have mercy and not sacrifice
(Matt. ix. 13)—declares that H e does not regard others in comparison
with it. I think, then, that, among all the virtues, the bosom of the
Bride exhales most of all the perfume of that, since she strives in all
things to conform herself to the will of her Spouse. Was it not that
odour of mercy which Tabitha exhaled even in death ? And if she
was raised speedily to life again, it was because that odour of life in
her overcame the odour of death.
11. Let me give you now, in conclusion, a brief abstract of the
whole subject: Whosoever in words is full of fervour and stimulating
strength (inebriat\ and by benefits done to others gains a name of
which the good report is fragrant, may claim the words : Thy breasts
are better than wine, and their fragrance than the choicest perfumes.
But who is it whom these words truly describe ? Who is there among
us who possesses fully and perfectly even one of these two qualities
in such a manner that he is not sometimes either unfruitful in his
teaching or without earnestness in his actions ? But there is one who,
with good right and without hesitation, may be praised as possessing
both. It is the Church which, though the number of her children
be so great, is never wanting in teaching to arouse and to stimulate
them, or in good deeds of which the fragrance excites their admiration ; for that which is wanting in one, she finds in another [of her
children], according to the measure of the gift of Christ, and of the
good pleasure of the Holy Ghost dividing unto everyone severally as
He will (Eph. iv. 7, and 1 Cor. xii. 11). The Church gives forth a
fragrant odour of good report in those her children who -make to
themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; and she
gives forth teaching to arouse and to stimulate, in the ministers of the
Word, who pour forth upon the earth the wine of spiritual joy, which,
so to speak, inebriates it, and who bring forth fruit in patience. With
safety and confidence she names herself Spouse, since her breasts are
truly better than wine, and their fragrance than the choicest perfumes.
And though none of us would presume so far as to venture to say that
his soul was the Spouse of the Lord, yet, since we are members of the
Church which justly glories in that name, and in the fact which the
name signifies, we may claim, not unjustly, a participation in that
glory; for that which the whole body of us possess, fully and entirely,
each of us, as individuals, must surely have our part in. Thanks be.

PRAISE AND GLORY IS ALWAYS TO BE RENDERED UNTO GOD

67

to Thee, O Lord Jesus, for that Thou hast deigned to join us to Thy
Church, which is to Thee so dear, that we might be not only of the
number of Thy faithful, but also [that our souls] might be united to
Thee, as Spouse, in embraces blissful, chaste, and eternal, when, with
face unveiled, we shall behold Thy glory—the glory which Thou hast,
equally and in common with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever
and ever.

AMEN.

SERMON X I I I .
THAT PRAISE AND GLORY IS ALWAYS TO BE RENDERED UNTO GOD,
FOR ALL T H E GOOD GIFTS WHICH WE RECEIVE OF HIM.

T

H E sea is the source of fountains and rivers ; the Lord Jesus
Christ is the source of every kind of virtue and knowledge.
For who but H e who is the King of glory is the Lord of every
virtue? So He, too, according to the song of Hannah (i Sam. ii. 3),
is a God of knowledge. Continence in the body, diligence of heart,
rectitude of will, flow from that Divine source. Nor is this all; for
if anyone is of skilled and able intellect, or of striking and powerful
speech, or of winning and saintly character, it is from hence that this
ability comes. Whatever discourse is wise and full of knowledge has
its origin from Him, for in Him are hia all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge (Col. ii. 3). What ? are not pure purposes, just judgments, holy aspirations, one and all streams from that same source?
If all waters seek incessantly to return to the sea, making their way
thither sometimes by hidden and subterranean channels, so that they
may go forth from it again in continual and untiring circuit, becoming
visible once more to man and available for his service, why are not
those spiritual streams rendered back constantly and without reserve
to their legitimate source, that they may not cease to water the fields
of our hearts ? Let the rivers of divers graces return from whence
they came, that they may flow forth anew. Let the heavenly shower
rise again to its heavenly source, that it may be poured anew and still
more plentifully upon the earth. In what manner, do you ask ? In
the manner prescribed by the Apostle St. Paul: In everything give
thanks (1 Thess. v. 18). Whatever you think you have of wisdom
and of virtue, attribute it to Him who is the Power of God and the
Wisdom of God—that is, to Christ.
2. Who is so actuated by folly, you say, as to presume to think
otherwise ? No one, truly; even the Pharisee returned thanks to
God (Luke xviii. n ) . Nevertheless, he had not praise from God for
righteousness; and that thanksgiving of his, if you remember well
the Gospel, did not render him more acceptable to God. Wherefore?
Because an outward show in word of devotion does not suffice to
excuse the pride of heart in the man before Him who from afar off

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recogniseth the proud (Ps. cxxxviii. 6). God, O Pharisee, is not
mocked. Do you suppose for a moment that you possess anything
which you have not received from Him ? No, you reply; and therefore I render thanks to my liberal benefactor. If you do not possess
anything at all of your own, then there was in you no antecedent
merit on account of which you received those things upon the possession of which you boast yourself. If you confess this to be the case,
then, in the first place, it is with unjustifiable presumption that you
exalt yourself above the Publican who does not possess the same
[merits] as you, only because he has not received them as you have.
Farther, take care lest, by not attributing to God wholly and entirely
the gifts which He has bestowed, but diverting to yourself some
portion of the glory and honour of them, you may not justly be
accused of fraud, and fraud towards God. For if you attribute to
yourself somewhat of those merits of which you boast, I should
suppose that it is because you are yourself deceived rather than that
you desire to do an injustice; and it is that error that I wrould correct.
But now, since, by the act of returning thanks, you show that you
arrogate nothing to yourself, and that you prudently recognise your
merits to be the gifts of God, it is evident that, in despising others,
you betray yourself, and show that you speak with a double heart—
on the one hand, lending your tongue to a falsehood ; on the other,
usurping the glory of the truth. For you would not consider the
Publican to be an object of scorn in comparison of yourself if you
did not suppose that you were worthy of praise in comparison of him.
But what do you reply to the Apostle who lays down this rule: To
God alone be honour and glory (i Tim. i. 17, Vulg.) ? Or what to the
angel who declares and distinguishes what it pleases God to reserve
to Himself, and what H e deigns to share with men ? For he says :
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill
(Luke ii. 14). Do you not see h6w the Pharisee, in giving thanks—
with his lips, indeed—honours God, but in the thought of his heart
gives honour to himself? And we see many persons act thus : in
their mouths resound words of thanksgiving. But this is by a kind
of habit rather than by their true impulse or intention ; insomuch that
men, even of the most abandoned class, are in the habit of giving
thanks to God for their good success, as they think it, in the carrying
out of this or that crime or outrage. You hear, for example, a robber,
after having carried out an evil plan, and deprived someone of his
portmanteau (manipulum\ exulting secretly, and saying : ' Thank God,
I have not made fruitless watches, nor spent my night to no profit!'
Similarly, he who has killed a man, does he not boast of it, and offer
his thanksgiving that he has prevailed against his adversary, or avenged
himself of his enemy? Even an adulterer, exulting in his success,
thanks God that he has obtained his long-hoped-for pleasure.
3. Not every offering of thanks, therefore, is acceptable to God,
but that only which proceeds from a pure and sincere heart. I say
pure, because of those who boast themselves oftheir bad actions, and

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even offer thanks to God for them. Let anyone who is of this
character listen to these terrible words : Thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee, and set them in
order before thine eyes (Ps. 1. 21). And I have added sincere, because
of hypocrites, who, indeed, glorify God for their good works, but only
with their lips ; while in heart they keep back all praise for themselves ; and since they act deceitfully in His presence, their iniquity is
hateful. The former, in their impiety, attribute to God their own
bad actions; the latter fraudulently arrogate to themselves the good
things which they have received from Him. As regards the former
of these offences, it is so full of folly and worldliness, and, I might
even say, is, in a certain sense, so brutal, that I need hardly warn you
to avoid it. But the latter is, above all, a besetting temptation to
those who are religious and spiritually minded men. It is without
doubt a great and rare virtue to have no consciousness of greatness,
although performing great actions; and that the sanctity of a man,
while it is manifest to all others, should be hidden from himself. To
appear admirable to others, and to think humbly of yourself, this I
judge to be the most marvellous among the virtues themselves. You
are truly a faithful servant if you suffer nothing to remain with yourself (tuis manibus adhaerere) of all the glory of your Lord, when that
glory, though it does not come from you, yet passes through you or
by your means. It is then that, according to the saying of the
Prophet (Is. xxxiii. 15), you cast from you gains acquired by falseness, and keep your hands clean from every bribe. Then it is that,
as the Lord commands, you let your light shine before men, that they
may glorify, not you, but your Father which is in heaven (Matt. v. 16).
Thus, too, you are an imitator of St. Paul and of faithful preachers,
who preach, not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord (2 Cor. iv. 5 ) ;
nor seek their own interests, but those of Jesus Christ (Phil. ii. 21).
And on that account you, too, as they, shall hear the greeting: Well
done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things (Matt. xxv. 21).
4. If Joseph, in Egypt, knew that the house and all the goods of
his master had been entrusted to him, he was not ignorant at the
same time that his mistress was an exception ; and because of this,
he would not consent to her, saying: My master hath committed all
that he hath to my hand, ?ieither hath he kept back anything from me
but thee, because thou art his tvife (Gen. xxxix. 9). He knew that the
wife is the glory of her husband, and regarded it as a great injustice
and a shameful ingratitude to dishonour one who had loaded him
with so many honours. That man, prudent with the wisdom of God,
knew that a husband is jealous of his wife as being his own honour,
and that she is to be sacredly reserved to him, not passed on to
another; nor did he presume to stretch out his hand to that which
was not given to him. What then ? Shall a man be jealous of his
glory, and yet dare to wish to defraud God of His, as if H e had no
care for it? But hear what God Himself says: I will not give My

7°

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

glory unto another (Is. xlviii. n ) . What, then, wilt Thou give, O
Lord ; what wilt Thou bestow upon us ? Peace, H e replies, / leave
ivith you ; My peace 1 give unto you (John xiv. 27). That is sufficient
for m e ; I gratefully receive that which Thou leavest to me, nor do I
grasp at that which Thou reservest, With this [partition] I am satisfied and I do not doubt that it is for my advantage. Glory I wholly
renounce, lest perchance in usurping what is not granted to me, I
justly lose that which is bestowed. Peace I desire; peace I long
for, and nothing more. The soul for which peace does not suffice
will not find even Thee sufficient. For Thou art our Peace, who
hast made both one (Eph. ii. 14). That I should be reconciled with
Thee, that I should be reconciled with myself, this is necessary for
m e ; and this is enough. For from the moment that I am set in
contrariety to Thee, I am a burden to myself (Job vii. 20). I am on
my guard, and do not desire to be either ungrateful for the peace
Thou hast bestowed upon me, or a sacrilegious usurper of Thy glory.
Let Thy glory, O Lord, remain undiminished to T h e e ; with me all
will be well if I possess peace.
5. When Goliath was overthrown the people rejoiced that they had
recovered peace ; but to David alone fell the great glory. Joshua,
Jephtha, Gideon, Samson, Judith also, though a woman, triumphed
gloriously in their day over their enemies; but though the people had
the enjoyment of the peace that these heroes had achieved, they did
not share with them the glory. Judas Maccabaeus also, a man illustrious by many victories, because he had so often fought valiantly, and
thus given peace to his people, did he ever share with them his glory
also ? ' There was,' it is said, not great glory, but ' very great gladness
among the people ' (1 Mace. iv. 58). Are the works which the Creator
of all things has done less than those due to the great men named,
that H e should have less ground for a glory all His own and unshared
by others ? Alone H e created all things that exist; alone H e triumphed
over the enemy; alone H e freed the captives, and shall H e have a
companion in His glory ? Mine ow7t Arm, H e says, brought salvation
unto Me ; and again : / have trodden the winepress alone ; and of the
people there was none with Me (Is. lxiii. 5, 3). What share can I,
then, pretend to in the victory, when I had none in the battle ? It
would be the extremest effrontery in me to claim either glory without
victory, or victory without combat. But do ye, O mountains, bring
peace unto the people (Ps. lxxii. 3 ) ; peace unto us, not glory; reserving that to Him alone who alone has fought the battle and gained
the victory. Thus, I entreat, thus let it be : Glory to God in the
Highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill. He, however, is not
a man of good will, but evidently of very evil will, who is not at all
content with peace, but restlessly aspires also to the glory which
belongs to God, with an eye of pride and a heart never satisfied; and
such a man neither retains peace nor attains glory. Who would
believe the wall if it should lay claim to produce the ray of light which
is thrown upon it through the window ? or who would not laugh to

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scorn the clouds if they pretended that the showers which they let fall
were engendered in them ? I am well assured that the rivers of water
have not their source from the channel in which they run, nor words
of prudence from the lips and the teeth which give utterance to
them, even though my bodily senses do not 1 enable me to reach this
conclusion.
6. If, then, I discern something in the saints which is worthy of
praise and admiration when I examine it in the clear light of truth, I
find that though they appear to be admirable and praiseworthy it is
another than they who is really so, and I praise God in His saints.
Take, for example, Elisha, or that great prophet Elijah, each of whom
restored the dead to life. It was not by any power of their own, but
in the discharge of a ministry committed to them, that they achieved
those new and unprecedented marvels ; it was God who abode in
them and performed those marvellous works. H e is invisible and
unapproachable by His own Nature, but renders Himself visible and
admirable in His saints, and alone admirable, since He alone doth
wonderful things (Ps. lxxi. 19). Painting and writing are both arts
worthy of praise, yet it is not the pen [or the brush] that is to be
praised ; nor is the glory of an eloquent discourse given to the tongue
or the lips which pronounce it. It is time that the Prophet should
speak. Shall the axe, he says, boast itself against him that cutteth with
it ? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn ? as
if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff
exalt itself which is but wood (Is. x. 15) ; so is everyone who glorieth
against the Lord, unless he glory in the Lord (2 Cor. x. 17). If it be
needful for a man to glory, St. Paul teaches us in whom, and in regard
to what it should be done. Our glory, he says, is this, the testimony
of our conscie?ice (2 Cor. i. 12). I may glory without fear if my conscience bears me witness that I am usurping nothing of the glory of
my Creator; assuredly without fear, because I do it not against the
Lord but in the Lord. This kind of glorying is not only not forbidden to us, but we are persuaded to employ it, for it is said : Ye
receive glory one fi-om another, and the glory which is from God alone
you do not seek (John v. 44). In fact, the ability to glory in God
alone comes but from God alone. Nor is this glory small, since it
hath the Truth for its object, and is therefore true ; and, in truth, is
so rare that even of the small number of those who are perfect there
are but few who possess it perfectly. Leave, then, the sons of men,
who are vain, who are untruthful: leave them by vanity to deceive
each other (Ps. lxi. 10). For he who glories wisely will strictly prove
his work, to examine it diligently by the light of t r u t h ; and so he
shall have glory in himself, and not in the mouth of another. Foolish
am I if I shall have confided my glory to the vessel of your lips, and
so be obliged to beg it of you when I would obtain it. For thus it
would be in your power to approve or to disapprove of me at your
will. But in retaining [this] in my own power I preserve it for myself
1

In some MSS. not is wanting.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

more faithfully. Or, rather, I do not trust it to myself at all, but
commit it in preference to Him for safe keeping who is able to keep
that which is committed unto Him until that day (2 Tim. i. 12), for
H e is both watchful in keeping and faithful in rendering up His
charge. Then shall every one have sure praise from God, but those
only who have contemned the praises of men. For the glory of
those whose taste is only for earthly things ends in confusion, as it is
declared even by David : Those that please men have been confounded,
because God hath despised them (Ps. Hi. 6).
7. Brethren, if you know and feel these truths let none of you desire
to be praised in this world, because every honour which you reach
after and obtain in this life, and which you do not refer to God, is a
theft from Him of which you are guilty. What ground have you for
glorying, what ground, I repeat, you who art decaying dust? Is it
the sanctity of your life ? But it is the Spirit that sanctifieth ; and
when I say ' spirit' I mean not your spirit, but the Spirit of God.
Even though you should be renowned for signs and wonders, they are
performed by your hand indeed, but by the power of God only. Or
does the popular favour attend you, because you have, perhaps, spoken
something good in itself, or elegantly worded ? But it was Christ who
bestowed upon you a mouth and wisdom. For what is your tongue
but as the pen of the writer ? And this very thing you have received
only as a loan ; it is a talent entrusted to you to be returned with
usury. If you are found untiring in the work committed to you,
faithful in bringing forth fruit [of the grace of God], you shall receive
a reward for your labour. But if it be otherwise the talent shall be
taken from you—its interest being required, nevertheless—and you
shall be called a wicked and slothful servant. Every praise, therefore, on account of good actions, and of the manifold graces which
are made apparent in you, is to be referred to Him who is the Author
and Giver of all that is good and laudable. And these must be
referred to Him, not in appearance only, as is the wont of hypocrites,
or as a matter of form and custom, as by those who are worldly
[secularibus, people in the world], nor even by a kind of necessity, as
beasts of burden are obliged to bear their loads, but as it becometh
saints, with faithful sincerity, with careful devotion, with grateful but
restrained and moderated cheerfulness. Therefore, while offering to
Him the sacrifice of praise, and performing our vows from day to day,
let us endeavour, with all the watchfulness in our power, to join
intelligence to our accustomed service, fervour to our intelligence,
gladness to our fervour, gravity to our gladness, humility to our
gravity, freedom of spirit to our humility, so that in the meantime we
may go forward with the free steps of a mind purified from evil
passions, and pass, in a sense, out of ourselves by the extraordinary
fervour of our desires and affections, to feel spiritual joys and gladsome delights, to dwell in the light of God, in the ineffable sweetness
of the Holy Ghost, and may show that we are of those whom the
Prophet had in view when he said: They shall walk, O Lord, in the

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73

light of Thy countenance ; in Thy Name they shall rejoice all the day,
and in Thy justice they shall be exalted (Ps. lxxxviii. 16, 17).
8. But perhaps someone will say to me : What you say is good,
but it would be still better, that you should continue to speak of
your precise subject. Wait a little, I reply ; I am not unmindful of
it. Have we not taken in hand to expound these words : Thy Name
is as oil poured forth ? This is our subject; this our endeavour. 1 I
leave you to judge whether the preliminary observations which I have
made were necessary. Now, listen to these few words, in which I
will show that they are not unconnected with the subject. Do you
not remember that in treating of the bosom of the Spouse, the last
thing referred to was the sweetness of the perfumes it exhaled ?
What, then, follows more clearly than that the Spouse should
recognise that this same fragrance is to be attributed to the gift of
her Bridegroom, that she may not be thought to arrogate it to herself? Now, you know well that all I have said tends towards that
object. l The fragrance,5 she says, ' which is exhaled from me, and
which renders my perfume pleasing, I ascribe not to my own efforts,
or my own merits, but acknowledge that it is due to Thy bounty, O
my Bridegroom; Thou whose adorable Name is as oil poured out/
Thus much for the sense of the text.
9. As to the explanation of the verse, which has given me the
occasion to speak to you at such length on the detestable vice of
ingratitude, it requires another occasion, and the commencement of
another sermon. At present it is sufficient for me to suggest to you
one reflection. If the Bride does not venture to attribute anything
to herself of all her virtues, and of all her graces, how much less
should maidens young and untried ? and with these we may, so to
speak, compare ourselves. Let us, then, in conclusion, follow the
footprints of the Bride, and say with her: Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us ; but unto Thy Name give glory (Ps. cxv. 1). Let us say it,
not with tongue and in word only, but in deed and in truth, lest
(which I greatly fear) those words should be spoken of us also : They
loved Him with their mouth, and ivith their heart they lied unto Him :
but their heart was not right with Him, nor were they counted faithful
in His covenant (Ps. lxxvii. 36, 37). Let us say it, then, let us say
it, with a voice that comes rather from the depths of the heart,
than merely from the lips : Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us
from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Thy Holy Name
(not, observe, to our own), and may glory (not in our own praise,
but) in Thy praise (Ps. cv. 47) for ever and ever. AMEN.
1
Cf. Virgil, ^Eneid, Bk. vi. 129.
unintended and fortuitous.—ED.

But the coincidence of phrase is perhaps

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON XIV.
OF THE CHURCH OF FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS, AND OF THE
SYNAGOGUE OF PERFIDIOUS JEWS.

N fudah is God known: His Name is great in Israel (Vs. lxxv. i.).
The people (of the Gentiles) who walked in darkness have seen a
great light (Is. ix. 2), which was in Judah and in Israel, and
have desired to approach it, and be enlightened; so that those who
once were not a people, now became the people of God (1 Pet. ii. 10);
and one corner-stone united together the two walls which came from
different sides, so that, thenceforth, the place of his abode was a
place of peace. That which inspired [the nation] with confidence
was the voice of invitation which it had heard : Rejoice, ye Gentiles,
with His people (Rom. xv. 10). Therefore H e desired them to
draw near; but the Synagogue forbade them, asserting the Church
gathered out of the nations to be unclean, and unworthy of a favour
so great. Then, reproaching it as a sink of idolatry, and blaming the
blindness of its ignorance, said [the Jew]: In what way have you
merited this favour ? Touch me not. To which the other replied :
Why must I not do so ? Is He the God of the Jews only ? Is He not
also of the Gentiles 2 (Rom. iii. 29). And if merit is wanting in me,
yet assuredly pity and compassion is not wanting in Him. H e is
not only righteous, but also compassionate. O lord, let Thy tender
mercies come unto me, and I shall live; and again she says: Many,
O Lord, are Thy mercies: quicken me according to Thy judgment
(Ps. cxix. 77, 156), which, inasmuch as it is moderated and
restrained, is itself mercy. What, then, will the Lord so just and so
merciful do, if there be one who glories in the Law, and proudly
attributes righteousness to himself; who supposes that he does not
need mercy, and despises another who does need it; and, again,
another who is aware of his offences, who confesses his unworthiness,
who prays God not to deal with him according unto judgment, but
to extend to him the Divine mercy ? What, I say, will the Judge
do, and that Judge one to whom judgment and mercy are equally
familiar, so that neither of the two belongs to Him more than the
other? What can possibly be more appropriate, than that H e
should deal with each according to his prayer, and dispense judgment to the one and to the other mercy ? The Jew seeks judgment;
let him be judged; but let the Gentiles honour God for His mercy.
And it is judgment that those who despise the merciful righteousness of God, and desire to set up their own righteousness (which
assuredly accuses, not justifies, them), should be left to that same
righteousness of their own, to be overthrown,rather than justified.

/

2. For the Law, which has never rendered anyone perfect, is a
yoke which neither their fathers nor they have ever been able to

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75

bear. But the Synagogue is strong; it cares not for an easy yoke,
nor for a light burden. It is in health; it has no need of a physician,
nor of the anointing of the Spirit. It trusts in the Law ; let the Law
deliver it, if the Law has the power. But there has been no Law
bestowed which is able to give life: nay, moreover, it is death that
the Law gives : for the letter killeth (2 Cor. iii. 6). Therefore (said
the Lord) I say unto you', that ye shall die in your sins (John viii. 24).
This, then, O Synagogue, is the judgment which you, in your error,
are clamouring for. O blinded and obstinate! you shall be left to
your error, until the fulness of the Gentiles, which you proudly
despise, and reject by envy, shall come in, and you shall acknowledge
as God Him who is known in Judaea, whose Name is great in Israel.
For the rendering of this judgment it is that Jesus has come unto
this world, that they who see not might see, and that they who see
may become blind (John ix. 39). Yet this judgment is but in part,
for the Lord will not cast off His people (Ps. xciv. 14) altogether;
H e preserves to Himself as a seed His Apostles, and the multitude
of the believers, who were of one heart and of one soul. H e will not
reject them to the end, but will save a remnant. H e will again take
to Himself Israel His servant, remembering His mercy (Luke i. 54),
so that mercy shall not fail to accompany judgment, even there where
it finds no place. Otherwise, if H e had treated them according to
their merits, H e would inflict judgment without mercy upon those who
show no mercy (James ii. 13). For Judah hath in abundance the
oil of the knowledge of God, and keeps it jealously to herself, as a
miser, as it were in a closely-sealed vessel. I ask for it, and she does
not take pity upon m e ; nor will she even lend it. She desires to
possess alone the worship, the knowledge, the great Name of God,
not because she is jealous for her own happiness, but because she is
envious of mine.
3. Therefore do Thou, O Lord, give judgment in my cause that
Thy great Name may be henceforth magnified, and thy oil Divine be
multiplied still more. Let it rise, let it bubble up, let it be poured
forth and roll among the nations, and let all flesh have part in the
salvation of God. Wherefore, as the ungrateful Jew desires, should
the unction of salvation remain upon the beard of Aaron alone ? It
is not for the beard, but for the head. Nor does the head exist for
the beard alone, but for the whole body. Let it receive first, but not
exclusively. Let that [unction] which it has received from on high be
poured upon the lower limbs also. Let the heavenly fluid descend—
descend upon the breast also of the Church. She does not disdain
—she eagerly receives—that which falls upon her from the beard [of
her High Priest]; and when saturated with the dew of grace, that she
may not show herself ungrateful, she cries: Thy Name is as ointment
poured forth (Cant. i. 2). Let it roll farther yet, I entreat; let it reach
even to the skirt of her clothing—that is to say, let it extend even to
me, the last and lowest of all, and the most unworthy, yet still belonging, as it were, to that clothing. I earnestly entreat, appealing to the

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goodness [of my God], that this stream of grace may come to me, as
it were, from the bosom of my mother [Church], for I am as a babe
in Christ. And if any man whose eye is evil because of Thy goodness
should murmur, do Thou, O Lord, answer for m e ; let judgment come
forth from Thy Countenance, not from the arrogance of Israel. Nay,
more, do Thou reply on Thy own behalf, and say to the slanderer—
for it is of Thee that he utters slanders, because of Thy free grace
Thou dost bestow Thy good gifts—declare, I say, to him : I will give
unto this last even as unto thee (Matt. xx. 14). That displeases the
Pharisee; but why, O Pharisee, dost thou murmur ? My right is the
will of the Judge. Is He not as just in discerning merit as He is rich
in rewarding it? May H e not do as H e will [with His own]? To
me, I confess, mercy is shown; but to thee no injury whatever is
done. Take what thine is, and go thy way. If H e has decreed to
bestow upon me also the gift of salvation, what dost thou lose by His
so doing ?
4. Exaggerate your merits to any degree you will, and extol your
labours, the mercy of the Lord is better than life (Ps. lxiii. 3). I have
not, I confess it, endured the burden and heat of the day, but I bear
an easy yoke and a light burden according to the good pleasure of
our Father. My task has been of scarcely an hour long, and if it had
been longer, love would have prevented me from perceiving it. Let
the Jew busy himself in his own strength; but as for me, my only
care is to make proof what is the good and acceptable and perfect
Will of the Lord. It is from it that I repair the losses in time and
in labour which I have sustained. H e trusts to the letter of an agreement ; I to the decree of God's good pleasure; yea, I believe, nor
shall I be confounded in my faith, for my life depends upon His
Will. That grace reconciles the Father to me, that restores to me my
lost inheritance, and with even a greater weight of grace delights me
with sweet melody, delicious viands, and all the delightful joys of all
His rejoicing family. If that elder brother of mine is indignant, and
prefers to make merry with his friends upon a kid without the doors
rather than with me in our Father's House upon the fatted calf, the
answer shall be returned to him: / / was meet that ive should make
merry and be glad ; for this thy brother ivas dead, a?id is alive again ;
and was lost, a?id is found (Luke xv. 32). The Synagogue still feasts
without, and with demons for friends, whom it delights to see that she
is still so blind as to devour the kid [so to speak] of sin—to swallow,
and, as it were, to hide it in the stomach of her folly and ignorance ;
while, in her scorn of the righteousness of God and desire to establish
her own righteousness, she declares that she has no sin, and no need
of the death of the fatted calf, because she supposes herself to be pure
and righteous by the works of the Law. But the Church, after having
rent asunder, by the death of the Word crucified, the veil of the letter
which killeth, is led by the Spirit of liberty to advance boldly into His
secret things—to recognise and take delight in them, to be chosen
into the place of her rival, to become the Bride, to enjoy the graces

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CHRISTIANS

77

of which the other is deprived; and, being everywhere bedewed and
anointed with the oil of her gladness, clinging closely to the Lord Christ,
and receiving the vital warmth of the Holy Spirit, she obtains this happiness beyond her fellows (Ps. xlv. 7), and says : Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.
What wonder if she who embraces Him who is
filled with this sacred unction should herself be anointed therewith !
5. The Church, then, reposes within, but as yet the Church of those
who are perfect; yet for us also there is hope. Let us who fall short
of this perfection rest without, and rejoice in the hope which is given
to us. In the meantime, the Bridegroom and the Bride are alone
within; they enjoy mutual and ineffable delights, untroubled by any
tumult of carnal desires, or by the fleeting images of earthly things.
Without await them the company of virgin souls, who cannot be as yet
free from such disquietudes; but they wait in assured peace, knowing
that of them it has been said : The virgins^ her companions that follow
her^ shall be brought [unto the King] (Ps. xlv. 14). And that each of
them may know of what spirit they are, I call those virgin souls who,
having been covenanted to Christ before they were defiled by the embraces of the world, persevere constantly in the love of Him to whom
they have devoted themselves, and are so much the more happy the
earlier they did so. And I call those ' their companions ' (proximas)
who, after having shamefully given themselves over in bondage to
the princes of this world—that is, to impure spirits—yet, at length,
being ashamed of their own defilement in which they were once
conformed to this world, came forth from it, and hasten to put on the
likeness of the new man, and that with the greater sincerity the later
they were in their reformation. Both the one and the other class go
forward together; they do not fail, nor are they wearied, even though
they do not feel as yet in full that inward consolation which moves
souls to say : Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.
For these souls
do not venture to address themselves directly to the Bridegroom, yet
their endeavour is to press closely in the footsteps of her who leads
them on (magistrce); they will enjoy the delightful perfume of the oil
poured forth, and will be incited by it to desire and to seek for still
higher and better things.
6. I am not ashamed to confess that often, and particularly at the
commencement of my conversion, I myself experienced extreme coldness and hardness of heart. I sought after Him whom my soul was
desirous to love; for it was not then able to love one whom it had not
yet found, or, at least, it loved Him less than it wished to do, and on
that account was seeking Him that it might love Him with an increased
affection, though assuredly it would not have sought Him without
having some degree of love for Him previously. While, then, I was
seeking Him in whom my frozen and languid spirit might find warmth
and repose, and no one came from any side to my help, to dissolve the
icy torpor of my spiritual senses and to bring back the sweetness and
fruitfulness of the spring—at that time, I say, my soul languished and
drooped in torpor, a prey to hard and hopeless depression and dull

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discontent. At such times it would murmur to itself: Who is able to
abide the rigour of His frost 1 (Ps. cxlvii. 17). Then, on a sudden, at
a word, at the sight of some holy or piously-minded person, or at the
mere remembrance of one dead or absent, the Holy Spirit would
breathe upon [my frozen soul], and the waters would flow; then tears
were my food day and night. What was that but the perfume exhaled
by that anointing with which that holy one was endued ? It was not
the anointing itself, for that did not reach me except through the
medium of some m a n ; and though the gift caused me joy, yet I was
confounded and humiliated to know that I enjoyed but a passing gust
of sweetness, and that the unction from which it arose was not vouchsafed to me. And having only the pleasure to perceive it at a distance,
but not to draw near and touch it, I understood that I was unworthy
that God should communicate to me its sweetness directly {per se
ipsuni). And if now the same thing occurs to me, I receive, indeed,
eagerly the favour accorded to me, and I feel thankful; but I am
touched with extreme grief not to have merited it by myself, nor
received it, so to speak, from hand to hand, as I earnestly entreated
that I might do. I am ashamed to be moved more at the remembrance of man than at that of God. And then I cry with groaning:
When shall I come a?id appear before God? (Ps. xlii. 2). I think, too,
that some of you have gone through the same experience, and do so
sometimes even now. What are we to think of this, except that God
permits it either to warn us of pride, to preserve our humility, to
nourish brotherly charity, or to increase our desire for holiness ? One
and the same kind of food serves both as medicine for the sick, and
as diet for the sickly {aegrotativis). Even more, it strengthens the
weak, and delights those who are in health; it both heals disease, and
preserves health; nourishes the body, and, at the same time, is agreeable to the taste.
7. But let us return to the words of the Bridegroom; let us be
careful to listen to what H e says, and to delight in that which delights
Him. The Bride, as I have said, is the Church. She it is to whom
more has been forgiven, and who loves the more. That with which
her rival hastens to reproach her, she herself turns to her profit.
Thus she is the more gentle for chiding, more patient to endure,
more ardent in love, more prudent in self control; thus she becomes
the humbler for the consciousness of her faults, more acceptable by
her modesty, more prepared to obey, more earnest and devoted in
thanksgiving.
Finally, while the Synagogue, as has been said,
murmurs, recalls her merits, her labours, and the burden and heat
of the day which she has borne, the Church, on the contrary,
recounts but the benefits which she has received, and cries: Thy
Name is as ointment poured forth.
8. This is evidently the testimony which Israel gives to celebrate
the Name of the Lord; yet not the Israel which is according to the
flesh, but that which is according to the Spirit. For how could the
former speak thus ? It is not that he has not oil, but that he has it

THE CHURCH OF FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS

79

not poured forth.
He has it, but it is hidden; he has it in his
books, but not in his heart. H e attaches himself to the outward
letter; he clasps in his hands a vase filled with fragrant oil, but it is
closed, and he opens it not that he may be anointed therewith. The
anointing of the Spirit is inward—yea, it is inward; open, then, and
be anointed, and no longer shalt thou be a rebellious house. Of
what avail is oil in thy vases, if thou hast it not to anoint thy limbs ?
What does it profit thee to read the life-giving Name of the Saviour
in books, and not to have faith in Him in thy heart and obedience
in thy life ? Thou hast oil; pour it forth, and thou shalt feel its
threefold virtue. But the Jew disdains these things; do you, then,
listen. I wish to tell you what I have not yet mentioned, why the
Name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil. Now, for this there
are three reasons. But since H e is called by many names, inasmuch
as that which is proper to Him is known to none (for it is Ineffable)^
we must first of all invoke the Holy Spirit that H e will deign, by His
Divine wisdom, to reveal to us, since it has not pleased Him to
declare it in the Word written, that Name, out of all those which
have been given to Him, which H e would have us to understand in
this passage; but of this also at another time. For although I am
quite prepared to speak of all these things, yet that neither you
should be burdened, nor I wearied with speaking, the hour warns us
to make an end. Keep in mind what I have drawn your attention
to, that it may not be needful to repeat it to-morrow. This is what I
have in hand and propose to speak of next; namely, why the Name
of the Bridegroom is compared to oil; and what is that special Name
among the many given to Him. And since I am able to speak
nothing of myself, let your prayer be offered that the Bridegroom
Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, may by His Spirit reveal it to us.
To Him be honour and glory, for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON XV.
IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE
TO FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS IN ALL ADVERSITIES.

^ H E Spirit of wisdom is benevolent, 1 and He is not accustomed
to show Himself unapproachable to those who invoke Him,
since often, before even He is called upon, He saith, Lo, lam
here (Is. lxv. 24). Listen, now, to what at your prayer H e has deigned
to make known by means of me upon that subject, of which we treated
yesterday, and receive in due season the fruit of your prayers. Behold, I show you a Name which is rightly compared to oil, and I will
explain to you by what right it is thus compared. You read, upon

I

1

Wisd. i. 6, Vulgate and Douay version.

8o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

every page of the Divine Scripture, many Names given to the
Bridegroom, but these I will sum up in two only. None of these
you will, in my judgment, find, which do not express, either the grace
of His beneficence, or the power of His majesty. The Holy Spirit
thus instructs by the mouth of one through whom H e frequently
speaks : These two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God,
and mercy to Thee, O Lord}
Again, as to His Majesty, we read:
Holy and terrible is His Name (Ps. ex. 9). As to His goodness
towards men, There is 71 one other Name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved (Acts iv. 12). Let me render this still
more clear by examples. This is His Name, whereby He shall be
called, The Lord our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 6). It is here a name
of power. Again : And his Name shall be called Lmmanuel (Is. vii. 14),
here implying His goodness to men. Also He speaks thus of Himself : Ye call Me Master and Lord (John xiii. 13)—the former a name
of grace, the latter of greatness. For it is no less a deed of beneficence to bestow knowledge upon the mind than to give food to
the body. Again, the Prophet says : His Name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty One, God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace (Is. ix. 6). The first, the third, and the fourth
attributes, express His majesty; the others, His goodness to men.
Which, then, of these is ' as oil poured forth ?' Evidently the Name
of His Majesty and Power is in some mysterious manner transfused
into that which is the Name of His Goodness and Grace; and this
last is poured forth abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
For example, does not the Name of ' G o d ' pass into and become
transfused in that which is ' God with us,' that is, in ' LmmanueH
So the name of ' Wonderful"* into that of ''Counsellor'; 'God, the
Mighty One ' into those of ' the Everlasting Father' and * the Prince of
Peace'; and ' The Lord our Righteousness' into ' the Lord gracious
and full of compassion' (Ps. cxi. 4). In this I say nothing new, for
Abram also was, in an earlier age, changed into Abraham, and Sarai
into Sarah ; and in those cases also we find that a mystery of beneficence was prefigured and celebrated.
2. Where, now, is that Voice of thunder which made itself heard so
frequently and so terribly by the people of old time : / am the Lord I
Lam the Lord! (Exod. xx. 2). In its place there is dictated to me
a prayer, which commences with the sweet name of Father, and thus
affords good ground for confidence that the petitions which follow
will be granted. Those who were servants are now called friends;
and the Resurrection of Jesus is announced, not even 2 to disciples
only, but to those who are named brethren. And I'do not wonder
that this pouring forth of the Holy Name was made when the fulness
of time came ; for God thus fulfilled what H e had promised by Joel
(ii. 28), and poured out His Spirit upon all flesh ; and I read that
something similar had taken place among the Hebrews in ancient
1
2

Ps. lxi. 12, Vulgate and Douay version.
Saltern* So in M S . , but another reading is tantu?n.

IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE 8 1

times. Your minds, I dare say, outstrip my words, and you already
know what I am about to mention. For of what nature was the
answer, I would ask, which was given to Moses when he inquired at
first who was speaking to him ? I AM THAT I AM ? and I AM hath
sent me unto you] (Exod. iii. 14). I know not whether Moses himself would have understood it thus if the Name had not been already
poured forth. But that was done, and it was understood ; not only
poured (fusum), but poured forth (effusum); for the inpouring
(infusum) was already achieved. Already the heavens possessed it;
already it had been made known to the angels. But it is [now] sent
forth abroad ; and the Name which had been so infused into the
angels that it was become even familiar to them, was sent forth among
men also, so that thenceforth the cry of joy should be with justice
raised from earth, Thy Name is as oil poured forth, if the odious
obstinacy of an ungrateful people had not hindered. For He says :
/ am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob
(Exod. iii. 6, 15).
3. Approach, ye nations ; your salvation is at hand. That Name
is poured forth which whosoever calls upon shall be saved. The God
of angels names Himself the God of men also. He has shed forth
oil upon Jacob and it has fallen upon Israel. Say, then, to your
brethren. Give us of your oil (Mart. xxv. 8). But if they will not,
pray ye the Lord for oil, that He may send it unto you also. Say ye
unto Him, Take away our reproach (Is. iv. 1). Permit not, I entreat,
an evil tongue to insult Thy beloved, whom Thou hast been pleased
to call from the ends of the earth, and that with so much the greater
bounty as he was less worthy [of Thy goodness]. Is it fitting, I
beseech Thee, that a wicked servant should shut out those whom
their kind Father has invited ? lam, Thou sayest, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And are there no more [than
these] ? Pour forth, pour forth ; open still wider Thy Hand, and fill
with blessing every living thing. Let them come from the east and
from the west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven (Matt. viii. 11). Let the tribes, the tribes of the
Lord come, let them come ; unto the testimony of Israel, to give
thanks unto the Name of the Lord (Ps. cxxii. 4). Let them come,
and take the seats of guests ; let them feast in gladness of great joy ;
let there everywhere be heard but one great chorus of thanksgivings
and praises, one song of them that feast (Ps. xlii. 4): Thy Name is as
oil poured forth.
Of one thing I am sure, that if we have Philip and
Andrew for porters at the gate of heaven, whosoever among us seeks
for this celestial oil, whosoever of us desires to see Jesus, will encounter no repulse. At once Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and
again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. But what will Jesus say ? Without doubt what He has already said : Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die it bringeth forth much
fruit (John xii. 22-25). ^ e t t n e grain, then, die, and let there rise from
it the harvest of the Gentiles. It is needful that Christ should suffer,
6

82

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that H e should rise from the dead, and that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in His Name, not only in Judaea, but
among all nations (John xxiv. 46, 4 7 ) ; insomuch that from one Name,
which is Christ, thousands of thousands of believers shall be called
Christians, and shall say : Thy Name is as oil poured forth.
4. I recognise that Name also in that which I have read in Isaiah:
The Lord God shall call His servants by another Name, in which he
that is blessed in the earth shall be blessed in God.1 Amen. O Blessed
Name ! O oil everywhere poured forth ! How far does it penetrate ?
It spreads from Heaven to Judaea, and thence over the whole earth;
and from every part of the earth rises the adoring cry of the Church:
Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Yes, that is indeed poured forth,
with which not only the heavens and the earth are steeped, but even
the abodes of the dead besprinkled; so that in the adorable Name
of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Phil,
ii. 10, 11), and say, Thy Name is as oil poured forth.
Behold the
Christ, behold Jesus, whether infused into angels, or effused upon
men—yea, upon men who had defiled themselves as beasts upon
their dunghill, saving both men and beasts, in like manner as God has
multiplied His mercy. How dear is that Name, but how common
(vile)!—common, but precious in its power to heal! If it were not
common it would not have been poured out upon a sinner such as I ;
and if it had no power of healing it would have profited me nothing.
I am a sharer in that Name—a sharer, too, in its heavenly inheritance.
I am a Christian ; I am even the brother of Christ; and if I be truly
that which I am thus called, I am an heir of God, and a joint heir
with Christ (Rom. viii. 17). What wonder is it if the Name of the
Bridegroom be thus poured forth, when He Himself is poured forth
likewise ? For when He emptied Himself did He not take upon
Him the form of a servant (Philipp. ii. 7)? Therefore H e says: I
am poured out like water (Ps. xxii. 14). The plenitude of His
Divinity was poured forth when He dwelt in bodily form upon the
earth \ so that we all who bear about a mortal body should participate
in that plenitude, and, being filled with an odour of life, should say:
Thy Name is as oil poured forth.
I go on to say, What is that Name
wrhich is poured forth, in what manner, and in what degree ?
5. First, why is it called oil?—for this I have not as yet explained.
I had begun to do so in a former sermon, but another subject suddenly presented itself which seemed to me to require to be treated of.
But I have deferred to speak of this longer than I supposed, for which
I see no other reason than this, that Wisdom is as the virtuous woman
in the Book of Proverbs (xxxi. 10), who layeth her hands to the
spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. For she knows how out of
a little wool or flax to draw out the thread and to broaden the web
with the shuttle, and so to clothe all her servants in garments both of
linen and of wool. There is no doubt that oil has its points of
1

Deo.

St. Bernard quotes the Vulg. inexactly—l In Domino. A men? instead of ' In
Amen.' The Septuagint renders ' In the true God.'—ED.

IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE

83

resemblance to the Name of the Bridegroom, and that not without
reason has the Holy Spirit compared the one to the other. Perhaps
you may discern better than I the reasons for this ; but, as far as I
am able to judge, the reasons are three : that it gives light, it gives
nourishment, and it anoints. It maintains flame, it nourishes the
flesh, it relieves pain ; it is light, it is food, and it is medicine. Notice
now that the same thing can be said of the Name of the Bridegroom :
for when preached it enlightens the mind, when it is meditated upon
it is food to the mind, and when invoked it softens and alleviates the
wounds of mind and soul. Let us examine each of these qualities
separately.
6. Whence do you suppose so bright and so sudden a light of faith
has been kindled in the whole world, except by the preaching of the
Name of Jesus ? Is it not by the light of this sacred Name that
God has called us into His marvellous light, so that when we had
been enlightened by it, and in that light we had seen light, St. Paul
was enabled to say to us : Ye ivere sometimes darkness, but now are ye
light in the Lord (Eph. v. 8). This Name, in conclusion, it was that
the same Apostle was bidden to bear before the Gentiles, and Kings,
and the children of Israel (Acts ix. 15); this Name he bore as a
lamp to enlighten his country and his people, crying everywhere : T/is
night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, cast off the
works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light: let us walk
honestly, as in the day (Rom. xiii. 12, 13). To all he displayed a
lamp shining upon, its pillar, when in every place he preached Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. How resplendent was that Light; how
it dazzled the eyes of all beholders, when, coming forth as a lightning
flash from the mouth of Peter, it set the lame man upon sound and
strong limbs; when it restored to sight many who were spiritually
blind ! Did it not shoot forth a light of fire, when he said, hi the
Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk? (Acts iii. 6).
But the Name of Jesus is not only light; it is also nourishment. Do
you not feel spiritually strengthened as often as you meditate upon
it ? What enriches the mind of the thinker as does the Name of
Jesus ? What so restores exhausted powers, strengthens the soul
in all virtues, animates it to good and honourable conduct, fosters in
it pure and pious dispositions ? Dry and tasteless is every kind of
spiritual food, if this sweet oil be not poured into it; and insipid, if
it be not seasoned with this salt. A book or writing has no single
point of goodness for me if I do not read therein the Name of Jesus ;
nor has a conference any interest for me, unless the Name of Jesus
be heard in it. 1 As honey to the mouth, as melody in the ear, as a
1
St. Augustine, in his * Confessions,' makes a similar declaration about himself
(Bk. iii., c. 4) with respect to reading a book of Hortensius : * There was only one
thing in all that eloquent language which distressed me ; it was that the name of
Christ was not to be found there . . . and any writing in which that Name was
wanting, however learned, polished, and veracious it might be, would not wholly
satisfy me.'

84

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

song of gladness to the heart, is the Name of Jesus. 1 But it is also
a medicine. Is any of you sad ? Let Jesus come into your heart;
let His Name leap thence to your lips, and behold, when that
blessed Name arises [as a sun], its light disperses the clouds of
sadness, and brings back serenity and peace. Is any falling into
crime ? or even, in his despair, rushing upon death ? Let him call
upon that life-giving N a m e ; does he not speedily begin to breathe
again and revive? In the presence of that saving Name, who has
ever remained fast bound (as is the case with some of us) by hardness of heart, ignoble sloth, rancour of mind, or cold indifference ?
Who has not known the fountain of his tears, which seemed dried up,
to burst forth anew, and with added abundance and sweetness, at the
calling upon the Name of Jesus ? Who, when in fear and trembling
in the midst of dangers, has called upon that Name of power, and
has not found a calm assurance of safety, and his apprehensions at
once driven away ? WThere is the man who, when labouring under
doubt and uncertainty, has not had the clear shining of faith restored
to him by the influence of the Name of Jesus ? Or who has not
found new vigour and resolution given to him at the sound of that
Name full of help, when he was discouraged by adversities, and
almost ready to give way to them ? Those are the diseases and
ailments of the soul, and for them this is the remedy. And what I
say is proved by these words : Call upon Me in the day of trouble: 1
will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me (Ps. 1. 15). Nothing is so
powerful as the Name of Jesus to restrain the impulse of anger, to
repress the swelling of pride, to cure the wound of envy, to bridle
the impulse of luxury, and extinguish the flame of fleshly desire; to
temper avarice, and put to flight ignoble and impure thoughts. For,
when I utter the Name of Jesus, I set before my mind, not only a
Man meek and humble in heart, moderate, pure, benign, merciful,
and, in short, conspicuous for every honourable and saintly quality,
but also in the same individual the Almighty God, who both restores
me to spiritual health by His example, and renders me strong by His
assistance. All these things are said to me when the Name of
JESUS is pronounced. From Him, inasmuch as He is Man, I derive
an example; inasmuch as He is the Mighty One, I obtain assistance.
1

See ' Jubilus Rhythmicus D e Nomine J e s u , ' verses 1-8 :
' fesu dulcis
memoria,
Dans vera co?'di gaudia ;
Sed super mel et omnia,
Ejus dulcis
memoria.
Nil canitur
suavius,
Ail auditur
jucundius,
Nil cogitatur
dulcius,
Quam fe* us Dei
Filius.'

M . Haureau
positively (pp.
passage above
the Saint, had

(' Des Poemes Latins attribues a St. Bernard,' Paris, 1890) declares
6$ 68) that this poem is not from the hand of St. Bernard.
The
shows, however, and that incontestably, that the wTriter of it, if not
borrowed his very w o r d s . — E D .

IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE 85

Of His example I make, as it were, medicinal and salutary herbs,
and His help is an instrument to prepare them; thus I obtain a
remedy of power, such as none among physicians is able to compound.
7. In this sacred Name, O my soul, hidden in the Name of Jesus
as in a vase, thou hast a saving antidote {electuariuni), which shall
never be found Without efficacy against any disease or infection.
Let it be always in thy bosom, always in thy hand, so that all thy
affections, and all thy actions may be directed towards Jesus. To
this you are invited, where it is said : Set Me as a seal upon thine
heart, as a seal upon thine arm (Cant. viii. 6). But of this at another
time. You have here (let us now consider) a sure remedy both for
your heart and for your arm. You have, I say, in the Name of Jesus
a means of correcting those actions in you which are bad, and of
perfecting those that are defective; of protecting your feelings and
affections from being defiled ; or if defiled, of restoring them to
health and purity.
8. There were in Judaea certain [others] named Jesus, in whom
she glories; but these are but empty names; they render neither
light, nor nourishment, nor healing. Therefore it is that the
Synagogue is even to this day in darkness, weak with hunger, and
languishing from disease. Nor will its hunger be satisfied, nor its
disease healed, till it comes to know that it is our Jesus who rules in
Jacob and unto the ends of the world [until then], at evening let them
return, grin [for famine] like dogs, and go about the city (Ps. lix. 14, 7),
They, indeed, were sent on before, as the staff was sent before him
by the Prophet to the presence of the dead child (2 Kings iv. 29-35);
nor could they read a meaning in those names of theirs, for they were
void of power. The staff was laid upon the face of the child; but
there was neither voice nor hearing, because it was but a staff. H e
came who sent the staff; He descended and came unto His people ;
and ere long He saved them from their sins, proving that to be the
fact which was said of H i m : Who is this that forgiveth sins also ?
(Luke vii. 49). No doubt H e is that One who saith, / am the
salvation of My people (Ps. xxxv. 3). Now there is voice; now
there is hearing; it is manifest that H e does not, like those who
came before Him, bear an empty name. The life and salvation
poured into the soul is felt; nor is so great a benefit passed over in
silence. Within there is hearing; without there is speech. I am
touched with penitence; I make confession [of my sins]; and to
confess shows spiritual life : Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as
from one that is not (Ecclus. xvii. 28). 1 Here is the proof of life, and
of feeling. I am raised perfectly from the dead; my resurrection is
complete. What is the death of the body, but the depriving it of
feeling and of life? Sin, which is the death of the soul, had left
1
The word in the Vulgate is confession which may mean either acknowledgment
of sin, or thanks for benefits. But the word here seems to be intended in the
former sense. For a third sense of the word see Rom. x. 10.—ED.

86

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

unto me neither any feeling of compunction, nor utterance of confession, and I was dead. Then H e came who taketh away sins, and
H e restored to me each of these powers, saying unto my soul, 1 am
thy salvation (Ps. xxxv. 3). What wonder if death gives place, where
Life descends from heaven ? Now with the heart the man believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth makes confession unto salvation (Rom. x. 10). As the child opened widely his mouth, even seven
times, so the man saith, Seven times a day do I praise Thee, O Lord
(Ps. cxix. 164). Note the number of seven. It is a sacred number,
not without a mystical meaning. But it will be better to reserve this
for another sermon ; so that we may draw near with keen appetite,
not with distaste, to this repast so excellent, to which we are invited
by the Spouse of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above
all, GOD blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XVI.
OF CONTRITION OF HEART, AND OF T H E THREE KINDS OF TRUE
CONFESSION.

vv

HAT, then, is intended by that number seven ? For I suppose that none among us is so undiscerning as to suppose
that the seven times which the child yawned was a number
fortuitously reached, and without meaning. Nor do I think the fact
is without signification that the prophet Elisha stretched himself
upon the dead body of the child, setting mouth upon its mouth,
eyes upon its eyes, and hands upon its hands (2 Kings xxxiv. 34).
The Holy Spirit has willed all these circumstances to take place thus,
and thus to be recorded, for the instruction without doubt of those
spirits whom the treacherous companionship of their body of corruption has led astray, and whom the wisdom of this world, which
is foolishness, has taught to be without understanding. For the
corruptible body presseth down the soul; and the earthly tabernacle
weigheth down the mind, that museth upon many things (Wisd. ix 15).
Let no one, then, wonder or take it ill, if I seem to be minutely
curious in searching into such things as these, which are, if I may
say so, the treasure-houses of the Holy Spirit; since I know that to do
thus is truly to live, and that in such things is the life of my spirit. Yet
I say to those who outstrip me by the quickness of their apprehension,
and in every sermon are anxious to arrive at the end, almost before
they have heard the beginning, that I have a duty towards those of
slower minds as well, and that, indeed, it is much greater towards
them than towards others; nor is it nearly as much my object and
my care to explain words as it is to touch and to influence hearts.
It is my duty (so to speak) to draw water, and to give it to others to

CONTRITION OF HEART

87

drink ; and this duty is not discharged by rushing through subjects
in great haste, but rather by treating them with leisurely care, and
making them frequently the occasion for exhortation. It is true that
the discussion of these mysteries (sacramentorum) has detained us
longer than I could have supposed. I thought, I must confess, that
one sermon would suffice for all of those subjects, that we should
quickly traverse that forest, sombre and shady with allegories, and
arrive, in a journey of perhaps one day, at the open plain of the
moral meanings of our subject; but it has proved otherwise. We
have been occupied in their consideration two days already, and we
have still some distance to go. The eye of an observer at a distance
traverses in a moment the tops of great masses of verdure, and marks
the mountain peaks ; but it cannot pierce into the vast depths of the
low-lying valleys, or penetrate the obscure coverts of the thickets.
How could I foresee, for instance, that when treating of the calling of
the Genciles and the rejection of the Jews, the miracle of Elisha would
present itself of a sudden to my mind? But now, since we have
fallen upon that incident, let us linger upon it for a little while, and
we will return afterwards to the subject we have left; and, in fact,
this, as well as the other, has in it food for souls. Does it not
happen to hunters also and their hounds often to leave the quarry
they had started, and to follow another, which they rouse unexpectedly ?
2. It is a fact which gives me no little confidence to reflect upon,
that this great Prophet, mighty in word and deed, has deigned to
descend from the height of heaven, and to visit me, who am but
dust and ashes; to have pity upon me in my state of death, to bend
down to me as I lay prostrate, to be narrowed and made equal to
my littleness, to share the light of His eyes with me in my darkness,
to unloose the dumbness of my mouth with a kiss from His own, to
strengthen my weak hands by the touch of His own in their strength.
I meditate upon these benefits with sweetness unspeakable; my
heart is filled with joy, my soul receives new vigour, and all that is
within m e ; and my bones render praise to God. This He has once
done for all the world ; this each of us feels to be in process of doing
daily in us ; so that to his heart is given the light of intelligence, to
his mouth the word of edification, to his hands the work of righteousness. It is He who gives us the power to think good and faithful
thoughts, to express them usefully, to carry them out efficaciously in
our life. In this is a threefold cable not easily broken, to draw souls
out of the prison of the devil, and to draw them after one's self into
the kingdom of heaven : it consists of three things ; to think rightly,
to speak worthily, to conform also our life to that which we speak.
H e has touched my eyes with His own, thus adorning the forehead,
as it were, of my inner man with two bright luminaries, faith and
intelligence. With His Mouth H e has touched mine, and has
pressed upon one who was dead the sign of peace, since, when we
were still sinners and dead to righteousness, He has reconciled us to

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God. He has, I say, with His sacred Mouth touched mine, thereby
breathing a second time upon my face the breath of Life, and that
life more holy than at first. For in the first place He created me to
be a living soul; but in the second, reformed me to be a quickening
spirit (i Cor. xv. 45). His Hands upon mine He placed, affording me an example of good works, a model of obedience. Or, at
least, H e has set His Hands to great and noble deeds, that He
might teach my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
3. And the child, it is said, yawned seven times. It would have
been enough to manifest the glory of the miracle had the child
yawned but once; but the multiplicity, and the number itself being
so noble, warn us of a mystery. If you consider that corpse as the
type of the whole human race, which was spiritually dead, you will
see that the universal Church, from the time of its receiving life from
the Prophet stretched upon it, yawned, so to speak, seven times; for
it has been the custom of the Church to sing praises to God seven
times a day. And if you yourself consider, you will perceive that
you are living a spiritual life, and fulfilling this mystical number, if
you hold in subjection your five organs of sense to a twofold charity,
and, according to the Apostle's precept, make your members the
instruments of righteousness unto sanctification, as you formerly
yielded them as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Rom. vi. 13);
or if you use those five senses for the salvation of your neighbours,
and make up the number of seven by adding these two things—viz.,
the praising God for His mercy, and for His justice.
4. Seven other yawTnings I have to consider, which are stven
experiences, without which a soul cannot be assured that it has truly
regained life. Four of these have reference to the feeling of penitence for sin; three to the outward sound of confession of it. If
you are living, if you have a voice and spiritual consciousness, you
recognise the same in yourself. That is to say, you know that you
have entirely recovered spiritual sensibility if you feel your conscience keenly grieved by a fourfold penitence; namely, a twofold
shame, and a twofold fear. With the threefold confession, of which
we will speak afterwards, the number seven is made up, and these are
an unfailing proof of life regained. Does not the holy prophet Jeremiah also observe this number in his Lamentations ? And do you
also, in that which you make for yourself, observe the form which
the Prophet has prescribed, think of God as your Creator, your
Benefactor, your Father, your Lord. You are a criminal before Him
in regard to each of these His characters; be, then, penitent as you
think of each. To the first and the last of these let your fear respond ;
to the second and third your shame. A father, just because he is a
father, is, indeed, not the object of fear, because it is the nature of a
father always to pity and to spare. Even when he punishes, it is
with a rod that he strikes, not with a heavy staff, and Himself heals
the wounds which he has made. It is a father's voice which says :
/ will strike, and I will heal (Deut. xxxii. 39). You have, then, no

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cause for extreme terror of God your Father; since though He sometimes strikes that He may bring about correction in you, He never
strikes to avenge Himself. But when I consider that I have offended
that heavenly Father, there is good reason for my feeling shame,
though there be none for fear. H e has begotten me of His own
will by the Word of Truth, not urged by the spur of any necessity.
Then, also, He did not spare His only begotten Son for me, who was
thus begotten. Thus He, indeed, treated me with all the affection
of a Father; but I have not behaved in turn with the obedience of
a son. With what assurance, I ask, can a son so evil venture to
raise even his eyes towards the Countenance of a Father so good ?
I am ashamed to have done actions so little worthy of my parentage ; I am ashamed to have degenerated from a Father so exalted.
O my eyes, do ye cause streams of tears to flow; let my face be
covered with shame and confusion, and let shadow fall upon it. May
my life be worn away in grief, and my years in mourning. Shame
upon m e ! What profit have I of those things of which I am now
ashamed? If I have sown unto the flesh, from the flesh I shall reap
only corruption (Gal. vi. 8 ) ; if to the world, both it and the lust
thereof passes away (1 John ii. 17). Yet I, unhappy and devoid of
reason, have not blushed to prefer such perishing and vain advantages as these, which are almost nothing, and of which the end is
death, to the love and to the honour which I owe to the Eternal
Father!
Well may I be covered with confusion to hear these
words : If I be a Father, where is Mine honour•? (Mai. i. 6).
5. But even if H e were not a Father, has He not overwhelmed
me with benefits ? Without speaking of innumerable other blessings,
H e brings forward against me, as witnesses of my ingratitude, the
sustaining of this my mortal body, the use of a lengthened time in
this world, and, above all, the Blood of His dear Son, which cries
out against me from the ground. My ingratitude puts me to shame,
and to complete my confusion, I stand convicted also of having
rendered evil for good, and hatred for love. It is true that, from a
Benefactor, as from a Father, I have nothing to fear; for He is truly
beneficent, giving to all men liberally, and upbraiding not (James i. 5)
[for what He has given]. He does not upbraid us for His gifts,
because they are truly gifts; nor does He sell His benefits, but
bestows them.
And, lastly, His gifts are without repentance.
But the more benign and liberal I am obliged to think Him, the
more unworthy I must consider myself to be. Blush with shame,
O my soul, and be dissolved with grief; since, although it is according to the goodness of God to give without reproaching me or
reclaiming what He has given, yet it is a disgrace to me to show
myself ungrateful, and unmindful of these gifts. Alas ! what shall I,
even now, and thus late, render unto the Lord for all the benefits
which H e hath done unto me ?
6. Let me, if I am not affected, as I ought, with shame and regret,
at least be open to feelings of fear, and let the fear come to the help

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of the regret; let it be aroused, that it may arouse me. Put aside for
a moment the tender names of Benefactor and Father, and turn to
other Names more austere; for H e of whom we read as the Father of
mercies, and the God of all consolation (2 Cor. i. 3), we read of also as
the Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth (Ps. xciv. 1); as God the
Judge righteous and powerful (Ps. vii. 12); as terrible in His doin°s
toward the children of men (Ps. lxvi. 5 ) ; as a jealous God(Exod. xx. 5).
It is for you that H e is Father and Benefactor, for Himself H e is
Creator and Lord; for, as Scripture declares, H e hath made all things
for Himself (Prov. xvi. 4). He, then, who defends and preserves with
so much care that which is yours, will He not ever be jealous, think you,
for Himself? will H e not require the honour due to His sovereignty?
Because of this it is that the wicked hath provoked God; for he hath
said in his heart, He will not require it (Ps. ix. 13, Vulg.). And what
is it to say in his heart, He will not require it, except to be without
fear of His requiring it ? But H e will require it, and that to the last
farthing; H e will require it, and will abundantly recompense the proud
doer (Ps. xxxi. 23). H e will require service from him whom H e hath
redeemed; He will expect honour and glory from His creature.
7. Let it be granted that as Father H e will pass over offences, and
as Benefactor forgive, yet not as Creator and as Lord; and H e who
will spare a son will not spare an evil servant, the work of His Hands.
Consider what a fearful and terrible thing it is to have despised Him
who is your Creator, and the Creator of all things—to have offended
the Lord of glory ! It is the prerogative of Majesty, of Lordship, to
be feared, and especially of this Lord and of this Majesty; for if the
laws of man punish with the supreme penalty one who shall be guilty
of high treason against the royal majesty, though it be that of a man,
what shall be the end of those who despise the Omnipotence of God ?
If He do but touch the mountains, they shall smoke (Ps. cxliv. 5 ) ; and
shall a mere petty mass of vile dust that a puff of wind may scatter in
a moment, not to be brought together again, dare to arouse the anger
of a Being of Majesty so awful? H E , H E is to be feared, who, after
He hath killed the body, hath power even to cast into hell (Luke xii. 5).
Hell it is I fear ; the Face of my Judge, before whom the angels veil
their faces in fear—at this I fear and tremble. At the mere thought
of the anger of the Almighty, of the beholding of His Face in wrath,
of the crash of a perishing world, of the roar of the elemental fires
bursting forth, of the tumultuous conflict of the powers of nature, of
the voice of the Archangel, of the awful word of the Judge's doom—
at the mere thought of these I tremble and shake. Terrible to me is
the mere idea of the teeth of the monster of hell, of the lions roaring
for their prey, of the abyss which contains and which hides them. I
shudder at the gnawing of the never-dying worm, at the ever-burning
lake of fire, at the smoke, the sulphur, the livid clouds, the whirlwinds
of flame, and, lastly, at the outer darkness which broods over all. Who
shall make my head to be a river, mine eyes a fountain of tears (Jer.
ix. 1), so that by my weeping day and night I might anticipate and so

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avoid the weeping and gnashing of teeth, the hard fetters upon hands
and feet, the weighty and cramping chains, which strangle, which burn
to the bone, and yet are never consumed ? Alas, my mother ! why
hast thou borne me to be a son of sorrow, a child of wrath, reserved
for fiery indignation and everlasting lamentings ? Why didst thou
nurse upon thy knees, why didst thou nourish from thy breast, one
born but to be consumed, to become food for the everlasting fire ?
8. He who is affected deeply with these thoughts has, without
doubt, recovered spiritual sensibility—that twofold fear, accompanied
by that twofold shame, constitute, as it were, the four yawnings of the
child raised up. The three which remain refer to the voice of confession [of sin], and of him [who makes use of this] it cannot be said
that he has neither voice nor feeling, provided that his confession
comes from a humble, simple, and faithful heart. Confess humbly,
purely, and faithfully, therefore, whatever gives you remorse of conscience, and you have fulfilled your duty in this respect. There are
those who boast themselves in doing evil, and delight in the worst
crimes (Prov. ii. 14), of whom the Prophet speaks when he says :
They declare their sin as Sodom (Is. iii. 9). But I put these out of the
question at present—they are people of the world; and what have we
to do with them who are without ?
9. It happens to us, nevertheless, sometimes to hear men even who
have professed the religious life, and wear its garb, recall their past
bad actions, and boast of them most impudently—as, for example, of
the bravery they have shown in duels, or the cleverness in a dispute
of words, or of similar things, which the vanity, indeed, of the world
estimates highly, but which are hurtful, pernicious, and even dangerous
to the salvation of the soul. This is an indication of a worldly mind,
and the habit of humility which such persons wear is not a proof of
the renewing of their mind in holiness, but a screen which hides their
former temper still persisted in. Some recall such things as if they
grieved over and repented of them ; but as they still glory inwardly
in them, they do not efface the fault of them, but merely deceive their
own selves, for God is not mocked (Gal. vi. 7). They have not put off
the old man, but merely covered it with the new. The old leaven is
not acknowledged nor abandoned by such a confession as that; but
is, on the contrary, established the more, according to the saying of
the Psalmist: My bones grezv old: ivhilst I cried out all the day long
(Ps. xxxi. 3). I am ashamed to recall the extreme effrontery of others
who have not scrupled to recount with pride things for which they
ought to weep, as that, even after they received the sacred habit, they
cunningly overthrew someone, or over-reached some brother in a matter
of business, or that they took revenge on one who had done them injury
by word or deed—that is, they boldly rendered evil for evil, and railing
for railing.
10. There is a kind of confession so much the more perilous, as it
conceals vanity in a manner more subtle. I mean that in which we
do not hesitate to reveal discreditable and shameful faults; not because

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we are really humble, but that we maybe thought to be so. Now, to
seek praise for humility is the reverse of humility, not the virtue itself.
The man who is truly humble wishes to be held in slight esteem, not
to be proclaimed and praised as being humble. H e rejoices to be
contemned, and is proud only on this one point—that he despises
praises. What can be more perverse and unworthy conduct than to
make confession, which is the guardian of humility, contribute to the
satisfaction of pride, and so wish to appear the better for the very reason
that he seems to appear worse ? Oh, prodigy of boasting, to have no
other means of being thought a saint than to be thought the wickedest
of sinners ! But such a confession, having only the appearance, not
the reality, of humility, not only does not deserve forgiveness, but even
calls down anger. What did it profit Saul that, when chidden by
Samuel, he confessed that he had sinned (i Sam. xv. 30)? No doubt
that confession was itself criminal which did not blot out the crime
confessed. Whenever did the Master of humility, whose natural desire
assuredly is to give grace unto the humble, despise a really humble
confession ? It would assuredly be a thing impossible that He should
not be reconciled if the humility which the words express be manifested
also in the heart. This is why I have said that confession of sin should
be humble.
11. It must also be made with simplicity. Let not a soul (if it be
guilty) delight in making excuse for its intention (under the pretext,
perhaps, that it is not known to men), nor to pare down and diminish
a grave fault, nor to ascribe it to the advice of another person, since
no one is obliged to act against his own will. The first of these is not
a confession, but a defence; nor does it appease, but rather provokes,
the wrath of God. The second is a mark of ingratitude; for the less
a fault is regarded as being, the more is the glory diminished of him
who forgives it. To this must be added that a benefit will be accorded
so much less willingly, as it is known that he who receives it will be
less thankful for it, as supposing it to be less necessary to him. That
person renders himself unworthy of pardon who depreciates the value
of the grace he hopes to receive, and this is what everyone does who
endeavours to make light of his offence in the words which he uses
[to confess it]. As for the third, the example of the first man may
serve to dissuade us from it (Gen. iii. 2); for though he did not deny
his fault, yet he did not obtain pardon for it; and this, doubtless, was
because he mixed up with it the fault of his wife. It is a form of
excuse to inculpate another when you are yourself accused. Holy
David teaches us that the desire to make excuses for yourself, when
censurqd, is not only useless, but exceedingly harmful; for he calls to
77iake excuses for sins ' evil words' (Ps. cxl. 4, Vulg. and Douay), and
entreats God not to incline His heart to them. Assuredly he was
very right; for a person sins against his own soul who excuses himself,
repelling thereby from him the remedy of leniency, and with his own
lips preventing the entrance of life. What perverseness can be greater
than to take arms against his own salvation, and to transfix himself

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with his own tongue as with a sword? H e that is evil to himself, to
whom will he be good (Ecclus. xiv. 5) ?
12. Finally, confession must be made in faith—that is to say, it
must be filled with hope, free from distrust of obtaining pardon of
our offences, or of fear lest by making it you should be rather condemning yourself than justifying. Judas, who betrayed our Lord, and
Cain, who slew his brother, confessed their crime, but each despaired
of God's mercy. The one said : / have sinned, i?i that I have betrayed
the innocent Blood (Matt, xxvii. 4 ) ; the other : My iniquity is greater
than that I may deserve pardon (Gen. iv. 13, Vulg.). Their confession
was truthful; but because it was made without faith, it profited them
nothing. These three conditions of confession of sin, then, joined to
the four formerly named of penitence for it, make up the number seven.
13. When you have thus been touched with heartfelt sorrow for
your sins, when you have thus confessed them, and you thenceforth
feel good assurance that the gift of life has been conferred upon you,
you will be no less assured, I think, that the Name of JESUS is not
empty nor fruitless, since He has been able and willing to perform
such great works in your soul ; and that it was not in vain that H e
followed in person the staff which He had sent before. H e has not
come in vain, because He has not come empty. 1 How, in fact, could
He have been empty in Whom dwells the fulness of the Godhead ?
(Col. i. 19 ; ii. 9). For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
Him (John iii. 34). So, also, H e came in the fulness of time
(Gal. iv. 4), as if to indicate that in every way H e was full [of power].
Truly H e was full, whom the Father hath anointed with the oil of
gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 7); whom He hath anointed and
sent into the world full of grace and truth (John i. 14). He has
anointed Him, that He may anoint others ; and all those have been
anointed by Him who have been found worthy to receive of His
fulness. Therefore H e saith : The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
Me, because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the
meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broke?i-hearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bou?id; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Is. lxi. 1). H e
came, as you hear, to anoint with the oil of salvation our contritions,
and to soothe our griefs ; therefore it was that H e came filled with a
Divine anointing—He came meek and lowly in heart, and full of an
infinite pity for all those who call upon Him for aid. He knew well
that it was to people crippled and helpless that H e was coming down
from heaven, and He snowed Himself in that capacity which their
need required. And that wise and foreseeing Physician, because He
had many maladies to cure, provided Himself beforehand with many
remedies. H e brought with Him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the Spirit of
knowledge and true godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
14. Do you see how many vials full of heavenly balms the
1

Vacne, vacuus.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS .

Celestial Physician has prepared for the healing of the wounds of
that unhappy man who fell among thieves? Seven they are in
number, seven suited, perhaps, to excite the seven yawnings of which
we have spoken , for in each was the Spirit of life. From these H e
pours oil upon my wounds, and wine also, but in less quantity than
the oil; for it was in accordance with my infirmities that mercy
should be exalted above judgment, as oil rises in a vessel above wine.
H e brought, therefore, five vessels of oil, but of wine two only ;
for it is strength only and fear that are typified by wine; the remaining five signify oil, because of its softness and healing qualities. In
the spirit of strength it was that, like a mighty man that shouteth by
reason of wine (Ps. lxxviii. 65), H e descended into hell, shattered the
gates of brass, and brake asunder the bars of iron ; that H e bound
the strong man, and delivered them who were subject to bondage.
Nevertheless, H e descended also in the spirit of fear; but it was to
inspire fear, not to feel it.
15. O Wisdom ! with what healing skill dost Thou re-establish the
health of my soul by this wine and this oil, mingling strength with
sweetness, and sweetness with strength. Strong Thou art on my
behalf, yet towards me Thou art sweet. From one end of the world
to the other Thy Almighty power extendest, and Thou dost dispose
all things with sweetness, driving far away my enemy, and sustaining
me when weak. Heal me, O Lord, and my healing shall be complete ; I will sing and give praises unto Thy Name, and say : Thy
Name is as oil poured forth.
Not as wine poured forth (for I do not
desire that Thou shouldest enter into judgment with Thy servant),
but as oil, because Thou crownest me with lovingkindness and
tender mercies (Ps. ciii. 4). Yes, it is as oil, for oil rises above all
other liquids with which it may be mixed, and thus is an apt type
of that Name which is above every name. O Name, infinitely
dear and sweet!
O Name, glorious beyond all words; foreordained and fore-ennobled, and of supremest exaltation for all
ages ! This is truly the oil which maketh glad the face of man,
which anoints the head of him that fasteth, so that he regardeth
not the oil of the sinner. This is the new Name which the Mouth
of the Lord hath named (Is. Ixii. 2, Vulg.); which was so named
of the Angel before He was conceived in the womb (Luke ii. 21),
Not only the Jew, but whosoever shall call upon this Name shall
be delivered (Joel ii. 32), wheresoever it is poured forth, far and wide.
This Name the Father has bestowed upon the Son, the Bridegroom of the Church, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is above all,
G O D blessed for ever. AMEN.

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95

SERMON XVII.
THAT IT IS NEEDFUL TO OBSERVE WITH CARE T H E APPROACH AND
T H E DEPARTURE OF T H E HOLY S P I R I T ; AND OF T H E ENVY OF
T H E DEVIL TOWARDS THE HUMAN RACE.

D

O you think that we have made sufficient advance in the
sanctuary of God to venture to examine an admirable
mystery? or, rather, to follow the Holy Spirit into the
deeper recesses of truth, and to search out that which still remains
unknown to us ? For that Spirit searcheth, not the hearts and reins
of men only, but also the deep things of G o d ; and I follow Him
with safety whithersoever He shall lead, whether it be into the
heights 1 or into the depths of our own nature. Only, may H e guard
our hearts and our intellects that we may not believe Him to be
present when He, perhaps, shall be absent, and be led into error by
following the impulses of our own mind or senses in the belief that
they are from Him. For H e comes and goes according to His own
will; nor is it easy for any to know whence H e cometh or whither He
goeth (John iii. 8). But it is possible to be ignorant upon those
points without risk to our salvation; but not to know when the Holy
Spirit comes to us, or when H e goes from us, is manifestly full of
peril. For when these comings of the Spirit, in His dealings with
the soul, and His goings, are not sedulously observed, it follows that
you do not ardently desire His coming when H e is absent, nor give
Him glory when H e is present. Indeed, H e retires from the soul
for the very reason that H e may be sought for the more eagerly
again ; and how can H e be sought for if H e is not known to be
absent ? And, again, when H e deigns to return in order to console
the soul, how shall H e be received with the reverence due to His
Majesty if His presence is not even perceived? The soul, then,
which is unaware of His departure lies open to be seduced, and
that which is not aware of his return will be unthankful for the
honour done to it in His coming.
2. Once, when the prophet Elisha had learned that the departure
from the earth of his master [Elijah] was about to take place, he
made a certain request of him, and he obtained it, as you know,
upon this condition only : that Elisha should behold him at the
moment of his departure (2 Kings ii. 9, 10). This happened unto
them in figure, and was recorded on account of us. We are taught
and warned by the prophet's example to be watchful and careful in
the work of our salvation, which the Holy Spirit is incessantly carrying on in the depths of our souls with all the wonderful resource and
sweetness of His Divine skill. Let that sacred and directing unction
1

Alta is the uniform reading of the MSS., not alia.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

which, teaches all things never be taken away from us, if we do not
wish to be deprived of a twofold gift. Never, when H e comes to us,
let Him find us unprepared; but rather let Him find us with countenance uplifted, and hands spread out to receive an abundant benediction from God. What does the Lord require that we should be ?
Like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He shall return from the
wedding (Luke xii. 56); and assuredly H e never returns with empty
hands from the abundant delicacies of the table of heaven. It behoves us, then, to watch, and to watch without intermission, since
we know not when the Holy Spirit may come, or when He may
again depart. He cometh and goeth; and the soul which, while it
has the advantage of His presence, is able to stand upright, cannot
fail to fall when deserted by him; yet it shall not be so cast down as
to be injured, for the Lord upholdeth it with His Hand. These two
conditions do not cease to occur alternately in all those who are
spiritual; or, rather, the Spirit visits those who are spiritual at daybreak, and suddenly puts them to proof [by His departure], in order
that H e may train and build them up in goodness. The just man
falleth seven times and riseth up again (Prov. xxiv. 16), yet if he falls
in the day it is to be understood that he sees that he falls, and, knowing that he has fallen, seeks the Hand of Him who is able to raise
him up, saying, O Lord, in Thy favour Thou gavest strength to my
beauty. Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me and 1became troubled
(Ps. xxix. 8, Vulg. and Douay).
3. To doubt respecting the truth is another danger, which it is
necessary to endure when the breathing of the Spirit is not granted
to us ; and still another is that of embracing erroneous opinions, but
this latter is easily avoided by keeping in mind our ignorance, so as
to say also : Be it indeed that L have erred, mine error remaineth with
myself (job xix. 4). That is the declaration of holy J o b : recognise
it. Ignorance is the worst of mothers, and she has two daughters as
evil—falsehood and doubt; the one the more miserable, the other the
more pitiable; the former more hurtful, the latter more full of discomfort. W7hen the Spirit speaks, both the one and the other of
these give place; and not only to truth, but to assured truth. For
that is the very Spirit of truth, to whom falsehood is absolutely contrary. And H e is also the Spirit of wisdom, since H e is the very
Light of eternal life ; and reaching everywhere, because of His purity,
He suffers neither obscurity nor the uncertainty of doubt. When
that Spirit does not speak, there is great need to beware, if not of
unhappy doubt, assuredly of harbouring that which is completely
false. There is a great difference between being in a state of uncertainty whether to think this or that, and rashly affirming as true
that of which you are ignorant. Either, then, let the Holy Spirit
always speak, though that, indeed, does not at all depend upon our
will; or when it pleases Him to be silent, let His silence at least have
a significance to us, and point out to us this one fact; lest, falsely
supposing that He goes before us, we should follow in place of Him

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our own error, with a false and dangerous confidence. And- if He
holds our spirit in suspense, let it, at all events, not be left to fall
into falsehood. There are those who doubtfully advance a statement
which is untrue, yet these do not lie ; and there are others who affirm
for truth that of which they know nothing, and these do lie. For the
one class do not affirm that which is not the case, but that which they
believe to be the case, and they speak truthfully, even though that
which they believe be not true ; whereas the other class declare themselves certain of a thing of which they are not certain, and these co
not speak truthfully, even though the thing which they assert should
be true.
4. Having said thus much by way of caution to those who have no
experience in such things, I shall now follow the Spirit, who is, as I
have a good trust, leading me o n ; yet observing, as far as I can, the
same rule of caution of which I have spoken, and endeavouring to
practise myself that which I have urged upon others, that it may not
be said of me too, Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself
(Rom. ii. 21)? The distinction is carefully to be observed between
things which are manifest and others which are doubtful ; and as the
one class are not to be brought into doubt, so the other are not rashly
to be affirmed. Which, indeed, is to be hoped for from the authoritative guidance (magisterio) of the Spirit; for our own care and pains
will not suffice to obtain it. What man is there who knows, for
example, whether the judgment, of which I spoke in a former sermon
(the third before this, if I recollect rightly1), as pronounced by the
Lord between men, was preceded by a judgment pronounced in the
heavens ?2
5. A thought which occurs to my mind is this : Do you suppose
that Lucifer, son of the morning, who lifted himself up by a presumptuous pride, that he, too, envied the human race this outpouring
of the oil of Divine grace before he was cast forth into outer darkness;
and that in his indignation and jealousy he murmured in a manner to
himself, saying, ' To what purpose is this waste ?' I do not assert
that the Spirit says this, but neither would I assert the contrary; I
simply do not know. It may have been the case (nor does it seem
incredible) that, being filled with wisdom and raised to a high degree
of glory, he may have foreseen the creation of men, and that some of
them would attain to an equal degree of glory with that he then held.
But if he foresaw this he saw, without doubt, that [it would come to
pass] in God the Word; and in his malice he envied men, and,
scorning to have them as companions, determined to render them
subject to himself. ' They are,' he said, ' weaker than I, and inferior
by nature; it is not fitting that they should be fellow-citizens with
me, and equals in glory.' Perhaps that ascension which he presumed
1

Sermon XIV.
In most MSS. the words 'p'cEcesserit, uirumnam videlicet Lucifer, qui,'' etc.
(as in n. 5), are read here in a parenthesis ; and the first printed edition also has
them.
2

7

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to attempt to make, and the seating himself, signifying mastery, of
which he said, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north
(Is. xiv. 13, 14), was intended that he might obtain some kind of
resemblance to the Most High, and that as God, sitting upon the
Cherubin, governs the whole race of angels, so he might sit upon a
lofty seat and thence govern the whole human race. But God forbid!
H e has meditated iniquity upon his bed, and iniquity has deceived
itself. We recognise no other as our ruler than Him who created us.
The Lord, not the devil, shall judge the whole world. He shall be
our God for ever and ever, and shall eternally rule over us.
6. Therefore, as even in heaven he conceived sullen anger, so in
Paradise he brought forth iniquity, the offspring of malice, the mother
of miseries and of death; and of all these the first parent was pride.
For, although through the envy of the devil came death into the
world (Wisd. ii. 24), yet of every sin pride is the beginning (Ecclus.
x. 13). But what has it profited him? None the less art Thou in
us, O Lord, and upon us is Thy Name invoked; none the less does
the people whom Thou hast gathered, the Church of Thy redeemed,
thankfully say, Thy Name is as oil poured forth.
When I am cast
forth [for my sin], this oil [of consolation] Thou dost pour around
and upon me, since even in Thy anger Thou didst remember mercy.
Yet Satan received dominion over all the sons of pride ; he has
become prince of the darkness of this world, so that even pride should
strive in favour of the kingdom of the humble, and whilst his temporal
and proud dominion exists, should establish many humble persons in
a sovereignty exalted and eternal. Joyful will be the judgment to see
that proud persecutor of those who are humble preparing for them,
without knowing it, everlasting crowns, and while he attacks all, succumbing to the efforts of all. For the Lord shall judge the peoples
everywhere and for ever: H e shall save the children of the poor, and
shall cast down him who treats them wrongfully. Everywhere and
always He will protect His own ; He will put to flight the persecutors,
nor suffer the rod of sinners to come into the lot of the righteous, lest
the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity (Ps. cxxv. 3). There
shall come even a time when H e shall destroy the bow, and break
the weapons, and the shields H e shall burn in the fire (Ps. xiv. 10,
Vulg. and Douay). As for thee, unhappy one, thou settest a seat for
thyself in the north, a place of cloud and cold; and lo ! the poor are
raised out of the dust, and the needy out of the dunghill, that they
may sit with princes, and occupy a throne of glory, whilst thou shalt
lament to see those words accomplished :. The poor and needy shall
praise Thy Name (Ps. lxxiv. 21).
7. Thanks be to Thee, O Father of orphans and Judge of the helpless, a mountain fat and fertile has communicated to us its warmth ;
the heavens have dropped dew from the presence of the God of Sinai,
a saving oil is poured forth, a Name is spread abroad, a Name which
the enemy envied for us and for himself; it is spread abroad, I say,

APPROACH AND DEPARTURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

99

even into the hearts and into the mouths of children, and in the
mouths of babes and sucklings is perfected praise. These things the
sinner shall behold in useless anger; and as his wrath shall be implacable, so the fire shall be inextinguishable which is prepared for
him and for his angels. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform
this. How great is the love, O my God, the object of my deepest
affection (amor meus), wherewith Thou dost love me ! Everywhere
Thou hast been mindful of m e ; everywhere earnestly desiring the
salvation of one poor and needy, and that in opposition not only to
proud men, but also to proud and rebellious angels ! In heaven and
on earth Thou, O Lord, dost judge those who do me harm, and
repulse those who take arms to attack me. Everywhere Thou dost
help and assist m e ; and Thou art ever at my side, O Lord, that I
may not be overwhelmed. These blessings I will celebrate in praises
unto the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have
my being. These are His wonders; these the mighty works which
H e hath done. This, the first and greatest of His judgments, it is
which the [B.] Virgin Mary, conscious of His secret works, has
revealed unto me in the words : He hath put down the 7nighty from
their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the
hungry with good things', and the rich He hath sent empty away (Luke
i- 52> 53)- ^ n e second also, which you have already heard, is similar
to the first: That they which see not might see : and that they which
see might be made blind (John ix. 39). In these two judgments let the
poor be comforted, and let him say : I remembered Thy judgments of
old, O Lord; and have comforted myself (Vs. cxix. 52).
8. But let us return to ourselves, and let us examine our ways.
And that we may be enabled to do this in truth, let us invoke the
Spirit of Truth ; let us recall Him from that height of heaven whither
He has led us [in thought], so that He may guide us thither to go
ourselves; for without Him we can do nothing. We need not fear
that He will disdain to condescend to us, since, on the contrary, H e
would have reason to be indignant with us if we should endeavour to
accomplish even the least spiritual work without His assistance. He
is not a Spirit which departs and does not return; He leads, and
continues to lead us on from glory to glory as being the Spirit of the
Lord. Sometimes He draws us to Himself, and into the sphere of
His own Light; sometimes, accommodating Himself to our capacities,
He enlightens our darkness, so that whether He is above us, or
whether H e is in us, we should be always in the light, and walk as
children of light. We have passed out of types and shadows; we
have reached the region of moral truths. Our faith has been built
up, let our life and conduct be ruled and directed; and as the understanding has been trained, let the actions be prescribed by it. Since
a good understanding have all they that do the commandments of God
(Ps. cxi. 10), let our acts and our understanding also be directed to
the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, GOD
blessed for ever. AMEN.

IOO

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON XVIII.
OF THE TWO OPERATIONS OF T H E HOLY SPIRIT, OF WHICH T H E
ONE IS CALLED EFFUSION,
AND THE OTHER
INFUSION.

^T^HY
Name is as oil poured forth.
What is it which the Holy
jf
Spirit reveals to us in this text, as assuredly brought to pass
in us ? It appears to me, in the first place, that it is the fact
of His operation in us being twofold. There is one operation, by
which H e first establishes us inwardly in virtues, in order to our
salvation; and then the other, by which He adorns us outwardly with
His gifts, to our profit and to the good of others. The former grace
we receive for ourselves; the latter for our neighbours. For example,
faith, hope, and charity are given us for ourselves; for without these
we cannot be saved. But words of knowledge or of wisdom, the
gift of healing the sick, of prophecy, and similar powers, in which we
may be wanting without any detriment to our own salvation, these
assuredly are bestowed upon us only that they may be used for the
benefit, bodily and spiritual, of our fellow-creatures. And these two
operations of the Spirit, which we experience either in ourselves, or
in others, have names corresponding to the effects they produce ; let
us name them, if you please, infusion and effusion. To which of
these two, then, have the words, Thy Name is as oil poured forth,
reference ? Is it not to effusion ? For if H e had desired rather to
refer to infusion, H e would have said ' inpoured,' instead of ' poured
forth.' 1 Besides, it is because of this fragrance poured forth upon
her Bosom that the Bride says, Thy Name is as oil poured forth,
ascribing that fragrance to the Name of her Spouse, as it were oil
poured upon it. And whosoever feels himself endued with a gift
of outward graces, which he is able in turn to pour forth upon others,
is also enabled to say to the Lord: Thy Name is as oil poured forth.
2. But here we must take good heed of two dangers: that of
giving to others what is meant for ourselves, and of keeping for ourselves what is given to us for others. You certainly are retaining for
yourself that which belongs to your neighbour, if, for example, being
not only full of virtues, but also outwardly adorned with the gifts of
knowledge and of eloquence, fear perhaps, or sloth, or an ill-judged
humility, restrains your good gift of speech, which might be of service
to many people, in a useless, or, rather, blamable silence; and thus
1
In the edition of Horst, and in others, the following sentence is inserted here :
' Besides, it is of the fragrance exhaled outwardly by the Bosom of the Bride, not
of her inward virtues, that this is spoken. Thy Name is as oilpouredforth. Besides,
it is because of this fragrance/ etc. ; but most MSS., and also the first printed
edition omit it. It is true that it is found in the St. Evroul Codex, but that omits
the following sentence : ' Besides, it is because,' etc. And in fact one or the other
is superfluous.

THE TWO OPERATIONS OF T H E HOLY SPIRIT

IOI

you are evil spoken of, because you withhold corn from the people
(Prov. xi. 26). On the contrary, you dissipate and lose that which
is your own if, before you have received a complete inpouring from
God, and while you are, so to speak, but half filled, you hasten to
pour yourself forth, and thus violate the law not to plough with the
firstling of thy cow, or to shear the firstling of thy sheep (Deut. xv. 19).
You defraud yourself both of life and of salvation when, without
rightfulness of intention, but puffed up by a wind of vain glory, or
infected by the poison of worldly cupidity, you thus impart yourself
to another; indeed, what you thus communicate is but the mortal
imposthume which is swelling within yourself.
3. If, then, you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives
it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus
communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water, knowing
that there is blame to one who deteriorates that which he receives;
and that you may not regard my counsel as to be despised, hear a
wiser than I : A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it
in till afterwards (Prov. xxix. 11). But in the Church at the present
day we have many canals, few reservoirs. Those by whom the dew
of heaven distils upon us are of charity so great that they desire to
pour it forth before they are themselves filled with it; they are more
prepared to speak than to hear, are quick to teach that which they
have not learned, and long to preside over others, while they do not
as yet know how to govern themselves. For my part, I think there
is no degree of piety more helpful to salvation than that of which the
Wise Man speaks : Have pity on thy own soul, pleasing God, and
contain thyself (Ecclus. xxx. 24, Vulg. and Douay). If I have but a
little oil for my own anointing, why dost thou think that I ought to
give it to thee and remain empty ? That is for my own need; nor
do I bring it forth publicly, except at the order of a Prophet. If any
of those who have perhaps an opinion of me above anything which
they behold in me, or who hear somewhat concerning me, shall press
me too hard with their requests, they will be answered thus : Lest
there be not enough for us and you, go ye rather to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves (Luke xxv. 9). But charity, you reply, seeketh not
her own (1 Cor. xiii. 5). And do you know for what reason she doth
not ? It is because she is in want of nothing. For who seeks that
which he already possesses ? Charity is never without those things
which are hers; that is, those which are necessary for salvation; and
these she not only possesses, but possesses them in abundance. In
these she desires to abound for herself, that she may abound for all
others also; she desires to have sufficient for herself, that she may
be wanting in nothing for any others. In other words, she is imperfect if she is not full.
4. But you, my brother, whose own salvation is not yet sufficiently
assured, who have as yet no charity, or a charity so light and weak,
that it is like a reed, believing every spirit, and blown about with

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

every wind of doctrine; or, rather, whose charity is so great, that
going even beyond the commandment, you love your neighbour
more than yourself; or again, who have so little, that going against
the commandment, it dissolves under the influence of inclination,
disappears under fear, is troubled by sadness, is reduced by avarice,
narrowed by ambition, disquieted by suspicions, set aside by reproaches, racked by cares, puffed up by honours, and by envy made
to pine away; you, I say, who have such sentiments in matters which
relate to yourself, by what folly do you desire, or consent, to busy
yourself in those which relate to others ? Listen to the advice which
a cautious and watchful charity gives: Not that other men be eased,
and ye burdened; but by an equality (2 Cor. viii. 13). Be not righteous
over much (Eccles. vii. 16). It suffices that you should love your
neighbour as yourself; that is the equality of which the Apostle
speaks. David says : My soul shall praise Thee as with marrow and
fatness: and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips (Ps. lxiii. 5),
showing his desire first to be filled with the inpouring of grace, and
then to begin to pour it forth : not merely to receive it, but to be
filled with it, that he might give forth easily out of his fulness, and
not gasp in the effort to do so out of an empty heart. In this he
displayed caution, lest in doing good to others, he should do wrong
to himself; and yet [acted] with a pure motive, as imitating Him, of
whose fulness we have all received. Do you also learn not to attempt
to give forth except out of a full [heart and mind], nor to desire to be
more liberal than God. Let the reservoir imitate its source, for that
does not flow into a river, nor spread itself into a lake, until it is
brimming over with its own waters. The reservoir must not be
ashamed not to be more profuse than its source. Lastly, even H e
who is the Fountain of life, who is full in Himself, and full of Himself, did H e not begin by leaping forth [as it were a fountain] into the
secret recesses of the Heavens, which were nearest to Him, and filled
them all with His bounty; and then, at length, when He had filled
' those loftier and more secret regions, burst forth upon the earth, and
multiplying His mercy by a gratuitous and superabundant overflowing of it, brought salvation both to men and beasts ? First H e filled
those inner regions ; and, then, thus bursting forth, as it were, with
the multitude of His mercies, H e visited the earth and made it glad
{inebriavit); He enriched it and made it fruitful with every kind of
good. Therefore do thou do likewise. Be thou first filled, then pour
forth with care and judgment of thy fulness. The charity which is
liberal, yet prudent, usually wastes not, but increases. My son, says
Solomon, squander not; and an Apostle declares, Therefore we
ought to give the 7nore earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip (Heb. ii. 1). What then?
art thou more holy than Paul ? or wiser than Solomon ? Furthermore, be it far from me to grow rich by thy impoverishment. For if
to thyself thou art evil, to whom shalt thou be good ? Assist me, if
thou art able, of thy abundance ; but if otherwise, be sparing for thy
own good.

THE TWO OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

IO3

5. But now listen while I state how great things are necessary for
our own salvation, and what they are ; how great and manifold is the
infusion of grace, which we need, before we presume to give forth to
others. I shall try to put them before you as briefly as I can. For
the sun (hora) is mounting high in the heavens, and presses
me to reach the end of my discourse. The Physician draws near
to the wounded m a n ; the Divine Spirit to our soul. For what
soul is there which does not feel itself wounded by the sword of
the devil, even after the wound of original sin was healed by the.
saving medicine of Baptism? When, then, the Spirit draws near
to that soul which says, My wounds stink and are corrupt because of
my foolishness (Ps. xxxviii. 5), what is it that it is needful H e should
first do ? Before all things, the ulcerous tumour which may have
grown in and over the wound, and hinders its cure, must be removed.
The ulcer of inveterate evil custom must be cut away with the sharp
blade of a sincere repentance. But this cannot be done without
severe pain; let that, then, be alleviated with the healing ointment
of devotion, which is, in fact, the comfort caused by the hope of
forgiveness. Of that hope is born the mastery which is acquired
over our passions, and the victory over sin. For we find the Psalmist
giving thanks, and saying : Thou hast loosed my bonds, 1 will offer to
Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Ps. cxvi. 16). Then are applied
the remedy of penitence, the apparatus 1 of fasts, of vigils, or prayers,
and of other exercises of the repentant. Let him be nourished in
labour with the food of good works, that he fail not. That good
works are nourishment to the soul, you may learn from these words
of the Lord Himself: My meat is to do the will of Him. that sent Me
(John iv. 34). Therefore let works of piety accompany the labours
of penitence which strengthen the soul. Alms, says Tobit, shall be
a great confidence before the Most High God (Tob. iv. 12, Vulg.
and Douay). Now, food arouses thirst, and drink is needed. To
the nourishment of good works let there be added, therefore, the
draught of prayer, blending works well done in the stomach, as it
were, of conscience, and rendering them acceptable to God. Prayer
is as wine which maketh glad the heart of m a n ; it is the wine of the
Holy Spirit, a draught of which brings not only the gladness [of
heaven], but entire forgetfulness of the pleasures of earth (carnalium
voluptatum).
It moistens the dry soil of the conscience, it brings
about the perfect absorption of the food of good actions, and distributes them into all the members of the soul \ strengthening faith,
giving vigour to hope, rendering charity active and yet methodical,
and shedding an admirable unction over the whole character.
6. When a sick man shall have partaken of food and of drink,
what, then, remains for him to do but to repose, and in the quiet of
contemplation to recover himself after the toils of busy life ? When
he is thus in a holy slumber, he beholds God in a vision ; yet, as it
were, in a glass and darkly, and not as yet face to face. Nevertheless, though it be true that he knows God rather by inference and
1

Malagma — wi emollient poultice.

104

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

surmise (conjectati) than by distinct view, and beholds Him but as
H e passes by, and by a flash of glory which disappears in a moment,
yet that momentary and passing vision does not fail to arouse in him
an ardent and burning love, and he says : With my soul have I desired
Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early
(Is. xxvi. 9). Such a love is full of zeal; it is worthy of a friend of
the Bridegroom, and with that love a faithful and prudent servant,
whom his Lord hath set over His household, ought to feel himself
animated and glowing. It fills and warms the soul, it boils over and
spreads itself fearlessly, it bursts forth in vehement waves, and it
says : Who is weak, and I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn
?iot? (2 Cor. xi. 29). Let him who is possessed by that love preach,
and bear fruit; let him do marvels, let him even work miracles ;
vanity will find no place in him who is wholly occupied by charity.
For charity, if only it be perfect, is the fulfilling of the law
(Rom. xiii. 10), and the perfectness of the heart. In truth, God is
charity (1 John iv. 16); and there is nothing which is able to fill and
satisfy a creature made in the image of God, except God, who is
Himself charity, and who alone is greater than that creature. It is
very full of peril to promote [to ecclesiastical functions] one who has
not yet attained this perfect charity, however great be the talents
which, in other respects, he may appear to possess. Though he
have all knowledge, though he have bestowed all his goods to feed
the poor, though he even give his body to be burned—without
charity, he is nothing. Behold with how many and great graces it
behoves us to be previously filled, that we may venture to impart to
others, so that we may bestow out of fulness, not out of poverty. In
the first place, we ought to have repentance; secondly, devotion ;
thirdly, a laborious penitence; fourthly, works of piety; fifthly,
earnestness in prayer; sixthly, the repose of contemplation ; and in
the seventh place, the fulness of charity. All these things worketh
in us one and the same Spirit, according to that operation wThich is
called infusion; thus and so far may the other, which is called
effusion, be exercised safely, and with pure intention to the praise
and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the
Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON X I X .
OF T H E NATURE, MANNER, AND PROPERTIES OF T H E ANGELICAL LOVE
• TOWARDS GOD, ACCORDING TO T H E SEVERAL ORDERS OF ANGELS.

T

H E loving Bride still continues to speak. She continues still to
celebrate the praises of her Spouse, and to invite new graces
from Him, while showing that those she has already received
are not unfruitful. For hear what words she adds : Therefore do the
virgins love Thee. As if she would say : ' Not in vain nor uselessly is

THE ANGELICAL LOVE TOWARDS GOD

I05

it, O my Spouse, that Thy Name is poured forth upon my bosom, nor
is Thy Name without effect : for therefore do the virgins love Thee.'
Wherefore do they love ? Because of this outpouring of His Name.
It is that which has aroused their love for the Spouse; they have
taken of that grace, and therefore do they love Him. When the
Bride has received that gift of infused grace, they who cannot be far
from their mother's side have speedily discerned the fragrance of it,
and, being filled with its sweetness, say: The Love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom.
v. 5). Then the Bride, taking notice with joy of their devotion, says :
1
Thou seest, O my Spouse, the fruit of Thy Name poured forth; for
because of it the virgins love Thee.' They feel it when poured forth,
though they were not capable of receiving it wholly; therefore they
have loved Thee. Thus the effusion of that Name renders it capable
of being received, and when received it cannot but be lovable ; but
this applies to virgins only. Those who are of greater capacity rejoice
in it as a whole, nor do they need the effusion of it.
2. The angelic race behold in fixed contemplation the profound
abyss of the judgments of God. They take supreme pleasure, and
experience an unspeakable happiness, in the exalted righteousness of
these, and, furthermore, regard it as their glory that it is by their
ministry these are carried into execution and are made known, and
because of this they deservedly love the Lord Jesus Christ. Are they
not a//, it is said, ministering spirits, sent forth to mi?iister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb. i. 14). I believe that Archangels (for we must, doubtless, consider them as differing in some
respect from those who are simply Angels) delight in a wonderful
manner, because they are admitted more nearly into the counsels of
the Eternal Wisdom, and that the same counsels are also carried out
by them with the greatest wisdom and judgment as to time and place.
And this is the cause why they, too, love the Lord Jesus. There are
other blessed spirits, which are called Virtues ; perhaps for this reason,
that they are ordained by God to examine with a happy curiosity, and, at
the same time, to admire, the secret and permanent causes of miracles
and wonders, and that they cause these signs of power to take place
in the world when and where they please, having command over all
the elements; and on this account they, too, most justly have an
ardent love for the Lord of all power, and for Christ who is the Power
of God. For it is an employment full of sweetness and grace to contemplate the hidden and uncertain truths of wisdom in Wisdom itself,
and it is none the less full of honour and glory that God deigns to
make use of their ministry in order that the effects, of which the causes
are hidden in His WORD, may be known and admired by men.
3. There are other spirits, who are named Powers, since they delight
in beholding and magnifying the Almighty power of our Crucified
Lord, which extends everywhere with invincible force; and they receive
power to defeat and to put to flight the opposing powers of demons
and of men, for the good of tteose who are to be heirs of salvation.

io6

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

And have not these, too, a most well-founded cause for loving the
Lord Jesus ? Above these, again, are Principalities, who, beholding
Him from a position more elevated, and discerning clearly that H e is
the Firstbegotten of all Creation, and the Principle of existence to the
whole universe, receive a degree of dignity so great and exalted that
it extends over the whole earth; and that from the lofty and sublime
eminence on which they are, they are able to change and vary kingdoms and dignities at their will—to dispose of men and of things,
making the last to be first, and the first last; putting down the mighty
from their seat, and exalting the humble and meek. And this is to
them a reason for loving the Lord Christ But the Dominations also
love Him. Wherefore ? Because they are led by a certain praiseworthy presumption to trace out and find something, I know not what,
that is deeper and more sublime in the Dominion of Christ, which is
bounded by no limit, and can be checked by no resistance. They
consider that H e fills all the world, not only by His power, but also
by His Presence—that all things, from the height of heaven to the
depth of the abyss, are obedient to His righteous and holy Will,
which directs, and that in an admirable order, the revolutions of the
seasons, the movements of bodies, and even the impulses and ideas
of minds \ and that He does all this with a care and vigilance so
exact that not one of all these things is able to fail in performing its
functions even by (as the phrase is) one point or one iota, and yet
with a facility so great that H e who governs all feels no inquietude
or anxiety whatever. These Angels, then, seeing that the Lord of
Sabaoth judges all things with a tranquillity so complete, are, as it
were, transported out of themselves, in their trance of sweet and
intense contemplation, and rapt into that vast ocean (so to speak) of
the Divine splendour; they come to themselves again in a calm so
wonderful and pervading, and in which they enjoy so great peace and
security, that in their quiescence all the other spirits seem to serve
and to defend them, as if, by a singular prerogative, they were, in
truth, Dominations.
4. Upon the Thrones God is seated. And I suppose that this
order of spirits have a cause more just, and reason more abundant,
for loving, than have all the others who have been already mentioned.
For even if you enter the palace of some human king, do you not
find his royal seat in a place of high honour—among the benches,
chairs, and seats of various kinds with which it is filled ? Nor is it
necessary to inquire where the king is accustomed to sit, since his
royal seat or throne presents itself at once to the eye, and is more
lofty and more richly adorned than others. So, also, are we to understand that those spirits whom the Divine Majesty, by a singular and
astonishing favour, has deigned to select for the Throne on which to
sit, surpass all others in beauty and magnificence. To be seated
(sessio) signifies authority ; and I think that He, who in heaven and
in earth is our only Master and Teacher, Christ the WTisdom of God,
though H e indeed reaches everywhere because of His perfect purity,

T H E ANGELICAL LOVE TOWARDS GOD

107

enlightens particularly and principally, by His presence, those blessed
spirits as being His throne, and that from thence, as from a solemn
auditorium. He teaches knowledge to angels and to men. Thence it
is that the Angels derive their knowledge of the Divine judgments,
and the Archangels theirs of the Divine counsels; there the Virtues
hear when and where they are to work signs, and of what nature these
are to be. There, in short, all the Angels, whether Poiuers, or Principalities, or Dominations, learn what are the duties of the offices they
bear, and what are their honours and dignities ; and especially how
(which is the caution given to all) they should use the power bestowed
upon them without abusing it, either by acting according to their own
will, or for the sake of their own glory.
5. As for those heavenly bands which are called Cherubin, I am
inclined to think, following even the signification of the word, that
they have nothing which they derive either from, or by means of, the
Thrones, since it is permitted them to drink to the full from the
Fountain itself, the Lord Jesus, who deigns Himself, and by Himself,
to introduce them into all the fulness of truth, and to reveal to them
abundantly all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are
hidden in Him. Neither do those who are called Seraphin [require
to learn from the Thrones], since God, who is Himself Love, has so
drawn them to, and absorbed them in, Him, and raised them to the
same ardour of holy affection, that they appear to be of one Spirit
with Him, just as the fire which enkindles air, and impresses upon it
heat and colour like its own, so that it is manifestly not merely ignited,
but itself become fire. They love, then, above all things, to contemplate in God, the former, that knowledge which is in Him without
measure or limit; the latter, the love which is never absent from Him.
It is from this that they have obtained names which express that which
in each is pre-eminent. For the word Cherubin signifies fulness of
knowledge ; and Seraphin, inflaming or inflamed,
6. God is, then, loved by the Angels because of the supreme
righteousness of His judgments; by the Archangels because of the
supreme wisdom of His purposes ; by the Virtues on account of the
most blessed showing forth of miracles and wonders by which He
deigns to draw the unbelieving to faith ; but by the Powers on account
of that power, equally just and prevailing, by which H e is wont to
defeat the cruelty of the wicked, and to defend the good against
them ; by the Principalities on account of that eternal and primordial
power which bestows the principle of existence, and existence itself,
upon every creature, whether of higher rank or lower, spiritual and
corporeal, extending with prevailing strength from one extremity of
the universe to the other; by the Dominations, also, because of the
calm and untroubled Will which, though it everywhere dominates with
irresistible strength, disposes all things with sweetness according to the
goodness belonging to its nature, and with a tranquillity which nothing
can disturb. H e is loved also by the Thrones because of the benevolence of His supreme Wisdom, which communicates itself without

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

envy, and of the unction of grace, which teaches all things freely.
Furthermore, He is loved by the Cherubin because H e is God, the
Lord of all knowledge, and as He knows what each has need of for
salvation, so H e distributes His gifts with judgment and providence,
according to the necessity of the individual, to those who worthily
make request for them ; and, lastly, by the Seraphin, inasmuch as H e
is Himself Love, that H e hateth nothing that He has made, and wills
that all men should come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved.
7. All these spirits, then, love God according to the degree of
knowledge they have of Him. But there are souls which are childlike (adolescentulce = young girls), which, as they know less, so they
comprehend less, and are not adequate to these sublime heights of
attainment; and these are little children in Christ, to be nourished
with milk and with oil. These it is who have need to draw from the
bosom of the Spouse the nourishment for their love. The Spouse
hath oil poured forth; and from the fragrance which it exhales they
are aroused to taste and know how gracious the Lord is. And when
she sees and feels their ardent love she turns to her Lord, and saith :
Thy Name is as oil poured forth, therefore have young maidens loved
Thee beyond measure (nimis, Vulg.). What is 'beyond measure'?
Greatly, vehemently, ardently. Or, rather, this spiritual discourse is
addressed indirectly to you who have but lately come hither; and it
reproves that indiscreet fervour and immoderate zeal which you follow
with too great obstinacy, and which we have so frequently endeavoured
to repress. You are not willing to be contented with the common life.
The appointed fasts, the solemn vigils, the ordinary Rule, the measure
fixed as to food and to dress, in which we all share, does not suffice
for you. You prefer your own private rules to those which are
common to all. You who have once entrusted to me the care of
your souls, why do you again interfere with it ? See, then, you have
for a guide not me, but your own will once more, which, as you know,
has so often caused you to offend against God. 1 It is that which
teaches you not to show any forbearance towards your nature, not to
listen to reason, not to yield to the advice or example of your seniors,
not to obey me. Do you not know that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. xv. 22) ? Have you not read in your Rule, that whatsoever is done without the will or consent of your spiritual father, shall
be imputed to vainglory, and not as deserving any recompense (Rule
of S. Benedict, c. 49). Have you not read in the Gospel that Jesus,
when a Boy, left to holy youth a pattern how to obey ? For when
H e had remained in Jerusalem, though H e had said that it behoved
Him to be about His Father's business, yet as His parents did not
acquiesce in His words He did not disdain to follow them to
Nazareth : the Master to follow His disciples, the Son of God to
follow human beings, the Divine Word and Wisdom to follow a carpenter and his wife ! What does the sacred history even add ? And
He was subject unto them (Luke ii. 43-51). How long will ye be wise
1

See Sermon XXXIII., n. 1, and * Sermon on the Death of Humbert,' n. 1.

THE ANGELICAL LOVE TOWARDS GOD

109

in your own eyes ? God entrusts Himself and submits Himself to
mortal men, and will you still walk in your own ways ? You had
received a good intention, but you do not carry it out wisely. I fear
lest, instead of a good spirit, you have harboured one who, under an
appearance of good, will overthrow you, and that you who have begun
in the Spirit, will complete your course in the flesh. Do you not
know that Satan himself is often transformed into an angel of light
(2 Cor. xi. 14)? God is Wisdom, and H e desires to be loved, not
only to our own delight, but also wisely. Wherefore the Apostle says:
Yours is a reasonable service (Rom. xii. i). Otherwise, if you neglect
knowledge, the spirit of error will with great ease lead you astray by
means of your zeal; nor has our cunning enemy any device more
effectual in eliminating love from the heart than that of inducing us,
if he can, to act without due prudence and caution. Wherefore I
intend to give you certain rules, which it is necessary for those who
love God to observe. But as it is time for me to bring my sermon
to a close, I will endeavour to explain them to you to-morrow, if God
shall continue to me life and the leisure to address you. For then
we shall assemble in new vigour after the repose of the night, and
(which is the chief thing) shall be rendered more willing and ardent
by the preceding prayers to hear the discourse respecting love; in
dependence on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be
honour and glory for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON XX.
OF T H E THREE WAYS IN WHICH WE LOVE GOD.

L

E T this sermon take for a beginning the words of a master in
the spiritual life : If anyone love 7tot the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be Anathema (i Cor. xvi. 22). Without doubt He is
altogether to be loved by whom I have my very existence, my life,
and my reason ; and I cannot be ungrateful without being unworthy
of all these. He is plainly worthy of death who refuses to live for
Thee, O Lord Jesus; and he is, in fact, dead, as he who does not
devote his reason to Thy service is unreasonable, and he who cares
to be anything except for Thee is good for nothing, and is nothing.
Indeed, what is man, except that Thou hast taken knowledge of him
(Ps. cxliv. 3) ? It is for Thine own self, O my God, that Thou hast
created all things; and he who desires to exist for himself, and not
for Thee, begins to be as nothing among all things that are. What
is it that the wise man says : Fear God, and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole [duty of] man (Eccles. xii. 13). If, then, this is
the whole man, without this man is nothing. Incline towards Thyself,
O my God, what Thou hast deigned to enable me to be, humble as

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

it i s ; take wholly to Thyself, I entreat, the brief remainder of the
years which pertain to my poor life; and for all the years which I
have lost, because I have occupied them in losing myself, despise not,
I entreat, an humble and contrite heart. My days have declined as
a shadow, they have perished without fruit. It is impossible for me
to recall them; make me, in Thy goodness, at least to meditate upon
them before Thee in the bitterness of my soul. Thou seest that
wisdom is the whole desire and purpose of my heart: if there were
any in me it is in Thy service I would employ it. But, O God, Thou
knowest my simpleness ; unless it be perhaps a beginning of wisdom
to recognise my ignorance ; and, indeed, this is by Thy gift. Augment
it in me, I pray; I shall not be ungrateful for the least of Thy gifts,
but shall strive to supply that which is lacking in me. It is, then, for
these Thy benefits that I love Thee with all my feeble powers.
2. But there is a fact which moves, and excites, and fires me much
more than this. Above all things, it is the cup which Thou didst
drink, O Jesu, merciful and kind, the great task of our redemption
undertaken by Thee, which is a stronger motive than any other for
love to Thee. It is this which easily draws to itself all the love I
have to give, which attracts my affection more sweetly, which requires
it more justly, which retains it by closer ties and a more vehement
force. To this end the Saviour endured many and great things, nor
in the making of the whole world did its Creator take upon Himself
a task so laborious. For in that earlier work He spake, and it was
done : lie commanded, and it stood fast (Ps. xxxiii. 9). But in the later
one He had to bear with men who contradicted His words, met His
actions with ill-natured criticism, insulted His sufferings and even revived His Death. Behold, then, how H e loved us ! Add to this that H e
loved us thus of His free gift, not to make return for any love which
we had for Him. For who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again (Rom. xi. 35)? And St. John Evangelist says
expressly : Not that we loved God, but that He [previously] loved us
(2 John iv. 10). Indeed, H e loved us while as yet we did not exist;
H e did even more, for H e loved us when we were opposed to, and
were resisting, Him, as St. Paul testifies : When we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. v. 10). In other
words, if H e had not loved us when enemies, H e would not now have
us for friends ; just as, if He had not loved those who did not as yet
exist, they would not be existing now for Him to love.
3. In the next place, His love is tender, wise, and strong. I say
that it is tender, since H e has taken upon Him our flesh; wise, since
H e has held Himself free of all sin; and strong, since it reached to
the point of enduring death. For those whom H e visited in the flesh
yet H e loved not in the flesh, but in the foreseeing wisdom of the
Spirit. For the Lord Christ is a Spirit who hath made Himself visible
to us 1 (Lam. iv. 10), being moved towards us with a zeal of God, not
1
The reading of the Vulgate here is very remarkable: ' Spiritus oris nostri
Christus Dominus captus est."1—ED.

THE THREE WAYS IN WHICH WE LOVE GOD

III

of man, and with a love wiser assuredly than the first Adam felt for
his Eve. Therefore those whom He sought out in the flesh He loved
in the spirit, and redeemed in His power and courage. It is a thing
full of ineffable sweetness to behold the Creator of man as a Man.
But while by His wisdom H e separated [human] nature from sin, by
His power H e banished death from [that] nature. In taking flesh
He condescended to m e ; in separating it from all stain of sin H e
consulted His own dignity 3 in submitting to death H e made satisfaction to His Father, and thus showed Himself at once the kindest of
Friends, a prudent Counsellor, and a powerful Helper. In Him with
full confidence I trust, who was willing to save me, who knew the
means, who had the power to carry them out. The soul whom H e
sought out, whom He also called by His grace, will He cast out when
it comes to Him ? But I do not fear that any violence or fraud will
have the power to pluck me out of His Hand ; for in vanquishing
death He vanquished all enemies, and in deluding the old Serpent,
the seducer of the world, by an artifice more holy than that he had
employed, He was at once wiser than the one and more powerful than
the other. H e took upon Him human flesh in truth, but only the
likeness of sin; in the former giving sweet consolation to weak and
ailing man, and in the latter prudently concealing from the devil the
snare by which he was deceived. Furthermore, that H e might
reconcile us with His Father, H e bravely underwent death and overcame it, pouring forth His Blood as the price of our Redemption.
If, then, that Sovereign Majesty had not tenderly loved me, He would
not have sought for me in my prison. But to this affection H e joined
wisdom to circumvent our tyrant, and patience to placate the just
wrath of God His Father. These are the ways of loving which I promised to give you, but I have set them before you first as shown forth
in Christ, that you might hold them in greater esteem.
4. Learn, O Christian, from the example of Christ the manner in
which you ought to love Christ. Learn to love Him tenderly, to love
Him wisely, to love Him with a mighty love. Tenderly, that you be
not enticed away from Him ; wisely, that you be not deceived and so
drawn away; and strongly, that you be not separated from Him by
any force. Delight yourself in Christ, who is Wisdom, beyond all
else, in order that worldly glory or fleshly pleasures may not withdraw
you from H i m ; and let Christ, who is the Truth, enlighten you, so
that you may not be led away by the spirit of falsehood and error.
That you may not be overcome by adversities, let Christ, who is the
Power of God, strengthen you. Let charity render your zeal ardent,
wisdom rule and direct it; let constancy make it enduring. Let it be
free from lukewarmness, not timid, nor wanting in discretion. Are
not those the three things prescribed to thee in the Law, when God
said : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength (Deut. vi. 5) ? It seems to me, if
no other sense occurs to you better to give to that threefold distinction, that the love of the heart answers to the earnestness of affection;

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the love of the soul to the purpose or judgment of the reason ; and
love with the strength to the constancy and vigour of the mind.
Love, then, the Lord thy God with the entire and full affection of the
heart; love Him with all the vigilance and all the foresight of the
reason; love Him with the full strength and vigour of the soul, so
that for His love you would not fear even to die : as it is written in a
later verse of this Canticle : Love is strong as deaths jealousy as hard as
hell (Cant. viii. 6, Vulg. and Douay). Let the Lord Jesus be to
your heart sweet and pleasant, so as to destroy the false attractiveness
of the carnal life; let His sweetness overcome the other, as one nail
drives out another. To your understanding and your reason let Him
be a wise leader and a guiding light, not only to enable you to avoid
the snares of heretical fraud, and to preserve the purity of your faith
from their cunning devices, but also to make you cautious to avoid
excessive or indiscreet vehemence in your conduct. Let your love be
intrepid and constant, neither yielding to fear nor exhausted by sufferings. Finally, let us love tenderly, wisely, ardently, knowing that the
love of the heart, which we call tender, is indeed sweet, but easily led
astray 1 —at least, if it be not accompanied by the love of the soul;
while the latter, again, though it be rational, yet is apt to be weak,
unless courage and ardour go with it to strengthen it.
5. And recognise in clear examples that what I say is true. When
the disciples had heard with dismay their Master, shortly before His
Ascension, speaking of His departure from them, they heard from
Him : If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said I go unto the
Father (John xiv. 28). What then? Did they not love Him for
whose departure they were grieving ? In a certain sense they loved
Him, and yet they did not really love Him. That is, they loved Him
tenderly, but not wisely; they loved in a carnal way, not reasonably ;
finally, they loved with all their heart, but not with all their soul.
Their love was against the interests of their salvation ; wherefore H e
said to them also, 7? is expedient for you that I go away (John xvi. 7),
blaming their deficiency in wisdom, not in affection. When, again,
H e was speaking of His coming death, Peter, as you remember, who
loved Him, and desired to retain Him, replied, endeavouring to hinder
Him ; to whom H e made answer, so reproving him as to show that it
was his want of prudence only that H e blamed. For what is the force
of the words following, Thou savourest not the things which be of God
(Mark viii. 33), but, Thou lovest not wisely, as following the impulse
of human affection against the design of God ? And H e even called
him Satan, inasmuch as in seeking to hinder the Saviour from dying
he was an adversary of salvation, though unknowingly. And, therefore, having been thus corrected, he no longer opposed himself to the
Saviour's death when the sad prophecy of it was again made by Him,
but declared that he would die with Him. But that promise H e did
1
Seducibiiem ; a word which does not appear to occur elsewhere, even in Low
Latin: it is not to be found in Forcellini's Lexicon, or Du Cange's Glossary,
I. q. seductilis. See * Confessions of St. Augustine,' Bk. ii., c. 3.—ED.

T H E T H R E E WAYS IN WHICH WTE LOVE GOD

113

not fulfil, because he had not yet attained to the third degree of love,
which consists in loving God with all our strength. H e had learned
to love [God] with all his soul, but he was still weak ; he knew well
what he ought to do, but was without the help which would enable
him to perform it; he was not ignorant of the mystery [of salvation]
but he shrank from martyrdom. That love was plainly not strong as
death, which yielded to [the fear of] death; but afterwards it became
so, when being, according to the promise of Jesus Christ, endued
with power from on high, he began to love with courage so great
that, having been forbidden in the council of the Jews to preach the
adorable Name of Jesus, he replied firmly to those who forbade him,
We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts v. 29). Then, indeed,
he loved God at length with all his power, since he did not spare his
own life for that love. For greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends (John xv. 13); and he laid down
his life at that time, though he did not actually give it up. To be not
drawn away by flattery, nor seduced by artifices, nor violently removed
from it by injuries and outrages, that is to love God with all the mind,
with all the soul, and with all the strength.
6. And notice, that that love of the heart is in a manner carnal,
with which the heart of man is affected towards Christ according to the
flesh, and towards the actions which He did or commanded while in
the flesh. A person who is filled with that love is easily touched with
any discourse which dwells on that subject. There is nothing he
listens to more willingly, reads more attentively, recalls oftener to
memory, meditates upon with greater enjoyment. His sacrifices of
prayer receive from it a new perfection, and resemble, as it were,
victims as fat as they are beautiful. As often as he prays, the image
of the GOD M A N arises before him, either in His Birth or His
Infancy, either in His teaching or His Death, His Resurrection, or
His Ascension ; and all these, or similar images, necessarily animate
the soul to the love of holiness, drive away fleshly vices, put to
flight temptations, and calm desires. I consider that a principal
cause why God, who is invisible, willed to render Himself visible in
the Flesh, and to dwell as a Man among men, was to draw, in the
first place, to the salutary love of His sacred Flesh all the affections
of carnal men who were unable to love otherwise than in a carnal
manner, and so by degrees to draw them to a pure and spiritual
affection. Were not those, for instance, who said to Jesus, Behold,
we have left all and followed Thee (Matt. xix. 27), still in this [first]
degree of love? They had left all things for the sole love of the
bodily Presence of Jesus, so that they were not able even to listen
with equanimity to the announcement of His salutary Passion and
Death as near at hand, and even afterwards it touched them with a
profound sadness to look up to 1 the glory of His Ascension. For
this reason it was that H e said to them: Because I have said these
things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart (John xvi. 6). Thus in
1

Suspicere* Another reading is suscipere.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the meantime H e had drawn them away, and kept them, from every
carnal affection by the grace of His personal Presence in the Flesh.
7. But He afterwards pointed out to them a higher degree of love,
when H e said : It is the Spirit that quickeneih, the flesh profiteth
nothing (John vi. 64). I think that he who said, Though we have
known Christ after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no
?nore (2 Cor. v. 16), and perhaps the Prophet also, notwithstanding
[that he lived before Christ], when he said, The Spirit before our face
was Christ the Lord^ stood upon this higher ground; for that which
he adds, Under Thy shadow shall we live among the Gentiles, it
seems that he speaks in the name of those who are beginning to rest
at least in the shadow, since they do not feel themselves to be
capable of sustaining the heat of the sun ; and being nourished with
the sweetness of the flesh, are not as yet capable of perceiving the
things which are of the Spirit of God. By the shadow of Christ I
suppose to be meant His Flesh, with which Mary was overshadowed 2
(Luke i. 35), so that it was to her as a veil to temper the heat and
light of the Spirit. Let him be consoled then, with the devotion of
the flesh who has not as yet the life-giving Spirit, or, at least, who
has Him not in the manner of those who say: The Spirit before our
face was Christ the Lord, and, Though we have known Christ after the
Flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. For it is assuredly
not without the Spirit that Christ is loved, even in the Flesh, though
H e be not loved in His fulness [thus]. And of this devotion the
measure is this, that the sweetness of it occupies the whole heart;
draws it entirely to itself from all love of the flesh or of carnal things,
and frees it from their temptations ; this it is to love with all the
heart. Otherwise, if I prefer to the Flesh of my Lord any ties of relationship, or any pleasure that I may receive—I mean in such a way
as to be able to perform fewer of those good works which H e has
taught me by wrord and by example while He abode in the Flesh—
does it not plainly appear that I do not love Him with all my heart,
since it is divided, and I seem to have given a part to the love of
Him, and a part to the love of myself? For H e Himself says : He
that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me ; and
he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me
(Matt. x. 37). Therefore, to express it briefly, to love Jesus with the
whole heart is to prefer the love of His most sacred Flesh to all things
which engage our affections or our vanity, either in our own self, or
that of another; in which I equally comprehend the glory of the
world also, because it is essentially carnal; and those who delight in
it are, without doubt, carnally minded.
8. But yet such devotion towards the Flesh of Christ is a gift of
the Holy Spirit, and a great gift; yet I must call such love carnal, at
least in comparison with that other affection, which has regard, not
so much to the Word as Flesh, as to the Word as Wisdom, as.
1
2

Lam. iv. 20, but apparently quoted from memory and inexactly.—ED.
See Sermon XXXI., n. 9.

T H E T H R E E WAYS IN WHICH WE LOVE GOD

115

Righteousness, as Truth, as Holiness, Goodness, Virtue, and. all
other Perfections of whatever kind. For Christ is all these, inasmuch
as by God He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (i Cor. i. 30). Does it appear to you that
two persons have equal and similar love towards Christ, of whom the
one sympathizes indeed piously with His sufferings, is moved to a
lively sorrow by them, and easily softened by the memory of all that
He endured ; who feeds upon the sweetness of that devotion, and is
strengthened thereby to all salutary, honourable, and pious actions ;
while the other, being always fired by a zeal for righteousness, having
everywhere an ardent passion for truth, and earnestly desiring wisdom,
prefers above all things sanctity of life, and a perfectly disciplined
character; who is ashamed of ostentation, abhors detraction, knows
not what it is to be envious, detests pride, and not only avoids, but
dislikes and despises every kind of worldly glory; who vehemently
hates and perseveres in destroying in himself every impurity of the
heart and of the flesh ; and lastly, who rejects, as if it were naturally, all
that is evil, and embraces all that is good? If you compare these two
types of affection, does it not appear to you that the second is plainly
the superior? and that in comparison with it the former is in a
manner carnal ?
9. Yet that love, by which a carnal life is shut out, and the world
is contemned and overcome, is good, though it be carnal. In that
type of affection it becomes rational as it makes progress, and it is
perfected when it becomes spiritual. It is called rational when in
all the sentiments cherished regarding Christ the proportion of the
faith (ratio Jidei) is so carefully observed that no deviation is made
from the pure doctrine of the Church by any apparent similarity to
truth, nor by any snare of heretical or diabolical deception. As also
in our personal conduct this caution must be observed, that the
bounds of discretion be not exceeded through the influence of superstition, or of levity, or of the zeal of an unregulated disposition. And
this it is to love God with all the soul, as I have already said. If to
this be added force so great, and an assistance so powerful, as that of
the Holy Spirit, so that neither troubles nor sufferings, however
violent, nor even the fear of death, can ever cause the desertion of
righteousness, then God is loved with all the strength, and that is
spiritual love. And I think this name, peculiarly suitable to such
love, because of the fulness of the Spirit which so particularly distinguishes it. But I think that these observations may suffice with
regard to that saying of the Bride : Therefore have the virgins loved
Thee beyond measure.
May our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our
Guardian, deign to open to us the treasures of His mercy, that we
may be able to expound the words which follow. Who liveth and
reigneth with the Father, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for
ever and ever. AMEN.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON XXI.
IN WHAT MANNER T H E BRIDE, THAT IS, THE CHURCH, ASKS THAT
SHE MAY BE DRAWN TO FOLLOW AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS
CHRIST.

D

RA W me after Thee : ive will run in the odour of Thy perfumes^
What ? is it needful that the Bride should be drawn
to followr, and to follow after such a Spouse, as if she
followed Him unwillingly, and not of her own impulse and wish ?
But not everyone who is caused by force to move is thus moved
against his will. For example, one who is infirm or weak, and is
not able to walk alone, is not otherwise than glad to be drawn to the
bath or to the table, though a criminal doubtless is reluctant to be
brought to the judgment or to the place of punishment. Now, she
who here speaks desires and entreats to be drawn; but she would
not do this if she were able to follow her beloved by her own
strength, according to her wish. But wherefore is she unable?
Must we allow that the Spouse, too, is weak and infirm ? If it were
one of her maidens who declared herself so, and entreated to be
helped forward, we should in nowise wonder. But of the Spouse,
who seemed to be able even to help others forward, so strong and
perfect was she ; who is there who does not find it strange, that she
needs to be drawn forward herself, as if she were weak or languishing ? Of what soul shall we feel any confidence, that it is strong and
healthful, if we shall consent for her to be called weak, who for her
singular perfection, and more excellent virtue, is named the Spouse
of the Lord ? Is it the Church, perhaps, who spake thus, when she
beheld her Beloved ascending up on high, and earnestly desired to
follow Him, and be assumed with Him into glory ? For, to whatever degree of perfection a soul may have attained, as long as it
groans under the body of this death, and is held captive in the prison
of this evil wrorld, as long as it is constrained by necessities, tortured
by faults and wrong doings, it arises of necessity more slowly and
sluggishly than it would desire to the contemplation of heavenly
things, nor is it altogether free to follow the Bridegroom [who is the
Lamb, Rev. xiv. 4] whithersoever H e goeth. It was this which
drew that lamentable cry from him who said : O jniserable man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? (Rom. vii. 24).
It was this which inspired the suppliant entreaty : Bring my soul out

1
Such is the reading of the old MSS., and of the first editions, instead of ' t o
the odour'. of Thy perfumes, as we have elsewhere observed. Thus we run ' aroused
by that odour' {nn. 4, 9, 11) and not in the confidence of our own merits.' And
again a little further on : ' A s for Thee, O my Spouse, Thou wilt run in the unction
itself, but I in the fragrance which it exhales. Thou in the fulness of the perfume :
but I in its fragrance ' (n. 11).

THE BRIDE FOLLOWS AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS CHRIST

117

of prison (Ps. cxlii. 7). And so also the Bride says, and says as it
were with a groan, Draw me, and I will run after Thee : because the
corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle
weigheth down the mind, that museth upon many things (Wisd. ix. 15).
Or perhaps she speaks thus in her desire to depart and be with
Christ; especially when she sees those souls, on account of which it
seemed needful that she should remain in the flesh, making good
progress, already having love for the Bridegroom, and remaining in
the safe refuge of charity. This, indeed, she had referred to before :
Wherefore the maidens have loved Thee exceedingly. Now, it seems as
if she would say : ' Lo the maidens have loved Thee, and by that
love are firmly united to Thee ; they have no need of me any longer ;
there is no reason for my delaying still in this life; therefore, Draw
me, and I will run after Thee.
2. This I should have considered to be her thought, if she had
said, 'Draw me to Thee? But as she says, lafter Thee,' that phrase
seems to me rather to make request that she might have grace to
follow the footsteps of His life, to be able to emulate His virtue, to
hold fast, and by, His rule of life, to attain the perfection of His
character. In these especially [the soul] has the greatest need of
assistance, to be enabled to deny herself, to take up her cross, and
thus to follow after Christ. In order to attain this, the Bride has
great need to be drawn onward ; and by none other than H e who
says : Without Me ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). ' I know well,'
she says, ' that I am not able to reach Thee, except by following
after T h e e ; nor can I follow after Thee, except I am helped by Thee
to do so : and, therefore, I pray that Thou wouldest draw me after
Thee.' In truth, Blessed is the man whose help is from Thee: in his
heart he hath set steps in the valley of tears (Ps. lxxxiv. 5) in order
one day to reach Thee upon the mountains of everlasting joy. How
few there are, O Lord Jesus, who are willing to follow after Thee \
and yet there is no one who does not wish to reach Thy Presence,
since it is known to all that at Thy Right Hand there are pleasures
for evermore (Ps. xvi. n ) . On that account, all desire to obtain
happiness from Thee, but they have not a similar desire to imitate
T h e e ; they wish to reign with Thee, but not to suffer with Thee.
Such was he who said : Let me die the death of the righteous, and let
my last end be like his (Num. xxiii. 10); he desired that the closing
of his life might be similar to that of the righteous, but not that its
beginnings might be so. Even carnal men desire for themselves the
death of men who are spiritual, and yet shudder at the idea of leading their life. For they know that precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His saints ; since, when He giveth to His beloved sleep,
lo ! the heritage of the Lord (Ps. cxxvii. 2, 3), and because Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord (Rev. xiv. 13); while, on the contrary, according to the declaration of the prophet, The death of the
wicked is very evil (Ps. xxxiii. 22, Vulg. and Douay). They do not
care to seek Him, whom they yet desire to find ; they wish to reach

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Him, but to do so without following Him. Not such were they, of
whom H e said : Ye are they tvhich have continued with Me in My
temptations (Luke xxii. 28). Blessed are they who were found
worthy to receive such a testimony from Thee, O good Jesus ! They
did in truth come after Thee, both with their feet, and in the affections
of their hearts. Thou hast made known to them the ways of life, in
calling them after Thee, who art the Way, and the Life; Thou sayest
unto them, Follow Me, I will make you fishers of men (Matt. iv. 19);
and again, If any ma?i serve Me, let him follow me : and where I am,
there shall also My servant be (John xii. 26). Therefore they congratulated themselves, saying : Behold, we have forsaken all and
followed Thee (Matt. xix. 27).
3. It is thus, then, that Thy Beloved, leaving all things for Thy sake,
desires always to follow after Thee, to walk closely in Thy footsteps
always, and to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest, knowing that
Thy ways are ways of blessedness, and all Thy paths are peace, and
that therefore he who followeth Thee walks not in darkness. If she
prays that she may be drawn onward, it is because Thy righteousness
is as the mountains of God, and that in her own strength she is not
able to attain unto it. She prays, as she is wont, that she may be
drawn onward, because no man can come to Thee unless Thy
Father shall have drawn him (John vi. 44); and those whom The
Father draweth, Thou dost draw also; for the works which the
Father doeth, those also doeth the Son likewise. But the suppliant
is more familiar with the Son, and makes this request to be drawn of
Him, as of her own Bridegroom, 1 whom the Father hath sent to be
her Leader and her Guide, to go before her in the way of righteousness, to prepare for her the path of virtues, to train her up even as
His own self, to teach her the way of wisdom, to bestow upon her
the law of life and of discipline; and to bring her to such perfection
that H e may justly take pleasure in her beauty.
4. Draw me after Thee: we will run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes.
I have need to be drawn for this reason, because the fire of
Thy love has grown somewhat cold in u s ; nor are we, on account of
that coldness, able to run as we did yesterday and in former days.
But we shall run when Thou shalt have restored to us the joy of Thy
salvation, when the warmth of grace shall have returned to us, when
the Sun of Righteousness shall have warmed us anew, and the cloud
of temptation shall have passed away, which at this moment hides Him
from u s ; and at the gentle breath of a softer breeze, the perfumes
have begun to dissolve and flow, and give forth their fragrance.
Then, and in that fragrance, shall we run [on the way of righteousness]. We shall run, I say, when the perfumes are breathed upon
us, for the torpor in which we now are shall be dissipated, and devotion shall be reawakened in us, so that we shall have no need to be
drawn on, but under the influence of that sweet fragrance shall
advance of our own accord. But now, and until that happy change,
1

Some MSS. add ' Who hath pleasure in her beauty.5

THE BRIDE FOLLOWS AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS CHRIST

119

draw me, and I will run after Thee. Do you perceive that he who
walks in the Spirit does not remain always in one state, nor make
progress always with the same ease, because the way of man, as the
Scripture declares, is not in his own power; but that he forgets the
things which are behind, and presses forward to those which are
before, now with more energy, and now with less, according as the
Holy Spirit, who is the Dispenser of all graces, bestows them upon
him with greater or less liberality ? I believe that if you well examine
your own selves, you will find what I have said confirmed by your
own inward experience.
5. When, therefore, you feel yourself affected with torpor, hikewarmness, and weariness, do not on that account give way to unbelief,
nor desist from spiritual exercises, but seek the Hand of Him who is
able to help, and, after the example of the Bride, entreat that you
may be drawn after Him, until you are reawakened and reanimated
by grace, and thus you become more cheerful and vigorous; you are
enabled to run [the race that is set before you], and you say, / have
run the way of Thy Commandments, since Thou hast set my heart at
liberty (Ps. cxix. 32). But though you should rejoice in the grace of
God, as long as it is present, do not, nevertheless, count upon that
gift as if you held it by a right of inheritance, and be as secure of it
as if you could not possibly lose it, lest suddenly God should draw
back His Hand and withdraw His grace, and you should fall into
excessive discouragement and sorrow. Do not ever say in your
abundance, I shall never be moved (Ps. xxx. 6), for fear lest you should
also be obliged to make use with grief of the words which follow :
Thou didst hide Thy Face, and I ivas troubled. You will be cured
rather, if you are wise, by following the counsel of the Wise—to be
not unmindful of good things in the day of evil, nor of evil things in
the day of good (Ecclus. xi. 25).
6. Do not, then, in your day of strength, suffer yourself to feel
secure, but lift up your voice towards God with the prophet, and say:
Forsake me not when my strength faileth me (Ps. Ixxi. 9). On the other
hand, be consoled in time of temptation, and say with the Bride:
Draiv me, and I will run after Thee : we will run in the fragrance
of Thy perfumes. Thus hope will not desert you in the evil day,
nor Providence be wanting to you in the day of prosperity; you will
retain, among the changeableness of earthly conditions, [which are]
at one time prosperous, at another adverse, as it were an image of
eternity; I mean to say that you will maintain this equableness, of spirit,
and a constancy not to be shaken by any event; you will at all times
bless God, and will thus make good for yourself a position, so to
speak, of immovable stability among the changing events and certain
disappointments of this inconstant world, until you shall begin to be
renewed, and to take upon you once more that ancient and glorious
likeness of God, who is eternal, with whom is no changeableness, neither
shadow of turnirig (James i. 17). Thus as H e is so shalt thou be,
even in this world; neither cast down in adversity nor in prosperity

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

made careless. It is in this, I say, that man, that creature so noble,
made in the image and likeness of God who created him, indicates
that he is even now on the point of regaining the dignity of his ancient
honour, when he regards it as unworthy of him to be conformed to
this perishing world; and chooses rather, according to the precept of
St. Paul, to be transformed by the renewing of his mind (Rom. xii. 2)
into that-likeness in which he knows that he was first created. And
in this way he even compels the things of this world, which were, in
fact, created on his account, to conform themselves to him, as it is
becoming they should d o ; and thus all things begin to work together
for good, and to regain, as it were, the form which is theirs, and
natural to them, rejecting that [present one] which is degraded, and
recognising their Lord, for whose service they were created.
7. On this account I think that the saying which the Only Begotten
Son of God uttered of Himself, that He, if H e were lifted up from
the earth would draw all things unto Him (John xii. 32), may be
applied also to all His brethren—that is, to those whom the Father
has foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that H e might be the Firstborn among many brethren. I, then,
even I, my brethren, am able boldly to say, ' If I be lifted up from
the earth, I will draw all things unto me.' Nor is it a rash thing of
me to make use of the words of Him of whom I put on the likeness.
If it be thus, then the rich of this world ought not to think that the
brethren of Christ, because they hear Christ saying, Blessed are the
poor in spirit^ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3), possess
heavenly things alone, because those only seem to be mentioned in
the promise. They possess earthly things also ; and having indeed
nothing, yet possess all things. They do not beg for them, as those
who are poor and miserable, but possess them as masters; and are so
much the more the masters of them as they are less desirous to obtain
them. For the whole world is a store of riches to the man who has
faith. Evidently the whole world ; for whether he be in prosperity or
in adversity, all things serve him equally, and work together for his
good.
8. Thus, then, the man who is avaricious hungers for the things of
this world like a beggar, while he who has faith despises them as their
lord. The one, while he possesses them, is their servant; the other,
while despising them, uses them for good. Ask some one of those
who pant with an insatiable heart for earthly riches, what is his opinion
of those c who sold all their goods and gave to the poor, and whether
they did wisely or no. Doubtless he will reply that they did wisely.
Ask him again why he does not himself practise what he approves in
others. ' I cannot,' he will reply. Wherefore ? Plainly because
avarice is the mistress of his heart, and will not permit him ; because
he is not free; because the things which he seems to possess are not
his; nor is he himself his own master. If they are truly yours, try to
put them to profitable use; and in exchange for earthly possessions
obtain heavenly. If you are not able to do this, then confess that

T H E BRIDE FOLLOWS AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS CHRIST

12 [

you are not the master but the servant of your money—only the
keeper of it, not the possessor. In short, you suit yourself to your
purse as a slave to his mistress ; and just as such an one is obliged of
necessity to be glad or to be sorrowful according to the mood of his
mistress, so you : when your pouch is swelling with gain, your spirits
rise ; and they fall similarly when it shrinks. For you are stricken
with sorrow when that is exhausted, and when it is replenished are
filled with joy, or, rather, puffed up with pride. Such is the man who
is avaricious. But as for us, let us strive to imitate the freedom and
the constancy of the Bride, who, being well instructed in all things,
and preserving in her heart the teaching of Wisdom, knows how to
endure both abundance and penury. When she entreats that she may
be drawn onward, she shows that what she needs is, not money, but
spiritual strength ; and, on the other hand, when she consoles herself
with the hope of the return of grace, she proves that even in privations she holds fast her faith.
9. She says then : Draw me, we will run after Thee : we will run
in the fragrance of Thy perfumes. And what wonder is it that she
needs to be drawn onward when she is following the footsteps of a
giant ? Who is able to come up with Him who strides upon the
mountains, who leaps over the hills ? His Word, saith the Psalmist,
runneth very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15). She is not capable of keeping
pace with, or of rivalling the speed of, one who rejoiceth as a giant to
run His course (Ps. xix. 5); that is not possible to her powers, and
therefore it is that she prays to be drawn onward. ' I am weary,' she
says; ' I am sinking from fatigue ; desert me not, but draw me after
Thee, that I may not begin to wander after other companions, or to run
hither and thither, as in uncertainty. Draw me after Thee; for ic
were better for me that Thou shouldest keep me close to Thee, even
by the use of a measure of violence, by making me afraid with Thy
threatenings, or causing me to smart with chastisements, than that
Thou shouldest spare me in my evil and slothful security, and leave
me to myself. Draw me after Thee, even if it be in some sort against
my will, that Thou mayst make me willing; draw me, even in my
sloth and slowness, that Thou mayst make me ready and swift. A
time may come when I shall no longer need one to draw me onward,
since we shall run voluntarily and with all willingness. But now I
am not able to run alone, though alone I make my petition to be
helped forward; let the maidens also run with me. Let us run
together, let us run with equal pace; I, aroused by the fragrance of Thy
perfumes; they by my example and my exhortation : and thus let us
all run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes/ The Bride has her imitators,
as she herself is the imitator of Jesus Christ. And, therefore, she does
not say, as of one person only, " I will run,' but ' We will run.'
10. But the question arises, wherefore the Bride, in imploring to be
drawn onward, does not similarly join the maidens with herself, but
says, Draw me, and not * Draw us.' AVhat then ? Does the Bride
need to be drawn, and the maidens, do they not need ? O thou

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who art beautiful, and happy, and blessed, explain to me the reason
for this distinction. Wherefore dost thou say Draw me, and not us ?
Ts it that thou enviest them this honour? God forbid. Norwouldst
thou (if that were the case) have added that they with thee would
follow after the Bridegroom if thou hadst wished to follow Him alone.
Why, then, shouldst thou have added in the plural, 'we will run,'
when thy request was in the singular, ' draw m e ' ? Charity, she
replies, would have it thus. Learn from me by this word to hope for
a twofold blessing from on high in spiritual exercises ; that is, for correction and consolation. The one has its sphere of action without,
the other visits us within. The former represses presumption, the
latter raises up the heart and bestows confidence; the one worketh
humility, the other consoles in discouragement; the one gives
prudence, the other devotion. The former teaches the fear of the
Lord ; the latter tempers that very fear with an infusion of salutary
joy, as it is written : Let my heart rejoice, that it may fear Thy Name
(Ps. lxxxv. I I , Vulg. and Douay). And again : Serve the Lord with
fear, and rejoice with trembling (Ps. ii. n ) .
I I . Now we are drawn onward when we are exercised by trials and
tribulations ; but we run forward when we are visited with inward
consolations and secret inspirations, and breathe, as it were, an atmosphere of perfume and fragrance. That, then, which appears hard
and austere I reserve for myself, as to one who is strong, and healthy,
and perfect; and I say, speaking for myself alone, Draw me. That
which is sweet and pleasant I share with you, as with one who is weak,
and I say, We will run. I know that young souls {adolescentulas)
are tender and delicate, and unfitted to sustain temptations, and,
therefore, I desire that they should run with me, but not that they
should be drawn with me ; I wish to have them for companions of
my consolation, not of my labour and trouble. Wherefore ? Because
they are weak, and I fear lest they should fail and fall by the way.
But as for me, O my Spouse, take me, train me, try me, draw me after
Thee, for I am prepared to suffer all chastisements, and I am strong
to endure them. But as for the rest, let us run together ; alone I will
be drawn onward, but together let us run. Yea, let us run, but in
the fragrance of thy perfumes, not in any confidence of our own
merits. We have not the presumption to believe that we can run in
the greatness of our own strength, but we trust in the multitude of
Thy mercies. For if ever we have run, and have been able to will
voluntarily to do so, yet it was not of man that willeth, nor of man
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy (Rom. ix. 16). Let
that mercy be turned towards us and we shall run. Thou, indeed,
O Lord, dost run in the greatness of Thy strength, rejoicing in it as a
giant; but we cannot run at all unless we derive strength from the
breathing of Thy perfumes. Thou, whom the Father has anointed
with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows (Ps. xlv. 7), dost run in
[the strength of] that unction itself, but we only in the fragrance which
it exhales. Thine is the fulness of it, but ours its fragrance. This

THE BRIDE FOLLOWS AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS CHRIST

123

would be the time to discharge the promise which I remember to have
made long ago, to speak to you of the perfumes of the Bridegroom, if
the length to which this sermon has already extended did not forbid
it. I will defer that, then, to another time, for the importance of the
subject does not allow it to be confined within inadequate limits.
Pray the Lord of Divine unction that He will deign to render acceptable the freewill offering of my lips, and that I may be able, at your
desire, to recall to your minds the remembrance of the sweetness of
His abundant grace; of the grace, I say, which is in Him who is the
Bridegroom of His Church, Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

SERMON XXII.
OF THE FOUR PERFUMES OF THE BRIDEGROOM, AND OF THE FOUR
CARDINAL VIRTUES.

I

F the perfumes of the Bride are so precious and so distinguished
as they were found to be when they were treated of in your
hearing, of what value must be those of the Bridegroom ?
And if I am not capable of expounding these in a manner worthy of
their great excellence, yet that their virtue is surpassingly great, and
their grace efficacious, is shown, without doubt, by this fact alone,
that their fragrance arouses not the young maidens alone, but the
Bride herself, to run [in the way of righteousness]. If you take
notice, you will see that she does not venture to promise anything of
this kind, as to follow from her own perfumes. She does indeed re
joice in thinking that they are most excellent, yet she does not say
that in them she has run, or would run ; this she only promises to
do in the perfumes of the Bridegroom. What would she have said,
had she felt the outpouring upon her of that unction itself, of which
even the fragrance alone, however slight it were, had such influence
upon her as to cause her to run forward [in the way of godliness] ?
It would be wonderful if she did not even fly. But someone, perhaps, says in himself: ' Cease your commendations ; it will sufficiently appear what they are when you have begun to define them.'
But no. I do not at all promise that. Believe me when I confess that
I do not as yet know whether those ideas which are presented to my
mind are well founded. I suppose that the Bridegroom has not a
few kinds of perfumes and balms, that these are different in nature,
that some of these are more a delight to the Bride than others, as
being nearer and in closer relation to Him, and that they delight
her only; but that there are others which reach as far as the
maidens, and some which find their way even to those who are most
distant and most entirely strangers to Him, so that there are none
hid from his life-giving heat. But although the Lord is good and

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kind to all, He is most markedly so to those of His own house ; and
the more nearly anyone draws to Him by the influence of a pure
mind and holy life, the more also, as I believe, H e perceives the
fragrance of newer perfumes and of a sweeter anointing.
2. But these things the intelligence does not comprehend any
farther than it is led by experience. That is why I would not rashly
arrogate to myself a prerogative which is given only to the Bride.
The Bridegroom alone knows the delights which it is given to His
Beloved to taste by the Holy Spirit, by what inspirations He marvellously revives her spiritual senses, and by what odours He soothes
them. Let her be for thee, then, a fountain proper to Him alone, in
which no stranger shares, nor does any unworthy drink thereof; that
is to say, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed (Cant. iv. 12); but
thence do streams flow into the streets. These, I confess, are at my
disposal, provided that no one finds fault or is ungrateful if I drink
of them and draw from them for the good of all. For, that I may commend a little my ministry in this respect, it is not without some labour
and fatigue that I go forth day by day to draw from the open streams
of the Scriptures, in order to distribute to each one according to his
n e e d ; so that without his own labour every one of you may have a
supply of the spiritual waters for his various necessities; as, for
example, to drink, and for cleansing, as for cooking his food. For
the Divine Word is the saving water of wisdom, not only to drink,
but also for cleansing, as the Lord hath said : Now ye are clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you (John xv. 2). The
Divine Word cooks, so to speak, over the fire which the Holy Spirit
kindles, the crude reflections of the carnal mind, and turns them into
spiritual teachings, which are nourishment for the soul, so that you
may say : My heart was hot within me, and while I was musing the
fire burned (Ps. xxxix. 3).
3. Those who, being of a spirit perfectly pure, are capable of
apprehending by their own selves truths more lofty than those which
have been brought forward by me, I congratulate upon the fact, and
I do not dispute their right; but at the same time, they must allow
me to bring forward simpler truths for simpler people. Would that
it might be granted unto me that all might exercise the gift of teaching {prophetent), and that it might not be needful for me to occupy
myself in it ! Would that this care might fall upon some other, or at
least, which I would prefer, that there were no one among you who
had need of i t ; and that you were also open to the teachings of God
Himself, that I might be able to remain in a profound repose, and
contemplate the Bridegroom, who is God! For now it is the case
(and I do not say it without tears), that it is not permitted to me, I
do not say to contemplate, but even to seek after the King in His
glory, sitting upon the Cherubin, sitting upon His Throne, high and
lifted up, in that Form in which He was begotten, Equal to His
Father, in the splendour of His Saints, before the morning star [was
created], in which also the Angels always desire to behold Him, God

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125

of God. That which remains to me, who am but a man, is to speak
of Him to men as Man, and in that Form in which, that H e might
in His exceeding condescension and love manifest Himself unto
men, H e was made a little lower than the angels, He who hath set in
the sun His tabernacle, whence He cometh forth as a bridegroom
out of His chamber (Ps. xix. 5). I speak of Him to you rather in
His sweetness, than in His loftiness ; as the Anointed One, rather
than the High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth Eternity; of Him,
that is, whom the Spirit of the Lord hath anointed, and sent forth to
preach the Gospel to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Is. lxi. 1, 2).
4. Leaving, then, to each individual whatever of more sublime and
profound truth it has been granted to him by God's special grace to
feel and experience regarding the perfumes of the Bridegroom, I
offer for the common good what I have drawn from a source common
to all. For He is the fountain of life, a Fountain sealed, springing
forth from a walled garden, by the mouth of St. Paul, who made of
himself a canal for that precious stream. He is truly that Wisdom
which, according to the expression of holy Job, is drawn from secret
places {] oh xxviii. 21); which divides itself into four streams, and
flows into the open ways of men; in which the Apostle declares to us
the great truth that God hath made Him to be to us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. i. 30). From
these four streams, then, as it were of most precious perfumes—for it
matters little whether we consider them as of water or of precious
perfume, of water which cleanses, or of oil which perfumes—from
these four, I say, as from precious ointments, composed of celestial
balms upon the mountains of sweet spices, so great a sweetness and
fragrance has filled the nostrils of the Church, that, being drawn from
the four quarters of the earth by that perfume, [her people] hastened
to the heavenly Bridegroom, as that queen of the East came from the
ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, being attracted by
the good odour of his reputation (1 Kings x. 1-7).
5. Now, the Church was before not able to run towards the odour
of her Solomon, until He, who was from all eternity Wisdom from the
Father, was made by the Father to be for her benefit Wisdom also
in time; for it was from that time that she began to perceive the
Divine odour which proceeded forth from Him. Thus He was made
for her in the same way righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that she might be able to follow after the odour of these
also, which were in Him before the beginning of all things. For in
the Beginning was the Word (John i. 1); but the shepherds made
haste to come to see Him, only then at length when His Birth was
announced to them. Then it was that they said the one to the
other : Let us now go even to Bethlehem and see this thing which is
come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us (Luke ii. 15, 16).
And, it goes on, they came with haste. Before, when the Word was

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with God, they did not stir; but when it came to pass that the Word
was made [Flesh] and shown unto men, then they came with haste—
they ran. Just as the W'ord was in the beginning, but the Word was
with G o d ; and yet the Word was made [Flesh] when H e began to
be among men also; so H e was Wisdom in the beginning, He was
righteousness, He was sanctification and redemption. But to the
angels, and in order that He might be these to men also, the Father
has made Him all these things, and H e has done so because H e is
the Father. For, says the Apostle, of God He is made unto us wisdom.
H e does not say simply is made^ but is made unto us ; since that
which He was unto the angels H e is made unto us also.
6. But I do not perceive, you will say, how He was Redemption
unto the Angels. For in no passage of the Scriptures does it appear
that they were ever captives of sin, or subject unto death, so that
they had need of redemption; those only excepted, who, falling by
the irremediable lapse of pride, have never deserved to be redeemed.
If, then, the Angels have never been redeemed, some having no need
to be, and others not deserving i t ; the one class, because they have
not fallen; the other, because their fall was irrevocable : for what
reason do you say that the Lord Jesus Christ has been to them
redemption ? Listen, while I briefly declare it. He who has raised
up man who had fallen granted to the Angel, who was upright, the
grace not to fall; thus, as H e delivered the one from his bondage, so
H e protected the other from becoming subject to that bondage.
And in this manner H e was Redemption equally to each class,
delivering the one from its fall, and preserving the other from falling.
It appears, then, clearly that the Lord Christ was to the holy Angels
redemption, as H e was righteousness, wisdom, and sanctification;
and that, nevertheless, H e was made to be these four blessings on
account of men, who are able to behold the invisible things of God
only by the beholding of the things that are made (Rom. i. 20). So,
then, all that He was unto the Angels, H e was made to be unto us ;
that is to say, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—
wisdom in preaching, righteousness in the remission of sins, sanctification in the close relation which H e had with sinners by His Life;
and redemption by His Passion, which H e endured on behalf of
sinners. It is then when H e was made by God to be all these things ;
that the Church has perceived His fragrance, and has followed, nay,
has run, after Him.
7. Recognise, then, this fourfold anointing; recognise the abundant
and inestimable sweetness of Him, whom the Father hath anointed
with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 7). Thou, O
man, wast sitting in the gloomy1 shadows of death through ignorance
of the truth ; thou wast sitting bound by the chains of thy sins. H e
descended to thee in thy prison, not to torment thee, but to deliver
thee from the power of darkness. In the first place, that Teacher
of truth dissipated by His wisdom the darkness of thy ignorance.
1

Tenebrosis ; another reading is tenebi'is.

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127

Then, by the righteousness which is of faith, H e broke the bonds of
thy sins, freely justifying the sinner. By that twofold benefit, He
accomplished that word of the holy David : The Lord looseth the
prisoners; the Lord giveth sight to the blind (Ps. cxlvi. 7, 8). More
than this H e did, by living a holy life among sinners, and so provided for thee a pattern of life, as a road whereby thou mightest
return to thy own fatherland. Lastly, as it were to heap upon thee
His goodness, H e gave over His soul to death, and drew from His
own side the price of thy redemption, and thus rendered satisfaction
to the Father. In all this H e plainly realized the verse : With the
Lord there is inercy, a?id with Him is plenteous redemption (Ps. cxxx. 7).
Truly it was plenteous: for it was not a drop, but a flood that poured
forth plenteously, of His Precious Blood, from five parts of His
Body.
8. What ought He to have done for thee, that H e has not done ?
He has restored sight to one blind, broken the chains of a captive,
led back a wanderer, reconciled the guilty. Who will not run with
ardour, with rapidity, after Him who delivers from error, and forgives
offences ; who by His Life bestows merits, and by His Death acquires
[for thee] rewards ? What excuse can there be for him who does
not eagerly run in the fragrance of these perfumes, except perchance
that their sweetness has not reached him ? But the odour of life has
gone forth into the whole world; for the whole earth is full of the
mercy of the Lord, and His goodness is over all His works. Therefore he who has no perception of that fragrance, sweet, life giving, and
everywhere diffused, and because of this does not run after Christ, is
either dead, or he is corrupt. 1 That fragrance is the renown of His
Name. The fragrance of faith in Him extends 2 everywhere; it
arouses to run the Christian course; it brings to trial of His anointing, to the vision of Him for reward. All who attain it chant with
one accord : Like us we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the
Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God (Ps. xlviii. 8). We follow after
Thee, O Lord Jesus, because of the goodness and kindness wThich
we are fully assured of finding in Thee ; because we learn that Thou
dost not despise the poor, nor abhor the sinner. Thou didst not
abhor the thief when he confessed, the sinful woman who wept tears
of penitence, the Canaanite mother who came to Thee with her
supplication, nor her who was taken in adultery, nor him who sat at
the receipt of custom, nor the publican who implored pardon, nor the
disciple who denied Thee, the persecutor of Thy disciples, nor Thy
very crucifiers themselves. In the fragrance of these Divine virtues
we run. Again, we perceive the fragrance of Thy wisdom from that
word which we have heard, that if any lack wisdom, let him ask it of
Thee, and Thou wilt give it to him ; for Thou givest to all liberally,
and upbraidest not (James i. 5). And the great fragrance of Thy
righteousness is spread abroad upon every side, inasmuch as Thou
art not only Righteous, but also Righteousness itself—yea, a
1

Futidus, or putridus.

- Pervenit, or prcevenit.

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

Righteousness which renders righteous him who is unrighteous.
And as powerful as Thou art to justify, so bountiful art Thou also to
forgive. Wherefore, let whosoever is touched with a sincere sorrow
for his sins, who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, believe
without hesitation in Thee, who justifiest the ungodly; and being
justified by faith alone, he shall have peace with God, Of Thy
holiness, also, the fragrance most sweet and full is spread abroad by
Thy Conception, as by Thy Life. Sin, therefore, Thou hast neither
committed nor contracted. Let those, then, who have been justified
from their sins, wTho desire and propose to follow after holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord, let them attend to Thy
voice : Be ye holy, for I am holy (Lev. xix. 2). Let them consider
Thy ways and learn from Thee, for Thou art righteous in all Thy
ways, and holy in all Thy works (Ps. cxlv. 17). And the fragrance
of Thy Redemption, what numbers does it arouse to follow Thee !
When Thou wert lifted up from the earth, Thou didst draw all men
unto Thee. Thy Passion is the last refuge for men, and their only
remedy. When wisdom is wanting, righteousness proves insufficient,
and the merits of sanctity fail, Thy Passion comes to the rescue.
For who can have the presumption to think his own wisdom,
righteousness, or holiness sufficient for his salvation ? As says the
Apostle : Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as
of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. iii. 5). Therefore,
when my own strength shall have failed me, I am not troubled, I do
not lose heart. I know what I have to do : I will take the cup of
salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord (Ps. cxvi. 13). Enlighten mine eyes, O Lord, that I may know what is accepted before
Thee at all times (Wisd. ix. 10); and thus I am wise. Remember
not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions (Ps. xxv. 7); and
[thus] I am righteous. Teach me Thy way, O Lord (Ps. lxxxvi. 11);
and I [thus] am holy. But yet, unless Thy Blood interpose for me,
I am not saved. It is to obtain all these graces that we follow—nay,
we run after Thee ; send us away [satisfied], for we cry after Thee.
9. But wre do not all run with equal attraction towards all these
perfumes, for you will see that some are more ardently affected by
the love of wisdom ; others are more carried towards penitence by the
hope of obtaining pardon ; others, again, are more animated to the
practice of virtues by the example of His life and conversation; and
others, still, are more fired with ardour for piety by the remembrance
of His Passion. I think that we may be able to find examples of
each of these classes. Those who had been sent by the Pharisees,
for instance, were attracted by the fragrance of His wisdom, when
they returned and said : Never man spake like this man (John vii. 46),
for they admired His teaching, and confessed His wisdom. The
holy Nicodemus did the same, when he came to Jesus by night
(iii. 2), drawn by the great light of His wisdom, and returned,
enlightened and instructed in many things. But Mary Magdalene
came attracted by the fragrance of His righteousness; she, to whom

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129

many sins were forgiven, for she loved much (Luke vii. 47). Doubtless,
she was no longer a sinner, as the Pharisee reproached her with being,
but righteous and holy; he knew not that righteousness and holiness
are the gift of God, not the work of man ; and that he to wThom the
Lord will not impute sin, is not only righteous, but also blessed.
Had he forgotten the manner in which [the Lord] in touching his
[the Pharisee's] own bodily leprosy, or that of some other sufferer, had
not contracted it Himself, but had cured it ? Thus that Righteous
One, being touched by the woman who was a sinner, imparted
righteousness, and did not part with it; nor was H e defiled with the
stain of sin, of which H e cleansed her. The Publican also followed
after Christ, who, when he humbly implored pardon for his sins,
went down to his house, as H e who was Himself Justice declared,
justified (Luke xviii. 14). Peter followed [Christ], he who wept bitterly
for his fall (xxii. 62), so as to wash away his sin and regain righteousness. And David, who, acknowledging and confessing his crime, was
found deserving to hear : The Lord also hath put away thy sin (2 Sam.
xii. 13). Then again Paul bears witness that he followed Christ,
when he boasts that he was His follower, and says to his disciples :
Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (1 Cor. xi. 1). They
also did so who said: Behold, zve have left all and followed Thee
(Matt. xix. 27). That is, they had left all things for the desire to
follow Christ. This precept exhorts all people in general to follow
after the same fragrance: He that saith he abideth in Christ ought
himself also so to walk, even as He walked {1 John ii. 6). If you wish
to hear who they are who have run in the fragrance of the Passion
of Christ, I will tell you : they are all the martyrs. You have, then,
four kinds of odours : the first of wisdom, the second of righteousness, the third of sanctirication, the fourth of redemption. Keep
them in memory, avail yourself of the good of them, and do not
institute any inquiry as to how they are composed, of what materials,
or how mingled. For these things are not so easily to be ascertained
with respect to the perfumes of the Bridegroom, as with regard to
those of the Bride, which were previously considered. For in Christ
all things are with a fulness which has neither measure nor limit.
For His wisdom is infinite (Ps. cxlvii. 5 ) ; His righteousness is like the
great mountains (Ps. xxxvi. 6), the mountains of God; His holiness
so great as to be unequalled by any other, and His redemption is a
mystery that cannot be discovered.
10. This also must be said, that it is to no purpose that the wise
men of this world have disputed at such great length concerning the
four great virtues, which they are in no wise able to attain, since they
knew not Him, who of God is made unto us wisdom to teach us
prudence, righteousness to remit offences, sanctification to give an
example of living temperately and chastely, and redemption for a
perfect pattern of patience in His Death bravely endured. Someone
will perhaps say: The other qualities are very fitting for the virtues
named; but sanctification seems to have no proper relation to
9

i3°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

temperance. To which I reply, first, that temperance is the same as
continence ; for it is usual in the Scriptures for continence or purity to
be spoken of as sanctification. In fact, what did those sanctifications
so frequent under the Law of Moses consist of but certain purifications of those who abstained from food, from drink, from indulgence,
and such-like? But notice especially the Apostle himself, who
commonly uses, or adapts, the word 'sanctification' to, or in, this
sense. This is, he says, the will of God, even your sanctification . . .
that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence. And, again; For
God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness (i Thess.
iv. 3-7). It is plain that in such passages he puts sanctification for
temperance.
11. After having made clear what seemed a little obscure, I return
to the point whence I digressed. What have you to do with virtues
who know not the power (virt litem) of God, which is Jesus Christ ?
Where, I ask you, is true prudence, if not in the teaching of Christ ?
or true righteousness, if not in His mercy ? Where is true temperance, if not in the Life of Christ? or true fortitude, if not in the
Passion of Christ ? Those only, therefore, who are imbued with His
teaching are to be called prudent; those alone to be regarded as
righteous who from His mercy have attained the pardon of their
sins \ those alone as temperate who study to imitate His Life; and
those alone as courageous who in adversities follow with constancy the
example of His patience. That man labours in vain to acquire virtues
who looks elsewhere than to the Lord in the hope of obtaining them ;
for it is His teaching which is the seed-plot of prudence; His mercy
is a work of righteousness; His Life a mirror of temperance; and
His Death a glorious pattern of courage. To Llim be honour and
glory for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXIII.
OF THREE WAVS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD, REPRESENTED UNDER THE
FIGURE OF T H R E E STOREROOMS.

"V ^HE King hath brought me into His storerooms (Cant. i. 3,
J
Douay). Lo, here is the source of fragrance ; here is the point
towards which we run. The Bride had said that we must
press forward, and in what strength; but whither our course was to
be directed, she had not said. Now, then, she declares that it is
towards the Lord's storerooms, and in the strength of the fragrance
which is exhaled from them. This she presses with her characteristic
eagerness, and desires to be introduced into His fulness. But, in
the first place, what is to be understood by these storehouses ? Let
us, to begin with, imagine that in the dwelling of the Bridegroom

THREE WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING

GOD

r

3i

there are chambers fragrant with perfumes, and filled with all kinds
of delights. It is in these that, as in a treasury, 1 is stored and kept in
reserve whatever is most rare and valuable of the products of garden
and of field. Hither, then, do all those who run direct their steps ;
but who are they that run ? These are the souls who are fervent in
the Spirit, the Bride, the maidens in her train ; but she whose love
is most ardent runs more swiftly, and arrives sooner. When she
arrives, she suffers no repulse, and not even any delay. Forthwith
the portals are opened to her, as 10 an inmate of the house, as to
one greatly beloved, who is specially dear and welcome. But what
as to her maidens ? They follow afar off; they are still weak; they
cannot press forward with devotion equal to that of the Bride; they
cannot experience fervour and earnest desire such as hers; therefore
they arrive later, and they remain without. But the charity of the
Bride does not rest, nor does she pride herself, as is frequently the
case, upon her happy successes so as to be forgetful of them. On
the contrary, she consoles them the more assiduously, and exhorts
them to endure patiently and calmly the repulse they have received,
and her absence. Then she declares to them the joy which she has
attained, and that for the very reason that they may rejoice with her,
in the hope of one day attaining to a share in the graces and blessings
of their mother. For she does not so pursue her own [spiritual]
advantage as to neglect the care of them, nor desires that her benefit
should be hurtful or prejudicial to them. However far removed
from them she is by superior merits, it is of necessity that her charity
and tender care for them keep her with them always. It is her duty,
moreover, to follow the example of her Bridegroom, both, on the
one hand, in seeking the heavens, and, on the other, in promising to
be ever upon earth with His people, even to the consummation of all
things. So also the Bride, whatever progress she may make, and
whatever advancement she may attain, is prevented by her care, her
deep interest and affection for those whom she has begotten in the
Gospel, from ever leaving them or forgetting them in the depths of
her heart.
2. Let her say, then, to them : Take courage and rejoice. The
King has brought me into His storerooms: regard yourselves as
having been thereby brought in also. I alone seem to have entered
in, but the advantage is not to me alone. Every advancement of
mine is virtually yours; it is for you that I make profit; and I share
with you the graces which more than you I have deserved. Do
you wish for an unquestionable proof that her words are to be taken
in this sense and intention ? Then listen to the reply which they
make : We will be glad a?id rejoice in thee ; we do not deserve to do
so in ourselves, but in thee. And they add : We are mindful of
thy bosom (Cant. i. 4 ) ; that is, we shall endure patiently until
1
Officinal but the earlier sense is ' a workshop.' This usage is l a t e r : e.g.,
Denique Cellar 10 cunctisque similibus Monasterii officinis laicalesprcefecit
personasj
etc. ' Ratpertus Monachus de Casibus St. Galli,' cap. 6, ap., Du C a n g e . — E D .
1

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

thou come, knowing that thou wilt return to us with thy bosom filled
with graces. We confidently hope, then, to rejoice and be glad;
meanwhile we are mindful of thee. The words which he adds,
more than wine, signify that they are still touched with the remembrance of the desires of the flesh, which are spoken of as wine,
and that, nevertheless, those desires are overcome by the thought of
that abounding sweetness which, as they have experienced, flows
from her. I should speak of this now, if I did not remember that
I have done so above. 1 But now you see what confidence they
have with regard to their mother, how they look upon all her advantages and all her joys as belonging to themselves, and console themselves for their own repulse by her admission. They would not have
so great confidence, if they did not recognise her as their mother.
Let prelates, who like better to make themselves feared by those
committed to their charge, than to be useful to them, take this to
heart. Be ye learned, O ye that are judges of the earth. Learn
from this that you ought to be as mothers, not masters, to your subjects ; study to make yourselves loved rather than feared; and if
there be need sometimes of severity, let it be that of a father, not of
a tyrant. Show yourselves mothers in affection, fathers in reproof.
Be gentle, not harsh; be not forward to inflict stripes; let the view
of the maternal bosom promise indulgence; let the hearts [of those
under you] grow fat with milk, not swell with anger. Why do you
lay your heavy yoke upon those whose burden it is rather your duty
to bear? Why does the young son, who has been bitten by a
serpent, avoid displaying his wound to the priest, to whom he ought
rather to resort as to the bosom of a mother ? If ye are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself lest
thou also be tempted (Gal. vi. i). For otherwise he shall die in his
sin . . . but his blood will I require at thine hand (Ezek. iii. 20).
But of this at another season.
3. Now, since the context is clear by what I have said above, let
us see what is the mystical meaning of ' the storehouse.' Later on
mention is made of the garden also and the chamber, and I take
these three for the subject of our present discussion; for when
treated together, they throw light mutually on each other. Let us
seek, then, if you please, these three words in the Holy Scriptures :
the storehouse, the garden, and the chamber. For a soul that is
athirst for God willingly occupies itself with, and lingers in, these,
knowing that in them it will assuredly find Him whom it thirsts for.
Let, then, the garden represent the plain and simple historical sense
of the Scripture; the storehouse the moral sense of i t ; and the
chamber the secret and mystical truth, reached by Divine contemplation.
4. In the first place, I think that the historic sense is not unfitly
referred to the garden, because in the history are found men of many
virtues, as it were fruitful trees in the garden of the Bridegroom and
1

Sermon IX.

T H R E E WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

*33

in the Paradise of God ; and from their conduct and their actions
you may take examples, as from a tree you gather fruit. Who can
question that a good man is, as it were, a plant of God ? Hear what
holy David sings concerning a good man : He shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season; his leaf also shall not wither (Ps. i. 3). Jeremiah also expresses himself to the same effect, and in almost the same words :
He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her
roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh ; but her leaf
shall be green (Jer. xvii. 8). And the Psalmist: The righteous shall
flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebano?i
(Ps. xcii. 12). And of himself he says: / am like a green olive-tree
i?i the house of God(Ps. lii. 8). History is, then, as it were, a garden,
and it is threefold; for it contains the creation, the reconciliation,
and the reparation of heaven and of earth. Creation, that is like the
sowing or planting of a garden. Reconciliation is, as it were, the*
germination of that which is sown or planted. For at the due time
the heavens have distilled dew from above, the clouds have poured
down righteousness, the earth has opened and brought forth the
Saviour (Is. xlv. 8), by whom was brought about the reconciliation of
heaven and earth. For He is our peace, who hath made both one
(Eph. ii. 14), reconciling by His blood all things, whether in earth
or heaven (Col. i. 20). Reparation, again, is to come to pass at the
ending of the dispensation. For there shall be a new heaven and a
new earth; the good shall be gathered from among the evil, to be
set in safety in the storehouse of God, as fruits from a garden. In
that day, it is said, shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and
glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely
(Is. iv. 2). In this garden of the historic sense, then, you have three
periods included.
5. In the Moral sense, secondly, you have a threefold discipline:
three cells, as it were, in one storehouse. Therefore it is, perhaps,
that they are spoken of in the plural as ' storerooms' (cellaria), in
contemplation of this number of cells. A little farther on, the Bride
felicitates herself on having been brought into ' the cellar of wine'
(ii. 4, 'banqueting house/ A.V.). We, then, because we read, ' Give
an occasion to a wise man, a?id he will be wiser' (Prov. ix. 9), take
occasion from this name, which the Holy Spirit has thought fit to
give to this cell, to give it also to the two others; to call one the cell
of perfumes, the other that of unguents. We shall explain presently
the reasons for these names. But in the meantime notice that all
which surrounds the Bridegroom is sweet, as all is salutary—wine,
perfumes, and unguents. Wine, the Scripture declares, maketh glad
the heart of man (Ps. civ. 15). We read also that oil maketh his face
cheerful {Ibid., Douay), and it is with oil and medicinal powders that
ointments or unguents are compounded. Lastly, perfumes are not
only agreeable by their odour, but are useful because of their
medicinal virtue. It is, then, with good reason that the Bride

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rejoices at having been brought into a spot where graces are so great
and so abundant.
6. But I have other names also for them, for which, as I consider,
a still greater probability may be shown. To name them in their
order, I take the first cell to be that of discipline, the second that of
nature, the last that of grace. In the first you learn, following the
rule of Christian ethics, to be the last of all; but in the second to be
equal to all, and in the last to be superior to all; that is to say, you
learn how to act as an inferior, how to act as an equal, and how to act as
a superior; or, again, to be below, to be beside, to be above others. 1
In the first you learn to be a disciple, in the second to be a companion, in the third to be a master. Nature has, indeed, made all
men equal; 2 but that natural order having been corrupted by pride,
men have become impatient of that equality, desirous to elevate
themselves above others, and full of efforts to do so ; greedy of vainglory, envying and provoking one another.
Thus, first of all,
insolence of character requires to be restrained by the yoke of discipline, until the stubborn 3 will, worn down by observance of the
severe and constantly repeated rules of the elders, may be humbled
and cured, and regain by its obedience that good of nature which it
had lost by the indulgence of pride, until the man shall have learned
to possess his soul in patience, and to live peacefully and kindly, as
far as in him lies, with his fellow creatures; that is to say, with all
men ; and that not by fear of punishment, but by the spontaneous
impulse of the will. Then he will pass on into the cell of nature,
and will make proof of that which is written : Behold how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! It is like the
precious ointment upon the head (Ps. cxxxiii. i, 2). For. characters
thus disciplined, are, as it were, sweet spices pounded together, from
which is composed the oil of joy, which is the good of nature, and a
sweet and excellent unguent is produced from it. The man who is,
so to speak, anointed with this becomes peaceful and amiable; one
who provokes no quarrel, who deceives no one, who attacks no one,
who offends no one ; who does not set himself above others, or prefer
himself to everyone else, but, on the contrary, maintains with those
around him a continual interchange of kindnesses given and received.
7. I think that if you have clearly understood the leading characteristics of the two former cells, you will be of opinion that I have
not unfitly named the one that of perfumes, the other that of unguents.
For in the former, as the forcible pounding of a pestle forces forth
and extracts the strength and fragrance of spices, so the pressure of the
rule and the rigour of discipline expresses, so to speak, and draws
1
The terseness of the original, subesse, coesse, praeesse, may be admired, but
hardly equalled.—ED.
2
It is curious to find this phrase, which Thomas Jefferson made so famous in his
'Declaration of Independence' [of the United States], written in 1776, employed
totidem verbis more than six hundred years earlier.—ED.
3
Cervicosa ; not a common word.—ED.

THREE WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

r

35

forth the natural force of the characters of those who are ruled.
And in the latter the agreeable sweetness of a voluntary and, so to
speak, innate affection runs eagerly of its own accord, like, as it were,
the fragrant oil which is upon the head, and which at the slightest touch
of warmth rolls downward and is diffused over the whole body. Thus
in the cell of discipline are enclosed, as it were, the simple materials
of perfumes in a dry state, and thus I have thought it ought to be
called ' of perfume.' But in that which is said to be of nature, the
unguents compounded of these are found and are stored, and therefore it is called * of unguents.' As for the wine-cellar, I suppose that
the reason for the name is no other than that in it is stored the wine
of a zeal fervent with charity. One who has not as yet deserved to
be brought into this cell should assuredly not be set in authority
over others. For it is essential that one who has the direction of
others should be fervent with this wine, in like manner as was the
great Doctor of the Gentiles, when he said : Who is weak, and I am
not weak 1 Who is offended, and I burn not? (2 Cor. xi. 29). Otherwise, it is altogether wrong that you should aspire to rule over those
to whom you have no desire to be of service, and should claim for
yourself, with excessive ambition, the subjection of those whose
salvation you are not earnestly desirous to forward. This cell I have
named that of grace, not because it is possible to obtain even the
two others without grace, but because of the fulness of grace which
is reached in this alone. For love is the fulfilling of the law, and He
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law (Rom. xiii. TO, 8).
8. You have seen the reason of the names, see now the different
characters of the cells; for it is one thing to repress by fear, and by
the rigid rule of discipline, the wanton and wandering senses and the
irregular appetites of the flesh, and another to preserve a kindly agreement with brethren by a spontaneous disposition to do so. These
differ in difficulty, and, indeed, in the faculties which effect them ;
and so also to live a regulated life under the authority of another,
and to do so with our own will for the only constraining influence,
are altogether distinct things. In the same way, no one will declare
the living in peace and on good terms with others, and the ruling
over them for their benefit, to be actions of equal merit and requiring the same powers. How many are there who live in peace
under the direction of an intelligent guide, whom, if they were set
free from the obligation to obey, you would speedily perceive not to
be able to remain even peaceful and harmless to their neighbours ?
And similarly there are very many who are seen to conduct themselves simply and without offence among their brethren who, if they
were set over them, would behave themselves so as to be not only
useless, but even unwise and harmful. Such persons ought to content themselves within the bounds of a mediocrity which is advantageous to them, following the measure of the grace which God has
bestowed upon them; not having, indeed, any great need of a
master, but yet being unfitted to be masters themselves. These,

136

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

indeed, are of a more excellent character than the former class; but
such as know how to govern well are superior both to the one and to
the other. Those, too, who are faithful and wise in ruling over the
Lord's household have it in promise from Him that H e will make
them rulers over all His goods (Matt. xxiv. 48). But as there are
few who rule wholly to the advantage of others, so there are fewer
still who do so with humility. Yet both the one and the other duty
are easily fulfilled by him who has attained perfect discretion, the
mother of all the virtues, and has drunk of the wine of charity to the
point of contemning his own glory, and of entire forgetfulness of himself, so that he seeketh not his own ; and this state is reached only in
the cell called of wine, and under the wonderful guidance of the Holy
Spirit. The virtue of discretion lies prone and helpless without the
fervour of charity, while the vehement fervour of charity without the
moderating influence of discretion hurries on to the precipice. Therefore he is to be praised to whom neither is wanting, insomuch that
fervour animates his discretion, and discretion regulates his fervour.
So it behoves him to be constituted who rules over others. But I
should regard him as the highest in character, and as having learned
perfectly the sum of this discipline, upon whom has been bestowred
the power to pass through and around all these cellars without
stumbling; who in no respect whatever either resists his superiors,
envies his equals, or towards his inferiors commits either the error of
being wanting in care for them, or ruling them in pride ; who is
obedient to those who are above him, to his companions obliging, to
those under him kindly condescending for their good ; which high
degree of perfection, indeed, I have no hesitation in attributing to the
Bride. This is intimated in the statement she has made, that The
King hath brought me into His storehouses, since she mentions not
some one only, but speaks in the plural, ' His storehouses.''
9. Now let us pass to the bedchamber. What is that chamber ?
Have I the presumption to think that I know what it is ? By no
means do I arrogate to myself any experience of so exalted a subject,
nor do I boast of a prerogative, which is reserved to the happy Bride
alone, being careful, according to that proverb of the Greeks, to
' know myself,'1 and to know, as did the Psalmist [in a similar case],
that such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot
attain unto it (Ps. cxxxix. 6). If I had no knowledge whatever, I
should say nothing. What little I do know I will not enviously
keep back from you ; what I do not know, may He, who teacheth man
1
TVWOL Gzavrbv, ' Know thyself.' This precept was inscribed in letters of gold
over the portico of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. It was attributed to Thales,
one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece ; and indeed to Pythagoras, Chilo, Cleobulus,
Bias, and Socrates, as well as to Phemonce, a (mythical) Greek poetess of the anteH o m e r i c period, said to have been the daughter of Apollo. Juvenal (Sat. X L ,
verse 27), says :
E caelo descendit yvu>9i aeavrbv.

See also Cicero, * Tusculan. D i s p u t a t . , ' I . , 1, 22, 5 2 . — E D .

THREE WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

137

knotvledge (Ps. xciv. 10), vouchsafe to impart to you. I have already
said, and I dare say that you remember, that the chamber of the
King is to be sought in the secret and mystical truth reached by
Divine contemplation. 1 But, as in speaking of perfumes, I said
that the Bridegroom has many, and of different kinds, and that all of
these are not bestowed upon everyone, but that each has part in
them, according to the various character of his discernings, so I think
of the chamber of the King also, that it is not one, but many. Nor
has H e one queen also, but assuredly very many; H e has many
woman friends,2 and of maidens the number is uncounted. Each
of these has her secret confidence with the Bridegroom, and says :
My secret is for myself my secret is for myself (Is. xxiv. 16). It is
not granted to all to enjoy in the same degree the dear and secret
Presence of the Bridegroom, but it is given to whomsoever it has
been prepared by the Father. For we have not chosen Him, but He
has chosen us, and established us in our place ; and wheresoever
any soul has been placed by Him, there is He with that soul. One
woman, moved with penitence, found her place at the Feet of the
Lord Jesus (Luke vii. 38) ; another, if it were really another, 3 found
the fruit of her devotion at the Head of Jesus (Matt. xxvi. 7). St.
Thomas attained the grace of that secret [favour] at His Side; St.
)

C

3- .
T h e r e is apparently a reminiscence of 1 Kings xi. 3.
St. Augustine expresses himself in a similar manner (in J o a n n e m Tract,
ix. n. 3) Whether Mary, who anointed our Lord, as we read in several passages of
the Gospel, and Mary, the sister of Martha, were the same, or different persons, has
been a subject of much controversy among old writers. Jansenius Gandavensis
(' Concordke E v a n g . , ' c. 48) treats the question with his usual solidity. There are
some writers, especially among the Greeks, for example, Origen and Theophylact,
who think that there were three distinct women named Mary mentioned in the
Gospels. T h e first was the ' w o m a n who was a sinner,' mentioned, but not
named, by St. L u k e (vii. 3J). T h e second is also mentioned, but not named, by
St. Matthew (xxvi. 7), and St. Mark (xiv. 3). T h e third was the sister of Martha
(John xii. 3). St. J o h n Chrysostom, on the contrary (Horn. 81), thinks that there
were only two Marys—one who poured the perfume on the H e a d of Jesus, and that
on two different occasions ; the other the sister of Martha. St. Jerome again (in
Matt. xxvi.) would identify her who poured the perfume on the H e a d of Jesus with
the sister of M a r t h a ; and regards her who poured perfume on H i s feet, in the
house of a Pharisee, as a different person ; St. Ambrose, in his Commentary on
St. L u k e , seems of the same opinion. St. Gregory the Great admits only one
Mary, and many writers are of his opinion. St. Ambrose (foe. cit.), though he is
not unwilling to believe that these were different persons, writes sometimes as if
they appeared to him to be the same, ' who was changed through change of time
and of character,' so that she who began by being the ' s i n n e r ' of the Gospel, in
the end became holy. ' For although,' he says, ' the Church does not change the
person, as for the soul, it changes as it makes progress towards good.' However
that may be, St. Bernard expresses the same doubt in his Sermon X I I , in Cantica,
but in Sermon III. in Assumptione, n. 2, he asserts, and that at much length, that
she who is referred to in L u k e vii. is the same with her of whom mention is made
in Matt, xxvi., Mark xiv., and John xii. H e speaks thus : ' See the prerogative
of Mary, and what an advocate she has in every circumstance. If the Pharisee is
indignant (Luke vii.), if her sister complains (John xii.), if even the disciples
murmur (Matt, xxvi., Mark xiv.), in every case Mary keeps silence, and Christ
speaks for her.'
2

3

138

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

John leaning upon His Breast; St. Peter in the Bosom of the
Father; and St. Paul in the third heaven.
10. Who of us can worthily distinguish between these varieties of
merits, or rather of rewards ? Nevertheless, that I may not seem to
pass over in silence that which is within our knowledge, notice that
the former of the women mentioned sought her safety under the
shelter of humility; the latter in the seat of hope; St. Thomas in
firmness of faith ; St. John in breadth of charity ; St. Paul in the
depth of wisdom; St. Peter in the light of truth. If, then, in the
[home of the] Bridegroom there are many mansions, each, whether
Queen, or friend, and even she who is only of the number of the
maidens, finds place and lodgment there proportioned to her merits,
and is permitted to remain there until she passes beyond it by inspiring
contemplation, enters into the joy of her Lord, and of the sweet
secrets of the Bridegroom explores the utmost depths. This I will
endeavour to make more clear in its place, as far as the Lord shall
vouchsafe to enable me. But now it is sufficient to know that to
none, whether of the maidens, or of the friends, or even of the Queens,
is access opened to that secret of the inner chamber of the Bridegroom, which He reserves for Her who is His dove, His undenled,
His only and perfect one. On that account I am not troubled or
surprised if access to it is not given unto me, especially because it is
to my mind quite clear that not even the Bride attains to the knowledge of all the secret things into which she desires to be admitted.
For does she not earnestly ask the Bridegroom where He feeds His
flock, and where He rests at noon (Cant. i. 6) ?
IT. But let me tell you to what point I have arrived, or rather that
I think I have reached ; for you will not impute vanity to that which
I say in the hope of serving you. There is, then, in the dwelling of
the Bridegroom a chosen spot in which the Sovereign Ruler of the
universe decrees His laws and shapes His designs, setting laws in
weight, and measure, and number, to all things created. That place
is lofty and secret, but it is by no means noiseless. For though He,
as far as regards Himself, disposes all things with sweetness, yet H e
disposes them, and does not permit that one who has reached that
point by contemplation should remain in quiescence; but H e
wearies, and by a course, marvellous and yet delightful, renders full
of unrest and lassitude the soul that searches out and admires these
deep things. The Bride expresses beautifully, in a later part of this
Canticle, each of these feelings, that is, the delight and, at the same
time, the inquietude of this contemplation, as where she says: /
sleep, but my heart waketh (v. 2). For in speaking of sleep she
signifies that she tastes the repose of a trance most sweet, and the
stillness of complete admiration; but when of waking, that she
endures the weariness of a restless curiosity and laborious research.
Thus the holy Job says : When I lie down I say, When shall I arise
and the flight be gone ? (Job vii. 4). Do you not understand by these
words that a holy soul desires to escape from a repose which, in a

T H R E E WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

139

certain sense, troubles it, and to seek again the same employment,
troublous, and yet sweet ? For he would not have said, When shall
I arise ? if that repose of contemplation had been entirely pleasing to
him ; nor, on the other hand, if it had been wholly displeasing, would
he have awaited with impatience the hour of repose, that is to say,
the evening} That, therefore, where entire rest is not attained, is not
the bedchamber of the Bridegroom.
12. There is still another place, in which the vengeance, most severe
and most secret, of God the Judge, just and terrible in His dealings
with the children of men, watches ceaselessly over His creatures,
gifted with reason, but doomed on account of sin. The awestricken
beholder, I repeat, here regards God, who by a just and secret judgment neither washes away the evil actions of those who are reprobate,
nor accepts their good actions; and, moreover, He hardens their
hearts, lest they should perchance repent and return, and be converted, and H e should heal them. Nor is this without a sure and
eternal reason, which is manifestly so much the more awful, as it is,
in fact, immovable and eternal. That is a very fearful saying upon
this subject which we read in the Prophet, where God, speaking to
His Angels, says : Let us have pity on the wicked (Is. xxvi. 10). And
when they are stricken with terror, and inquire: Will he, then, not
learn to do righteousness ? No, H e replies ; and he adds the reason :
In the land of righteousness will he deal unjustly, a?id will not behold
the majesty of the Lord. Let ecclesiastics, let the ministers of the
Church, be seized with fear who commit so many wrongs in the lands
of the Saints of which they have possession, and who, far from being
content with the stipends which ought to suffice for them, keep for
themselves, wTith wicked and sacrilegious greed, the overplus, which
ought to go to nourish the poor; who are not ashamed to consume
for their own pride and luxury the sustenance of the needy, and thus
are guilty of a double crime ; inasmuch as they seize upon what is not
their own, and abuse holy things to the service of their vanities and
lusts.
13. Who, then, in seeing that He, whose judgments are like the
great deep, spares and pities such persons in this life, in order not to
spare them in eternity, will seek rest in this place? This vision is
filled with the tremor 2 of judgment, not with the peace and security
of the bedchamber of the King. Terrible is that place, and wholly
devoid of calm and rest. When brought into it, I shudder to the
very heart, and revolve in my mind with fear that saying : Who
knoweth whether he be worthy of love or of hatred7 (Eccles. ix. 1),
Nor is it wonderful if I (who am but as a leaf driven to and fro, or as
the dry stubble, Job xiii. 25) should totter in that place, where that
great man who contemplated with such marvellous insight [the
doings of the Creator] declares that his feet were almost gone,
and his treadings had well nigh slipped, saying: / was envious
of the foolish, when I saiv the prosperity of the wicked. Where1
2

Job vii. 4, Vulg. and Douay.
Tremorem, otherwise terror em.

140

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

fore? Because they are not in trouble as other men, neither are
they plagued like other men ; therefore pride compasseth them about as
a chain (Ps. lxxiii. $-6), that they should not be humbled and made
penitent, but be condemned, because of their pride, with the devil,
who is proud, and with his angels. For those who have no part in
the trouble of men shall assuredly have part in that of demons, and
shall hear that terrible sentence from the Mouth of the Judge :
Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels (Matt. xxv. 41). And yet this, too, is a habitation of
G o d ; it is plainly no other than the house of God and the gate of
Heaven. It is here that God is feared; here is His Name [beheld
as] holy and terrible; it is, as it were, the entering in of His glory ;
for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. cxi. 10).
14. Let it not astonish you that I have set down the beginning of
wisdom as belonging to this, and not to the earlier place. For as in
the earlier we listen to Wisdom teaching of all things as a professor
in his lecture-hall, so in this we receive these teachings in ourselves ;
there we are indeed instructed, but here we are touched and influenced. Instruction renders men learned, but feeling1 makes them
wise. The sun does not render all things warm upon which its light
falls, so Wisdom also instructs many persons what they ought to do,
without going on to give the earnestness and ardour needful to do it.
It is one thing to know of the existence of great treasures, another to
possess them ; and it is the possession, not the knowledge, which
renders a man rich. Similarly, there is a difference between the
knowledge of God and the fear of God, and it is not the knowledge,
but the fear of Him, which renders a man truly wise, provided it be
a fear wThich makes (a durable] impression on the soul. Would you
call a person wise whom his own acquirements render vain ? It is
only the most foolish of persons who would call those wise who, when
they had known God, glorified Him not as God, nor rendered thanks
to Him. For my part. I am rather of the Apostle's opinion, when he
says that their heart was manifestly foolish (Rom. i. 21, 22). And
truly the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, because the soul
begins to have discernment of, and inclination for, God when H e has
stricken it with fear, not when H e has communicated to it knowledge.
If you fear the righteousness of God, if you fear His power, then, inasmuch as H e is righteous and powerful, you incline to Him with
preference and choice ; for fear is a kind of preference. It (preference) renders one wise {sapor sapientem facit), as knowledge makes
one knowing, and riches render one rich. To what purpose, then,
is the former place ? It serves only to prepare us for wisdom.
There you are prepared for it, that here you may enter upon its
possession. The preparation for it is the attainment of a certain
degree of knowledge. But this is followed only too easily by the
elation of vanity, unless this be repressed by fear ; and therefore it is
rightly said, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, since this
1

Affection sentiment.

THREE WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

141

fear first opposes itself to that which the Apostle declares is foolishness. The former, then, gives a certain approach, as it were, to
wisdom, but the latter an entrance into it. Nevertheless, the beholder finds perfect rest neither in the one nor in the other, because
in the one God appears, as it were, full of care, in the other full of
trouble. Seek not, then, the bedchamber of the Bridegroom in these
spots, whereof the one resembles rather the audience chamber of a
professor, the other the tribunal of a judge.
15. But there is a place where God is beheld as truly tranquil
and in repose; it is, in fact, the place, not of a judge, not of a
teacher, but of a Bridegroom. I do not know how it may be with
regard to others, but as far as concerns myself, that is for me a
chamber into which entrance has sometimes been granted unto me ;
but, alas ! how rarely that has happened, and for how short a time it
has lasted ! It is there that is clearly recognised the mercy of the
Lord from everlasting and to everlasting upon them that fear Him.
Happy is he who can say : 1 am a companion of all them that fear
Thee, a?id of them that keep Thy precepts (Ps. cxix. 63). The decree
of the Lord standeth fast; His purpose of peace endureth upon them
who fear Him, forgiving the evil actions and rewarding the good
which they have done, and, by a marvellous method of His mercy,
making, not only those things which are good, but also those which
are evil, work together for their good. O truly blessed, and, indeed,
the only blessed one is he, unto whom the Lord will 7iot impute
iniquity ! (Ps. xxxii. 2). For there is none without sin, no not o n e ;
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. iii. 23).
But who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? (Rom. viii. ^^).
It is sufficient for all righteousness to me to have Him upon my side,
against whom alone I have offended. Everything wThich He has
decreed not to impute unto me is as though it had not been. Not
to sin is the righteousness of God, but the forgiveness of God is the
righteousness of man. I have seen these things, and can bear witness
to the truth of that saying : Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin, for His seed abideth in him (1 John iii. 9). Now, the heavenly
seed is the eternal predestination, wherewith God hath loved His
elect, and bestowed graces upon them in His Beloved Son, before the
foundation of the world; beholding them in Him with favour, that
they might be rendered worthy to see His power and His glory, and be
made sharers in the inheritance of Him, to whose image and likeness
they were to be conformed. These, then, I have looked upon as
having never sinned, because, even though they are seen to have
sinned in time, their offences do not appear in eternity, because the
charity of their Father covers the multitude of sins. 1 He calls them
blessed, then, whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered
1
It is in the same sense that in the treatise upon ' Grace and Freewill,' n. 29,
the sins of the predestinate are said ' to be hidden in the charity,' that is to say, of
God. Compare Sermon IV., De Diversis, n. 5, and Sermon I, for Septuagesima,
with notes.

142

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

(Ps. xxxii. 1). Then I have felt on a sudden so great a joy and
confidence arising in me, that it surpassed the fear which had gone
before it in the place of horror—I mean in that of the second vision
—and it seemed to me as if I were one of those blessed ones. O
that it had lasted longer ! Again and again do Thou visit me, O
Lord, with Thy salvation, that I may see the good of Thy chosen, that
I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation (Ps. cvi. 4, 5).
16. O place of true repose, and which I may not unfitly call by
the name of chamber! O place in which God is beheld, not, as it
were, aroused and in wrath, nor as distracted with care [of all His
great creation], but in which is experienced the influence of His
good, and favourable, and perfect will! That vision does not terrify,
but soothes ; it does not arouse an unjust curiosity, but allays i t ;
and;tranquillizes the spirit in place of wearying it. Here true rest is
felt. The God of peace renders all things peaceful, and the soul,
looking up with fixed gaze at His ineffable stillness, is itself awed
into quiescence. It is as if one beheld some king or great judge,
who, after the hearing of causes in his court all the day long, dismisses his crowds of attendants, puts an end to the labours of his
office, returns with night to his peaceful palace, enters into his
chamber with those few companions wThom he condescends to
honour with his intimacy in private, and there enjoys his repose with
the more confidence because it is in such complete retirement, and
because, as he looks peacefully around, he sees only the faces of
those who are dear to him. If it should ever be the happy lot of any
of you to be caught up and withdrawn for awhile into that hidden and
mysterious sanctuary of God, and not to be called away from it
either by the needs of the body, by the sting of some care, or, it may
be, by the haunting pang of some sin, or, at least, by the inrushing
flood of ideas and images belonging to this world, which are very
difficult indeed to banish, such an one will be able in truth, when he
returns to us again, to lift up his head and say : The King hath
brought me into His chamber. And yet I would not rashly affirm that
this would have been that very chamber into which the Bride rejoices to have entered. It is indeed a chamber, and the chamber of
the King ; but of the three that we have pointed out as included in
the threefold vision, there is that one alone in repose and peace.
For, as we have already shown, in the first chamber there is but a
brief and fleeting repose, and in the second none whatever ; because
in the first God is beheld as wonderful and admirable, and the curiosity is violently excited to search out the numerous instances of His
glory; while in the second H e is beheld as terrible, and human
weakness is thrown into terror at the sight of Him. But in the third
H e is beheld not as terrible, and He even deigns to appear not so
much admirable, as lovable, serene and peaceful, sweet and gentle,
and full of mercy towards them who look unto Him. 1
1
IntttentibiiS) otherwise invocantibiis se = towards them who call upon Him.
See Ps. lxxxvi. 5.—ED.

THREE WAYS OF CONTEMPLATING GOD

143

17. Now that you may retain in memory a brief summary of what
I have said to you about the cellar, the garden, and the chamber of
the Bridegroom, at unusual length in this sermon, remember that
there are three times, three merits, and three kinds of reward. In
the garden, take note of the times; in the cellar, of the merits; and
in the bedchamber, of the rewards, in that threefold contemplation
of the soul that is seeking and searching for the chamber of the
King. As for the cellar, we have spoken of it sufficiently. But with
regard to the garden and the chamber, if there should appear to be
something to be added or further explained, I will not pass over an
opportunity of doing so. If not, let what, has been said suffice,
without repetition, so that I may not weary you (which God forbid !)
by my words, which are spoken to the praise and glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God
blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XXIV. 1
PRINCIPALLY AGAINST THE DETESTABLE VICE OF DETRACTION : AND
IN WHAT RECTITUDE IN A MAN CHIEFLY CONSISTS.

N

OW at length for the third time, dear brethren, the eye of
Providence has looked favourably from heaven upon my
return to you from Rome, and a more peaceful aspect of
affairs has smiled upon us at length. The furious anger of the faction
of Peter Leonis has cooled, their schism has come to an end, the
Church has regained peace. That wicked one who for eight years
almost has troubled it by a terrible schism, has been brought to
nothing in the sight of all. Shall it be in vain that I have been
restored to you after perils so great ? Since I have been granted to
your desires, let it be for your spiritual advancement also ; the life
which I owe to your merits, I desire to devote to cares for you and
your salvation. Since then you wish that I should continue, what I
began long since, my comment on the Song of Songs, I willingly do
so, and I think it better to resume the discourse which was interrupted, than to commence something new. But I fear lest, my mind
being at all times unequal to that duty, and having been for so long
a time unused to the discharge of it, and distracted by matters very
different, my thoughts should be too weak and unworthy for a subject so sublime. But that which I have, I give unto y o u ; and it
may be that God, having regard to my faithful endeavour to serve
Him, may enable me to give even that which I have not. If it be
1
Delivered in the year 1138, on his return from Italy, after the schism of Peter
Leonis was at length brought to an end.

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otherwise, then let not my will, but my want of ability be blamed
for it.
2. Now, the place where we ought to commence, I think, is at this
passage: The upright love thee (i. 4). But before we begin to explain it, let us see who it is speaks thus. For we ought to supply
what the author does not say. Perhaps, then, we may attribute
these words to the young maidens, whose are the sentences which
precede them. 1 For after they had said to her, ' We will rejoice and
be glad i?i thee, remembering thy bosom, which is better than wineJ
(and there is no doubt that there they speak to their mother) ; they
continue with the words which follow : The upright love thee. I
believe that they added this on account of some of their number
who had not the same sentiments, although they seemed to run
equally well; who sought their own advantage, not walking sincerely
and in simplicity, but taking occasion to murmur against her, because
she entered alone into the storehouses of the Bridegroom. Which is
no other than that the Apostle makes mention of: Terils from false
brethren (2 Cor. xi. 26). These are they, against whose taunts the
Bride herself, later on, is obliged to defend herself, replying to them:
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem (i. 5). It is then
to console her because of those who murmur and blaspheme, that
it is said by those others who are souls good, simple, humble, and
gentle : The upright love thee. ' Have no care,' they say, 'for the unjust blame of those blasphemers, when it is quite clear that The upright
love thee.'' It is a goodly consolation, in truth, when we do good and
are spoken ill of by the evil, if the righteous love us. The esteem
of the good, with the approving testimony of conscience, is sufficient
for us against the tongues that speak evil. My soul shall make her
boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad; yes,
shall be glad (Ps xxxiv. 2). Let me be pleasing to those who are
gentle, and I shall endure with equanimity whatsoever the envy of
the abandoned (perditarum) shall be desirous to utter against me.
3. It is, then, in this sense, that I understand what is here said :
The upright love Thee. Not unfitly, as I think, since everywhere,
1
From the commencement of the sermon on to this point there is a great
diversity of reading in the MSS. In some of them the entire exordium is omitted,
and the sermon begins thus : ' The upright love Thee. Whom are we to suppose
are they who speak these words ? If the young maidens, then without doubt they
say this to their mother, in like manner as they had said to her " We will rejoice
and be glad in thee, remembering thy bosom, which is better than wine"; and
continue " the upright love thee," etc. Other MSS. have our reading. From this
variety arises great confusion in most editions, in which both introductions are
reproduced, but wrongly. The explanation of this confusion is that St. Bernard
preached the same sermon twice—the first time with the shorter introduction, in
the year 1137, before he went to Rome for the third time ; the second time in 1138,
when he returned thence, and then he prefixed the longer introduction, in order ta
take up the interrupted work where he had left it in the previous sermon. One
MS. in the Royal Library, No. 4,511, reproduces the sermon with the two introductions ; and one "Colbertine has it once here with the one introduction, and again
after Sermon LX. with the other.

AGAINST T H E DETESTABLE VICE OF DETRACTION

145

even in the choir of maidens, such are found who watch closely the
actions of the Bride, not to imitate them, but to detract from their
merit. By the good deeds of their elders they are tormented, but
upon the evil they gloat and feed. You see them walking apart,
drawing together, and making little knots, where they indulge themselves without restraint in insolent words and scurrilous whispers.
They are joined close one to the other, so that not a breath can
escape, so great is their eagerness to detract from others and to
listen to detraction. They associate themselves together in order to
speak ill of their neighbour, and are united to cause disunion. They
form among themselves friendships full of unfriendliness, combine
under a common impulse of malignity, and make odious cabals. It
was thus that Herod and Pilate formerly acted, of whom the Gospel
relates that in that day were they made friends together (Luke xxiii. 12),
that is, on the day of the Passion of Our Lord. When they assemble
together in such a spirit, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, but rather
to give to others, and to drink themselves, of the cup of demons ;
while some bear on their tongues the poison that slays the souls oi
others, and others willingly receive the mortal venom which enters
their heart through their ears. That is how, according to the
Prophet, death enters i?i through our windows (Jer. ix. 21), when with
[slavering] mouths and itching ears we give to, and receive from, each
other in turn the mortal cup of scandal and detraction. Let not my
soul come into their meeting, for they are hated by God, as the
Apostle bears witness : Detractors [are] hateful to God (Rom. i. 30,
Vulg. and Douay). Listen in what terms God Himself, speaking in
a Psalm, confirms that statement: Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy (Ps. ci. 5).
4. Nor is that wonderful to us when we perceive that this vice
conflicts with, and persecutes, more even than others, charity, which
is [the nature of] God Himself, as you yourselves can easily discern.
For everyone who slanders his neighbour gives proof, in the first
place, that he is wholly void of charity. In the second place, what
other object can he have in uttering the slander than to induce
others to hate or despise those of whom the slander is spoken ? The
slanderous tongue strikes, therefore, a deadly blow at charity in all
those who hear the calumny, and, as far as its power extends, entirely
destroys and extinguishes i t ; and not only in them, but in all those
who are absent, but to whom the calumny is, perhaps, repeated, as
words fly from lip to lip by those who have heard it. You see, then,
how a malicious report may in a brief space of time easily infect
with the plague of its malice a great number of souls. Wherefore
the prophetic spirit says of such: Their mouth is full of'cursing and
bitterness ; their feet are swift to shed blood (Ps. xiii, 3, Vulg. and
Douay). And speech speeds as rapidly as the feet of a swift runner.
If there be one only who speaks, and he speaks but one sole word,
yet that one word enters into the ears of a multitude of hearers, and in
one moment slays their souls ; for a heart full of the venom of envy
10

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

can scatter bitter words only through its bitter instrument of the
tongue, according to the saying of the Lord : Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh (Luke vi. 45). There are different
varieties of this pest. There are some persons wrho vomit forth the
poison of detraction, nakedly and without discrimination, as it comes
into their heads. And again, there are others who take pains to
conceal the malice they have conceived, and which they are no
longer able to keep to themselves, with the cloak of an affected reserve. Before the slander is uttered, you see the man heaving deep
sighs, putting on a grave look and a pretended sadness, casting his
eyes down to the ground, speaking slowly, and uttering his slanders
with a plaintive voice. Thus they produce so much the greater
effect, as those who hear them believe that they are spoken with
regret, and rather with reluctance than with malice. ' I regret it
very much,' he protests, ' o n his account, because I have great love
for him ; but I have never been able to correct him in this respect.'
' I knew well,' says another, 'that he was subject to that vice, though
I should never have made it known. But since the fact has been
declared by someone else, I am no longer able to deny the truth. I
do it with regret, but it is true, nevertheless.' And he adds : ' It is
a great pity, for he has good qualities in other respects ; but in that
matter he is, to speak the truth, inexcusable.'
5. Having said these few words respecting a vice so full of
malignity, let me return to my orderly exposition, and show who are
they who are spoken of here as the upright. I suppose that there is
no one of right intelligence who imagines that it is ' uprightness' in a
bodily sense that is predicated of those who love the Bride, therefore it
is to be explained of spiritual uprightness, that is, rectitude of heart and
of mind. It is the Spirit who speaks, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. Therefore God ' made man upright' according to the
mind, not according to the earthy and material body. For H e
created him in His own image and similitude (Gen. i. 27), and as
you sing in the Psalms, The Lord our God is upright, and there is no
unrighteousness in Him (Ps. xcii. 15). God, then, who is upright,
made man upright and similar to Himself, that is to say, without unrighteousness, even as there is no unrighteousness in Him. Now,
unrighteousness is a vice of the heart, not of the flesh, and from this
you know that the likeness of God which you have is to be preserved, or to be restored, in the spiritual part of your nature, and not
in its earthy and clayey part. For God is Spirit, and it behoves those
who desire to become like Him, or to persevere in His likeness, to
enter into their heart, and to employ themselves in the spirit in that
blessed work; so that with open face, beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, they may be changed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
6. Perhaps it may be said, again, that God has bestowed upon
man an upright stature in body also, so that this exterior and bodily
uprightness, though of a lower kind, may admonish the inner man to

AGAINST THE DETESTABLE VICE OF DETRACTION

147

preserve his spiritual uprightness, and the beauty of the perishable
clay may rebuke the deformity of the mind; for what can be more
indecent than to bear a bent and deformed mind in an upright body?
It is a thing unfitting and shameful that a frame of clay, which is
what our earthly body really is, should have its eyes raised on high,
directed freely towards heaven, and taking pleasure to contemplate
the great lights of the heavens ; but that the being of spiritual and
heavenly nature should, on the contrary, have its eyes, that is, its inward senses and affections, drawn downwards towards the earth, and
that which ought to be nourished upon golden and precious sustenance should be clinging to the soil, wallowing in filth, like an unclean swine. Blush with shame, O my soul, to have changed the
Divine likeness for that of the brute ; and being of the heavens, to
be wallowing in the mire. Blush with shame, O my soul, says our
body, when you consider yourself and me. You were created upright and similar to your Creator, and you received me for a helper
like unto yourself, at least, as far as the lineaments of bodily uprightness were concerned. Whithersoever you turn, whether it be to God
above or to me below (for no man ever hated his own flesh), on
every side meet you the various kinds of your own excellence;
everywhere you have the familiar teachings of wisdom, bidding you
preserve the nobleness and dignity of the state in which you have
been placed. Why, then, are you not stricken with shame for having
lost your glorious prerogative, while I have preserved and retained
mine, which I only received in order to be a companion and helper
to you? Why shall the Creator have to behold His likeness obliterated in you, while H e preserves yours in me, and it is always a
representation of you ? But now you have turned that companionship and assistance, which was due to you from me, into a cause of
confusion and shame; you abuse the service which I render you ; and,
as if you had become a brute and bestial spirit, treat unworthily the
noble human body which you inhabit.
7. Souls which are thus bent and deformed are not capable of
loving the Bride, because those who are lovers of the world are not of
the Bridegroom. Whosoever will be a friend of the world is, it is said,
the enemy of God (James iv. 4). Therefore, to seek and to have a love
for things which are on the earth is to bend down and deform the
soul; while, on the contrary, to think of, and to long for, the things
which are above is its uprightness. And in order that this rectitude
may be perfect, it must exist first in the mind, and then pass into the
life (in sensu et consensu)} I should, in fact, call you upright if you
1
In this passage, again, and for a similar reason to that given above, the discrepancy in the old MSS. has thrown the early editions into confusion. In those
in which the lengthy introduction here given is wanting, we find the following reading : * And this uprightness, that it may be perfect in all respects, must be first in the
mind, then in the life. I should say that he is upright in heart who has right sentiments in all things, and whose actions differ in no respect from the right sentiments
which he has felt. See of whom it is said to the Bride, " The upright love thee ":
that is to say, those who know in all things what is right, and practise it accord-

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think aright in all things, and your actions accord with your thoughts.
Let your faith and your actions declare the condition of your mind,
which is invisible. Consider as upright him whom you have ascertained to be Catholic in faith and righteous in actions. If one of
these two be wanting, do not hesitate to conclude that he is deficient
in uprightness ; for you have in the Scripture : If thou offerest rightly,
but dost not rightly divide, thou hast sinned (Gen. iv. 7). Whichsoever,
indeed, of these two, faith and works, you offer to God, you do
rightly ; but you do not rightly to divide either from the other.
Since you are right in offering, be not wrong in dividing. Why do
you divide works from faith ? Wrongly are you dividing, and the
division destroys your faith; for faith without works is dead
(James ii. 20). Will you offer to God a service that is dead? For
if devotion is as a kind of soul to faith, what is faith which does not
work by love but a dead corpse ? Do you think to honour God
with a gift that is foetid ? Do you think to please Him by being the
murderer of your faith ? How can the offering be a cause of peace
in which there is a discord so cruel ? It is not astonishing that Cain
should have used murderous violence against his brother, when he
had first slain faith in himself. Why do you wonder, O Cain, if H e
who despises you has no respect unto your offerings ? (Gen. iv. 5).
Nor is it matter for surprise that He has no respect unto you who
are so divided against yourself. If you give your hand to the duties
of religion, why do you give your heart as a sacrifice to jealousy ?
While you are at discord with yourself, you cannot be at peace with
G o d ; and so far from winning His favour, you offend against Him
anew; not, indeed, as yet by offering violence to your brother, but
by wrongly dividing your own offering. Though not yet guilty of
the death of your brother, you are of the death of your faith (fratririda, fideicida). Can you possibly suppose yourself to be upright,
when, even while you stretch your hand to God, jealousy and hatred
of your brother are bending your heart down to the earth ? while
your faith is dead, while your works are but death, while your heart
is without devotion, but filled with bitterness? Faith there was
indeed in his offering, but no love in his faith; a right oblation, but
a cruel division of it.
8. Separation from charity is the death of faith. Do you believe
in Christ ? do, then, His works, that your faith may continue living.
Let love animate your faith, and action prove its reality. Let not
him be bowed to the earth by the works of earth, whom faith lifts up
towards heavenly things. You who declare that you are abiding in
Christ ought even so to walk as H e walked. But if you seek your
own glory, if you envy the prosperous, if you slander the absent, if
ingly.' Then the sermon is concluded in these words : ' May God grant that we
may be of those, and numbered with those who are loved by the Bridegroom, by
the grace of the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who, with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, liveth and reigneth, God for ever and ever. Amen.' But other MSS. prefer
our reading.

AGAINST THE DETESTABLE VICE OF DETRACTION

149

you render back evil for evil, you act quite otherwise than Christ
acted. You confess that you know God, but in words you deny
Him. You have acted not uprightly, but impiously, in thus giving
your tongue to Christ, but your heart to the devil. Listen to the
Saviour's words : This man honoureth me with his lips, but his heart is
far from Me (Is. xxix. 13, and Matt. xv. 7). Assuredly you are not
upright, who are so far from right in dividing your offering. You
cannot lift up your head, for it is pressed down under the yoke of
the devil. Iniquity rules over you, so that you cannot raise yourself,
and stand upright. Your iniquities have gone over your head, as an
heavy burden they are too heavy for thee (Ps. xxxviii. 4). As says
the Prophet, Wickedness sits upon a talent of lead (Zech. v. 7). You
see, then, that faith, which worketh not by love, even though it be
right, does not make a man upright. But he who is without love is
not able to love the Bride. Again, neither do works, however upright
they be, suffice, without faith, to render the heart upright. For who
can call a man upright, who is not pleasing to God ? But without
faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6). And he who does not
please God is not able to find pleasure in God. But on the contrary, he who does please God cannot fail to find pleasure in Him.
Furthermore, he who finds no pleasure in God can find no pleasure
either in [the Church, which is] His Bride. How, then, can a man
be upright who loves neither God, nor the Church of God, of which
it is said, The upright love thee ? If, then, neither faith without works,
nor works without faith, are sufficient for uprightness of soul, let us,
brethren, who believe in Christ, study to make the works of our
hands and the desires of our hearts alike upright. Let us lift up our
hearts with our hands to God, that we may be found upright wholly ;
approving by right actions the rectitude of our faith, that we may be
lovers of the Bride, and beloved by the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXV.
THAT THE BRIDE, NAMELY, THE CHURCH, IS BLACK, YET COMELY.

I

H A D already said in a former sermon that the Bride is obliged
to reply to the attacks and reproaches of those who are envious
of her glory, and who, while in the body they appear to be of
the number of her maidens, are yet far removed from her in spirit.
To them it is that she says : I am black, but co?nely, O ye daughters
of Jerusalem (i. 5). It is evident that they speak disparagingly of her,
accusing her of being black. But consider her patience and gentleness. For not only has she not rendered railing for railing, but
contrariwise has returned to them a blessing, calling them daughters

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

of Jerusalem, who had deserved for their wickedness to be called
daughters of Babylon, or daughters of Baal, or whatever other name
of reproach had come to her mind. Surely she had learned of the
prophet, or rather from that anointing which teaches gentleness, not
to break the bruised reed, nor to quench the smoking flax (Is. xlii. 3).
Therefore she considered that those who were already angry should
not be still farther irritated by her, nor anything added to the stings
of envy, by which they were tormented. On the contrary, she strove
the more to be pacific with those who were enemies unto peace,
knowing that she was debtor, even unto the unwise. She preferred, then, to soothe them by a courteous word, because it was her
care rather to labour for the salvation of those weak ones, than for
the gratification of her own vengeance.
2. That perfection is indeed to be desired for all; but especially
does it befit those who would be good rulers in spiritual things. For
those who are good and faithful pastors know that they are set over
others in order to care for weak and languishing souls, not to live in
pride and state. And when some of those committed to their charge
utter murmurs, and perhaps even burst out into threats and violent
words against them, they remember that they are not masters, but
physicians of the soul; and oppose at once to that spiritual madness,
remedial and healing treatment, not harshness and punishment.
This, then, is the reason why the Bride calls those' 4 daughters of
Jerusalem' whose ill-will and insulting words she is enduring, so as
to soothe their murmurs bywords full of sweetness, to compose their
excitement, to heal their envy. It is written: A peaceful tongue
appeasefh strife (Prov. xv. 18). Also these were, in fact, daughters of
Jerusalem in a certain sense, nor does the Bride speak falsely in so
naming them. For whether it be on account of the Sacraments of
the Church, which they receive indifferently with the good ; or on
account of their profession of a common Creed and Faith ; or the
companionship which they have at least according to the body with
the faithful; or even because of the hope of their future salvation,
which ought not to be altogether abandoned, even with regard to
those who live in so abandoned a manner, as long as life is continued
to them they are called, with good reason, daughters of Jerusalem.
3. Let us examine now that which is said : 1 am black, but comely.
Is not this a contradiction in terms ? By no means. I speak for
the unlearned, who are unable to distinguish between colour and
form—form is inherent in the composition of the thing spoken of;
colour is but a quality of it. Not everything, then, which is black,
is necessarily on that account ill-favoured. For instance, blackness
in the pupil of the eye is not unbecoming; there are black gems
which are highly prized in ornaments; while black hair contrasted
with a pale complexion augments the beauty and charm of a face.
You will easily notice the same thing in a great number of instances,
and will find many things which are not otherwise than graceful in
form, but of which the colour is not agreeable. That is perhaps the

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151

case with the Bride, who is beautiful in form and features, though of
dark, even black, complexion; but, then, she is in the place of her
pilgrimage. It shall be quite otherwise when the exalted Bridegroom
shall present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or
ivrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. v. 27). But if she should say at the
present time that she has no blackness of hue, she would deceive
herself, nor would there be truth in her. Therefore do not wonder
that when she has said I am black, she adds with words of modest
confidence, but comely. How is it possible that she should not be
beautiful, to whom it is said : Rise up, my fair one, and come away
(ii. 10). But she to whom it was said ( Come ' had not yet arrived ;
lest perhaps any should suppose that this was spoken, not to her
while still toiling on her way, her countenance darkened with the
fierce rays of the sun; but to her already in blessedness, reigning in
glory, having left behind every trace of blackness or stain.
4. In the next place, why does she say that, though black, she is at
the same time beautiful ? She is black, perhaps on account of the
life that she led formerly in the shadow, under the control of the
prince of this world, in which she still bore the image of the earthly ;
while she is beautiful with the image of the heavenly, with which,
when afterwards she walked in newness of life, she was thenceforth
invested. But if this is the case, why should she not say, as speaking of the past, ' I was black,' rather than, ' I am black ?' But if
anyone is pleased with this sense of the words, then those which
follow, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon, ought to be
understood as referring, * Kedar,' to the former life, and ' the curtains
of Solomon ' to the new. It is of the skins, or tents, of Kedar that
the prophet speaks, when he declares : Suddenly are my tents spoiled,
and my curtains in a moment (Jer. iv. 20). The former word, black,
describes the mean and ignoble tents of Kedar; the latter, comely,
the curtains of the King of glory.
5. But let us see if both the one and the other do not refer better
to the condition of the higher life. If we consider the exterior of those
who are holy, how humble and abject it is, how vile and neglected
in outward appearance ; and yet, at the very same time they are inwardly contemplating with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, they
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by
the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18), does it not seem to you that
each of these souls will be able to reply to those who reproach him
with his blackness : / am black, but comely ? Would you that I should
show you a soul which was at the same time black and yet beautiful?
If is letters, say they, are weighty and pozverful; but his bodily presence
is iveak, and his speech contemptible (2 Cor. x. 10). This was Paul.
So you, O daughters of Jerusalem, form your judgment of Paul from
his bodily presence, and you despise him as being black and repulsive
because you perceive him to be a man of small stature, afflicted by
hunger and thirst, by cold and nakedness, by many perils, by stripes above
measure, by deaths oft (2 Cor. xi. 27, 23) ? These are the things which

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[in your estimation] blacken Paul. For reasons like this the Doctor
of the Gentiles is reputed inglorious and ignoble, obscure, black, and
in one word, as it were, the offscouring of this world. Nevertheless,
is it not he who was caught up into Paradise, who, in his pureness of
soul, passed through the first and the second heaven, and penetrated
even to the third ? O soul truly most beautiful ! which, though inhabiting a body so weak and ailing, the heavenly glory did not scorn
to admit, the highest angels did not reject, even the Divine splendour
did not repulse. This soul do you style ' black ? ? Black it is, but
beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem. Black according to your judgment, but beautiful in the judgment of God and of His angels. Even
though it be black, it is only outwardly. But to him it is a very small
thing that he should be judged by you, or by those who judge according to the outward appearance. For man indeed looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (i Sam. xvi. 7).
If it be black without, it is, therefore, beautiful within, and pleasing
to Him whom it has desired to please. It does not devote itself to
be pleasing to you, knowing that if it did so it would not be the servant of Christ. Happy is the blackness which produces whiteness of
soul, the light of knowledge, purity of conscience.
6. Hear now what God promises by His prophet to those who are
black after this fashion, whom either the humility of penitence or the
zeal of charity, as it were the burning rays of the sun, seem to have
robbed of outward fairness. Though your sins be as scarlet, saith the
Lord, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool (Is. i. 18). That outward blackness and disfigurement which appears in holy men is not to be contemned, for it
produces inward whiteness, and prepares the soul to make wisdom its
seat. For wisdom is the brightness of eternal life1 as the Wise man
defines i t ; and it is needful that the soul which it has chosen for its
seat should be clear and white. But if the soul of the righteous is
the seat of wisdom, then I may assert without hesitation that the soul
of the righteous is clear and white ; perhaps even righteousness consists in this whiteness of soul. For Paul, for whom was laid up the
crown of righteousness (2 Tim. iv. 8), was undoubtedly righteous. His
soul, then, was white and clear; in it wisdom dwelt, so that he spoke
wisdom in a mystery among them that are perfect — the hidden
wisdom, which none of the princes of this world knew (i Cor. ii. 7, 8).
Moreover, it was that outward blackness and ruggedness, caused by
a weak constitution of body, by many troubles and trials, by frequent
watchings and fastings, which either produced in him, or rendered
him deserving of, that brightness of wisdom and of righteousness.
Therefore, that which was black in St. Paul was, in fact, a richer
ornament to him than any degree of outward splendour, and than
even royal magnificence. Not to be compared with him in essential
1
Wisd. vii. 26, ' vitce sterna? But St. Bernard no doubt quoted from memory,
for the passage cited reads * aternce lucis ' = ' of eternal light'—and I cannot
discover any trace of a reading '"vitaS—ED.

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153

comeliness are the greatest physical beauty, not the fair and polished
skin, not the rose-tinted complexion, which must ere long be the prey
of corruption, not the splendid dress, which grows old and tattered
with time, nor the sparkle of gems, nor any things of that kind, which
are, one and all, subject to corruption.
7. It is, then, with good reason that the saints, despising all unnecessary care and adorning of the outward man, which is corruptible,
devote all their care and pains to cultivate and render fair that inward
man which is in the likeness of God, and is being renewed from day
to day. For they are well assured that nothing can be more acceptable to God than His own image if it be restored to its original
beauty. It is for that reason that all their glory is inward, not outward : that is to say, it consists not in the flower of the field, or in
the praises of the people, but in the Lord. Therefore they say, Our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience (2 Cor. i. 12) ; and of
their conscience the sole judge is God, whom alone they desire to
please ; and to please Him is, in their eyes, the true, and only, and
highest glory. Nor, certainly, is this inward glory small, since the
Lord of glory deigns thus to be glorified, as it is said in the Psalm,
The King's daughter is all glorious within (Ps. xlv. 13). It is also
safer than any other glory, since each person has it in himself and not
in another. And it may be that not the inward brightness only, but
the outward blackness also, is a reason for glory, since there is nothing
useless in the saints, but all things work together for their good.
They glory, therefore, not only in hope, but also in tribulations. Most
gladly, therefore, says the Apostle, will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. xii. 9). That
infirmity is, in truth, to be desired which is compensated for by the
power of Christ. Who will grant unto me, not merely to have infirmities, but even to fall into extreme weakness and helplessness,
that I may be recovered and made strong by the strength of Him
who is the Lord of all power and strength ? For His strength is made
perfect in iveakness. For, he continues, when I am iveak, then am I
strong (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10).
8. This being so, the Bride has good ground for counting that as a
glory to herself which by her envious rivals is blamed as a deformity,
and to boast not only of her beauty, but also of her blackness. She
does not blush for that blackness, which she knows that her Spouse
in former days likewise bore, for it makes her like unto Him ; and
what glory can be so great ? For she assuredly regards no distinction
as being so high as this, to bear the reproach of Christ. And this
makes her say with joy and gladness : God forbid that I should glory,
save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. vi. 14). The very
reproach of the Cross is welcome to him who is not ungrateful to the
Crucified. It is, so to speak, a blackness, but a blackness which is
the form and likeness of the Lord Jesus. Go to holy Isaiah, and he
will describe to you the form and spirit in which you are to view
Him. For is it not He of whom the Prophet says : He is a Man of

154

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

Sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and that He hath ?io form nor
comeliness ? And he has added : We did esteem Him as one who is a
leper, as smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities ; and with His stripes
we are healed (Is. liii. 3-5, Vulg.). See what has rendered Him black.
Add to this what David has said : Thou art fairer than the children
of men (Ps. xlv. 2), and you will find in the Bridegroom all that the
Bride has declared of Him in this passage.
9. Does it not seem to you that, according to what has been said,
H e was able to reply rightly to the envious Jews : ' I am black, but
comely, O ye sons of Jerusalem ?' He was truly black, who had no
form nor comelmess ; black, because He was a worm and no man, a
reproach of men, and despised of the people (Ps. xxii. 6). Lastly, H e
even caused Himself to be made sin [for us] (2 Cor. v. 21), and shall
I fear to say that He is black ? Behold Him ! covered with rags,
livid with stripes, defiled with spitting, pale with the pallor of death ;
can you even then hesitate to confess that He is black? But ask of
the Apostles how they saw Him on the mount [of Transfiguration] \
learn of the angels [all the perfection of Him] upon whom they yearn
to look, and you will declare in wonder and admiration that H e is
indeed beautiful. He is, then, beautiful in Himself; His blackness
is on thy account. O Lord Jesus, how perfect and adorable, even
though Thou art clad in my human form, is Thy beauty to me ! Not
only because of the wonders of Divine power with which Thou dost
shine on every side, but because of Thy righteousness, Thy kindness,
and Thy truth. Blessed is he who, considering diligently Thy life
and actions as a Man dwelling among men, sets himself with all his
endeavours to imitate Thee to the utmost. This blessed gift, the
first-fruits of her dowry, she [Thy Church] who is Thy fairest and
best beloved, has already received ; nor is she either slow to imitate
that which is most beautiful in Thee, or ashamed to endure those
sufferings of which the blackness is upon Thee. Therefore, it was
that she said: I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.
Therefore, also, she adds the comparison, As the tents of Kedar, as
the curtains of Solomon. But that is a saying difficult and obscure,
and not to be even attempted by those who are wearied. You have
time to knock hereafter at that door. If you do so with sincere hearts,
He who is the Revealer of mysteries will appear : nor will He who
invites you to knock delay to open. For it is H e who openeth, and
no man shutteth— the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ Our
Lord, who is blessed for ever and ever. AMEN.

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD 155

SERMON XXVI. 1
ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD.

A

S the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. We must
begin from this point, since it was here that we left off in the
last Sermon. I know that you are expecting to hear what
these words signify, and what relation they have to those which precede them, since they are used by way of comparison ; for it may be
said that they are so connected, that the two parts of the comparison
refer only to the first half of the sentence which precedes it: ' I am
black] or, again, that the two parts of the comparison refer respectively to the two sentences which precede them, each to each.
The former sense is the more simple, the latter the more obscure.
But let us try each of them, and that which is the more difficult first;
for it is not in the two former, but in the two latter words of each
clause that there is any difficulty.
For ' Kedar,' which means
* darkness,' seems to agree sufficiently clearly with the idea of blackness, 2 but ' curtains of Solomon' not so well with that of fairness or
beauty. Then, who does not see that ' tents' falls, nevertheless, into
the same interpretation ? What are these tents, in fact, but the
bodies in which we perform our pilgrimage ? For zve have here no
continuing city, but we seek one to come (Heb. xiii. 14). Furthermore,
we have a warfare to carry on in them, as soldiers have in tents ; for
we have, as men violent, to take the kingdom of heaven by force
(Matt. xi. 12). For the life of man upon earth is a warfare (Job. vii. 1,
Vulg. and Douay), and as long as we combat in this body, we are
exiled from the presence of the Lord, that is, from the light; for the
Lord is Light, and insomuch as anyone is not with Him, he is in darkness, that is, in Kedar. Let him recognise as his that lamentable
exclamation : Woe is me I that I sojourn in Mesech, that / dwell in
the tents of Kedar I My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth
peace (Ps. cxx. 5, 6). This, then, is the abode which we have in the
body; not the home of a citizen, or the domicile of one native-born,
but either the tent of a soldier, or the temporary lodging of a
traveller. This body, I repeat, is a tent, the tent of Kedar, because
it surrounds the soul, and deprives it now for awhile of the enjoyment of the infinite Light, nor suffers it even to behold that Light,
except, as it were, in a glass and darkly, but not face to face
(1 Cor. xiii. 12).
1

Preached in A.D. 1138.
It is not often that arguments from the derivation of words are understated by
our author ; but such is apparently the case here. Kedar (l^j?.) means, according
to Gesenius, 'black skin,' or 'black-skinned man ' (it is the collective patronymic
of the Arabs), and therefore answers literally to the appellation of ' black' in
verse 4.—ED.
2

*5(>

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

2. Do you see whence comes the blackness which is upon the
Church, and how it is that some stains of rust and mould are upon
even the fairest souls ? It is from the tents of Kedar, from the pursuit of a laborious warfare, from the long duration of an unhappy
existence, from the hardships of a suffering and calamitous exile,
from the body, in fact, which is both burdensome and weak ; for the
corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle
weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things (Wisd. ix.
15). Wherefore souls desire to be dissolved, that, being delivered
from the body, they may depart (avolenf) into the embrace of Christ.
Therefore one of these unhappy souls, lamenting, said : O miserable
man that I am I who shall deliver me from the body of this death V
(Rom. vii. 24). For such a soul is aware that in the tents of Kedar
it is not possible to be entirely exempt from spot and wrinkle, or
from some degree of blackness, and therefore it desires to go forth
from the body that it may be free from all these defects. And this
is why the Bride has said that she is black as the tents of Kedar.
But how is she beautiful as the curtains of Solomon ? There is somewhat sublime and sacred wrapped up in the veil of these words,
but I know not what it is, and scarcely dare to approach it at
all, except at the good pleasure of Him who has hidden and sealed
the mystery. I have, in fact, read that ' he who is a searcher of
[the Divine] majesty shall be overwhelmed with its glory ' (Prov. xxv.
27, Vulg.). This, therefore, I pass over and defer to another time.
Let it be your care in the meantime to obtain for me this grace by
your prayers, as you are accustomed to do, so that I may return more
willingly, because with a greater degree of confidence, to that subject
which needs the greatest attention. And perhaps one who knocks
piously at the door will attain what the rash theorist can never reach.
And besides, my grief, and the pain which I am enduring, compels
me to come to an end.
3. For how long shall I dissemble and hide the fire which is within
me, which consumes my sad heart, which feeds upon my vitals P1
1
Here begins the funeral oration made by St. Bernard for his brother Gerard.
Berengarius, that impudent disciple of Abaelard, reproaches the writer for it
unjustly, declaring that ' h e made an unsuitable mingling of sorrow with joy.'
Again, he objects that St. Bernard 'had borrowed, word for word, certain lines of
the funeral oration made by St. Ambrose upon the death of his brother Satyrus.'
Now, those lines are not found at all in that oration ; nor if they were, would the
fact furnish any charge against St. Bernard. It will be well to cite the two passages referred to by him. This is the first: ' My brother has quitted this life ; or,
to speak more correctly, has quitted death for life. Yes, my brother, who was
the standard of conscience, the mirror of a holy character, the bond of religion,,
has left us. Who will show more ardour in labour ? Who will comfort better the
affliction of those in trouble ?' The other is this: ' The ox seeks for his companion ox, and when he finds himself alone, gives proof, by his frequent lowing, of
the tender attachment which he feels. Yes, even the ox requires the companion
with whom he is accustomed to draw the plough with laborious neck.' The latter
passage is, in fact, found at the end of the opening of the oration in St. Ambrose ;
neither the one nor the other in Bernard. It is true that, in order to escape the
charge of falsehood or deception, Berengarius prefixes the words ' if I do not
mistake.'

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS T H E DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD

157

Though closely concealed, it rages the more fiercely, and does not cease
to spread. What have I to do with this song of joy, who am myself in
bitterness of soul ? The vehement power of grief interrupts my pur^
pose, and the indignation of the Lord drinks up my spirit; for he,
by whose means my studies in the [ways of the] Lord were wont to
be wholly free, has been taken away, and with him my very heart has
left me. But hitherto I have put constraint upon my soul, and have
concealed my feelings, lest affection should seem to overcome faith.
While others are weeping, I, as you may have observed, followed
with dry eyes1 the sad funeral train, and with dry eyes stood at the
grave, until all the funeral services were performed. With my own
lips I, clad in my priestly robes, completed the customary prayers
for him, and with my own hands cast the earth, according to custom,
upon the body, soon to become earth, of my beloved. Those who
beheld me wept, and wondered that I did not weep also, since all
commiserated, not him indeed, but me who had lost h i m ; for whose
heart, though it were of iron, would not be moved at my condition,
at seeing me surviving my Gerard ? The loss wTas common to all,
but, in comparison with my individual trouble, it was not considered.
But as for me, I resisted my feelings, with whatever force of faith I
could command, striving not to be moved uselessly by'this allotment
of nature, this payment of the common debt due by all men, this
customary incident of our mortal condition, brought about by the
will of the Almighty, by the judgment of the Just One, by the stroke
of Him who is to be feared, in a word, by the will of the Lord. In
this way I then, and afterwards, constrained myself to refrain from the
indulgence of much weeping, however sorrowful I was and full of
trouble. I was able to command my tears, but not my sorrow, and,
as it is written : Twas so troubled that I could not speak (Ps. lxxvii. 4).
But my grief, thus suppressed, shot deeper roots into my heart, and
became, as I feel, the more bitter, because it was allowed no expression. I am overcome, I confess, and what I suffer inwardly
must come forth to the light. Let it come forth, then, to the eyes of
my children, who, knowing the greatness of my loss, will pardon the
excess of my grief, and be the more moved kindly to console me.
4. You know, my children, how well founded is my grief, how
great and how painful my wound ; for you are well aware how faithful
a companion was he who has now left my side, in the way wherein I
was walking, how vigilant, laborious, cheerful, and agreeable. Who
was so peculiarly necessary to me ? By whom was I equally beloved ? He was my brother by blood, but still more closely related
to me in religion. Mourn for my sad lot, I entreat you, to whom
these things are known. I was weak in body, and he sustained m e ;
I was of feeble spirit, and he strengthened m e ; I was slothful and
negligent, and he urged me o n ; improvident and forgetful, and he
reminded me of my duty. Wherefore art thou thus torn from me ?
1
According to Geoffrey (' Life,' Bk. iii., c. 21), Bernard scarcely ever rendered
the last duties to any Religious without weeping.

153

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Why art thou thus snatched from my hands, O man of one mind
with me, man after my own heart ? We loved each other in life;
why in death are we separated ? A most bitter separation indeed,
which Death only could have wrought! For when did he living ever
desert me ? It is a terrible sundering, the work of Death alone !
WTho would not have spared the sweet tie of our mutual affection,
except Death, the enemy of all that is sweet ? Ah, that is truly
called death which, by snatching away one of us, has slain two at one
blow ! Is not his death mine also? It is, in fact, death for me even
more than for him, since that which remains to me of life is more
painful to me than all the deaths in the world. I live that I may
endure a living death; and shall I call that life ? You would have
treated me more mercifully, O cruel Death, in depriving me of the
use of life, than of the only fruit to be derived from i t ; for life without fruit is more bitter than death. A twofold doom is preparing
for the barren tree ; the axe and the fire (Matt. iii. 10). Thou wert
envious of my labours, and hast withdrawn from me my nearest relative and my friend, whose care was the principal cause of the fruit
(if any) which followed them. It would have been far better for me
to be deprived of my life, than of thy presence, my dear Gerard, who
by thy zeal urged me on in my labours for the Lord, who wert a
faithful1 helper and a cautious adviser. Why, I ask, have we loved,
or have we lost ? It is a hard condition, but my lot, not his, is the
one to be pitied. For thou, dear brother, if thou hast lost those who
are dear to thee, hast regained those who are dearer still. But what
consolation remains for me, unhappy, after the loss of thee, my only
(imicuni) comfort ? The society in the body which was between us
was agreeable equally to each of us, because of the union of our
hearts ; but I alone feel the wound of our separation. That which
was peaceful and sweet in our friendship belonged to us both ; that
which is sad and sorrowful has fallen to me alone; upon me has the
wrath of God fallen, upon me is His anger weighing. To both of us
equally were the welcome presence, the sweet companionship, the
interesting conversation ; but I alone have wholly lost these delights;
you have but exchanged them for others still better, and assuredly
you have gained much by the change.
5. How great, then, is the recompense of joys and blessings uncounted which thou, O dearest brother, hast received for the loss of
m e ! You have assuredly, in exchange for me who am of so little
worth, the everlasting Presence of Christ; nor do you feel any loss
in your absence from me, since you are blended with the Choirs of
Angels. You have, then, no reason to complain that my presence
has been taken from you, since the Lord of Glory has deigned to
give unto you abundantly of His Presence, and of that of His blessed
ones. But what have I in exchange for thee ? How greatly could I
wish to know what feeling thou hast now for me, once the object of
thy dearest affection, now wavering under cares and pains, and deprived
1

Fidelis : otherwise, fortis.

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD 159

of thy support which used to sustain my weakness; if it is permitted
to thee still to give any thought to us unhappy ones, now that thou hast
entered into the depth of light, and art absorbed in that great ocean
of everlasting felicity ! For perhaps, even though thou hast known me
according to the flesh, thou knowest me no more now; and because
thou hast entered into the sphere of the power and majesty of the
Lord, thou art conscious of His righteousness only, and art unmindful
of me. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (i Cor. vi. 17)
with Him, and is wholly transformed into a certain feeling of the
Divine presence ; he can no longer have thought or taste but for God
only, and that which he thinks of, or desires, is God alone—he is, in
fact, filled with God. But God is Love; and the more closely anyone
is united to God, the more filled is he with love. Although God is
impassible, H e is not incapable of compassion ; and it is His especial
attribute always to have pity and to spare. Therefore it must necessarily be that you, my dear brother, should be pitiful, because you are
joined unto Him who is Pity itself. Although you can no longer feel
any unhappiness, although you can no longer suffer, yet you can still
feel for the sufferings of others. Your affection, then, is not diminished,
but changed ; nor, in putting on God, have you put off all sympathy
for us, 1 for He, too, careth for us (1 Peter v. 7). You have put off all
that was weak, but not all that was charitable, for Charity never faileth
(1 Cor. xiii. 8), and you will not forget me for ever.
6. I seem to hear my brother, as it were, saying : Can a mother
forget . . . the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee (Is. xlix. 15). I have much need that it should be so. You
know in what state you left me, how I totter even to falling; I have
none to give me a helping hand. In every new need which occurs,
I look to Gerard, as I had been accustomed to do, and he is not here.
Then, unhappy as I am, I sigh and groan, as one without help. Whom
shall I consult in difficult matters? to whom have recourse in troubles?
Who will bear my burdens ? who put to flight dangers ? Were not the
eyes of my Gerard wont to direct 2 my steps everywhere? Was not
your breast, my brother, more familiar with my cares than even my
own, you who bore them more than I, and felt them more acutely ?H
Was there not upon your lips speech so winning and persuasive that
you were constantly able to relieve me from the burden of worldly
conversation, and to restore me to my beloved silence ? The Lord
had bestowed upon him judgment and discretion, so that he knew
when and how to speak. H e gave such satisfaction by the prudence
of his replies, through the grace given unto him from above, both to
those of the house and to strangers, that if anyone had conferred with
1
In connection with this assertion, reference may be made to the two appearances of Gerard after his death, related in the * Life of St. Bernard,' Bk. iv., c. 2,
;/. 10; and Bk. v., c. 3, 11. 18.
2
Anteibant; otherwise, animabant.
3
This is shown by his warning Bernard against pride on account of the miracles
performed by him (4 Life,' Bk. i., c. 9, 11. 43).

i6o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Gerard, he had scarcely anything to ask of me. H e did, indeed, go
to meet new-comers, and put himself in their way, that they might
not break in suddenly upon my leisure. If he was unable to satisfy
any by himself, those he conducted to me, and the others he sent
away. O man of marvellous industry ! O faithful friend ! H e sought
to please his friend, and he was not wanting, at the same time, in the
duties of charity. Who departed from him with empty hands ? If it
were a rich man, he carried away advice ; if a poor, substantial help.
Nor could he, who burdened himself with so many cares that I might
be free from them, be said to seek the things which were his own.
For he, being, in truth, the most humble of men, hoped that my leisure
would be of more value to the house than his would be. Yet sometimes he required that he might be released from his task, and give
way to another, as if someone else would perform it better than he.
But where was such an one to be found ? Nor was he kept in office,
as is often the case, by an impatient and restless disposition, but by
the mere impulse of charity. For he used to labour more than all
others, and to receive less than any; so that often while he ministered
things necessary—for example, food and clothing—to others, he himself was in many respects in need of them. Lastly, when he felt that
he was drawing near his departure, lifting up his voice to God, he
said : ' Thou knowest, O God, that as in me lay, I always longed for
quiet, for the care of my own soul, and to be occupied with Thee
only. But I have been retained in the cares of duties by the fear of
displeasing Thee, by the will of the brethren, by the desire to obey,
and, above all, by the brotherly affection which I bore to him who is
at once my abbot and my brother.' So it is. I render thanks, then,
to thee, O my brother, for every result of my studies in Divine truth,
if they have produced any. If I have made any progress in them,
if I have been of service to any, it is to thee I owe it. Thou didst
charge thyself with the care of the affairs of the house; and I, thanks
to thee, was able to sit at leisure, or, at least, to occupy myself more
sacredly with the duties to which God called me, or to devote myself
more usefully to my sons [in the faith] with their instruction and
training. For how could I be otherwise than in peace of mind within,
while I knew that thou wert busied without—thou who wert my right
hand, the light of my eyes, my heart, and my tongue ? And, indeed,
thy hand was tireless, thine eye candid and straightforward, thine
heart full of wisdom, and thy tongue gave wise counsel, as it is written :
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom^ and his tongue talketh of
judgment (Ps. xxxvii. 30).
7. But why have I said that Gerard was busied without, as if he
were unacquainted with the inner life, and a stranger to spiritual gifts?
Those spiritually-minded persons who knew him, knew that his words
were full of the Holy Spirit. Those of his chamber knew that his
mind and his affections savoured not of the flesh, but were warmed
by the fire of the Spirit. Who more rigid than he in the observance
of the Rule ? who more strict in the mastery (castigando) of his body,

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD l6l

more absorbed and elevated in contemplation, or more keen and
penetrating in discourse ? How often, in discussion with him, I have
learned things which I knew not ! and I, who had come to instruct
others, have returned myself instructed. Nor is it wonderful that this
was the case with me, since eminent and learned men have testified
to me that the very same thing had taken place with them also when
with him. Though he had not acquired human learning, he had
sound and powerful intelligence, enabling him to divine many of its
truths; and he had also the illuminating Spirit. Nor was he very
accomplished in the greatest things alone, but also in the smallest.
What was there which escaped his skill and knowledge—for example,
in all that relates to buildings, in the culture of land and of gardens,
in works for water, and in all the other arts and labours of country
people? H e was easily the director of masons, of smiths, of agriculturists, of gardeners, of shoemakers, and even of weavers. Whilst
in the judgment of all he was wiser than any, in his own eyes alone
he was not wise. Would that the malediction which we find in
Scripture, Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes (Is. v. 21),
did not touch many far less wise than he more than it touched him !
Those to whom I speak know that what I say of him is true, and even
much more than I have said. But I pass over many things, because
he is my brother and my flesh. Yet this one thing I add in entire
assurance : he was useful to me in all things, and beyond all other
men; he was of use in small things and great, in private affairs and
public, in the monastery and out of it. It was with good reason that
I was wholly attached to him, who was everything to me. He left to
me the honour and name of Superior, and but little beyond, for the
labours of that office he used to discharge. I was called Abbot, but
he was so in effect, for he took upon him all the cares of that charge.
Rightly did I rest upon him, by whose means it was that I was able
to rejoice in the Lord, to preach and to pray with greater freedom
and security from interruption. It was by thy means, O my brother,
I repeat, that my mind was less disturbed, my rest more agreeable,
my discourse more efficacious, my preaching fuller of edification, my
reading more frequent, and the affections of my heart more fervent.
8. Alas ! thou hast been taken from me, and all these things with
thee. With thee have passed away all the joys, and all the gladness,
of my life. Already cares are breaking in upon me, already anxieties,
hitherto unknown, press upon me on all sides, difficulties and annoyances from every quarter seek me, because I am alone; in going
from me, these are all thou hast left me, and under this burden I
groan without a companion. I must of necessity lay it down, or be
crushed under it, since you have withdrawn your shoulders from its
support. Who will grant unto me speedily, after thee, to die ? For
to die instead of thee, and so to deprive thee of the glory which thou
art now enjoying, this I should not wish to have done. I shall live,
as long as I live, in bitterness and in sorrow ; and let this be my only
consolation, to mourn and to be afflicted. I will not spare myself;
11

l62

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

I will assist the Lord's Hand ; for it is the Hand of the Lord that
hath touched me. It is I, I say, whom He hath touched, whom H e
hath wounded; not him whom He hath called into rest: for He
hath slain me in cutting short the days of my brother. For who
could say that the Lord hath slain him, whom H e hath caused to
enter into life ? But that which has been to him the gate of life has
manifestly been to me the gate of death; and by that death I should
say that I am the person dead, not he who has fallen asleep in the
Lord. Flow forth, flow forth, ye tears, long since brimming over;
flow forth, since he who would have hindered your course has himself gone forth from this life ! Let the torrents of my suffering head
be opened, and the fountains of waters burst forth, if perchance they
may suffice to wash away the stains of those sins by which I have
deserved the wrath of God ! When the Lord shall have had compassion upon me, then perhaps I, too, shall deserve to be consoled,
provided that I do not spare to afflict myself; for they that mourn
shall be comforted (Matt. v. 4). Therefore let every good man condescend to me, and let him who is spiritual uphold me in my sorrow,
in the spirit of sympathy and gentleness. Let my grief be regarded,
I entreat, with compassion, and not after the manner of men. For
we see day by day that those who are dead lament for their dead ;
but in what manner? There is with them much weeping, but no
fruit. We do not blame their distress and grief, unless it be excessive, but the cause of it. Affection is from nature, and the
distress which it causes us is a part of the penalty of sin; but the
cause is vanity and sin. For in the world what is lamented, if I do
not mistake, is the deadly injury inflicted [by death] upon carnal
glory, and upon the advantages of the present life. And those who
weep thus are themselves to be wept for. Surely that is not the case
with me ? My grief is similar to theirs, but the cause is different, and
the intention of it quite unlike their intention. I do not complain at
all of the loss of the things of this world. What I grieve for is only
that I have lost faithful help and salutary counsel in those things
which belong to God. It is my Gerard for whom I mourn—Gerard,
my brother according to the flesh, nearer still to me in the spirit,
and in the work and purpose of my life ever my companion and
associate.
9. My soul clung closely to his, and it was rather unity of sentiment than unity of blood which made f us two to be one. Our
nearness of blood counted, no doubt, for something; but it was
companionship of mind and will, conformity of character and inclination, which united us more closely still. Since we were of one
heart and of one soul, the sword [of death] has passed through my
soul equally as through his; but having severed them, it has placed
one part in heaven, but left the other in the mire of earth. It is I, it
is I, who am that unhappy portion which is left prostrate in the clay,
mutilated by the loss of the better part of itself; and yet people say
to m e : * Do not weep/ My very bowels are torn away; and it is

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD 163

said to me, ' Do not feel any pain.' But I do feel pain, and that in
spite of myself; I have not the insensibility of a stone, nor is my
flesh of bronze; I have feeling assuredly, and sharp pain, and my
trouble is ever in my sight. He who has stricken me will not be
able to accuse me of hardness and want of sensibility, as those of
whom H e said : 1 have stricken them, but they have not grieved
(Jer. v. 3, but quoted inexactly).
I have confessed my great
affliction, and denied it not. Someone has called this carnal; I do
not deny that it is human, just as I do not deny that I am a man.
If that does not suffice, then I shall not deny that it is carnal. For
I also am carnal, and one sold under sin, destined to death, and
justly deserving of punishments and pains. Far from being insensible
to penalties, I shudder at death, I confess, for myself and for those
who are dear to me. And Gerard was not only mine, but was very
dear. Was he noc plainly mine, who by blood was my brother, by
profession my son [in the faith], my father for the care he had of me,
my companion and colleague in character and wishes, as in affection
he wras most intimate and dear ? H e has departed from my side:
and I feel that his death has inflicted upon me a deep and terrible
wound.
10. Forgive me, my sons ; or rather, if you are my sons, lament
for the trouble of your father. Pity me, pity me, you at least who
are my friends, who take notice how heavy is the stroke which I
have received from the hand of the Lord for my sins. H e has
stricken me with the rod of His indignation : justly, in regard of my
deserts ; but severely, in regard of my power to bear it. Who,
except one wrho is ignorant by what bonds of affection Gerard and I
were united, would suppose it a light thing to me to live without
Gerard ? Nevertheless, I do not desire to oppose at all the decrees
(sermonibus) of the Holy One ; I do not call in question His judgment, by which each one is caused to receive that which he deserves :
Gerard, the crown which he has merited; and I, the punishment
which is due to me. Is it reasonable to declare that I call in question
the sentence because I feel the penalty keenly ? To feel is human,
but to repine would be impious. It is human, I repeat, and unavoidable, that we should not be indifferent to those who are our friends;
that we should enjoy their presence, and lament its being taken from
us. Social intercourse, particularly among friends, will not be
tedious; the reluctance to separate, and the pain which is felt by
each when separated, shows plainly the effect that their mutual
affection has had upon those who live together. I grieve on thy
account, my dearest Gerard, not because thy condition is to be
regretted, but because thou art taken awTay. And, therefore, perhaps it is my condition rather, I who drink the cup of bitterness,
which calls for regret; and still more, because I drink it alone. For
thou hast no part in it, and I endure alone what those who have a
mutual affection are accustomed to endure equally when deprived of
the presence of each other.

164

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

11. May God grant that thou mayst not be lost to me, but only
have gone before me, and that I may one day, whether soon or late,
follow thee whithersoever thou hast gone. I do not doubt at all that
thou hast gone to join those whom in the midst of thy last night on
earth thou didst invite to praise God, when with a serene countenance
and a voice of joy thou didst burst forth on a sudden, to the great
astonishment of all, into that Psalm of David : Praise ye the Lord
from the heavens, praise Him in the heights (Ps. cxlviii. 1). While it
was still midnight, my brother, the day was dawning 1 for thee, and
the night was as clear as the day. Assuredly that night was full of
delights for thee, and it brought thee into the Light.
I was
summoned to witness that miracle, to see a man exulting in the hour
of death, and scorning its approach. O Death, where is thy victory ?
0 Death, where is thy sting? (1 Cor. xv. 55). Thou hast no sting
any longer, but a song of praise and victory. For a man dies while
singing, and sings while dying. Thou who art the mother of sorrowart taken as a subject for joy ; thou, the enemy of glory, as an occasion for glory; thou, who art the gate of hell and the gulf of perdition, as the portal of the kingdom of God and the entrance into
salvation ; and all this by a man who is a sinner. This, too, is
justly done, since thou hast rashly and unjustly usurped dominion
over One who is a Righteous Man and Blameless. O Death, thou
art thyself dead, and pierced with the hook which thou hast incautiously swallowed, of which thus speaks the Prophet : O Death,
1 will be thy death; O grave, I will be thy destruction (niorsus)
(Hosea xiii. 14). Pierced, I say, wTith that hook, thou shalt open a
broad and joyful passage into life for those faithful ones who pass
through thee. Gerard does not fear thee, O shadowy phantom !
Gerard passes through thy jaws to his heavenly fatherland, not merely
with security, but with joy and thanksgiving. When, then, I had
come to him, and he had finished in my hearing, with a loud voice,
the last verses of the Psalm which he had begun, looking up to
heaven, he said : Father, into Thy Hands I commend My spirit
(Luke xxiii. 46). And repeating often the same sentence, and pronouncing again and again Father, Father, he turned unto me and
said, with a joyful countenance : ' How great is the condescension of
God in being the Father of men ! and how great the glory of men to
be the sons and the heirs of God ! For if they are sons, they are
also heirs.' So he whom wTe are lamenting sang when about to die :
and I confess that he changed my grief almost into a song of joy,
because, my mind being fixed upon the glory which was before his
vision, I almost forgot my own unhappiness.
12. But the sharp pang of my grief recalls me to myself, and the
pressure of care arouses me from the thought of that sweet and
peaceful spectacle, as one rises from a light slumber. Let me mourn,
then, but for myself, for reason forbids that I should mourn on his
account. I believe, indeed, that, were occasion afforded him, he
1

Diescebat; not a classical word. — E D .

ST. BERNARD LAMENTS THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GERARD 165

would say to us now : ' Weep not for me, but for yourselves.' David
was right to weep over his parricidal son (2 Sam. xix. 1), because he
knew that, on account of the enormity of his crime, his issue from
the power of death was for ever hindered. H e was right to mourn
over Saul and over Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 17), because, when they were
once swallowed up by death, that they should emerge from it was
not then within the bounds of hope. 1 And certainly they shall rise
again, but not to life; or if to life, then in order that living they
should die by a death still more calamitous. It is true that, with regard to Jonathan, there may be ground for a doubt; but in my case
I have still a reason for my grief, though it be not the same reason.
I grieve, first, for my own trouble, and for the loss which this house
has sustained ; secondly, I grieve on account of the necessities of the
poor, of whom Gerard was the father. I grieve on account of our
whole Order, and of our profession, which derived no small strength
from thy example of zeal and wisdom, O Gerard ; and lastly, I grieve,
not indeed for thee, but for the loss of thee. Yes, this—this is what
wounds me so deeply, because I love thee so devotedly. And let
no one trouble me by saying that I am wrong thus to afflict myself,
since the kind-hearted Samuel mourned without restraint over his
abandoned King, and the devout David over his parricidal son, and
that without wronging their faith, or calling in question the Divine
judgment. ' Absalom, my sont my son Absalom P said holy David
(2 Sam. xviii. 33), and is not my brother more than Absalom? The
Saviour, too, when looking upon the city of Jerusalem, of which H e
foresaw the destruction, wept over it (Luke xix. 41). And shall I
have no feeling of my own bereavement, and that so recent ? Shall
I not groan over a wound so fresh and so deep ? H e wept over the
sorrows of others, and shall I not dare to weep over my own?
Assuredly H e did not at the sepulchre of Lazarus either rebuke those
who were weeping, or forbid them to weep ; and even more than
this, H e wept with them, for it is said, Jesus wept (John xi. 35).
Those tears were, it is certain, the evidences of His Humanity, not
the signs of his disapproval (diffidentice. = distrust). Moreover, at His
Voice the dead man came forth from the tomb; so that you must
not imagine that a person cannot yield to grief without prejudice to
his faith.
13. It is thus with my tears also. They are not a sign of unbelief, but an indication of our human condition ; nor because, when
stricken, I moan, do I therefore accuse Him who strikes : I rather
call upon His goodness, and endeavour to turn aside His severity.
Thus, though my words are full of grief, there is no murmuring in
them. Have I not expressed a feeling full of righteousness in acknowledging that in one most equitable sentence H e hath both
punished one who deserved punishment, and crowned one who was
1
St. Bernard appears here to express some doubt of the salvation of Jonathan.
But other fathers and commentators assert that he is in blessedness. There is a
slight variation here between the MSS. and editions. See Horst's note.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

worthy of reward? Yes, the Lord is kind and righteous, and H e
has done everything well. I will sing to Thee, O Lord of mercy
and judgment. Let the mercy which Thou hast shown unto Thy
servant Gerard sing to Thee and praise Thee, and let the judgment also sing, which we ourselves are bearing. In the one Thou
shalt be praised because Thou art good, in the other because Thou
art righteous. Is praise due to Thee for Thy goodness alone ? It is
due also for Thy righteousness. Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and
upright are Thy judgments (Ps. cxix. 137). Thou hast given Gerard ;
Thou hast taken Gerard away; and though we grieve for the loss of
him, we are not forgetful that he was given to us ; we render thanks
that we have been deemed worthy to possess him, and our reluctance
to be without his presence is wholly in submission to Thy Divine will.
14. I call to mind, O Lord, my covenant with Thee, and the pity
Thou hadst upon me, that Thou mightest be the more justified in
Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged. For when I was at
Viterbo 1 last year on the business of the Church my brother Gerard
was taken with serious illness, and the attack increased upon him
until it seemed as if God were about to call him to Himself. I was
unable to bear the thought of losing my travelling companion and
being left alone in a strange land, nor, again, of not being able to
restore him safe to those who had entrusted him to me ; for he was
so engaging, that he was loved by all. In this distress I betook myself to prayer with tears and sobs. ' Lord,' I cried, ' wait until my
return. If Thou wiliest to take him away from me, let it be when he
is restored to his friends, and I will not complain.' And Thou didst
hear my prayer, O Lord : he recovered ; we accomplished the work that
Thou hadst given us to do, and we returned with joy, bringing with
us the sheaves of peace. And then I became almost entirely forgetful
of the compact which I had made with Thee, but so wast not Thou.
I am ashamed of these sobs of grief, which accuse me of going from
my word. What can be added to this ? Thou hast required again
the treasure which was Thine, which Thou hadst committed to us for
awhile, and hast received it. But tears again put an end to my
words. Do Thou, O Lord, impose a limit to my tears, and bring
them to an end.
1
St. Bernard sojourned at Viterbo on two occasions : the former time in 1133,
as we learn from his Letter 151 (vol. ii., p. 479, of Eng. Ed.), the latter in 1137 ;
and it is that which is mentioned here.

THE ADORNMENT OF THE BRIDE

167

SERMON XXVII.
OF THE ADORNMENT OF T H E BRIDE : AND IN WHAT SENSE T H E
HOLY SOUL IS CALLED
HEAVEN.

N

OW that we have rendered the last offices of affection to our
dear friend on his return to his [heavenly] country, I resume,
brethren, the purpose of edification which was thus interrupted : for it is incongruous to continue long lamenting one who is
in joy and gladness, and out of place to trouble with many tears one
who is sitting at a banquet; and although we may, with weeping,
deplore our own loss, it behoves us to do even that with moderation,
so that it may not seem to be the case that it is not so much the loss
of our friend as of his service to us that we deplore. The grief of
those who are bereaved should be tempered by the joy of the beloved
one who is its object, and that he is with God should make it more
easy to bear the fact that he is no longer with us. I desire, then,
relying on the support of your prayers, to bring to light, if I am able,
the sense which is hidden under those passages of our Song in which
the beauty and adornments of the Bride are spoken of. This, if you
remember, was touched upon, but left undiscussed; all that was examined and concluded having been the sense in which she was said
to be black as the tents of Kedar. In what way, then, is she comely
as the curtains of Solomon ? as if Solomon, in all his glory, had had
anything of equal worthiness to the beauty of the Bride, and the
magnificence of her ornaments ! And, indeed, if we should say that
those ' curtains ' refer rather to the blackness than to the beauty of the
Bride, the same as the tents of Kedar, I do not know that we should be
wrong; nor wTould there be wanting reasons to support that reference,
as we shall see in the sequel. But if we think that the beauty of
curtains, however splendid they may be, is to be compared to the
glorious beauty of the Bride, we have need to obtain the help of Him
at whose door you have knocked in order to be able worthily to unfold
a mystery so great. For wThat beauty is there in those things which
are perceived by the outward senses which is to be compared with the
inward beauty of a holy soul, or which, to a just judge, can appear
other than common and defiled ? What is there, I ask, in the spectacle
of this world which passeth away that is capable of equalling the fairness and beauty of a soul which has put off its former vesture of earthly
and soiled humanity, and clothed itself anew in that which came from
heaven, and is in every respect fair ? For gems, it is adorned with
virtues; it is purer and loftier than the air itself, and more brilliant
than the sun. Do not, then, look back to [the curtains of] Solomon
for a comparison when you desire to understand what is the degree of
beauty and splendour to which the Bride declares herself to be like.
2. What means she, then, by these words : / am beautiful as the

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

curtains of Solomon ? These words, as I think, contain a great and
wonderful mystery—if we apply them, that is to say, not to the king
who ruled over Israel, but to Him of whom it was said: Behold, a
greater than Solomon is here (Matt. xii. 42). H e is so truly Solomon,
that H e is called not only ' Peaceful' (as the word Solomon signifies
in Hebrew 1 ), but Peace itself, as St. Paul declares : He is our Peace
(Eph. ii. 14); and with this Solomon we shall no doubt find something worthy to be compared with the beauty of the Bride. Notice
especially with regard to the curtains what is said in one of the
Psalms : Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain (Ps. civ. 2).
Now, the earlier Solomon, very wise though he were and powerful,
assuredly did not stretch out the heavens like a curtain, but rather
H e who is not merely wise, but Wisdom itself—yes, it is H e who
hath founded them and stretched them out. Thus, also, it was He,
not the former Solomon, who speaks these words: When He (that is,
doubtless, God the Father) prepared the heavens I was there. His
Power, no doubt, and His Wisdom, was there with Him who prepared
the heavens. Nor must it be supposed that it was inactive, and, as it
were, a spectator only, because it is said, ' I was there,' and not also,
4
1 was preparing.' Look a little farther on, and you will find the
express assertion : I was with Him forming all things (Prov. viii. 27
and 30, Vulg. and Douay). Lastly, H e says : What things soever the
Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise (John v. 19). So, then,
it is H e also who stretches out the heavens like a curtain. A beautiful
curtain indeed is that great expanse which, as a tent, covers the entire
surface of the earth, and rejoices the eyes of men by the variety and
beauty of sun, moon, and stars which adorn i t ! What is there more
beautiful than this curtain, or more splendid than the heavens ? Yet
it is not worthy to be even compared to the glory and beauty of the
Bride even in this respect—that the beauty of the former, as being
of a corporeal nature and apprehended by the bodily senses, is
temporary and passing : For the things which are seen are te?nporal;
but the things which are ?iot seen are eternal (2 Cor. iv. 18).
3. But the beauty of the Bride is of an intellectual k i n d ; it is
spiritual and eternal, for it is the image of eternity. Her beauty, for
example, consists in charity; and charity, as you read, never faileth
(1 Cor. xiii. 8). It is also in righteousness, and His righteousness
endureth for ever (Ps. cxii. 3). It is also in patience, and we learn
that the patient abiding of the poor shall not perish for ever (Ps. ix. 18).
What is to be said of voluntary poverty ? and of humility ? Has not
the one the promise of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3), and the
other of an everlasting exaltation (Luke xiv. n ) ? It is the same
with the fear of the Lord; it is holy, and endureth for ever (Ps. xix. 9).
So, also, with respect to prudence, to temperance, and to fortitude,
and to any other virtues, if such there be, what are they but, as it
were, pearls in the Coronet of the Bride, which glitter with constant
lustre for ever ? For ever, I say, because they are the base and the
1

ntibw = Shelomoh, the « Peaceful One.'—ED.

THE ADORNMENT OF THE BRIDE

169

foundation of immortality. Nor-is there any place whatever in the
soul for the life of immortal blessedness except that which is provided
by the means and the interposition of virtues. It is on that account
that the Psalmist says to God, in whom, without doubt, is this life of
blessedness : Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne
(Ps. lxxxix. 14). And the Apostle says that Christ dwells in our
hearts, not in every way, but, as he states expressly, in our hearts by
faith (Eph. iii. 17). When our Lord was about to sit upon the ass,
His disciples cast their mantles upon the animal to form His seat;
and this signifies that the Saviour and that salvation cannot rest upon
souls that are unclad and bare—that is to say, which are not clad in
the doctrine and in the virtues of the Apostles. And therefore the
Church, having promise of happiness to come, is careful in the meantime to prepare and adorn herself with a vesture enriched with gold,
and decked with a variety of graces and virtues, 1 so as to be found
capable and worthy of the fulness of grace.
4. But I could in no way compare in beauty this visible and
physical heaven, although most fair of its kind, and adorned with a
bright galaxy of stars, with that other splendour of varying colours,
spiritual and surpassingly beautiful, which sparkles even now on the
robe of sanctification which the Bride has received. But there is a
heaven of heaven of which the Psalmist says : Sing praises unto the
Lord, who ascends above the heaven of heavens (Ps. lxviii. 32, 33).
This heaven is intellectual and spiritual; and H e who by His wisdom
made the heavens (Ps. cxxxvi. 5) has created this and established it
for ever, and it is this in which H e dwells. Do not suppose, then,
that the devotion of the Bride allows her to stop short of this heaven,
in which, as she knows, her Beloved dwells ; for where her treasure
is, there is her heart also (Matt. vi. 21). She has a holy jealousy of
those who are before that Countenance, for [the sight of] which she
sighs, and studies to render her life conformed to theirs with whom
she is not as yet associated in that happy vision. She cries by her
life more than by words: Lord, L have loved the habitation of Thy
house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth (Ps. xxvi. 8).
5. She does not hold it at all unworthy of her to be compared to
that heaven. It is stretched out as a curtain, if not extending over
plains of space, yet over the affections and longings of souls. It has
Divisions also, not of colours,2 but of degrees of beatitude attained.
For [God] has created some Angels, others Archangels, but others
Virtues, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Thrones; others, again,
Cherubin, and others Seraphin. These are the stars with which His
heaven is studded; these are the bright and glorious colours which
adorn the curtains of this Solomon. This is one out of very many
which are His, and the chief among them, which are each of them
1
Horst adds: 'Such as we have described in their place'; which words are
wanting in the earliest editions and in all our MSS.—MABILLON.
2
All our MSS. have 'of colours,' except that of Jumieges, which has * of places'
(locorum). The editions have ' of heavens ' (caelorum).

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

blessed and glorious, though there be a great variety in the conditions
of their glory. They are benign, moreover, and of a charity so far
reaching, that it extends even to us ; so that far from being jealous
of the glory they enjoy, they desire that we should obtain it. And
in order to attain that end, some of them do not think it burdensome
to remain among us, to be actively employed in watching over us and
doing us good ; they are, in truth, ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. i. 14). Wherefore, as the whole multitude of the blessed are collected together, as
it were, into one, they are called, in the singular, ' the heaven of
heaven '; and, again, as each of them separately is, in a sense, heaven,
they are called 'the heaven of heavens.' It is of each of them that
it is said : He siretcheth out the heavens like a curtain (Ps. civ. 2). So
that you now perceive, I think, what are those curtains which the
Bride takes pride in resembling, and to what Solomon they belong.
6. Contemplate, then, the glory of her who compares herself even
to the heaven ; and to that heaven which is so much the more glorious
as its origin is divine. Not unfitly does she select to be a point of
comparison for herself that from whence she draws her origin. 1 For
if, on account of the body she has from the earth, she compares herself to the tents of Kedar, why should she not equally glorify herself
as having a likeness to heaven, because her soul is from heaven;
especially when her life bears witness to her origin, to the dignity of
her nature, and to the land to which she belongs? She worships
and adores one God, as do the angels ; she loves, as they do, Jesus
Christ above all; she is chaste as the angels, and that in a weak
body of sinful flesh, as the angels are n o t ; lastly, she desires and
1
Berengar, the disciple of Abaelard, in his treatise, Apologeiicum^ which h e put
forth on behalf of his preceptor, against the Council of Sens, and against St.
Bernard himself, takes hold of these words, and tries to draw from them a proof
that St. Bernard supposed souls to be created in heaven, and sent thence into the
bodies they are to occupy. T h a t writer thus rudely addresses the holy' man :
' You have certainly erred in asserting that souls have their origin from heaven.
I t will be useful and easy for the intelligent reader to understand by what arguments you support that position ; and I will recount them throughout. T h e r e is a
book named in H e b r e w Firasirim
{Schirbaschirim)^
and in Latin Cantiaim
Canticomim, of which the sense hidden under the text reveals Divine mysteries to
those who diligently watch for t h e m . ' Then, further on, he adds : ' T h e s e words
of yours, if carefully considered, savour of heresy to every Christian palate. F o r
if ycu argue that souls draw their origin from heaven upon this ground, that they
are one day to return to heaven in order to be happy there, you must say the
same of the body, since it, too, is to be happy in heaven. Or, if you write that
the soul is celestial as to its origin, because it originated, that is, was created, in
the heavens (which, indeed, seems to be the sense of your words), you fall into
the error of Origen.' T h u s rashly writes the apologist. But, after all, why
should not the soul be said to be celestial, seeing that it has a Father in heaven,
that its conversation ought to be in heaven, that its own country is in heaven, a n d
that, in the same wTay, its nature transcends all earthly things? Wherefore St.
Augustine says, in arguing against J u l i a n u s : ' S i n c e we have a body which is
from the earth, and a spirit which is from heaven, we ourselves are at the same
time earth and h e a v e n ' (Bk. ii., contra Julian.).
But enough as to Berengar, the
unscrupulous calumniator of our s a i n t . — M A B I L L O N .

THE ADORNMENT OF THE BRIDE

171

seeks those things which are with the angels, not those which are
upon earth. What can be a plainer proof of her celestial origin than
that she preserves an inborn resemblance to the angelic spirits, and
that in a region of unlikeness [to them], than to claim for herself on
earth the glory of a life solitary and exiled [from heaven] ; and, lastly,
to live as an angel in a body almost that of a beast ? Those actions
are the signs of heavenly powers, not of earthly ; and they show clearly
that the soul, which is able thus to act, draws, without a question, its
origin from heaven. Yet listen to words which are unmistakable : /
saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband. And the
Apostle has added, And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them
(Rev. xxi. 2, 3). To what end? It was, as I believe, that H e might
obtain for Himself from among the children of men [the Church
which is] His Bride. O wonderful mystery ! He came for His Bride,
and yet not without a Bride He came. He was seeking out His
Bride, and yet His Bride was then with Him. Were there, then, two
Brides ? By no means. For H e says : My dove, My undefiled, is but
one (Cant. vi. 9). But just as He desired out of diverse flocks of
sheep to make one, so that there should be one Fold, and one Shepherd (John x. 16); so, having from the beginning of the world one
Bride, with whom He was closely united—I mean the multitude of
the angels—it pleased Him to call together a Church out of men also,
and with this to unite that which is from heaven, so that there shall
be one Bridegroom and one Bride. The one has been perfected, not
multiplied, by the union of the other with itself; and she is aware
that this is spoken of her : She who is Mine is one, she is perfect (vi. 8).
Yes, their conformity [to the likeness of the Lord] makes them one ;
and if for the moment the conformity is only in the same fervour of
devotion, it shall hereafter be realized in the same glory.
7. Thus, then, each of them is from heaven—the Bridegroom, who
is Jesus, and the Bride, the heavenly Jerusalem [which is the Church].
As for the Bridegroom, in order that H e might be made manifest
upon earth, He emptied Himself, taking upon Him the form of a servant,
and being made in the likeness of men, was found in fashion as a Man
(Philip, ii. 7, 8). But as to the Bride: in what form or appearance,
or with what degree of beauty think you was she beheld when she
came down out of heaven ? Was it, perhaps, in the company of the
angels whom St. John saw ascending and descending upon the Son of
Ma?i (John i. 51) ? But it were better to say that he saw the Bride
when he saw the WORD made Flesh, and recognised two Natures in
His one Person. For when He, our holy Emmanuel, brought to
earth the rules of heavenly culture and training, when the visible form
and image of the beauty of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our
mother, is expressed in Him and made known to us by His means,
what have we beheld, except in the Bridegroom the Bride, and,
gazing with admiration and reverence, have divined in one and the

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

same Lord of Glory both the Bridegroom, decked with His Crown,
and the Bride, adorned with her necklaces of precious jewels ? He,
therefore, who descended is also H e who ascended ; for no one can
ascend into heaven but H e who descended from heaven, who is one
and the same Lord, both Bridegroom and the Head, as also Bride
and the Body. Nor is it in vain that this celestial Man has appeared
upon earth, since He has made many denizens of earth similar to
Himself, and citizens of heaven, as it is said by the Apostle : As is the
Man who is heavenly, such are they also who are made like unto Him,
and therefore heavenly (1 Cor. xv. 48). A beginning is, then, already
made by living on the earth in the manner of those who live in heaven,
when, after the example of that heavenly and blessed creation, she
who comes from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
is, nevertheless, attached with chaste love to her heavenly Spouse;
and, although not yet united to Him by outward sight, is yet betrothed
to Him by faith, according to the promise of God speaking by the
prophet : I will betroth thee unto Me i?i mercies: I will even betroth
thee unto Me in faithfulness (Hosea ii. 19, 20). Therefore, she strives
to be more and more conformed to the pattern which came from
heaven : learning to be modest and temperate, chaste and holy,
patient and compassionate, meek and humble of heart. And it is by
these virtues that she endeavours, far removed as she is, to please
Him upon whom the angels desire to look, so that, by sharing the
same desire with which they are fired, she may approve herself as
being a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God,
that she may show herself His beloved and His Bride.
8. I think that every soul which is such as I have described is not
only heavenly because of its origin, but may be not unfitly said to be
itself heaven, because of its resemblance to heaven, which is thus
brought about. And it is then that such a soul plainly shows that its
origin is from heaven, because its conversation is in heaven. A holy
soul is, then, a heaven, having understanding for a sun, faith for a
moon, and for stars countless virtues. Or we may say that its sun is
zeal for righteousness or fervent charity, and its moon is continence.
For as the brightness of the moon is said to be wholly from the sun,
so there is no merit in continence without charity or justice. Hence
the Wise man says : How beautiful is a generation which joins continence to charity (Wisdom iv. i). 1 As for the stars of this sky, I do
not regret having called the virtues by this name when I consider the
fitness of the similitude. For as the stars shine by night, and in the
day are unseen, so true virtue, which often in prosperity is not
apparent, shines out brightly in time of adversity. It is a matter of
prudence to hide it in the one case, but in the other it is of necessity
rendered visible. A virtue is, then, as a star, and a man of many
virtues as a heaven of such stars, unless, perhaps, that which the Lord
has spoken by the Prophet, Heaven is My Throne (Is. Ixvi. 1), is to be
1
Vulgate.
here.—ED.

The rendering of the Vulgate is but a paraphrase of the Greek text

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173

understood of this visible heaven which rolls around us, and not rather
in the sense which the Scripture elsewhere expresses more plainly :
The soul of the righteous is the throne of wisdom. 1 But whoso has
learned from the teaching of the Saviour that God is a Spirit, and is
to be worshipped in the spirit (John iv. 24), will not hesitate to believe
that His throne is spiritual. I should confidently affirm this, and not
less with regard to the spirit of a righteous man than of the angels.
Most of all I am confirmed in that opinion by that faithful promise of
the Son of God : I and My Father will come to him (that is, to a
righteous man), and make our abode with him (John xiv. 23). The
Psalmist also seems to me to have spoken of no other heaven than
this in the words : Thou dtuellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel
(Ps. xxi. 4, Vulg. and Douay). And again, the Apostle speaks unmistakably : That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith (Eph. iii. 17).
9. And it is not wonderful that the Lord Jesus should dwell in
this, as in heaven, since not only, as in the case of other living
beings, did H e speak the word and it came into existence, but H e
has striven in order to acquire it; H e has died to redeem it. Therefore, having after many sufferings and efforts made it His own
according to His wish, He says : This is My rest for ever: here will
I dwell, for I have desired it (Ps. cxxxii. 14). Blessed is that soul to
whom it is said": ' Come, Mine elect one, and upon thee will I place
My Throne. Why art thou so heavy, O my soul, and why art thou
disquieted within me ?' Dost thou think that not within thee canst
thou find a place for the Lord? What place is there, in truth, in
us that is fit for the presence of a glory so great, or sufficient to
receive so high a Majesty ? Would that I were worthy even to offer
adoration in the place where His Feet have stood ! Who will grant
unto me the grace to be able to follow closely in the footsteps of
some holy soul which H e has chosen for His habitation ? Yet if
H e shall deign only to pour into my soul the unction of His mercy,
and to expand it, as a curtain is extended when anointed, then I may
be able to say : / have run the way of Thy commandments, when
Thou didst enlarge my heart (Ps. cxix. 32, Vulg. and Douay). Perhaps I shall be able to show in my soul, if not an upper chamber
sufficiently large for Him to sit with His disciples, at least a pillow
where He may lay His Head. At least, I may from afar look up to
those blessed ones, of whom it is said : / will dwell in them, and
walk in them (2 Cor. vi. T6).
10. O how broad the confines of that soul and how commanding
its merits, which is found worthy to receive in itself that Divine
Presence ; and not only worthy to receive it, but capable of so doing !
1
The same passage is cited in Sermon I., for the Purification, n. 4 ; in Sermon
V., for November 1, n. 5 ; and in Sermon XXV., n. 6. Others of the Fathers,
as St. Augustine {Enarr. in Ps. xlvi. 9, and Sermon C C , n. 1) and St. Gregory
the Great (29 Moral., c. 15 ; and Horn. 38, in Evang.), quote it as Scripture. But
it is apparently not found in the Vulgate. Compare Ps. xxxvii. 30, and Prov. x. 31.

—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

What, again, shall I say of that soul, which affords, as it were, spacious
avenues in which the grace of God may move without constraint ?
Assuredly, it is not tunnelled with the windings of worldly interests
and secular cares, nor occupied with luxuries and sensual pleasures ;
nor with curiosity about the affairs of others; nor is it filled with
tumid pride, nor the desire to rule. For it is. essential in the first
place that a soul should be free from all things like this, that it may
become a heaven, and be the dwelling-place of God. For otherwise
how would it be able to contemplate God in peace, or even to see
Him as H e is ? Again, it must be free from all hatred, all jealousy,
and all bitterness, for into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter
(Wisd. i. 4). Then it is necessary that it should grow in breadth
and volume that it may be capable of receiving God. Now, the
growth and extension of the soul is charity, according to the saying
of the Apostle: Be ye enlarged in charity (2 Cor. vi. 13). For
although the soul, being of a spiritual nature, does not admit of
material extension, nevertheless grace confers upon it what is denied
by nature. It has growth and is extended, but in a spiritual manner;
it increases, not in substance, but in power and in glory ; it grows
even into a temple holy to the L o r d ; and attains unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
(Ephes. iv. 13). Thus the amplitude of a soul is estimated by
the measure of the charity which it possesses; so that, for example,
the soul which has much charity is great, and that which possesses
little, is itself little; while that which has none at all, is simply
nothing, as St. Paul declares, If I have not charity, I am nothing
(1 Cor. xiii. 2). If a soul has begun to have ever so little charity,
so that at least it is careful to love those who love it, and to salute
the brethren, and those who offer salutation, then I should say that
that soul is something, however little, since it has at least the
charity of society, which consists in the natural interchange of
courtesy given and received. But as our Lord inquires, What does
it more than others ? (Matt. v. 47). And I should regard a soul as
being not of liberal, or even of moderate dimensions, but as being
plainly narrow, small, and petty, which had no more charity than
this strictly limited amount.
n . If, however, it progresses and grows greater, so as to overpass
the limits of a love so petty and so narrow, let it, in the full liberty
of the Spirit, reach the broad confines of a charity and kindness
which is wholly free and gratuitous ; insomuch as out of the largeheartedness of its good-will, to extend its kindly cares to all men,
and to love all and everyone as it loves its own self. And then the
reproach could not be addressed to it: ' What doest thou more than
is of obligation ?' in face of a charity so capacious. The charity, I
repeat, which embraces all persons, even those with whom it has no
bond of social relation, wThich is not allured by any hope of personal
advantage, nor repelled by any feeling of dislike, which again is constrained by no obligation, except indeed by that of which it is said:

THE ADORNMENT OF THE BRIDE

T

75

Owe no man anything, but to love one another (Rom. xiii. 8 ) ; that is
indeed great. But if in addition to this you take by violence the
realm of charity, and, like a pious invader, occupy it even to its
farthest bounds, then you will regard the bowels of charity as not to
be shut up even to enemies; you will do good even to those who
hate you, you will pray for those who despitefully use you and
persecute you, and strive to be peaceful even with those who are
haters of peace ; then the breadth, and height, and beauty of your
soul, will be as the breadth, and height, and beauty of heaven.
Then will be fulfilled in it that which is spoken : He stretcheth forth
the heavens like a curtain (Ps. civ. 2); and in it He in whom greatness, immensity, and glory are equally without bound will deign not
only to dwell, but to go to and fro at His pleasure in a heaven so
extended and so fair.
12. You see, then, what are the heavens which the Church includes, without ceasing to be in her universality, as a vast heaven,
extending from sea even to sea and from the River unto the world's
end. Consider also as a consequence, to what you can, in this
respect, compare i t ; provided that you have not forgotten what was
said a little while ago with regard to ' the heaven of heaven, and the
heavens of heavens' (n. 9). Our mother [the Church], though she
be here below in a place of exile, has, even while she is performing
her pilgrimage, heavens of her own, spiritual men, illustrious in their
faith and by their life, pure in faith, unshaken in hope, of wide
charity, of deep and lofty contemplation. And these heavens let fall
the rain of the word of salvation, thunder by their rebukes, lighten
by their wonderful works (miraculis). They declare the glory of
God ; they are spread, like a curtain, over all the earth ; they show in
themselves the law of life and conduct written as by the Finger of
God, to give the knowledge of salvation unto their people; they also
teach the Gospel of peace, because they are the ' curtains of
Solomon.'
13. We must discern also upon these curtains the likenesses of
things heavenly, which were described above when we spoke of the
ornaments of the Bridegroom (n. 3). We must discern similarly the
Queen standing on His right hand, decked with ornaments similar, if
not equal, to His (Ps. xlv. 9). For although she has no little
splendour and beauty for her portion, in the righteousness of the
Saints, both in the place of her pilgrimage and in the day of her
power, yet there is a difference between His crown of virtues and the
consummation of the glory of the blessed. Yet I may say that the
Bride is perfect and blessed, though it be in part. For in part she is
as the tents of Kedar. Yet she is beautiful, whether in that part
which is already blessed and reigns in heaven; or in that, even while
she is in the night of this world, she is adorned with men who are
illustrious by their wisdom and their virtues, even as the midnight
sky is adorned with its stars. Wherefore the Prophet says : They
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever
(Dan. xii. 3).
14. What humility is there here, and yet what sublimity ! It is to
be at once the tents of Kedar, and the sanctuary of God ; at once a
habitation on earth, and a palace in heaven ; a hut of clay, and a
royal hall; a body of death, and a temple of light; an object of
contempt to the proud, and yet the Bride of Christ. She is black,
but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem ; and although labour and
the sorrow of a prolonged exile have darkened her face, yet she is
fair with the beauty of heaven, as the curtains of Solomon. If you
are displeased with her blackness, yet you cannot but admire her
beauty ; if you despise her as humble, yet look up to her as sublime.
Yet in this condition in which she is, how remarkable' a proof of
wisdom, of discretion, of fitness, is to be gathered from the fact that
this abasement and this elevation, are each so tempered, according
to time, in the Bride, that among all the changes and chances of this
world, this loftiness raises her up in adversities, so that she does not
fail; and this humbleness represses the tendency to pride, so that
even in prosperity she does not grow forgetful of her Lord. These
two results are each of them most beautiful, but are exactly contrary
to each other ; nevertheless, they both work together for good to the
Bride, and are helpful to her salvation.
15. So much with regard to the comparison which the Bride
makes between herself and the curtains of Solomon. Yet there remains still to be treated another sense, which I referred to at the
beginning, and promised to explain, namely, that which refers the
whole comparison to the blackness of the Bride only. This promise
I am fully intending to keep, but it must be deferred to the beginning
of another sermon, as well because this is already sufficiently long, as
also that the prayer prevents, which, according to our custom, we
offer to the praise and glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus
Christ our Lord, who is God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXVIII.
OF T H E BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF T H E BRIDE : AND IN WHAT
MANNER HEARING, RATHER THAN SIGHT, AVAILS IN MATTERS
OF FAITH, AND TO T H E KNOWLEDGE OF T H E T R U T H .

Y

OU remember, I doubt not, what were ' the curtains of
Solomon,' to which the beauty of the Bride was compared,
and who was meant by Solomon, provided that the whole
comparison is intended to be with the Bride's beauty. If, however,
it be referred wholly to her blackness, as that of the tents of Kedar,
then I have nothing more to say to you on the subject of those

THE BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF THE BRIDE

177

curtains of Solomon, except that they were, perhaps, those of which
that King was accustomed to make use as a tent or screen when he
thought fit to live under canvas, and which (if that were the case)
would no doubt be stained and - blackened by their exposure every
day to the rays of the sun and the violence of weather. Yet that
was not uselessly done, 1 but in order that the costly furniture which
was within, might be preserved unsoiled and beautiful. In this point
of view the Bride does not deny her blackness, but makes excuse for
it; nor does she regard as blameworthy such a condition, which
charity excuses, and which the judgment of the Truth does not
disapprove. For does not an Apostle ask, Who is weak, and I am not
weak ? who is offended, and I burn notl (2 Cor. xi. 29). She takes
upon her the blemish (ncevum) of compassion, in order to lighten
or to cure the malady of passion in another; she allows herself to
gather blackness, on account of her zeal for whiteness, and obtains
fairness and beauty as her reward.
2. The blackening of One renders many white and fair; not that H e
is tinged with their faults, but that H e is touched by their sufferings.
It is expedient, it was said, that one man should die for the people, and
that the whole nation perish not (John xi. 50). It is expedient that One,
for the sake of all, should be blackened by the likeness of sinful
flesh, and that the whole [human] race should not be condemned by
the blackness of sin. Let the brightness and the image of the Divine
Nature be obscured by the form of a servant, for the life of a servant.
Let the radiance of eternal life gather blackness in the flesh, in
order that the flesh may by it be purified. Let the Form that was
fairer than all the sons of men be obscured in the darkness of the
Passion, in order that the sons of men might see a great light and be
enlightened by i t ; let It be defiled upon the Cross ; let It grow pale 2
in death; let It have no form or comeliness, that the Divine Bridegroom may obtain for the Church His Bride to be altogether
beautiful and glorious, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.
I recognise the curtain of Solomon—nay, rather, I embrace the
monarch Solomon himself under his" covering of black. He, too,
has blackness, but it is of the skin alone; it is an external blackness,
not extending within ; for the King's daughter is all glorious within
(Ps. xlv. 13). Within is the brightness of Divinity, the beauty of His
virtues, the shining of His glory, [otherwise gratice\ and the white
lustre of His innocence ; but the appearance of infirmity conceals all
these, and renders Him open to scorn from the beholders ; His
countenance is, as it were, hidden, and H e is despised, since H e is
tempted in all ways like unto [His brethren], yet without sin. I
recognise the image and likeness of a defiled and blackened human
1
Three MSS. vary slightly here, and make the preacher say : ' It is needful to
recall to you the curtains with which Solomon used once to cover his pavilion.
These were no doubt black, by their exposure every day to the rays of the sun,
and the violence of weather. Yet that,5 etc.
"2 Totus versus in pallorem ('Jubilus Rhythmicus de Nomine Jesu ' ) . — E D .

12

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

nature; I recognise those coats of skins, 1 the coverings granted to
our first parents, after they had sinned against God (Gen. iii. 21).
For H e has accepted blackness for Himself in taking upon Him the
form of a servant, in being made in the likeness of men, and in being
found in fashion as a man (Phil. ii. 7). I recognise under the covering of goatskin, which is the symbol of sin, both the Hands which
did no wrong, and the neck (Gen. xxvii. 16) through which thought
of evil never passed ; and on that account no guile was found in His
Mouth (Is. liii. 9). I know, O Jesus, that Thou art of mild nature,
meek and humble of heart, of benign look and kindly spirit, and that
Thou art indeed anointed with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows
(Ps. xlv. 7). Whence, then, is it that Thou art rough and shaggy
like Esau ? Wherefore is Thy Countenance wrinkled and blackened,
and whence this shaggy growth of hair ? Mine, mine they are, and
these Hands are rendered bristly with the likeness of me, a sinner.
I acknowledge as mine this shaggy growth, and in my flesh I behold
God my Saviour.
3. Nevertheless, it was not Rebekah, but Mary, who invested Him
in this garment of flesh; and H e who accepted the benediction [of
His Father] was so much the worthier as she who bore Him was the
more holy. Well is it for me that H e is found in my likeness, since
the benediction is reserved by Him for me, since it is for me that the
heritage is claimed. It was, in fact, said to Him : Ask of Me, and I
shall give Thee the heathe?i for Thine inheritance, and the utmost parts
of the earth for Thy possession (Ps. ii. 8). Thine inheritance, H e says,
Thy possession, I will give to Thee. How wilt Thou give it to Him if
it be His ? And why dost Thou warn Him to ask for it ? or how can
it be His if it be necessary that H e should ask ? It is, then, for me
that H e asks it; and it is in order that He may undertake my cause
that H e puts on my nature. Wherefore, says the Prophet, The chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and, The Lord hath laid on Him
the iniquity of us all (Is. liii. 5, 6). And the Apostle explains, In all
things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might
be merciful (Heb. ii. 17). So that His voice is truly the voice of Jacob,
but the hands the hands of Esau (Gen. xxvii. 22). That which we
hear from His Lips is His ; but what we see in Him, that comes from
us. The words which He speaks, they are spirit, and they are life;
but the Form upon which the eye rests is subject to death, and is
death. One thing is beheld, another believed. The senses declare
that H e is black ; • but faith protests assuredly that H e is fair as
the lily (Cant. ii. 1), and altogether beautiful. H e is, indeed, black,
but only to the eyes of those void of understanding; for in the judg1
Pelliceas. The preacher is playing upon the word pelles = skins, though rendered ' curtains ' throughout, in deference to A. V. and Douay V. Tents, though
normally covered with curtains of the black fabric woven out of goats' hair, at all
events, in historic times, were no doubt frequently covered with the skins themselves. Both kinds of coverings were combined in the construction of the Tabernacle. See Exod. xxvi. 7-14.—ED.

THE BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF T H E BRIDE

I 79

ment of the faithful He is wholly beautiful; black yet comely ; black
in the opinion of Herod, but by the confession of the penitent Thief,
as in the faith of the Centurion, beautiful altogether.
4. How beautiful the man who exclaimed, Truly this Man was
the Son of God, had surely perceived. But into what he perceived it is
for us to examine. For if the Centurion had considered only that
which was apparent in the Man before him, on what ground could he
have pronounced Him the Son of God, or beautiful ? What was
there in Him to the eyes of the spectators, other than tortured and
uncomely, when nailed upon the Cross with outstretched Hands, and
between two malefactors, He was the subject of laughter to the
malignant, of weeping to the faithful ? H e alone was an object of
laughter, who alone had the right to be the object of respect and of
terror. Whence, then, did he learn the charm of the Crucified One ?
Whence did he know that the Man who was numbered with the transgressors was in truth the Son of God ? To reply to that question is
not for me ; nor is there need, for the care of the Evangelist has not
failed to supply the answer. These are his words: When the Centicrion, who stood over against Him, saw that He so cried out, and gave
up the ghost, he said: Truly this Man was the Son of God (Mark
xv. 39). Therefore, he believed at [the hearing of] the Voice; he
recognised the Son of God by His Voice, not by His appearance.
Was he not, then, perhaps one of the sheep of Him who said, My
sheep hear My voice (John x. 14) P1
5. By the hearing is discovered a truth which the sight was
unable to reach; appearance has deceived the eye, and the truth has
entered by the ear. The eye declared Him weak, defiled, miserable,
condemned to the most ignominious of deaths; while the ear gained
the knowledge that H e was Son of God, that H e was beautiful altogether ; but not the ear of the Jews, who were uncircumcised in [heart
and] ears. It was not without reason that St. Peter cut off the ear of the
high priest's servant, as if to open an entrance for the truth, and that
the truth should free him, that is, make him free. The centurion
was a man uncircumcised, but not as to his ears, since he recognised
the Lord, under so many marks of feebleness, and at the single voice
of a dying Man. He did not despise that which he saw, because he
believed that which he did not see. Nor did he believe because of
what he saw, but, on the contrary, because, without doubt, of what he
heard; fox faith cometh by hearing (Rom. x. 17). It would have been
indeed worthy of the truth that it should enter the soul by the eyes,
which are its windows, and because sight is the worthier sense; but
that is reserved for us, O my soul, to the time when we shall see
face to face. In the meantime, it is well that the remedy should
enter where the disease entered, that life should follow death, and
tread close upon its footsteps ; that Light should follow darkness, and
1
This is the reading of two MSS. One other, with the printed editions, adds :
and I know Mine, and My [sheep] know Me.5 The Colbertine MS. adds merely,
' and My [sheep] know Me.'
4

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that the venom of the serpent should be succeeded by the Truth, the
remedy for i t ; so that the eye, which was sick, might be cured, and,
being cured, might calmly behold Him whom in its sickness it was
unable to discern. The ear was the first portal by which death
entered, let it now be the first inlet opened to life : and let the hearing, which took away the power of sight, now restore i t ; for, unless
we have believed [mysteries], we shall not comprehend them. Therefore, hearing has relation to the merit, and sight to the recompense
[of belief]. Wherefore the Psalmist says : Thou wilt give to my hearing joy and gladness (Ps. li. 8 ) ; because the recompense of faithful
hearing is the Blessed Vision, and the merit [deserving] of that Blessed
Vision is faithful hearing. Blessed are those who are pure in heart,
saith Our Lord, for they shall see God (Matt. v. 8). And it is necessary that the eye which is to see God should be purified by faith,
according to that which is written: Purifying their hearts by faith
(Acts xv. 9).
6. In the meantime, then, and while [that] sight is not as yet prepared, let the sense of hearing be aroused, let it be exercised,1 and
receive the truth. Happy is he to whom the Truth bears witness,
saying : At the hearing of the ear he obeyed Me (Ps. xviii. 45). I shall
be worthy to behold Him if before I have beheld 1 shall be found to
have obeyed H i m ; I shall behold with confidence Him who has
received the sacrifice of my obedience. How blessed is the man who
says : The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious,
neither tur?ied away back (Is. 1. 5.). There you have a model of
voluntary obedience, an example of perseverance. For he who does
not contradict works voluntarily, and he who has not turned back
perseveres. Both one and the other are necessary, because God
loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor. ix. 7), and he that endureth unto the
end shall be saved (Matt. x. 22). May the Lord deign to open mine
ear also, may the word of truth enter into my heart, may He purify
mine eyes, and prepare them for the joyful vision [of Himself], so
that I too may say to H i m : Thine ear has heard the preparation of
my heart (Ps. x. 17), and that I may be enabled also, with all that
are obedient to Him, to hear from His Mouth : Now ye are clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you (John xv. 3). Not all
who listen to His words are cleansed, but those only who obey them:
Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it (Luke xi. 28).
Such an hearing it is which He requires who gives command, saying,
Hear, O Israel (Deut. vi. 3 ) ; such a hearing it is that he offers who
says : Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth (1 Sam. iii. 9 ) ; such,
again, it is that he promises who speaks thus : / will hear what God
the Lord will speak (Ps. lxxxv. 8).
7. But in order that you may know that the Holy Spirit observes
this order in the spiritual advancement of the soul—that is to say,
that He forms the practice of hearing before He makes the soul glad
1
In some editions, ' let it be exercised' is wanting. Perhaps the copyist, being
doubtful whether the text were ' excitetur' or ' exercitetur? wrote them both down.

THE BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF T H E BRIDE

l8l

with sight—notice what is said in a Psalm : Hearken, O daughter,
and see (Ps. xlv. 11, Vulg. and Douay). Why dost thou open thine
eyes ? Open rather thine ears. Dost thou greatly desire to see
Christ ? It is necessary that you should first hear what H e says, that
you should hear what is said of Him, that you may say when you
shall see Him : As we have heard, so have we seen (Ps. xlviii. 9). That
brightness is without measure, and your vision is feeble ; you cannot
attain unto it. You may, perhaps, be able to hear His words; to
behold Him you are not able. When I had become a sinner I heard
God calling in the garden, Adam, where art thou ? (Gen. iii. 9), but
behold Him I did not. But the hearing, if it be pious, watchful, and
faithful, brings back the sight. Faith shall purify the eye which impiety has rendered diseased; and though disobedience had closed it
fast, obedience shall open it again. Lastly, it is, as says the Psalmist,
through Thy precepts I get understanding (Ps. cxix. 104); because the
observance of the commandments of God restores the intelligence,
which transgression has taken away. Consider that good man Isaac,
how, when he was already very aged, his hearing retained its vigour
beyond the other senses. The eyes of the Patriarch were obscured,
his taste was led away, his hands were deceived, but not his ears.
What is there wonderful in his ear perceiving the truth, since faith
cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God (Rom. x. 17), and
the Word of God is truth ? The voice, he said, is Jacob's voice, and
nothing was truer than this ; but, he went on, the hands are the hands
of Esau (Gen. xxvii. 2 2 ) ; and nothing was more false. You are
wrong; the mere likeness of a hand has deceived you. Taste is not a
reliable test of truth, though it discern that which is agreeable. Is it
to know the truth to suppose that you are eating venison when, in
truth, it is the flesh of a tame kid ? Much less is there dependence
on the eye which sees nothing ; in it there is neither truth nor wisdom.
Woe unto those, says the Prophet, that are wise in their own eyes
(Is. v. 21). It is not a good wisdom which is thus condemned. It
is but the wisdom of this world which is foolishness with God ( E Cor.
8. The true wisdom is within, and is hidden (Job xxviii. 13), as
holy Job knew. Why do you seek it without, and from the bodily
senses ? Taste has its seat in the palate, but wisdom in the heart.
Do not seek for wisdom with the fleshly eye, for flesh and blood doth
not reveal it, but the Spirit (Matt. xvi. 17). Nor is it found in the
taste, for it is not found in the land of the liimig (Job xxviii. 13); nor
in the touch of the hand, for Job says again : If my mouth has kissed
my hand, this also were an i?iiquity to be punished by the judge, for I
should have denied the God that is above (xxxii. 27, 28). This, I consider, is the case when the gift of God—that is, wisdom—is attributed
not to God, but to the merits of [human] actions. Isaac was a wise
man ; nevertheless, his senses led him into error. Has hearing alone
the truth ? It is because hearing perceives the word. Rightly was it
forbidden to the woman in the Gospel, who had only carnal wisdom,

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to touch the Flesh of the Risen Word, because she trusted more to
her eyes than to the Divine oracles—that is, to the carnal senses
rather than to the VVord of G o d ; for she did not believe that H e
whom she saw dead was raised again, 1 although He had Himself
promised that this should be so. Thus her eyes had no rest until
they were satisfied by seeing, because she found no consolation in
faith, nor in the promise given by God. Are not heaven and earth,
and whatsoever is capable of being reached by the bodily eye, to pass
away and perish before one jot or tittle out of all that God has spoken
shall fail ? And yet she who was unwilling to be consoled by the
Word of the Lord ceased to weep immediately upon the sight of Him,
because she attached greater weight to the experience of her senses
than to the certitude of faith. But that experience is deceptive.
9. We are thrown back, on that account, upon the surer cognition
of faith, which comprehends that which sense is unable to reach, and
which is not included in past experience. Touch Me not, says the
Saviour—that is to say, Cease to rely upon this [carnal] sense, which
is easily deceived f rest upon My Word; accustom yourselves to the
exercise of faith. Faith cannot be deceived; it does not feel the
poverty which belongs to the senses, but comprehends things which
are invisible—indeed, it passes beyond the boundaries even of human
reason, of the course of nature, of the limits of experience. Why do
you ask of the eye that which it is not capable of knowing ? and why
does the hand endeavour to examine that which is beyond its range ?
Whatever these two senses bring you information upon is of subordinate importance. But faith reveals to you truths respecting Me,
from the greatness of which nothing can detract. Learn to hold
with firmer grasp, and to follow with greater confidence, that which
it recommends to you. Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended unto
My Father (John xx. 17). As if it were only when H e were ascended
that H e either could be, or desired to be, touched by her ! Yes,
doubtless, H e could be touched, but by the heart, not by the h a n d ;
by prayers, not by the eyes; by faith, and not by the bodily senses.
' Why,' H e says, ' do you wish to touch Me now, you who judge of
the glory of My Resurrection only by the bodily senses ? Do you not
remember that, even while I was yet mortal, the eyes of My disciples
were not able to sustain for a moment the glory of My Body, though
it were about to die ? (Matt. xvii. 6). I am still, indeed, in a certain
relation to your senses, while I bear this form of a servant, which you
are able to recognise through habit. But My glory is wonderful, and
raised wholly above you, so that you cannot in any wise attain unto
it.' Defer, then, your judgment, suspend your belief, and do not trust
at all to your senses for the determination of a matter so great, and
which is reserved to faith. Faith will define it more worthily and
more surely, inasmuch as faith comprehends it more fully, and, in its
deep and mystical intelligence, apprehends the height and the depth,
1
2

Resuscitatum; otherwise, resurrectunim,
Sedy,cibili. See previous note upon this rare word (p. 112).—ED.

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183

the length and the breadth of that mystery. That which the eye
hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart
of man [even to imagine], faith bears in itself—concealed, as it were,
by an impenetrable covering, and safely sealed.
10. That faculty, then, can alone touch Me worthily, which shall
contemplate Me sitting at the Right Hand of My Father, no longer
in humble guise, but in celestial glory; in My very Flesh, but in
quite other semblance than aforetime. Why do you desire to touch
It in Its disfigurement? Wait till It be glorified, and you shall do
so. For that which is now disfigured shall then be beautiful; and
disfigured it is, to touch and to sight, even to you, who are yourself
disfigured, as relying rather upon your senses than upon faith. But
take to yourself [spiritual] beauty, and then the touch of Me will be
possible to you ; for if you have faith, then you have this beauty also,
and can touch Him who has it both more worthily and more happily.
Touch Him with the hand of faith, with the finger of earnest desire,
with the clasp of devotion, with the fixed gaze of the intellect. But
will H e still be black, Him whom you touch thus ? By no means.
Thy Beloved is white and ruddy (Cant. v. 10). H e is beautiful altogether, and is surrounded with the Roses of Sharon, with lilies of the
valleys—that is, with the noble bands of Martyrs, and the choirs of
Virgins. I who sit in the midst am akin to each, for I, too, am both
Virgin and Martyr. How can I but belong to the white-robed choirs
of Virgins, I who am a virgin, the Son of a Virgin, the Spouse of a
virgin-bride? How, again, can I but have a place among the empurpled ranks of the Martyrs, I who am the cause and the strength
of martyrdom, the pattern and the reward of Martyrs ? Be thou like
this, and touch thus Him who is thus described, 1 and then say : My
Beloved is white and ruddy, the chief est among ten thousand. Thousands
of thousands are with Him—ten thousand times ten thousand are
around Him ; but there is none of all these to whom H e can be
compared. Do you fear lest you should fall into some error while
seeking Him whom you love in the midst of a multitude so great ?
You will assuredly not hesitate in your choice ; you will easily distinguish Him who is chiefest among all those thousands, since H e is
more majestic than all, and you will say : He that is glorious in His
apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength (Is. lxiii. 1). Then
H e will not be in that complexion blackened by trouble and hardship
in which, up to that time, H e had presented Himself before the eyes
of His persecutors that they might despise and put Him to death, as
also before the eyes of His friends that they might recognise Him
when He was risen again. No, I repeat, H e will then appear no
longer in that sable garb, but in a robe of white, and with a beauty
which surpasses not only that of the sons of men, but also that of
angels. Why [He says] do you wish to touch Me when I am in a
state so humble, in the form of a servant, and without form or comeli1
The vigorous compression of the original can hardly be approached : ' Talem
talis taliterque tange?—ED.

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

184

ness? Touch Me rather when I shall be adorned with heavenly
beauty, crowned with glory and honour—inspiring fear, indeed, by
My Divine Majesty, but full of the winning serenity and gentleness
which is Mine by nature.
n . At this point we ought to notice the prudence of the Bride,
and the marvellous profundity of her sayings, inasmuch as under the
figure of the curtains of Solomon, that is, in the flesh, she has sought
out God, and in death has discovered the Life, supreme glory and
honour among unnumbered disgraces and shames, and under the
dark and poor exterior of the Crucified One, the whiteness of innocence, and the splendour of all virtues; just as under those tentcurtains, however black and despised, the ornaments and treasures of
a great and rich king are hidden and preserved. Rightly, then, a
person does not scorn the blackness of the curtains, who divines and
reflects upon the beauty which they conceal. Therefore it is that some
have despised the one because they did not know of the existence of
the other; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the
Lord of Glory (i Cor. ii. 8). Herod knew it not, and therefore
despised H i m ; nor did the rulers of the Synagogue, since they reproached the gloom and infirmity of His Passion, saying : He saved
others, Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend
now from the Cross, that we may see and believe (Mark xv. 31, 22).
But the thief knew Him from the cross where he was hanging,
though H e was upon the Cross too, and acknowledged His innocence : This Man hath done nothing amiss.1 And then at the same
time he declared his belief in His royal Majesty and Glory : Lord,
remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdo?n (Luke xxiii. 42).
The Centurion knew Him, who cried out that He was the Son of
God (Matt, xxvii. 54); and the Church knows Him now, and
emulates His blackness in order to share in His glory and beauty.
She is not confounded at appearing black or being called black, as
she says to her beloved : The reproaches of them that reproached Thee
are fallen upon me (Ps. Ixix. 9). For she is black as the curtains of
Solomon, but without and not within ; for my Solomon has no inward blackness. Also, she does not say, ' I am black as Solomon/
but 'as the curtains of Solomon '; because the blackness of Him who
is truly the Peaceful is only on the surface. The blackness caused by
sin is inward, and sin defiles the soul before it appears to the eyes of
men. Thus it is out of the heart that proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies, and it is
these which defile a man (Matt. xv. 19, 20) ; but that is not the case
(God forbid!) with our Solomon. You will assuredly not find any
such defilements in Him who is truly the Peaceful; for it must absolutely be the case that H e who taketh away the sins of the world is
Himself without sin, that He may be found fit to bring peace to
sinners, and have a right to claim for Himself justly the name of the
Peaceful.
1

Luke xxiii. 41 ; hut not quite verbatim.

See verse 22.

T H E BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF THE BRIDE

185

12. But there is also a blackness of repentance which gathers upon
one who makes lamentation for his sins. Perhaps H e who is my
Solomon will not abhor this in me, if I clothe myself with it of my
own accord for my sins; because a broken and contrite heart God
does not despise (Ps. li. 17). There is also that of compassion, with
which one is affected who condoles with some other wTho is afflicted,
and it darkens you with the suffering of a brother. Our Peacemaker
has without doubt considered that He ought not to reject this blackness of sympathy, since H e has deigned Himself to be indued with
it for us, and has borne our sins in His own Body on the Tree
(1 Peter ii. 24). There is also the blackness of persecution, which
is counted as a rich and exalted ornament, when it is endured for the
sake of righteousness and truth. Wherefore it is said of the Apostles
that they departed from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name (Acts v. 4 1 ) ; and
again : Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness^ sake
(Matt. v. 10). It is, I consider, principally in this blackness that the
Church takes glory to herself, and of all the dark coverings of the
Bridegroom it is that which she imitates most willingly. Also, it is
that which has been promised to her by the Saviour : If they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John xv. 20).
13. On this account the Bride adds: Look not upon me because I
am black, because the sun hath looked upon me (i. 6), that is, Do not
consider me as repulsive, because it is the violence of persecution
which renders me less attractive, and less glorious according to the
glory of the world. Why do you impute as a blemish to me the
blackness which the heat of persecution, and not any fault in my
behaviour, has caused ? Or perhaps she intends by ' the sun ' the
warm zeal for righteousness with which she is fired and consumed
against the ungodly, saying to God : The zeal of Thine house hath
eate?i me up (Ps. lxix. 9 ) ; and again, My zeal hath consumed me,
because mine enemies have forgotte?i Thy words ; and again, Horror
hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake Thy law
(Ps. cxix. 139, 53); and again, Do I not hate them, O Lo?'d, that hate
Thee ? and am I not grieved with them that rise up against Thee ?
(Ps. cxxxix. 21). She observes with care also that saying of the
Wise Man : Hast thou daughters ? show not thyself cheerful towards
them (Ecclus. vii. 24) ; so that when they are slothful and luxurious,
and backward in observance of rule, she shows towards them, not
the serenity of satisfaction, but the troubled look of severity. Or,
again, ' to be blackened by the sun ' means, perhaps, to her to burn
with ardent charity towards the brethren, to weep with them that
weep, to be weak with the weak, to feel acutely when another is
affected with scandal. Or it may be read thus : It is Christ, the Sun
of Righteousness, for whose love I languish, whose beams have
looked upon me. That languishing draws the colour from the
countenance, and that paleness arises from the violence of the soul's
desire; wherefore also the Psalmist says : / remembered God, and

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was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit swooned away
(Ps. lxxvi. 4, Vulg. and Douay). Therefore the ardour of its desire,
like a burning sun, makes pale the countenance, while the soul is
making its pilgrimage here below, and sighing for the glorious vision
of its L o r d ; the repulse that it receives makes it impatient, and the
delay that it experiences gives it pain that is great according to the
greatness of its love. Who is there among us who glows with a love
so sacred, that the desire which he has to see Jesus Christ inspires
him with distaste and scorn for all the varieties of glory, and all the
joy, of this present life; so that he says to God, with the Prophet,
/ have not desired the day of man, Thou knowest (Jer. xvii. 16,
Douay), and also with holy David, My soul refused to be comforted
(Ps. lxxvii. 2), that is, scorns to be flushed with the empty joy of
present good. Or, lastly, ' the sun hath discoloured me ' may mean,
in comparison with His own splendour, because when I draw near
to Him I find myself to be dusky, even black, and despise myself
as disfigured and foul. But otherwise I am indeed beautiful; and
why do you call me black, when I yield in fairness only to the sun ?
But the words which follow seem to agree better with the former
sense, for she adds : My mother s children were angry with me,
which plainly signifies that she has suffered persecution; but that
shall be the subject of another discourse. For the present this,
which we have received by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bridegroom of His Church, will suffice, and may it be to His glory, who
is God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

S E R M O N XXIX.
OF T H E COMPLAINT OF T H E CHURCH AGAINST H E R PERSECUTORS ;
THAT IS TO SAY, AGAINST THOSE WHO SOW DIVISION AMONGST
BRETHREN.

M

Y mother's children [sons] were angry with me (i. 6). Annas
and Caiaphas, and Judas Iscariot, were sons of the Synagogue;
and these fought most cruelly and bitterly against the Church
at her very beginning, though she was equally a daughter of the
Synagogue, inasmuch as they hung upon the Cross Jesus, who united
her members into one body. At that time, and by means of them,
God fulfilled what H e had predicted long before by His Prophet,
saying : / will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered
(Zech. xiii. 7). And perhaps in these words from the canticle of
Hezekiah : My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but
beginning, He cut me off (Is. xxxviii. 12, Douay). It is, then, of these
and others from that race who are known to have opposed themselves
to the Christian name that we must consider it to have been said by

THE COMPLAINT OF T H E CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS

187

the Bride : The sons of my mother were angry with me. And it is with
great propriety that she calls them 'sons of my mother,' not 'of my
father/ inasmuch as they had not God for their father, but were of
their father the devil, and were murderers, as he was a murderer from
the beginning (John viii. 44). Wherefore she does not say 'my
brethren,' or ' the sons of my father,' but ' the sons of my mother were
angry with me.' Otherwise, if she did not distinguish thus, it would
seem that even the Apostle Paul was included in those of whom she
complains, since he too at one time persecuted the Church of God
(1 Cor. xv. 9 ) ; but he obtained mercy, because he did it ignorantly
and in unbelief (1 Tim. i. 13), and made proof that he had God for
his Father, and thus by father, as by mother, had to the Church the
relation of a brother.
2. But remark that she names none in her accusation except the
sons of her mother, and accuses them alone, as if they only were in
fault. Yet how many things has she endured from strangers ? According to the Psalmist, Many a time have they afflicted me from my
youth ; and The plowers plowed upon my back (Ps. cxxix. 1-3). Why,
then, do you accuse in particular the children of your mother, since
you are well aware that you have been very often persecuted by many
others also ? Now, it is said, When thou sittesi at ?neat with a ruler,
consider diligently what is before thee (Prov. xxiii. 1). Brethren, we
are sitting at the table of Solomon, and who is a greater ruler, or
richer, than he ? I do not speak of earthly riches, though Solomon
abounded even in these; but look upon the board which is before us,
and see how it is loaded with heavenly dainties. Now, these that are
set before us are spiritual and divine. And he continues : Consider
diligently what is before thee, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare the
like?- On that account I consider as diligently as I am able that
which is provided for me in these words of the Bride ; and it is doubtless for my instruction that she speaks only of the persecution which
she endured from those of her own house, and passes over in silence
so many and severe sufferings which she has endured in every part of
the world, from every nation which is under heaven, as is well known,
from infidels, heretics, and schismatics. I know too well the prudence
of the Bride to suppose that it is by chance or by forgetfulness that
these are passed over without mention. But without doubt she laments
more particularly that which she feels more keenly, and thinks it needful for us to avoid with special care. What, then, is that ? Evidently
it is domestic and intestine discord. That is plainly referred to in
the Gospel by the mouth of the Saviour Himself, when H e says : A
marts enemies shall be they of his own household (Matt. x. 36). And
by the Psalmist: Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who
did also eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Ps. xli. 9).
And again, / / was not an enemy that reproached me: then I could have
borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself
1
Prov. xxiii. 2. The latter clause is not in the Hebrew or the Vulgate, but is
an addition of the LXX., which appears to be quite alone in this reading. — E D .

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

against me ; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou,
a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance: we took sweet
counsel together (Ps. lv. 12-14). That is to say, What you who are my
companion at table and chamber make me suffer I feel more keenly,
and endure with greater reluctance. You know whose complaint this
is, and of whom it is made.
3. Recognise, then, that the Bride complains of ' the sons of my
mother ' with the same wounded feelings, and in the same spirit, when
she says that they ' were angry with me.' So she speaks in another
place : My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore : and my
kinsmen stand afar off (Ps. xxxviii. 11). Keep far away from you
always, I entreat, this evil which is so greatly to be hated and detested;
you, who have experienced, and experience daily, howr good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps. cxxxiii. 1);
and if in unity, then assuredly not in a habit of scandal. For otherwise, instead of being good and pleasant, it is of all things the worst
and most deplorable. Woe to that man who is the cause that the
sweet bond of unity is broken ! Whosoever it is shall assuredly bear
the penalty. May it be mine rather to die than to hear any one
among you crying out with good reason : The sons of my mother were
angry with me. Are not you all sons of one community, and, as it
were, of one mother, and, therefore, brethren, one of the other ? What
is there coming from without, which should be able to trouble or distress you if all is well with you within, if you rejoice in brotherly
love ? Who is he that will harm you, it is said, if ye be followers of
that which is good (1 Pet. iii. 13) ? Wherefore do ye covet earnestly the
best gifts (1 Cor. xii. 31), and you shall prove yourselves to be followers of the good. Now, the best gift of all is charity; there is
assuredly no other to be compared with that, which the heavenly
Bridegroom of a new Bride took occasion so often to inculcate, once
saying, indeed : By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples,
if ye have love one to another ; and again, A new commandment 1 give
you, that ye love one a?iother ; and, This is My commandment, that ye
love one another (John xiii. 34, 35 ; xv. 12); also praying that they
might be one, as He and the Father are One (xvii. n ) . See also if
St. Paul himself, who invites you to seek the best gifts, does not place
charity above all the others ; both when he says that it is greater than
faith and than hope, and far above knowledge; as also when, after
having enumerated many and wonderful gifts of grace, he leads us at
length to a more excellent way, and explains that this is no other than
the gift of charity. Lastly, what can we regard as comparable to a
virtue which is preferred to martyrdom itself, and to faith, which
removes mountains (1 Cor. xii. 31 ; xiii. 2, 3)? This, then, is what
I say to you : Let peace be yours and come from you ; then no danger
which may seem to threaten you from without will appal you, for it
will have no power to injure you. And, on the contrary, nothing that
seems to allure you from outside will have any attraction for you if
(which may God forbid!) the seeds of discord have begun their
growth within you.

THE COMPLAINT OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS

189

4. Therefore, dear brethren, let there be peace among you; do not
harm or give pain to each other by word, by action, or even by any
sign, for fear lest any one among you, being embittered and preoccupied
by his own weakness of spirit, and by the persecution he endures,
should be driven to appeal to God to come to his aid against those
who injure or distress him, and it should come to pass that he
break forth into that grave complaint: The children of my mother were
angry with me. For in thus sinning against your brother, you sin
against Christ, who has said: That which you have done to the least
of My brethren, you have done to Me (Matt xxv. 40, 45). Nor is it
enough merely to abstain from graver offences—for example, from
open insult or abuse; but also from secret and envenomed whispers
against any. No, I repeat, it is not sufficient to guard our lips against
these and other faults of a similar kind; even slight injuries to others
ought to be avoided, if, indeed, we can call any fault slight which is
done with the intent of injuring a brother, since, according to the
word of our Saviour, if any is angry with his brother without a cause,
for this alone he shall be in danger of the judgment (Matt. v. 22).
And rightly so, for that which you think a little thing, and for that
reason do it with too little hesitation, the person against whom it is
done views in quite a different light—as a man who looks upon the
surface of things, and judges of them according to their appearance,
is prepared to think a mote to be a beam, and a single spark a blazing
fire. For that charity, which believes all things, is not in the hearts
of all. But the spirit of man, and the thoughts of his heart, are
disposed rather to suspect evil than to believe good; especially when
the Rule of silence neither permits you, whose conduct is in question,
to excuse yourself, nor him who suspects you, to declare the wound
which his sense of right feels, that it may be cured. Thus he burns
inly, even unto death, and groans within himself, being wholly occupied with anger and irritation, and unable to occupy his mind with
any other subject than the injury he has sustained. H e cannot pray,
he cannot read, nor meditate upon any holy or spiritual subject; and
while this soul, for which Christ died, is thus going on the way which
leads to death, being cut off from the influence of the life-giving Spirit,
and deprived of His benefits, what is the condition, I ask you, of
your mind ? What pleasure can you take in prayer, or work, or any
occupation that you may have in the meantime, you against whom
Christ cries out in anxiety for your brother whose heart you have
made sad ? The Son of My mother, He says, is fighting against Me,
and he who partakes at My table of its sweet sustenance has filled
Me with bitterness.
5. If you say that [your brother] ought not to trouble himself so
deeply for so slight a cause, I reply that the slighter the cause of
offence is, the easier it is for you to abstain from giving it. However,
I know not how you can call any cause whatsoever slight (as I have
said) that is more than the occasion of anger, since even this, as you
have learned from the lips of the Judge Himself, renders the offender

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liable to the judgment. Do you call that a light thing at which
Christ is offended, and for which you are to be brought to judgment,
since it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God ?
(Heb. x. 31). When, then, you have received an injury, as may be
the case sometimes (for it is a difficult thing to prevent this from
happening in communities such as this), do not, after the manner of
those in the world, hasten to strike back your brother again with a
hostile response. Do not ever venture to retort, under the pretext of
reply, with cutting and ironical words, and thus pierce deeply a soul
for which Christ deigned to be crucified; do not make surly answer,
nor grumble under your breath, nor take a sneering air, nor laugh
mockingly, nor knit your brows, as if in wrath or threatening. Let
your anger die away where it is born—do not permit it even to show
itself, for it brings death with it, and it may slay some soul—that you
may be able to say with the Psalmist: / ivas troubled, and I spoke
not (Ps. lxxvi. 5, Douay).
6. I have understood that there are some who interpret these
words in a more mysterious manner, and regard them as having
been spoken of the devil and his angels, who were also sons of the
heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, from which they have
fallen, and who do not cease to make war upon their sister—that is,
the Church. Again, if anyone should take these words in a good
signification, and as referring to spiritually-minded men who are in
the Church, and who strike with the sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God, against carnal brethren wounding them for their
salvation, and bringing them by this warfare to a love for spiritual
things, against this explanation I should not contend. Would that
the Just One would reprove me in mercy, would correct me, striking
that H e may cure, slaying that H e may give life, so that I, too, may
dare to say: / live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. ii. 20).
Agree, it is said, with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art i7i the
way with him ; lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge to the
officer (Matt. v. 25). A good adversary with whom, if I shall live in
peace, there shall be no ground for the judge to speak against me, or
deliver me to the torturer. For my part, I do not regret it if it has
ever been my lot to make any among you sorry after this fashion, for
you have been made sorry unto salvation. I do not know that I
have ever done that without great sorrow to myself, according to
that which is said: A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow
(John xvi. 21). But God forbid that I should keep in memory that
sorrow now that I have fruit of my pain, inasmuch as I see Christ
formed in you who are my offspring. I know not how it is, but I
have even more tender sentiments towards those who have been,
after and by means of my loving corrections, enabled to rise above
some weakness or failing than towards those who have been strong
from the beginning, and have had no need of such means of remedy.
7. It is, then, in this sense that the Church, or the soul that loves
God, is enabled to say that ' the sun hath altered her colour'—

T H E COMPLAINT OF T H E CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS

191

namely, in sending forth and arming certain men of the children of
her mother to carry on against her a war for her salvation ; to make
her a captive to the faith and love of Him, after having pierced her
with many of those arrows of which it is written : The arrows of the
Mighty are sharp (Ps. cxx. 4 ) ; and again : Thine arrows stick fast in
me (Ps. xxxviii. 2). That is why the Psalmist goes on to say : There
is ?io soundness in my flesh. But as for the soul, it is thus rendered
more healthy and more strong, and says ; The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak (Matt. xxvi. 41); and with the Apostle: When
I am weak, then am I strong (2 Cor. xii. 10). Do you see how the
weakness of the flesh strengthens the spirit, and increases its powers,
while, on the contrary, the strength of the flesh is a cause of weakness
to the spirit ? What wonder is it that you should be made stronger
by the weakness of your enemy? Unless, perhaps, you should, with
excessive foolishness, regard that which is for ever lusting against the
spirit (Gal. v. 17) as your friend. See, then, if the prayer was not
wise and well founded which was made by that holy man who asked
of God : Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear (Ps. cxix. 120, Douay).
That fear is the best of all arrows which pierces and slays the desires
of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved alive. And does it not seem
to you that he who keeps under his body and brings it into subjection
(1 Cor. ix. 27) is himself aiding the Hand of Him who is carrying on
the combat with it ?
8. There is yet one other arrow : it is the Word of God, which is
living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. iv. 12),
of which the Saviour says : / came not to send peace, but a sword
(Matt. x. 34). There is still another, a chosen arrow: it is the love
of Christ, which not only pierced the soul of Mary, but transfixed it
from side to side, so that it left no part of that virgin heart empty of
this love, but she loved with all her heart, all her soul, and all
her strength, and was full of grace. Or perhaps it may be thus, that
it transpierced her, in order to penetrate even to us, and that we
might all receive of that fulness; that she might be the mother of
charity, of which God, who is Love, is the Father; that she might
bring forth and might set her tabernacle in the Sun, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled, which says : / will give thee for a light to the
Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation to the ends of the earth
(Is. xlix. 6). For this was fullfiled by means of Mary, who brought
forth and rendered visible in the flesh Him who was invisible, and
whom she had conceived, but not of the flesh, nor with the flesh.
As for her, she received through all her being a wound of Love,
deep, sweet, and wide. How happy should I consider myself if I
could only feel myself touched with the point of the weapon which
gave that wound, and if my soul, being touched with that light
wound of love, might be able to say : / am wounded with love (ii. 5).
Oh that I might be not only in that manner wounded, but also
stricken to the entire extermination of that colour and warmth of the
flesh, which war against the soul!

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9. If the daughters of this world remark disdainfully upon such a
soul as this,, calling it pallid and bloodless, does it not seem to you
that it might fitly reply : Look not upon me because I am black, because
the sun hath looked upon me ? And if it bears in mind that it has
reached its present state through the exhortations or chidings of some
servants of God, who were jealous over it with a godly jealousy, may
it not therefore go on to say, and truly : My mother s children were
angry with me ? The sense, then, of these words, according to what
has been said, will be, that the Church, or any pious soul, speaks
them, not by way of grief or complaint, but in a feeling of joy, of
thankfulness, and even of a sacred pride ; that for the Name of
Christ, and for His Love, she has been deemed worthy to be swarthy
and dusk, and to be reproached with it for His sake ; and this honour
the Church attributes, not to her own merit, but to the grace and
mercy which have prevented and followed her to bring this about.
For who can believe without a preacher ? and how shall they preach,
except they be sent? (Rom. x. 14, 15). She mentions that her
mother's children have been angry wTith her, not in a spirit of anger,
but rather of gratitude. On that account she adds : They made me
the keeper of the vineyards. For this saying, if examined as to its
spiritual sense, does not, in my opinion, appear to breathe any feeling
of complaint or bitterness, but rather of satisfaction. But before we
take in hand to explain that passage (which is a sacred one), let us
endeavour, by our accustomed prayers, to call to our aid that Holy
Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, or certainly the Only
Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the Father, Jesus Christ Our
Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed
for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XXX.
THAT THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT, ARE
SIGNIFIED BY T H E VINEYARDS, OF WHICH THE CHURCH IS
CALLED THE GUARDIAN: AND THAT THE PRUDENCE OF T H E
FLESH IS DEATH.

^ M ^HE Y made me the keeper of the vineyards.
Who did this ?
£
Are they your adversaries, of whom you spoke last ? Listen
and understand, if she does not confess that she has been
entrusted with this charge by those very persons at whose hands she
suffered. Nor is this strange, if the purpose of correction was the
motive of the attack. For who does not know that opposition is
frequently offered to many persons with a friendly intention, and
with excellent results ? How many do we know of daily who are led
on to a higher standard and to a far stricter mode of living by the
pious rebukes of their superiors ? Let us therefore show, if we are

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193

able, how a contest against the Church may be carried on by her
children in a spirit of hostility, and yet how the harm which they inflict
may be for her good; for there is nothing more agreeable than that
those who intend to do harm should do good even against their will.
The former interpretation given of the words covers either sense,
because the Church has never been without those who have been
well disposed towards her, or without others who have been ill disposed ; and each of these classes of people have attacked her,
though from precisely opposite motives; yet each kind of attacks
have been to her profit. In fact, she is able so to glory in having
profited by the trials which she has endured at the hand of her
rivals, that for one vineyard, which they have seemed to have taken
away from her, she rejoices in having been set over many. This,
she says, is the benefit that they have done in contending against me
and my vineyard, those, I mean, who say, Rase it, rase it, even to the
foundation thereof (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), namely, that instead of one, I can
number many vineyards as mine. It is that she says in effect, when
she continues, My own vineyard I have not kept, as if she would explain the reason why she is no longer the keeper of one vineyard, but
of many ; and that is, indeed, the literal sense of the words.
2. But if we follow it simply, and are contented with the most
obvious meaning which occurs to us, we shall consider that the Holy
Scripture intends to speak here of those earthly and material vineyards, which, as we see daily, receive from the dew of heaven and
the fatness of the earth the elements from which they pour forth
wine, in which is excess and riot (luxuria); and thus we draw out no
sense befitting and worthy, I do not say of the Bride of the Lord
merely, but of any modest and retiring matron, from the words of the
Scripture. For what sort of fitness is there in married women to
undertake the custody of vineyards ? And even if that were otherwise, what reason have we for supposing that the Church was ever
destined to such an office? Does God take a particular care of
earthly vineyards ? But if wTe interpret in a spiritual manner, and
understand by the vineyards Churches, that is, faithful nations,
according to the thought of the Prophet, when he says, The vineyard
of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (Is. v. 7), then we shall,
perhaps, begin to perceive how it is by no means unworthy of the
Bride to become keeper of the vineyards.
3. Furthermore, I. think that we shall find in this a veritable prerogative, and one of no small value, if anyone takes the trouble to
consider carefully how greatly she has extended her bounds in vineyards of this kind in every part of the world since the day when she
was attacked in Jerusalem, and driven forth by the children of her
mother, with those who were of that her new plantation, I mean the
multitude of them who believed, of whom we read that they were of
one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32). And it is that vineyard which
she here confesses that she had not kept, but that did not turn to
her discredit; for that was not in the persecution so torn up thence
13

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that it could not be planted elsewhere, and let out to other husbandmen, who should render up its fruits in their seasons. No, indeed, it
did not perish ; it was but planted in other grounds, where it grew
and waxed great, as the Lord gave it His blessing. And now lift up
your eyes and see if the hills are not covered with the shadow of it,
and the boughs thereof like the goodly cedars ; if it has not sent out her
boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river (Ps. lxxx. 10, n ) .
Nor is that wonderful, for it is God's husbandry, it is God's building
(r Cor. iii. 9). It is H e who makes it fertile, who extends it, who
trains and who prunes it, so that it may bring forth more fruit.
When has the care and labour of Him, whose Right Hand planted
it, ever been wanting to it ? Assuredly that vine, which is the Lord
Himself, of which the Apostles are the branches, and the Father the
Husbandman (John xv. 1, 2, 5), cannot be neglected. In faith it is
planted, and rooted in charity; the soil in which it grows is stirred
with the hoe of discipline, manured with the tears of penitents,
watered with the exhortations of preachers ; and thus it gives wine in
abundance, wine which makes glad, but does not inebriate; wine
which is full of sweetness, void of impurity. This wine not only
renders glad the heart of man, but of it the angels drink with joy ;
for they rejoice in the penitence and conversion of sinners, they thirst
for the salvation of men. The tears of penitents are to them a wine
which has the odour of life, the savour of grace, the taste of forgiveness, the joyfulness of reconciliation, the wholesomeness of returning
innocence, the sweetness of a conscience rendered peaceful.
4. Then, again, from this single vine, which the violence of a cruel
persecution seemed to have destroyed, how many shoots have been
planted and have flourished in every part of the world ? And over
all these the Bride has been set as guardian, that she might not sorrow,
because her first vineyard she did not keep. Be consoled, O daughter
of Sion; if blindness in part has happened unto Israel, what hast thou
lost by this ? Reverence in silence the mystery ; do not lament it as
a loss. Rather make broad thy bosom, and gather in the fulness of
the Gentiles. Say to the cities of Judah : / / was necessary that the
word of God should first have been ipoke?i to you : but seeing ye put it
from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 46). The offer was made by God to Moses,
that if he would give up a people which had quickly turned aside out
of the way of God's commandments, and abandon it to the Divine
vengeance, that he himself should become a great nation ; but he
refused. Wherefore ? Because he felt for that people an exceeding
love, which held him in close attachment to them ; and because he
did not seek to advance his own interests but the honour of God, nor
cared for that which should profit himself, but for that which should
be to the good of many. That was his great desire.
5. For my part I think that in this was a secret design of Providence, and that this gift, so great and so excellent, was reserved to
the Bride, so that she, and not Moses, should be developed into a

THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT

195

great nation. For it was not expedient that a friend of the Bridegroom should prematurely snatch from the Bride her benediction.
Therefore it was not Moses, but the new-made Bride to whom it was
said : Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature
(Mark xvi. 15); it was she, I say, who was sent forth [to grow] into a
great nation. For can any nation be greater than all the world ?
And all the world easily yielded to her who offered grace and brought
with her peace. That grace was far different to the Law. In how
strong a contrast did the sweetness of the one and the austerity of the
other present themselves to every conscience ? Who could look with
the same eye upon her who condemned and her who consoled, her
who punished and her who forgave, her who struck with revenging
hand and her who embraced with gentle arms P1 It was not possible
to receive with the same ardour the darkness and the light, war and
peace, judgment and mercy, the shadow and the reality, the rod of
punishment and the heritage of reward, the restraining bridle and the
joy-giving kiss. Heavy were the hands of Moses, as Aaron and Hur
experienced (Exod. xvii. 12); heavy was the yoke of the Law, as the
Apostles themselves bore witness when they declared that neither
their fathers nor they were able to bear it (Acts xv. 10); in truth, a
heavy yoke; and the reward to be earned by bearing it was but a
paltry one, for it did not extend beyond the earth. It was for these
reasons that Moses was not sent forth [to grow] into a great nation.
But thou, O holy Church, who art our mother, who hast the promise,
not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come (r Tim.
iv. 8), shalt obtain an easy and willing welcome from all, because of
the double grace which thou bearest, that thy yoke is light and easy,
and the realm of glory assured to thee is great and illustrious. If
thou wert driven from a single city thou hast been welcomed by the
whole world; as well because thy promises are engaging as because
thy commandments are not alarming or grievous. Why dost thou
still mourn the loss of one vineyard, when it has been repaid to thee
with so great usury ? As a recompense to thee because thou hast
been abandoned, and hated, so that none passed through thee, it is
said : I will make thee an eternal excellency\ a joy of many generations:
thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast
of kings ; a?id thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Is. lx. 15, T6). In such a sense
as this, then, it is that the Bride speaks of herself as having been made
keeper of the vineyards, and having failed to keep her own.
6. I am accustomed, when occasion is given to me by these words,
and understanding souls to be meant by vines, I am accustomed to
blame myself for having undertaken the cure of souls when I am not
sufficient to guard and keep my own soul. And if you approve of
this interpretation, notice also, that we may go on to call faith the
root of the vine ; the various virtues the branches ; good works the
bunch or cluster of grapes which it bears ; and devotion the wine they
1

Plectentem et amplectentsm.

196

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

yield. For as there can be no branch without the root, so without
faith there is no virtue. For without faith it is impossible to please
God (Heb. xi. 6 ) ; nay, it will be perhaps impossible to be otherwise
than displeasing to Him, since whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom.
xiv. 23). It behoved those persons, then, who set me as keeper in
their vineyards, to have considered previously whether I had kept my
own. Yet, alas ! how long did that remain untilled and desert, and
became a mere solitude! Upon it the vine had failed, and the
vigorous shoots of the virtues had been dried up because its faith
was sterile. There was, indeed, faith, but it was dead. For how
could it be otherwise than dead without good works ? And that,
indeed, was the case with me during my life in the world. It is true
that afterwards, when I was converted unto the Lord, I began to
keep my vineyard better, by a very little, yet not as I ought to have
done. And who is, in fact, capable of doing this ? Not such was
the holy Psalmist, who said : Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman ivaketh but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1). To what snares of him who
shooteth his arrows from his lurking-places against the innocent do I
remember that I was then exposed ! How many times, O my vineyard, hast thou been robbed, and by unnumbered subtle devices, and
that at the very time when I was endeavouring with increased vigilance
and care to guard thee! How many and how precious were the
clusters of grapes—that is to say, the good works, which either were
choked by anger, or borne away by feelings of pride, or trodden under
foot and defiled by vainglory ! How great the ravages which carnal
greediness, or lukewarmness of spirit, or weakness and timidity of
disposition, or sudden temptation, have worked in my soul! In such
a state was I, and yet they set me as keeper of the vineyards, not
considering what I had done, and was doing, with my own; not
listening to the accusations and warnings of that master in the spiritual
life who said : If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall
he take care of the Church of God 1 (1 Tim. iii. 5).
7. I wonder at the rash boldness of very many people who do not
gather anything from their own vineyards, unless it be briers and
thorns, and yet do not fear to obtrude themselves as keepers even
over the vineyards of the Lord. Robbers they are, and thieves, not
faithful guardians, nor laborious vine-dressers. But let us not occupy
ourselves longer with these. Woe to me also for the peril in which
the vineyard of my soul is even now—indeed, even more now than
heretofore, inasmuch as being engrossed with the care of many, it is
impossible but that I should become less careful, less occupied in
loving thoughtfulness for that one. No opportunity is given to me
to surround it by a protecting hedge, or to dig out the [place for]
the wine-press. Alas! the enclosing wall of it is broken down, so
that all they who pass by pluck her grapes (Ps. lxxx. 12). It lies
open and exposed on all sides to sadness, to wrath, to impatience.
Certain little foxes of pressing necessities, which are, so to speak,
constantly gnawing, demolish and lay it waste; it is overrun in all

T H E FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT

197

quarters with anxieties, suspicions, cares, and there is scarcely an
hour that is free from the crowd of discordant applicants, from the
trouble and care of business. I have no power to stop their
coming, and no possibility of refusing to receive t h e m ; and they do
not leave me even the time to pray. What shower of tears that I
could hope to pour forth would suffice to moisten and melt away
the sterility of my soul? (Ps. xxxv. 12). I wished to say 'of my
vineyard'; but I followed the words of the Psalm from habit, and
the meaning is the same. Nor do I regret an error which draws
my attention to the analogy between the two ; for the subject of the
discourse is not the vineyard, but the soul. Therefore he is thinking of the soul when he speaks of the vineyard, and by the name
and under the figure of the one, he deplores the sterility of the
other. With what tears, then, can I water my vineyard, which is so
barren ? All its branches are dried up for want of moisture; they
lie on the ground, and bear no fruit, for want of the life-giving sap
which should sustain them. O good Lord JESUS ! Thou knowest
what bundles of these twigs [of dried and perished good works] the
fire of contrition which burns in my heart consumes every day in
the burnt-sacrifice which I offer to Thee ! Receive, I entreat, the
sacrifice of a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise (Ps. li. 17).
8. It is thus, then, that I apply, in my imperfect manner, the present passage to myself. But perfect will be everyone who is enabled
in another sense to say, My own vineyard I have not kept; namely,
in that sense in which the Saviour says in the Gospel, He that loseth
his life for My sake shall find it (Matt. x. 39). The person is evidently
fit and worthy to be set as keeper over the vineyards, who is not
prevented from, or even hindered in, the care of his own vineyard,
by all the diligence and carefulness which he gives to watching over
others committed to his charge ; while at the same time he seeks
not the advancement of his own interests, or that which is of
advantage to himself, but that which is useful and beneficial to
many. Without doubt, if the care of so many vineyards (that is,
souls belonging to the circumcision) was confined to St. Peter, it
was because he was ready to go both into prison, and to death
(Luke xxii. 33), so little was he restrained by the love of his own
vineyard, that is, of his soul, from the care of those intrusted to his
charge. It was also on a similar ground that so great a space of
vineyards among the nations was confided to St. Paul; because, so
far from being too much engrossed in the care of his own, he was
ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name
of the Lord Jesus (Acts xxii. 33). He said, in fact, None of these
things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself (xx. 24).
It was to form a right estimate of things, to regard nothing that
belonged to him as to be preferred to his own self.
Q. How many persons there are who have preferred even the
meanest of things, a little money, to their salvation ! But St. Paul

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

did not prefer to it even his life. I count not my life, he said, dearer
tha?i myself' (fretiosiorem quam me, Vulg.) Do you, then, O Apostle,
make a difference between yourself and your life ? (animam = soul;
Douay ' life'). You are prudent in regarding yourself as of more
value than anything that is yours. But in what sense is your life not
yourself? I suppose that because St. Paul was then walking in the
Spirit, and in mind consenting to the law of God, that it was good
(Rom. vii. 16); he therefore regarded this, his mind, as the principal
and supreme entity in himself, and thought it more proper to call it
[himself], than to give that name to any other element whatsoever in
his nature. As for the remainder, which is plainly of an inferior
character, and to be attached to an inferior and commoner essence
(which is the body), to which belongs, not only the function of life
and sensibility, but also of self preservation and self support; the
spiritual man, considering it, I say, an unworthy thing to give to
this sensuous and carnal nature the name of himself, judged it more
fitting to rank it in the class of things appertaining to him, than to
call his entire personality by the name of it. When I speak of
' myself,' he says, understand that which is more excellent m me ;
that in which also I stand by the grace of God, that is to say, my
mind and my reason. When I speak of ' my life' or ' my soul/
understand that lower principle which animates my flesh and which
participates in its concupiscence. That was 'me,' indeed, once, but
it is so no longer ; inasmuch as I walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit (Rom. viii. 4). For I live, yet not I, hit Christ liveth in
me (Gal. ii. 20). It is I, according to the spirit (mentem), but not I,
according to the flesh. For what, if even now my soul shares in
carnal desires ? It is no more I thai do it, but sin that dwelleth in me
(Rom. vii. 17). And therefore it is I said that it was not indeed I,
but that which is carnal in m e ; and that is no other than my [fleshly]
soul (anima). For in truth the carnal affections make a portion of
the soul, as does that life, which it communicates to the body.
This, then, is the life (or soul) which St. Paul held of little value
in comparison with himself, prepared as he was, not only to be bound,
but also to die at Jerusalem for the Lord, and thus to lose his life,
according to the Lord's precept (Matt. x. 39).
10. You also, if you abandon your own will; if you perfectly
renounce the pleasures of the body; if you crucify the flesh, with its
desires and lusts, and mortify your members which are upon the
earth, you will show yourself to be an imitator of St. Paul, in that you
do not regard your life as dearer than yourself; you will show yourself also a disciple of Christ, by even losing it, unto salvation. And
indeed you will act more prudently by losing it in order to preserve
it, than by so preserving it as to lose it. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it (Matt. xvi. 25). What do you say to this, you who
are close observers of the quality of your provisions, 1 but negligent
of your own characters ? Hippocrates and his followers teach how
1

See notes to Ep. 345.

THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT

199

to preserve [our] lives in this world; but Christ and His disciples
teach us how to lose them. Which of the two do you elect to follow
as your master ? But that person makes it very clear which he has
chosen whose discourse is all of his ailments, of this complaint in
eyes or head, or that in chest or stomach. Each of them, without
doubt, speaks what he has learned from the master he has preferred.
Have you read these minute symptoms in the Gospel, or in the
Prophets, or in the writings of the Apostles ? Flesh and blood have
certainly revealed to you this wisdom, not the Spirit of the Father ;
for this wisdom is of the flesh. And hear what they who are our
physicians think of it: The wisdom of the flesh, they say, is death
(Rom. viii. 5, 7), and again, The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against
God. Do you think that I ought to propose to you the opinion of
Hippocrates or Galen, or, forsooth, that of the school of Epicurus ?
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I speak to the disciples of Jesus
Christ. If I had brought before you teaching other than His, I
should have done very wrongly. Epicurus strives for the pleasure of
the body, Hippocrates for its health ; but my Master bids us to
contemn both the one object and the other. Hippocrates uses all
his efforts to sustain the life of the soul in the body; Epicurus seeks
out, and teaches others to seek out, whatever can afford pleasure and
delight during this life; but the Saviour warns us to lose this life
[so that we may gain it].
11. What other advice have you ever heard in the school of Jesus
Christ than this which was just now repeated : He that loveth his life
shall lose it (John xii. 25) ? Shall lose it, He says, whether by laying
it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although to
mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is a kind of martyrdom,
and it is done with a spiritual weapon which does not, indeed, excite
so much horror as that with which the limbs of the body are cut and
carved, but is not less painful, since its action continues much longer.
Do you see how, by this saying of the Master, the wisdom of the
flesh is condemned—that wisdom, I mean, which either ministers to
the desire for bodily pleasure, or which cares for the good health of
the body beyond what is needful ? To show us that the true wisdom
does not expend itself upon pleasures, a wise man teaches (Job
xxviii. 13, Douay) that it is not even found in the land of them who
live in delights. While he who has found it cries : I have loved it
[wisdom] more than health and beauty (Wisd. vii. 10). But if above
health and beauty, how much more above pleasure and shameful
enjoyment ? But even though a man has severed himself from
pleasures, what does this profit if he expends his cares and thoughts
every day in investigating differences of constitution, or in devising
variations in the cooking of food ? ' Beans,' gravely reflects such a
person as this, ' produce wind; cheese is heavy upon the stomach;
milk causes headache; the chest will not bear the drinking of water;
cabbages nourish melancholy; leeks inflame the bile ; fishes from
ponds, or from stagnant and muddy water, do not at all agree with

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my constitution.' What then ? Is there nothing to be found in the
rivers, in the fields, in the gardens, in the cellars, which you can eat ?
12. Consider. I pray you, that you are a monk, not a physician ;
and that it is not your business to make a study of constitutions, but
to obey your rule. Have consideration, I entreat, first for your own
quiet, then for the labour of those who minister to your wants; do
not increase the charges upon the house—have some regard to conscience. To conscience, I say, not your own, but his who, sitting
opposite you, eats what is set before him, and murmurs at your unaccountable abstinence. For he is scandalized, either at your hateful
superstition, or at what he perhaps thinks the hardheartedness of him
whose duty it is to make needful provision for you. Your brother, I
repeat, is scandalized at your singularity; he thinks you superstitious
in that you require superfluities, or he accuses me of being unfeeling
in that I do not seek out and provide the food necessary for you. It
is to no purpose that some people flatter themselves that they have
precedent in their favour by the example of St. Paul, who bade his
disciple drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's
sake and thine often infirmities (i Tim. v. 23). They ought to notice,
in the first place, that it was not to himself that the Apostle gave
that direction ; and, in the next, that the disciple did not make this
request on his own behalf. Then, it was not to a monk that this
direction was given, but to a Bishop, whose life was of great importance to the nascent and still tender Church. This was Timothy.
Give me another Timothy, and I will feed him even upon gold if you
wish it, and give him precious cordial to drink. But it is you who
make these dispensations, for your own self, and that through tenderness for your own feelings. That dispensation of yours, granted to
yourself, is, I confess, a matter for suspicion to me, and I strongly
suspect that carnal prudence is deceiving you under the cover and
by the name of discretion. And I desire, at least, to admonish you
if you allege the authority of the Apostle for drinking wine, that you
do not overlook the limitation which he adds of c a little.' And so
enough of that subject. Let us return to the Bride, and let us learn
from her not to keep our vineyards merely for our own good, 1
especially we who seem to have been made keepers of the vineyards
of JESUS CHRIST our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is

above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

1
Utiliter; that is, to our own good. So the oldest MSS., and printed editions.
Plorst and others read : * Proprias utiliter nos custodireS

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201

SERMON XXXI.
THE EXCELLENCY OF T H E VISION OF GOD. HOW AT T H E PRESENT
TIME T H E DELIGHT IN THE DIVINE PRESENCE FELT BY HOLY
MEN VARIES ACCORDING TO T H E VARYING DESIRES OF THEIR
SOUL.

^ i ^ELL me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest,
J[
where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon (i. 7). The WORD,
who is the Bridegroom, frequently appears to zealous souls, and
not under one appearance only. Why is that ? Doubtless, because
we are not yet able to see Him as H e is (1 John iii. 2). Also, that
vision which we shall have of Him in Heaven is abiding, because the
Form in which we shall then behold Him shall always abide. For
He is, and H e receives no change or alteration from anything which
is, or has been, or shall be. Take away the Past and the Future,
and where, then, is any place for change or vicissitude ? Everything
which, passing from the condition of that which has been, does not
cease to tend towards the condition of that which shall be, passes
through the point of beings but it is not. For how can we say that a
thing is which never remains in the same state ? Thus, that alone
truly is which is neither cut off from its past, nor blotted out from its
future, but alone remains without change. Because H e [i.e., God]
has not been, therefore H e is from all eternity; and because H e will
not be, therefore H e is to all eternity. On this account, therefore,
He is the veritable Existence, Uncreated, Illimitable, Unchangeable.
When, then, H e who is thus, or, rather, is not thus or thus, 1 is beheld
as He is, that vision, as I have said, endures, since it is not mingled
with, or altered by, any change. He, then, is that one and the same
denarius which, as we read in the Gospel, is given to all (Matt. xx. 9)
who behold Him thus, because H e is presented to them only in this
appearance. For as that which H e appears is unchangeable in Itself,
so It is present without change to those who behold I t ; and those
who behold It neither desire, nor are capable of beholding, anything
more delightful or more to be desired. When, then, can the eagerness of their gaze be satiated, the sweetness in which they delight be
withdrawn, or the truth be exhausted—in one word, when can eternity
come to an end ? For if both the will to behold, and the full ability
of beholding, be equally enlarged to all eternity, what can be wanting
to complete felicity? What, I ask, remains to be experienced, or even
to be wished for, by those whose desire is always to behold Him, and
in whom that desire is being eternally satisfied ?
2. But such a Beatific Vision is not for the present life, but is
reserved for the final state of existence; to those, at least, who are
able to say: We know that when He shall appear we shall be like
1

I.e. (apparently) is not in this or that mode of existence.—ED.

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

Him : for we shall see Him as He is (i John iii. 2). Even in the
present life H e appears to whom H e wills; but in the manner that
H e wills, not as He is. There is no man, however wise or holy, there
is no prophet, who is able, or ever was able, to see Him, in this mortal
body, as H e is ; x yet those who shall be found worthy shall do so
when their body shall be immortal. Therefore H e is indeed seen,
but in the manner that seems good unto Him, and not as H e is. For
though you have seen that great luminary (I mean that Sun, which
you behold every day), you have never seen it as it really is, but only
as it lights up other things; for example, the air, or a wall, or a
mountain. Nor would you be able to behold it even in a certain
degree, if the light of your body, that is, the eye, did not resemble in
some degree the light of heaven in its inborn clearness and serenity.
For no other member of the body is capable of taking cognizance of
light, on account of the essential unlikeness between it and them.
Nor is the eye itself, when it is troubled, capable of receiving the
light, and that is because it has lost its resemblance to light. Thus
as the eye which is disturbed and confused cannot behold the sun,
which is peaceful, because of its unlikeness to it, so it beholds the sun
when clear and untroubled, on account of a certain similarity between
the two. If the eye enjoyed an equal degree of purity with the object
on which it gazes, it would behold that object without being dazzled,
and as it is, because of the full similarity existing between them. So
also he that is enlightened by that Sun of Righteousness, which
lightens every man that comes into the world, is able to behold Him
in the degree that he is enlightened by Him, and as being like Him
in some degree; but still, as he is not perfectly like Him, he is not
able to see Him as H e is. Wherefore the Psalmist says : They looked
unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed (Ps.
xxxiv. 5). Thus it is in truth ; provided that we are enlightened as
far as we have need, so that with open face, beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, we are changed i?ito the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
3. It is therefore necessary not to approach Him rashly and
irreverently, but with respect and awe, lest the irreverent observer of
His Majesty be crushed and destroyed by His glory. He is not to be
approached by a change of places, but by an increase of excellences ;
and those not bodily, but spiritual, since the Spirit of the Lord is our
guide to Him. I say that it is by the Spirit of the Lord that we draw near
to Him, and not by [the power of] our own spirit, although it is in our
own spirit that this takes place. Thus the more pure and virtuous a spirit
is, the nearer it is to God, and to have attained absolute purity and
virtue is to have come into the very Presence of God. For to be in
His Presence is to see Him as H e i s ; and to do this is nothing else
than to be as H e is, and so not to be dazzled and confounded by
being unlike Him. But that, as I have said, will be only in Heaven.
1
On this subject, compare Sermon IX., De Diversis ; and, further on, with
regard to Moses, Sermon X X X I I I . , n. 6, and Sermon X X X I V . , n. I.

T H E EXCELLENCY OF T H E VISION OF GOD

203

But in the present sphere of existence what are that great variety of
forms, and that vast number of different species among created things,
but, as it were, rays from the Sun of the Divine Nature, showing
indeed that H e from Whom they derive their being truly exists, but
not explaining in full what H e is ? Therefore you discern somewhat
concerning Him, but Himself you do not discern. But when you
behold something relating to Him, though without beholding Him,
you are assured, nevertheless, of the fact of His existence, and that
ought to lead you to seek for Him. Nor will grace be wanting to
him who seeks, while he who neglects to seek will not have the excuse
of ignorance. Now, this mode of beholding is common to all rational
creatures. For it is easy, as we are taught by the Apostle, for all
those who have the use of reason clearly to see the invisible things
of God, as they are understood by the things which are made (Rom.
i. 20).

4. It was, without doubt, in another manner that God deigned
formerly to manifest Himself to the Patriarchs, granting to them a
frequent and familiar communion with His Presence, although even
to them He was not visible as H e is, but as H e deigned to make
Himself known. Nor was it in one manner only that He was made
known to all; but, as the Apostle declares, at sundry times and in divers
manners (Heb. i. i), though in Himself He is one, as H e declared
to Israel, The Lord Thy God is one Lord (Deut. vi. 4). Nor was that
manifestation common to all; yet it was made from without, by
appearances visible to the senses, or words heard by the ears. But
there was still another manner in which God was discerned, differing
from those, inasmuch as it was inward: when God deigned of His
own accord to make Himself known to a soul that sought for Him,
and lavished on that seeking the entire love and ardour of its affections. And this is the sign of His coming thus to a soul, as we are
taught by one who had experienced it : A fire goeth before Him, and
burneth up His enemies round about (Ps. xcvii. 3). For it is needful
that in every soul in which He is about to appear such an ardour
of sanctified longing should go before His Face, as to consume every
impurity of evil thoughts and works, and so to prepare a place for
the Lord. And then the soul perceives that the Lord is at hand, when
it feels itself consumed in that fiery longing, and it says with the
Prophet : From above hath He sent fire into my bo?ies, and it prevaileth
against them (Lam. i. 13); and again: My heart was hot within
me, and while L was musing the fire bur7ied (Ps. xxxix. 3).
5. After a soul has been thus pressed by frequent aspirations
towards God, or rather by continual prayer, and is afflicted by the
violence of its longings, it is sometimes the case that He, who is so
earnestly desired and longed for, has pity on that soul and makes
Himself manifest to it; and I think that, led by its own experience,
it will be able to say with the prophet Jeremiah : The Lord is good to
them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him (Lam. iii. 25).
His Angel, too, who is one of the companions of the Bridegroom, who

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

has been commissioned to [watch over] that individual soul, to be the
minister and the witness of that secret and mutual communion, how
greatly, I say, does that Angel rejoice; how is he transported with
joy, so that turning to the Lord he says: ' I thank Thee, O God of
infinite majesty, for that Thou hast granted the earnest desires of that
soul, and hast not denied to him the request of his lips !' It is that
Angel which is the untiring attendant everywhere of the soul confided
to his care, and does not cease to entreat and warn it by frequent
suggestions, saying : Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee
thy heart's desire; and again : Wait on the Lord, and keep His way
(Ps. xxxvii. 4, 34); and again: Though he tarry, wait for Him; for
He shall surely come, He shall not tarry (Hab. ii. 3, Vulg.). Then,
addressing himself to the Lord, he says: As the hart panteth after
the water brooks, so longeth that soul after Thee, O God (Ps. xlii. 1).
It has desired Thee in the night, its spirit within it has sought Thee
early (Is. xxvi. 9). And again : Daily he has stretched out his hands
unto Thee (Ps. lxxxviii. 9 ) ; send her away, for she crieth after Thee
(Matt. xv. 23); Return, O Lord, how long, and be entreated in favour
of Thy servant (Ps. lxxxix. 13, Douay). Look down from heaven,
and see, and visit that desolate soul. Faithful is the paranymph ;x
he is conscious of that mutual love, but without being jealous of i t ;
and far from seeking his own interest, seeks only that of his Lord.
H e goes and comes between the Bridegroom and the Bride, presenting the prayers of the one, bringing back the gifts of the other. The
one he arouses, the Other he placates. And sometimes, though
rarely, leading on and conducting, he introduces the one to the Other;
for he is a servant of God and of His House; every day he beholds
the Face of the Father, nor does he fear to be refused any request.
6, But be most careful not to allow yourself to think that there is
anything imaginary, on the one hand, or corporeal, on the other hand,
in this mingling of the Word with the soul of the believer. I am
saying only that which the Apostle says, that he that is joined unto the
Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17). I go on to express, in what words
I am able, the absorption of a pure soul into God, or the hallowed
and blessed descent of God into the soul, comparing spiritual things
with spiritual. That union, then, is made in the spirit, because God
is a Spirit, and is moved with love for the beauty of that soul which
H e may have seen to be walking according to the Spirit, and to have
no desire to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, especially as He knows that it
is filled with ardent love for Himself. A soul in this condition, with
such feelings and so beloved, will be far from content that her Bridegroom should manifest Himself to her in the manner which is common
to all; that is, by the things which are made, or even in the manner
peculiar to a few, namely, by dreams and visions ; such a soul desires
that by a special privilege H e should descend from on high into her,
1
Paranymphus,
the friend and attendant of a bridegroom. T h e word 7rapavv/uiQog does not occur in the N . T., but is expressed by a synonym in J o h n iii. 29 :

6 0<'Xoc TOV

vvfjL<f>Lov.—ED.

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205

and pervade her wholly in the deepest affections, and to the very ground
of the heart. She desires that He whom she loves should not show
Himself to her in an outward shape, but should be, as it were, inpoured into her; that H e should not merely appear to her, but should
enter into and dominate her; nor is it doubtful that her happiness is
so much the greater, as He is within rather than without. For H e is
the Word; H e does not sound in the ears, but penetrates the heart;
H e is not full of words, but full of power; nor does He come to the
ears with a sound, but to the affections with sweetness ineffable.
The features of His countenance are not formed and defined, but
exercise a formative power; they do not strike upon the vision of the
eye, but they rejoice the heart, not with charm of form and colour,
but with the affection they excite.
7. I am not, however, able to describe the manner in which God
manifests Himself as He is, although in this manner of manifestation
He declares Himself no other than as He is. For however full of
reverence and devotion souls may be, H e will not continue His
Presence in them permanently and precisely thus, nor with complete
uniformity to all individuals. For, according as the desires of a soul
vary, so the delight felt in the Divine Presence must needs vary also;
and that heavenly sweetness strikes in divers ways upon the palate of
the soul, according to the variation of its desires and longings. Also,
you have noticed in this Song of love how often He has changed His
countenance, and in how great a number of winning forms H e has
deigned to appear before His beloved; and how, like a modest spouse,
at one time he seeks to enjoy in secret communion with a holy soul,
and to take pleasure in its devotion ; at another H e seems to conduct
Himself as a physician, with oils and unguents—doubtless on account
of weak and tender souls, which have still need of remedies and consolations, and therefore are called by the name of maidens to signify
their delicacy. If anyone murmurs, let him recall that they that
be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick (Matt. ix. 12).
Sometimes, again, H e presents Himself as some traveller, joining
Himself to the Bride and the young maidens who are walking with
her, and solaces all that company during the fatigues of their way by
His pleasant discourses, so that they say when H e departs, Did not
our hearts burn within us while He talked with us of Jesus, by the way
(Luke xxiv. 32) ? How delightful a companion is H e who by the
sweetness of His manners and His discourse, as by the delightful
odours which H e breathes around Him, draws all to follow after Him;
and therefore they say, We will run in the odour of Thy perfumes
(i. 4). Again, there are times when H e appears as some opulent
head of a family, in whose house are abundant provisions for all; or,
rather, as a King powerful and splendid, who appears to exalt the
poverty of his timid bride, to display to her the treasures of his glory,
and excite in her a desire for them ; to show to her his richly-stored
winepresses and granaries, the produce of his gardens and his fields,,
and, finally, to bring her into his inner chamber. For the heart of

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

her husband doth safely trust in her, and he thinks that none of all
these things should be hidden from her whom he hath raised out of
poverty, whom he embraces as amiable and beloved, and whom he
has proved to be faithful. And H e does not cease to manifest Himself from above in this or that inward and spiritual manner to those
who seek for Him, so that the word may be accomplished which H e
spake : Zo, I a?n with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matt,
xxviii. 20).
8. In all these manifestations H e is kind and gentle, and of tender
mercy. For as in His embrace H e shows Himself loving and tender,
so the oil and perfumes and other remedies of which H e makes use
prove Him forgiving, and rich in pity and compassion. Then in the
road H e is found to be cheerful, affable, full of help and comfort; in
the showing forth His riches and possessions bountiful, and one who
gives recompenses proportionate to His royal liberality. It is thus
that you will find the WORD shadowed forth under a great variety of
figures all through this Song of Songs. It is that, I think, which is
signified by the Prophet where H e says : Christ the Lord is a Spirit
before our face: under His shadoiv shall ive live among the Gentiles
(Lam. iv. 20) ; which, however, we see now only in a glass, and
darkly, and not yet face to face. But that endures only while we live
among the nations [of this world] ; for when we are among the angels
it shall be otherwise; then we shall enjoy a felicity similar to theirs ;
then we shall see Him, no longer in types and shadows, but as H e is
—that is, in the form of God. For just as there were only types and
shadows to make Him known to those of the elder dispensation, as I
have said, but to us, through the grace of Christ present among us in
the Flesh, the truth shines forth by its own light; so also it cannot
be denied that we ourselves, in comparison with the life to come, live
now in, as it were, a shadow of the truth. Unless we shall contradict
the Apostle when H e says : We know in part, and we prophesy in
part (1 Cor. xiii. 9 ) ; and again : I count not myself to have apprehended
(Philip, iii. 13). Is not that the precise difference between him who
walks by faith and him who walks by sight of the object aimed at ?
Therefore the just lives by faith (Hab. ii. 4), but the blessed rejoice in
beholding [Him whom they love]; and so, also, while the man who
is holy lives here below in the shadow of Christ, the angel, likewise
holy, glories in the splendour and light of His countenance.
9. And if faith be a shadow yet it is good, for it tempers the Light
to our weak and darkened eyes, and prepares them for its brilliance ;
for it is written : Purifying their hearts by faith (Acts xv. 9). Faith,
then, does not extinguish the light, but preserves it. Whatever that
be, and however great, which is open to the vision of an angel, the
shadow of faith preserves for m e ; wraps it, as it were, in an ample
and trusty bosom, to be revealed to me in due time. Is it not better
for you to possess, though in a shrouded and hidden state, that which
if uncovered and bare you would not be capable of grasping ? Even
the Mother of the Lord lived in the shadow of faith, for of her it was

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207

said : Blessed is she that believed (Luke i. 35 and 45). She lived also
in the shadow cast by the Body of Christ, according to the words of
the angel: The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Nor is
this a shadow to be lightly thought of, which is cast by the power of
the Highest. There was assuredly power in the Flesh of Christ which
overshadowed the Virgin, and that which was impossible to a mortal
woman, to sustain the Presence and the unapproachable Light of the
Divine Majesty, she was enabled to endure by the sheltering shadow
or envelope of that vivifying Body. A strength, indeed, by which all
opposing power was subdued. As strength it puts demons to flight;
as shadow it provides a safe shelter for men ; a strength which gives
vigour, a shelter providing pleasant coolness.
10. We, then, who walk by faith and are nourished with the Flesh
of Christ, that we may live the life Divine, we live in the shadow of
Christ. For His Flesh is meat indeed (John vi. 55). And perhaps
it is for that very reason that in the passage quoted at first we have
Him described under the figure of a shepherd or pastor, where the
Bride seems to address Him as if H e were some one of the shepherds,
saying: Tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to
rest at noon. He is the Good Shepherd, who giveth His Life for His
sheep (John x. 11); His Life He spends for them to redeem them ;
His Flesh H e gives to them to nourish them. A marvellous thing,
indeed; H e the Pastor, the Pasturage, and the Price of redemption !
But this discourse is growing long, inasmuch as the passage is so extensive, and contains truths so great that it cannot be expounded in
a few words ; and I see that this necessity obliges me to break off
rather than to finish. It is needful, then, as the subject is not exhausted, that we should keep it still in mind, so that I may resume it
where it has been dropped, and complete it, as far as I may be enabled
to do by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church, who
is over all, God, blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXXII.
CHRIST COMMUNICATES HIMSELF TO T H E HOLY SOUL AS
BRIDEGROOM,
AND TO T H E SOUL THAT IS WEAK AND IMPERFECT AS
PHYSICIAN.
OF T H E MOODS OF THE SOUL—HOW THEY DIFFER FROM EACH
OTHER, AND FROM WHAT CAUSES.

^ M ^ ELL me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to
y
rest at noon (i. 7). This is the point where we are; from hence
we proceed with our subject. But before commencing to speak
of that vision and interview, I think it well to recapitulate, in a few
words, the other modes of vision already treated of, and to show how
they may be spiritually applied by us according to the prayers and
merits of each; so that having fully grasped them, if God give us the

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grace so to do, we may follow more easily, and with fuller understanding, what remains to be said upon the subject. But that is very
difficult indeed; for although the words in which those visions or
similitudes are described are corporeal, and describe objects in the
physical sphere, yet they are intended to suggest things spiritual to
our minds, and for this reason the causes and meanings of them are
to be searched by the spiritual faculty. And who is competent to
understand or to sound so many different affections and modes of
progress in the spirit by which the manifold grace of the Divine
Bridegroom is manifested ? Yet if we enter into ourselves, and the
Holy Spirit deigns to show us by His light that which by His continual working in us H e does not disdain to bring about in our souls,
I think we shall not remain entirely without understanding of these
deep things ; for I trust that we have received, not the spirit of this
world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things
which are freely given to us by God (i Cor. ii. 12).
2. If, then, any of us finds it, with the Psalmist, good for him to
draw near to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28), and to speak more plainly, if any
among us is so filled with an earnest longing [for those things that
are above] that he desires to be dissolved and be with Christ; but
desires it vehemently, thirsts for it ardently, and, without ceasing,
dwells upon the hope of it : he shall, without doubt, receive the
Word, and in no other form than that of the Bridegroom in the time of
visitation; that is to say, in the hour when he shall feel himself inwardly embraced, as it were, by the arms of wisdom, and shall receive
a sweet inpouring of the Divine Love. For the desire of his heart
shall be granted unto him, though he is still in the body as in a place
of pilgrimage, and though only in part for a time, and that a short
time. For when [the Lord] has been sought in watching and prayers,
with strenuous effort,1 with showers of tears, H e will at length present
Himself to the soul; but suddenly, when it supposes that it has gained
His Presence, He will glide away. Again H e comes to the soul that
follows after Him with tears ; He allows Himself to be regained, but
not to be retained, and anon He passes away out of its very hands.
Yet if the devout soul shall persist in prayers and tears, H e will at
length return to it; H e will not deprive it of the desire of its lips,
but will speedily disappear again, and not return unless H e be sought
again with the whole desire of the heart. Thus, then, even in this
body the joy of the Presence of the Bridegroom is frequently felt;
but not the fulness of His Presence, because though His appearance
renders the heart glad, the alternation of His absence affects it with
sadness. And this the Beloved must of necessity endure, until, having
laid down the burden of an earthly body, she shall be borne up upon
the pinions, so to speak, of her earnest desires, and fly away, passing
freely over the plains of contemplation as a bird through the air, and
following in spirit her Beloved, whithersoever He goeth, without anything to hinder or retard.
1

Lahore is wanting in many MSS.

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209

3. Nevertheless, H e will not present Himself, even in passing, to
every soul; but to that soul only which is shown by great devotion,
vehement desire, and tender affection, to be His Bride, and to be
worthy that the Word in all His beauty should visit her as a Bridegroom. For he who is not as yet in that state, but still is touched
with repentance at the remembrance of his sins, and, speaking in the
bitterness of his soul, says unto God : Do not condemn me (Job x. 2 ) ;
or who perhaps suffers still from violent temptations, being drawn
away and enticed by his own concupiscence—such a soul as this needs
not a Bridegroom, but a Physician ; and on this account receives,
not, indeed, approval and tenderness, but only remedies, oil and
unguents, for the cure of its wounds. Is not this the condition in
which we often find ourselves in our prayers, we who are every day either
tried by the passions which are in us now, or touched with remorse
for those which were in us formerly ? From what a degree of bitter
sorrow hast Thou often delivered me by Thy appearance in my soul,
O good Lord Jesus ! How many times, after having poured forth
tears of distress, sobs and groans, untold, Thou hast anointed my
wounded conscience with the unction of Thy mercy, and with the
oil of gladness hast besprinkled m e ! How often have I betaken
myself to prayer, despairing almost of my salvation, and it has sent
me back full of joy and confidence of pardon ! Those who are
similarly afflicted know well that the Lord Jesus is indeed a Physician
who healeth those that are of contrite heart, and giveth medicine to
heal their sickness (Ps. cxlvii. 3). And those who have not had this
experience, let them believe what H e says of Himself: The Spirit of
the Lord hath anointed Me, to preach good tidings unto the meek, to
bind up the broken-hearted (Is. lxi. 2 ; Luke iv. 17-21). If they still
doubt, let them draw near and make trial of Him, and so learn in
their own persons the meaning of that saying : I will have mercy, and
not sacrifice (Matt. ix. 13). But let us continue the subject.
4. There are those who, being wearied with spiritual exercises, and
fallen into lukewarmness, are in a kind of faintness of spirit, and walk
in sadness along the ways of the Lord. Their heart is full of dryness
and weariness in doing what is enjoined upon them, and their murmurs
are frequent. They complain that their days and their nights are
long, and they say, with holy J o b : When I lie down, I say, When
shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and
fro until the daivning of the day (Job vii. 4). When a soul is in such
a state as that, if the Lord, touched with compassion, draws near to
it upon the road on which we walk, and H e who is from heaven
begins to speak of heavenly things, or to sing to us some sweet
canticle from among the songs of Sion, to relate also somewhat of
the City of God, the peace of that City, the eternity of that peace, of
the fixedness of that eternity—I declare to you that the pleasantness of
that narrative will be as a soft couch to that wearied and slumbering
soul; it will drive away every trace of aversion from the mind, and
of weariness from the body, of the hearer. Does it not seem to
14

2IO

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

you that he who wrote : My soul hath slumbered through heaviness :
strengthen Thou me in Thy words (Ps. cxix. 28, Douay), must have
experienced this trial, and have prayed for this very succour ? And
when he has obtained it, will he not cry out: O how love I Thy Law!
it is my meditation all the day (Ps. cxix. 97)? For our meditations
on the Word who is the Bridegroom, on His glory, His greatness,
His power, His grace, are so many words spoken by Him to our
souls. And not only when He speaks, but when we meditate upon
and revolve in our minds with eagerness His testimonies and the
judgments of His mouth, when we meditate in His Law night and
day, let us know for certain that the Bridegroom is present, and is
speaking to us, so that the sweetness of His discourse may prevent
our being wearied by our labours.
5. Do you, then, when you feel yourself to be dwelling upon
such thoughts as these, not suppose that these thoughts are from
yourself, but recognise that they are spoken within you by Him who
says by the Prophet : 7 who speak righteousness (Is. lxiii. 1). For
the thoughts of our own mind have a great resemblance to the words
of the Truth speaking within us ; nor is it easy to distinguish what
the heart produces of itself from within, from that which it hears
spoken ; unless a man bears carefully in mind what the Lord says in
the Gospel : Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts (Matt. xv. 9) ; and
again, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? (Matt. ix. 4) ; and
again, When he [the devil] speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own
(John ix. 44). And the Apostle remarks, We are not sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves (that is to say, anything
good1); but our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. iii. 5). When, then, we
dwell in thought upon things evil, the thought is of ourselves ; but
if upon good, it is by the inspiration of God. In the one kind of
thoughts our heart speaks ; but to the other it listens. 7, says the
Psalmist, will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for Lie
will speak peace unto His people (Ps. lxxxv. 9, Douay). Therefore it
is God who speaks within us thoughts of peace, piety, righteousness;
nor do we think those things of ourselves, but hear them spoken
with us. Out of the heart there come murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matt. xv. 19) ; these we
do not hear, but they are the utterance of our own hearts. For the
fool hath said in his heart, There is no God (Ps. xiv. 1). And because
of this the wicked hath contemned God: because he hath said in his
heart, Thou wilt ?iot require it (Ps. x. 13). But there is still another
kind of thoughts which are felt in the heart, but are not the utterance
of the heart itself. For that does not come out of the heart, as do
our thoughts. Nor is it that word of which we have been speaking,
namely, that which is spoken by God the Word : since this other
kind of words is evil. It is sent forth by powers which are hostile to
us, and consists of thoughts suggested to us by evil angels ; such as,
for instance, was that which, as we read, the devil sent into the heart
1

Subaudis, but subaudi is the reading of Tiraquellius.

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211

of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, that he should betray his Lord
(John xiii. 2).
6. But who is so skilled and watchful an observer either of the
movements of his thoughts within, or of those that come to him from
without, that in each forbidden desire he is able to distinguish
between the malady of his own, or the wound inflicted by the serpent?
To no mortal do I think this to be possible, except to him who has
been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and has thus received that
special gift of grace which the Apostle, in enumerating it among
other charismata, calls the discerning of spirits (1 Cor. xii. 10). Yet
how greatly does it behove a man, as Solomon reminds us, to keep
his heart with all diligence (Prov. iv. 23), and to observe all the
movements within it with the most vigilant attention ! Even when
you are well skilled in this by long experience and frequent trial,
yet you may not be able to discern and distinguish with unerring
correctness between the evil that is inborn, and the evil that is introduced from without. For who can understand sins ? (Ps. xviii. 13,
Douay). Nor, after all, is it of great consequence to us to know
whence an evil has come to u s ; that which is really of importance is
to know that it is in us, if that be the fact; and from wheresoever it
comes, our wisdom is to watch and pray, that we may not give the
consent of our will unto it. From both one and the other kind of
evil the prayer of the Psalmist asks deliverance: Cleanse Thou me
from my secret faults, O Lord, and from those of others spare Thy
servant (Vs. xviii. 13, 14, Douay). As for me, I am unable to impart to you that which I have not received. I can give you no
precise rule, I confess, whereby to distinguish between the ideas
emanating from your own heart, and those sown in it by the enemy.
Both one and the other are evils; each of them comes from an evil
cause ; each of them is in the heart, yet they do not both come from
the heart. I am sure that they are in me, though I am not sure
which to attribute to my own heart, and which to an enemy. But
from that inability arises, as I have said, no danger.
7. But there is another point in which it would be not only
dangerous, but even fatal, to be deceived; and deservedly so,
inasmuch as a plain rule is laid down for us, not to attribute to
ourselves that which is of God in us, or to think the visit of the
WORD to us to be only the working of our own thoughts. For as far
as good is different from evil, so far different are these two from each
other ; since evil cannot possibly come from the WORD, nor good come
from the human heart, unless it has been first conceived there by the
WORD ; because a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can
a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. vii. 18). But I believe
it has been sufficiently stated what is of God in our heart, and what
is of ourselves ; nor was that, I think, without need ; and that it will
serve to show those who are enemies to grace, 1 that without grace
1
This is, I think, an allusion to Abaelard, who reduced the grace of Christ to
little more than the giving of reason to man, and to the good example given by
the Saviour. See on the Eleventh Treatise of St. Bernard.

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the heart of man is not capable of thinking good thoughts, but that
the capacity of doing so comes from God ; and that the good things
which it thinks are due to the voice of God in it, and are not its own
offspring. Do you, then, if you hear His Voice, be no longer as if
ignorant whence it cometh, or whither it goeth ; but recognise that
It comes forth from God, and into your heart. Only, take care that
the word which comes forth from the Mouth of God does not
return unto Him void, but prosper and accomplish all things for
which H e sent it, so that you, too, may be able to say, His grace
which was bestowed upon me was not in vain (i Cor. xv. 10). Happy
the soul of which the WORD is the inseparable companion, showing
Himself accessible at all times; and who, being kept in continual
delight by the sweetness of His companionship, frees himself without
ceasing from every vice and tyranny of the flesh, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil (Eph. v. 16). H e shall not be cast down, he
shall not be rendered weary ; as says the Scripture, There shall no
evil happen to the just (Prov. xii. 21).
8. But I think that the Lord [also] appears as a great Father of a
family, or as a Sovereign of royal splendour, to those who, drawing
near 1 to Him with heart exalted, with greater liberty of spirit, and
purity of conscience, and rendered more noble and courageous thereby,
are accustomed to lift up their hearts to higher things. These are
restless and eager to penetrate deeper mysteries, to attempt loftier
achievements, to attain greater perfection, not in sensible things, but
in sanctity. These, for the grandeur of their faith, are found worthy
to be led forward into all fulness; and there is nothing so rare in all
the treasure houses of wisdom that the Lord, who is the God of all
knowledge, thinks fit to withdraw it from those heroic souls who thirst
for truth, and are devoid of vanity. Such was Moses, who dared to
say to God: If I have found grace in Thy sight . . . show me Thy
glory (Exod. xxxiii. 17, 18). Such was Philip, who, for himself and his
co-disciples, asked of the Lord that He would show them the Father
(John xiv. 8 ) ; such, too, was Thomas, who refused to believe unless
he should touch with his hand the wounds [of the nails], and the
pierced Side of his Master (xx. 25). That was a want of faith, but it
came from a greatness of soul which was wonderful in its way.2
Such also was David, who himself said to God : My heart said unto
Thee, Thy Face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvii. 8). Such souls aspire
to great things because they are great; and because they aspire to
them, they attain them, according to the word of promise made to
them : Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, shall be
yours (Deut. xi. 24). For great faith merits great rewards; and you
1

Accedentes, otherwise ascendentes.
How could it be from greatness of soul, if it came from weakness of faith ?
St. Bernard distinguishes two things : one, that he refused to believe, which showed
a weakness of faith ; the other, the condition he named, and this evinced a greatness of mind, the sign of which is to dare great things. See Sermon CLXII, in the
Appendix to the works of St. Augustine, and William, Abbot of St. Thierry, ' De
Contemplando Deo,' chap, i., n. 3.
2

CHRIST COMMUNICATES HIMSELF TO T H E HOLY SOUL

213

shall obtain the good things of the Lord, in proportion as you shall
attain to set upon them the foot of an assured confidence.
9. Thus God speaks to Moses face to face, and it is his eminent
reward to behold the Lord openly, not by types and figures, whilst to
other Prophets He is said to make Himself known only in vision,
and to speak to them in a dream (Numb. xii. 6-8). To Philip, again,
according to his heartfelt petition, was shown the Father in the Son,
from whom he received, without doubt, the instant reply: Philip, he
who hath seen Me, hath seen the Father: and, / am in the Father, and
the Father in Me (John xiv. 9, 10). Thomas H e permitted to touch
Him, according to the desire of his heart, and did not refuse him the
request of his lips (xx. 27). What shall I say of David? Does it
not signify that he was not left wholly without the granting of his
prayer, where he says that he will not give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber
to his eyelids, until he find out a place for the Lord (Ps. cxxxii. 4, 5).
A great Bridegroom, then, will present Himself thus to great souls;
and H e will treat them magnificently, sending them His Light and
His Truth; leading them on and conducting them at length to His
holy mountain and into its tabernacles, so that one thus blessed may
say: He that is Mighty hath done to me great things (Luke i. 49).
His eyes shall see the King in His beauty (Is. xxxiii. 17); going before
him.towards oases in the desert, in which bloom the fragrant roses,
and the lilies of the valleys, where are the pleasant shades of gardens,
the gushing of silver fountains, the storehouses filled with all good
things, the odours of perfumes, and lastly, the hidden precincts cf
the chamber of the King.
10. These are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are
hidden in the Bridegroom; these are the life-giving sustenance prepared for the refreshment of holy souls. Blessed is the man whose
longing for them has been satisfied to the full! Of this only let him
be warned, that he ought not to wish to possess alone gifts which
would suffice for the needs of many. For if, after all these things,
the Bridegroom is described as appearing in the character of a pastor,
it is perhaps to warn him who has obtained such great gifts that his
duty is to feed the simpler ones of the flock, who are not able to
attain by their own efforts to the knowledge of these good things;
just as sheep do not dare to go forth without their shepherd to seek
the green pastures. Of this fact the Bride prudently takes note, and
that is why she desires to be told where the Bridegroom feeds [His
flock], and takes shelter during the mid-day heat; being prepared (as
may easily be understood from her words) to be nourished and to
feed her flock with Him, and under His protection. She does not
consider it safe for the flock to stray far from their Chief Pastor,
because of the attacks of wolves upon them; and especially of those
who come to us in sheep's clothing; it is for that reason that she
desires to feed in the same pastures, and repose in the same shades,
as He. And she gives her motive in the words, Why should I be as
one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions ? (i. 7). These

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

are they who wish to appear as friends of the Bridegroom, and are
not; their care is to feed their own flocks, not H i s ; they are those
who go about insidiously, saying: Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, He is
there (Mark xiii. 21), so that they may lead away many, may withdraw
them from the flock of Christ, and add them to their own. So far as
relates to the letter of the text. As for the spiritual sense hidden in
it, I propose to defer the consideration of it to another discourse,
which, by the intercession of your prayers, and in the fulness of His
mercy, may H e deign to grant unto me to deliver, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS C H R I S T our Lord, who is above all, God
blessed for ever.
AMEN.

SERMON X X X I I I .
OF THOSE THINGS WHICH A DEVOUT SOUL OUGHT TO SEEK WITHOUT
CEASING. WHAT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE WORD ' NOON]
AND OF FOUR CLASSES OF TEMPTATIONS TO BE SEDULOUSLY
AVOIDED.
r
/ ^ELL me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest,
J_
where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon (i. 7). And
another voice speaks thus : Tell me why Thou judgest me thus
(Job x. 2, Douay). Where he does not blame the sentence upon
him, but examines the cause of it, and asks to be instructed by his
afflictions, not destroyed by them. And still another prays in the
same sense, saying : Show me Thy ivays, O Lord ; teach me thy paths
(Ps. xxv. 4). What he means by ' ways ' and ' paths ' he shows elsewhere : He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness (Ps. xxiii. 3).
Every soul, therefore, that is full of care to serve God does not cease
to seek for these three things : righteousness, and judgment, and the
place where dwelleth the glory of the Lord ; or, as it were, the path
in which to walk, the precaution with which to walk, and the dwelling
whither to direct our course. Of this dwelling the Psalmist speaks
thus : One thing have I desired unto the Lord, that will L seek after :
that L may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life
(Ps. xxvii. 4 ) ; and, again : Lord, 1 have loved the habitation of Thy
House, and the place where Thine Honour dwelleth (xxvi. 8 ) ; while of
the two others he says : Justice and judgment are the habitation of
Thy Throne (lxxxix. 14). It is with reason that the devoted soul
seeks these three things, as being the throne of God, and the basis
{prceparatio7iem) of His Throne. Beautiful it is to see how, by the
peculiar prerogative of the Bride, all these things concur equally to
the consummation of her virtues, so that she is beautiful by the form
of righteousness, prudent by knowledge of judgments, and chaste by
her desire for the presence and glory of her Bridegroom. Such it

THOSE THINGS WHICH A DEVOUT SOUL OUGHT TO SEEK

215

becomes wrell the Spouse of the Lord to b e : beautiful, prudent, and
chaste. Therefore the petition, which I have placed last, has reference to place: she seeks that He, whom her soul loves, will tell her
where H e feedeth, where He makes His flock to rest at noon.
2. And first remark with wrhat beauty she distinguishes the love of
the Spirit from that of the flesh, when, wishing to express her beloved
more by her very affection than by His Name, she does not say
simply, ' H i m whom I love,' but, O Thou whom my soul loveth,
indicating thereby that her affection is of the soul. Next,' consider
with attention what it is she finds so desirable in the place where H e
pastures His flock. Nor let it escape you that she speaks of the midday hour, and inquires especially respecting the place in which H e
who feeds His flock also reposes, which is a sign of great security.
For I suppose that this word ' reposes' was added because in that land
it is not necessary at all to be on foot and wakeful in order to keep
the flock in safety ; since even when the shepherd is inactive and reclining under the trees, his flock go to and fro upon the meadows as
they please. Happy the region where the sheep go in and out at
pleasure, and none make them afraid. Who will grant unto me to
behold you, and myself with you, feeding upon the mountains with
the ninety and nine, which, as we read in the Gospel (Matt, xviii. 12),
the Shepherd of all had left there, while He deigned to go to seek
that one which had strayed and was lost ? He, without doubt, reposes securely when H e is beside His sheep, who did not hesitate to
depart and go far from them, knowing that H e left them in safety.
Rightly does the Bride seek and sigh for that spot which is one both
of pasturage and of peace, of repose and of security, of joy, of admiration—yea, of wonderment. But, alas ! how unhappy am I to be
so far distant from it, to salute it only from afar ! The mention only
of it makes me break into tears, excites my heart to affection, and my
tongue to use the words of those who said : By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat dow?i, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion
(Ps. cxxxvii. 1). Our desire is to cry out with the Bride and with
the Psalmist: Praise Thy God, O Sion, for He hath strengthened the
bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee. He
maketh peace in thy borders, and fillet h thee with the finest of the wheat
(Ps. cxlvii. 13, 14). Who would not wish to be fed from thence for
peace, and for fatness, and for satiety? No fear is there, nor distaste,
nor deficiency. Paradise is a safe dwelling-place, the WORD a sweet
nourishment, eternity abundance without limit.
3. I have the WORD also here below, but in the Flesh; the Truth
also is set before me for nourishment, but in the Sacrament. An
Angel is rendered fat with the finest of the wheat, and filled with the
pure grain; but it behoves me to be content during this life with the
Sacrament, as with a husk ; with the flesh, as with bran ; with the
letter, as with chaff; with faith, as with a veil [upon the truth]. And
such things as these bring death in the tasting (Rom. viii. 6-13), unless they be seasoned in some degree with the firstfruits of the Spirit.

2l6

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Assuredly, I can find only death in the pottage, unless it be rendered
sweet with the meal of the Prophet (2 Kings iv. 41). Indeed, without the Spirit even the Sacrament is received only to condemnation ; the flesh profiteth nothing (John vi. 63); the letter killeth
(2 Cor. hi. 6 ) ; and faith itself is dead. But it is the Spirit that
quickeneth these [means of grace], that I may live in them. But
with whatever abundance of the Spirit those things may be enriched,
it is not possible to find the same sweetness in the husk of the Sacrament, and in the fatness of the wheat; in faith as in vision ; in remembrance as in presence; in time as in eternity ; in the reflection in
a mirror as in the countenance itself that is reflected; in the form of
a servant as in the Image of God. Evidently, in all these things,
faith is rich for me, but intelligence is poor. Is there not a great
disparity between the degree of appreciation and enjoyment experienced by the understanding, and that by the faith, since the one is
for a merit, the other for a reward? You see, then, that there is as
much difference between the nature of the nourishment as there is
between the places referred t o ; and as the heavens are exalted high
above the earth, so do those who dwell in them abound far more,
and in gifts which are far better, than those below.
4. Let us hasten, then, my children, let us hasten to reach a safer
dwelling-place, a sweeter pasturage, a richer and more fruitful field.
Let us hasten to attain a land where we may dwell without fear, have
abundance that cannot be exhausted, and can be enjoyed without
distaste. Thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest all things in an
awful calm, Thou dost also support all things with justice and in
security. T H O U art at once the Lord of armies and the Shepherd of
the sheep. Therefore Thou dost both pasture Thy sheep and, at the
same time, remain in a Sabbath rest; but not here. Therefore it was
that Thou didst remain quiescent when Thou sawest from heaven
one of Thy sheep (I speak of Stephen) beset with wolves upon the
earth (Acts vii. 55). And, therefore, I entreat, tell me 7t>here Thou
feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon ; for that noonday is the whole day, a day which knows no evening. And, therefore, that day in Thy courts is better than a thousa?id (Ps. lxxxiv. 10),
because it knows no set of sun. It has had perhaps a morning,
namely, when the dayspring from on high hath visited us, through the
tender mercy of our God, to give light to them that sit in darkness
(Luke i. 78, 79). Then in truth we have received Thy mercy, O God,
in the midst of Thy Temple (Ps. xlvii. 10, Douay); when [the Lord]
rose from the midst of the shadow of death, and the morning light
broke upon us, and in the morning we beheld the glory of the Lord.
How many kings and prophets have desired to see it, and have not
seen it? Wherefore? Because it was still the night, and that the
morning, so long awaited, and to which mercy was promised, had not
yet come. Wherefore, also, one thus prayed : Cause me to hear Thy
iovingkindness in the morning, for in Thee is my trust (Ps. cxliii. 8).
5. For that day was heralded by an aurora lasting from the moment

THOSE THINGS WHICH A DEVOUT SOUL OUGHT TO SEEK

217

in which the [rising of the] Sun of Righteousness was announced to
the earth by the Archangel Gabriel, and that a Virgin had conceived
by the operation of the Holy Ghost [Him who was] God, and that a
Virgin had brought forth; and onwards, until He was beheld upon
the earth, and lived among men. For up to that time only a feeble
light, as it were, the light of an aurora, was visible, so that almost all
the earth was ignorant that the Day was among men. And, in truth,
if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory
(i Cor. ii. 8). To His few disciples H e said : Yet a little while ye
have the Light with you1 (John xii. 35), inasmuch as it was the aurora,
the beginning, or rather the indication of the day, while the Sun still
concealed His beams, and scattered them but little upon the earth.
St. Paul also said that the night was far spent, the day was at hand
(Rom. xiii. 12), signifying that though the light was still dim, the day
was approaching rather than was already come. But when did he
say this ? Tt was when the Sun of Righteousness, having returned
from the depths, had already mounted into the height of heaven.
How much more would he have spoken thus when the likeness of a
body of sin—as it were a thick cloud—veiled that dawning; a body,
I say, like ours in all its capabilities of suffering, so that neither the
bitterness of death nor the shame of the Cross were wanting to it !
How much more dim and feeble was the light at that season than
when the presence of the Sun was plain and evident!
6. All the Life of Christ upon the earth was, then, as it were, an
aurora, or dawning, and even that somewhat indistinct, until, after His
Death and Resurrection, H e caused the dawning to disappear in the
clearer light of His Presence, as it were, the sun full risen ; then the
morning broke, and the night was swallowed up in victory. Thus
we read in the Gospel: Very early in the morning, the first day of the
week, they ca?ne unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun (Mark xvi. 2).
Was it not the morning when the Sun was risen ? But that morning
drew from the Resurrection of Christ a new beauty, a purer and more
steadfast light than wras its wont, since even though we have known
Him after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more
(2 Cor. v. 16). And the Psalmist writes : The Lord hath girded
Himself He is clothed with beauty and strength (Ps. xcii. 1, Douay) ;
because He hath thrown off from Him as a cloud the infirmities of
the flesh, and hath put on Him the robe of His glory. Just so is it
with the sun : when he is risen above the horizon, and pours forth his
rays upon the earth, he begins to increase by degrees in brightness to
the sight and in warmth to the feeling. But though he increase ever
so much in strength and in heat, though he multiply his rays in number
and power, throughout the whole course of this mortal life of ours (for
He shall be with us even unto the end of the world—Matt, xxviii. 20),
yet H e shall not attain unto His midday light, nor be beheld here
below in that fulness of glory in which H e shall hereafter reveal Him1
St. Bernard understands ' adhuc modicum lumen in vobis ' as ' a little light is
still with you.'—ED.

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self, but to those alone to whom H e shall deign to accord that vision.
O true noontide, fulness of warmth and of light, abiding-place of the
sun, which exterminates all shadows, dries up marshes, and drives
forth pestilential odours ! O perpetual solstice, and day that declines
not! O mid-day light, enjoying at once the freshness of spring, the
beauty of summer, the fruitfulness and abundance of autumn, and,
not to omit anything, the deep rest and unbroken quiet of winter !
Or, at least, if you prefer it so, it is the winter only that disappears
and is wanting. ' Show to me ' (says the Bride) ' this spot of brightness, peace, and abundance so great, that, like as Jacob, still abiding
in his mortal body, saw the Lord face to face, and his life was preserved (Gen. xxxii. 3 0 ) ; or as Moses beheld Him, not in types and
figures, nor through dreams, as did other Prophets, but in a manner
transcendent and known to no others but to God and himself (Num.
xii. 6-8); or as Isaiah, who, after the eyes of his heart had been
opened, saw the Lord upon His Throne high and lifted up (Is. vi. 1);
or even in the manner of St. Paul, who was caught up into Paradise,
and heard unspeakable words (2 Cor. xii. 4), and saw with his eyes
Jesus Christ his Lord : so may I, too, be found wrorthy to contemplate Thee in Thy light and Thy beauty by means of a transport and
rapture of soul; and to behold Thee feeding Thy flock with fuller
abundance and more complete security than now.'
7. For here, too, Thou dost feed Thy flock, but not to the full;
nor is it permitted to Thee to repose, but it is needful to stand and
watch over them because of terrors of the night. Alas! [here] the
light is not clear, nor the nourishment full, nor the dwelling safe;
therefore tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to
rest at noon. Blessed dost Thou call me when I hunger and thirst
after righteousness (Matt. v. 6). What is this in comparison with the
happiness of those who are satisfied with the goodness of Thy House
(Ps. )xv. 4), who eat and rejoice in the sight of God, yea, who exceedingly rejoice ? (Ps. lxviii. 3.) But, and if I suffer anything for righteousness' sake, Thou sayest again that I am none the less blessed
(1 Pet. iii, 14). And it is certain that to have nourishment where
you apprehend suffering is to experience enjoyment, but not security.
To have nourishment and suffering together, what is that but a
grievous joy ? All things that I possess here fall short of being perfect ; many are beyond my prayer, nor is any safe. When wilt Thou
fill me with joy with Thy Countenance ? (Ps. xv. 11, Douay) Thy
Face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvii. 8). Thy Countenance is a noonday
to me. Tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to
rest at noon. I know sufficiently where thou feedest without resting ;
tell me where Thou doest both the one and the other. I am not
ignorant where at other times Thou doest this, but I would know
where Thou doest this at noon. For during the time of my mortal
life, and in the place of my pilgrimage, I have been accustomed to be
spiritually fed, and to feed others, with nourishment from Thee, in
the Law, in the Prophets, in the Psalms. Thou dost feed us also

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in the pastures of the Gospels, and with the Apostles I have rested.
Often, also, I have sought, and have been able to find, spiritual
nourishment for me and mine in the actions, the words, and the
writings of the Saints. Still more frequently (because it was very
close at hand to me) I have eaten the bread of sorrow, and drunk of
the wine of regret; my tears have been my meat day and night, while
they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God7 (Ps. xlii. 3.) I have,
indeed, been nourished from Thy Table : for Thou hast prepared a
Table before me against them that trouble me (Ps. xxiii. 5), and from
it, I repeat, I receive somewhat by the gift of Thy mercy, which imparts comfort and consolation, as often as my soul is sorrowful and
disquieted within me. Those pastures I know, and following Thee,
my Shepherd, have often sought them; but tell me, I entreat those
which I know not.
8. There are, however, other shepherds who call themselves companions of Thine, but are not s o ; and these have their flocks, and
their fields of pasture filled with deadly things ; to these they lead
their followers, but not with Thee, nor by Thy bidding; these I have
not entered, nor drawn near to them. These are they who say : Lo !
here is Christ, or lo I He is there (Mark xiii. 21), promising pastures
fertile with wisdom and knowledge; and the promise is believed, so
that many hearers flock together to them ; and these they make twofold more the children of hell than themselves (Matt, xxiii. 15). Why
is this, except that there is not there the clear and noonday light, so
that the pure truth should become known to them; and thus they
easily accept falsehood on account of a resemblance to the truth,
from which, in the dim light, it is not easily distinguished, and
especially also because stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret
is pleasant (Prov. ix. 17). And for this reason I entreat that Thou
wouldest tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou 7?iakest Thy flock to
rest at noon, that is to say, in the clear light, that I may not be
seduced, and begin to wander after the crowds of those who follow
these [so-called] "companions of T h i n e " 1 who are themselves but
unsteady wanderers, having no certitude or steady grasp of true
doctrine, who are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. iii. 7). This the Bride [that is, the Church]
declares on account of the varying and vain dogmas of philosophers
and heretics.
9. It seems to me that we ought to desire this noonday of Christ,
not only on this account, but also on account of the wiles of invisible
powers, of seducing spirits who hold themselves in ambush, and
make ready their arrows within the quiver, that they may secretly
shoot at those who are of a right heart, so that in clear light we may
be able to discover the stratagems of the devil, and easily to discern,
with the help of our good angel, that angel of Satan, who is able to
1
The preacher was not improbably referring to some special heretical sect, who
called themselves ' Companions of Christ.' But it is not possible now, apparently,
to verify the reference.—ED.

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transform himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. xi. 14). For we are
not able otherwise to guard ourselves sufficiently from the attack of
the demon of noonday (Ps. xci. 6) unless we walk also in noonday light.
And I think that demon is so called because there are of the number
of the evil some who, abiding although they do in a night which is
perpetual on account of their will being gloomy and hardened in
wickedness, yet know how to simulate the day, and even the mid-day,
in order to deceive; in the same way that their chief is not content
to be equal with God, but opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God or that is worshipped (2 Thess. ii. 4). That is
why, unless the heart of one whom a demon of this nature is endeavouring to tempt be enlightened by the true light of noonday,
which shines from heaven, which detects and convicts that which is
false, he will not be able adequately to protect himself, but the
demon will doubtless tempt and subvert him by an appearance of
good, persuading the soul which is incautious and unprepared, to
accept evil for good. And then the mid day—that is, the clearness—
appears the greater, tempting since it offers a greater show of good.
10. How often, for example, has it suggested to anticipate the
watches [of the night] in order to turn to derision some sleeper at the
Offices of the brethren ? How often to prolong fasts in order to
render an individual powerless, and therefore useless, in Divine service ? How often, envying those who were making good progress in
communities, has it suggested to them, under the pretence of attaining greater perfection, to seek the solitude [of an hermitage] ? And
those unhappy ones have learned at length the truth of that maxim
which they had read to no purpose : Woe to him that is alotie when
he falleth, for he hath not another to lift him up (Eccles. iv. 10). How
often has it urged a man to greater manual labour than he has
strength to perform, and thus exhausting his powers has rendered
him incapable of discharging his regular duties ? How often urged
one to immoderate bodily exercise—which, according to the Apostle,
profiteth little (1 Tim. iv. 8)—and-so withdrawn him from practices
of piety? Lastly, have not some of you experienced—I say it to
their shame—how at first they could not be restrained, with such
ardour they were filled, and then after a time fell back into such a
degree of remissness that, in the phrase of the Apostle, having begun
in the Spirit, they were made perfect by the flesh (Gal. iii. 3), and
have made a shameful alliance with the body after having entered
upon an unrelenting conflict with it ? You see such persons—shame
it is to say—demanding importunately things which are superfluous
after having obstinately refused those which were necessary. Although
I know not whether those who remain stiffly determined in their own
will, making abstinences which are unwise and indiscreet, and gravely
troubling by their marked singularity those to whom they ought to
conform their conduct, as they dwell with them in one house; I
know not, I say, whether they are abiding by the rule of piety : they
seem to me to have by thus acting, departed far from it. Let those

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who are wise in their own eyes, and have determined to abide by no
advice nor command but their own, let them see to it how they shall
give account, not to me, but to Him who says : Rebellion is as the sin
of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. And H e
had declared before that obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken
than the fat of rams (i Sam. xv. 23, 22); that is to say, than an
abstinence which is disobedient and contumacious. That is why the
Lord says by the Psalmist: Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the
blood of goats ? (Ps. 1. 13), in order to show that the fastings of those
who are proud or impure are far from being acceptable in His sight.
11. But here I fear, lest in condemning those who push their fasts
beyond measure, I may seem to give licence to the gluttonous, and
that they may hear to their peril what is spoken for a remedy to the
others. Wherefore let both the one class and the other listen. There
are four kinds of temptations, and they are thus described by the
Psalmist: His Truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not
be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow thatflieth by day ;
for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for the destruction that
wasteth at noonday (Ps. xci. 4-6). And do ye all attend also, for I
hope that you may all find profit in these words. All among us who
have been converted to the Lord feel in ourselves the truth of what
the Holy Scripture says: My son, if thou come to serve the Lord,
prepare thy soul for temptation, set thy heart aright, and constantly
endure (Ecclus. ii. 1). Therefore, according to the order of common
experience, it is fear which first disturbs and troubles us at the beginning of our conversion ; and that fear is caused by the frightful image
which we form to ourselves of the extremely strict life we are about
to embrace, and of the austerity of an unwonted discipline. And this
is called ' the terror by night,' either because * night' in Scripture
means usually ' adversities,' or because the recompense, on account
of which we are preparing to endure adversities, is not yet revealed,
but hidden from us as in a shroud of gloom. For if that day should
shine in whose light we should discern equally both the trials and
the recompenses, the desire of the recompense which would be clearly
visible to us would render the fear of any trials whatever as nothing
in comparison with the desire to obtain it. For the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall
be revealed in us (Rom. viii. 18). But now, since these things are
concealed from our eyes and all is night around us, we suffer from
the terrors of the night, and are a prey to fears of those evils which
are present to us in place of the good things to come which are not
visible. Those, then, who are newcomers ought to watch and pray against
this first temptation, lest, being suddenly overcome by weakness of
the spirit and by the difficulty of the moment, they fall back (which
may God forbid !) from the good work they had begun.
12. But after having overcome that temptation, let us arm ourselves moreover against the praises of men who find occasion for
praise in the laudable life we lead: for otherwise we shall be exposed

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to be wounded by the arrow which flieth by day—that is, by vainglory. For fame is said to fly, and during the day, because it is born
of the works of the light. If this is puffed aside as being empty air,
there still remains to be feared something more solid—that is, the
richest honours of this world ; for one who cares not for praises may
desire place and dignity. And see if it was not this order of temptation that was observed towards Our Lord, to whom, after the suggestion was made that He should throw Himself from the pinnacle
of the Temple from a motive of vanity alone, all the kingdoms of the
world were shown and offered (Matt. iv. 6, 8). Do you, then, also
reject these after the example of the Saviour? otherwise you will inevitably be surprised by the pestilence which walketh in darkness,
which is hypocrisy. For that descends from ambition, and has its
dwelling in darkness; there it hides what it really is, and pretends
to be what it is not. At all times it has some secret object, and, retaining an appearance of piety to conceal itself, it is prepared to put
even virtue up to sale1 in order to obtain honours.
13. The last temptation is the destruction that wasteth at noondayr,
which usually besets those who are perfect—namely, those brave and
lofty souls who have overcome other temptations, whether pleasures,
flatteries, or honours. For what remains to the tempter, or what
means has he left to attack souls like these ? H e approaches, then,
in disguise, since he dares not do so openly, and attempts to overthrow, by a false pretence of good, the man whom he has found by
experience to hold in horror that which is openly evil. For those
who are able to say with the Apostle : We are not ig?iorant of his
devices (2 Cor. ii. n ) , the more advanced they are in virtue, the more
careful are they to guard against this snare. Thus it was that Mary
was troubled at the angelic salutation (Luke i. 29), suspecting (if I
do not mistake) some snare of the enemy; and Joshua does not receive
the angel as a friend before he knew that he was really a friend. In
fact, he inquires whether the angel were for them or for their adversaries (Josh. v. 13-15), as one who had had experience of the cunning
devices of the demon of the noonday. The Apostles also, when they
were once toiling in rowing, the wind being contrary, and the boat
labouring in the sea, seeing the Lord walking on the sea, thought H e
was a phantom, and cried out for fear. Does not that show clearly
that they suspected a delusion of the demon of the noon ? For you
remember that the Scripture says that in the fourth watch of the night
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea (Matt. xiv. 24-27). Let, then,
this fourth temptation, which is the last to be tried, be feared by us ;
and the higher anyone seems to have attained, the more careful and
watchful let him learn to be against the attacks of the demon of noonday. But the true Noonday, the Lord Jesus, manifested Himself to
the disciples in that H e said .• 7/ is I: be not afraid ; and their unfounded suspicion was at once dispelled. May God grant that as
often as the cloaked falsehood endeavours to creep upon us, the true
1

Vindicans, but read

vendicans.—ED.

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223

Noonday, rising from on high, may send forth His light and His
truth to put it to flight—to separate the light from the darkness, so
that we may not fall under the censure of the Prophet as putting
darkness for light, and light for darkness (Is. v. 20).
14. If the length of this discourse does not weary you, I will now
try to assign these four temptations, in their order, to the Body of
Christ, which is the Church. And I will endeavour to do this as
briefly as possible. Consider the Primitive Church. Was it not at
first pervaded in an extraordinary degree with the terror that walketh
by night7 For it was then, as it were, a night, when everyone who
slew the saints thought that he was thus doing God service. But
after that temptation was overcome, and that tempest stilled, she
became glorious and illustrious, and, according to the promise made
to her, was speedily placed in a position of worldly distinction. Then
the enemy, vexed to have been frustrated, turned cunningly from the
' nightly terror' to the 'arrow that flieth by day,' and with it wounded
certain members of the Church. Vain and ambitious men rose up,
greedy of reputation, and desired to make for themselves a name ;
and, going forth from the Church, their mother, they long afflicted
her with various and perverse teachings. But this evil plague also
was vanquished by the wisdom of the saints, as the former had been
by the patience of the martyrs.
15. At the present time, by the mercy of God, the Church is free
from each of these evils; but evidently it is still contaminated by the
pestilence that walketh in darkness. Woe to this generation [which is
corrupted] by the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy ! If,
indeed, that ought to be called hypocrisy which is so prevailing that
it cannot be hidden, and so devoid of shame that it does not try to
hide. At the present day a contagious corruption is creeping through
the whole body of the Church, the more desperate of cure as it is
universal, and the more dangerous because so deeply seated. If an
heretic arose to wage against her an open war, she would exclude him
from her bounds, and he would dry up and wither away ; or if one
attacked her with violence, she would peradventure hide herself from
him. But at the present time whom shall she exclude, or from whom
shall she hide herself? All are her friends, and all her enemies ; all
are her intimates, and all her adversaries ; all are of her own household, and none at peace with h e r ; all are very 'nearly related to her,
and yet all are seeking their own interests. They are Ministers of
Christ, and they are serving Antichrist. They are advanced to honour
upon the goods of the Lord, and to the Lord they render no honour at
all. From this proceeds that meretricious splendour, that habit fit for
a comedian, that magnificence almost royal which you see every day.
Because of this you see gold upon the bits of their horses, upon their
saddles, and even upon their spurs ; yes, their spurs shine more
brightly than their altars. Because of this you see fine tables loaded
with splendid services of plate, chased goblets, and, also, with viands
correspondingly costly ; then follow merrymakings and drunkenness,

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the guitar, the lyre, and the flute. Thence come groaning winepresses
and storehouses full and overflowing with all manner of good things.
Thence come vases of rich perfumes, and coffers filled with immense
treasures. It is for the attainment of such objects that they desire to
be, and are, Provosts of churches, Deans, Archdeacons, Bishops,
Archbishops. For these dignities are not given for merit, but are
disposed of in that infamous traffic which walketh in darkness.
16. It was once predicted [of the Church], and now the time of
its fulfilment draws near : Behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter
(Is. xxxviii. 17, Douay). It was bitter at first in the death of the
martyrs ; more bitter afterwards in the conflict with heretics ; but
most bitter of all now in the [evil] lives of her members. She cannot
drive them away, and she cannot flee from them, so strongly established are they, and so multiplied are they above measure. The
plague of the Church is inward; it is incurable. It is that which
makes its bitterness most bitter, even in the midst of peace. But in
what a peace ! Peace it is, and yet it is not peace. There is peace
from heathens, and from heretics ; but not from her own sons. At
this time is heard the voice of her complaining: I have nourished
and brought forth children, and they have rebelled against me (Is. i. 2).
They have rebelled; they have dishonoured me by their evil lives,
by their shameful gains, by their shameful trafficking, by, in short,
their many works which walk in darkness. There remains only one
thing—that the demon of noonday should appear, to seduce those
who remain still in Christ, and in the simplicity which is in Him.
H e has, without question, swallowed up the rivers of the learned, and
the torrents of those who are powerful, and (as says the Scripture) he
trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth (Job xl. 23)—that
is to say, those simple and humble ones who are in the Church. For
this is he who is Antichrist, who counterfeits not only the day, but
also the noonday; who exalts himself above all that is called God or
worshipped—whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the Spirit of
His Mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His Coming (2 Thess.
ii. 4, 8 ) ; for He is the true and eternal Noonday: the Bridegroom,
and Defender of the Church, Who is above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN,

SERMON XXXIV.
OF HUMILITY AND OF PATIENCE.

F thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by
the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherd?
tents (i. 8). Once holy Moses, presuming much on the grace
and familiarity into which he had entered by the goodness of God,
ventured to aspire to a certain great vision, so as to say to God : If
I have found grace in Thy sight, show me Thy glory (Exod. xxxiii. 13-

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225

23). But in place of that vision which he had desired he obtained
one of a far lower kind, by means of which, nevertheless, he might one
day reach that which he wished for. The sons of Zebedee also, walking in the simplicity of their hearts, dared also to ask a great thing,
but were, notwithstanding, relegated to a lower step, from which their
course upwards must be made (Matt. xx. 21-23). So it is also here
with the Bride. She seems to be asking for some great thing, and is
repressed with a reply austere indeed, but faithful and helpful. For
it behoves one who aspires to things lofty to have lowly thoughts of
himself, lest while he exalts himself above his measure he fall below
himself, not being steadied and rendered firm by sincere humility.
And because very great graces are not to be obtained except with the
merit of humility, it is essential that he who is to receive them should
be humbled by reproof, that he may deserve them by humility. Do
you, then, when you see yourself humbled, take it as a sign, and even
as a certain proof, that some grace from God is drawing near to thee.
For as pride goes before destruction (Prov. xvi. 18), so before honour
comes humility. Each of these truths is expressed in that which you
read, that God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble
(James iv. 6). And, lastly, did He not think fit to recompense with
abundant blessing His servant Job, after the great victory which he
won over the demon, and after the eminent trial of his remarkable
patience? But note that He took care previously to humble him by
many and severe trials, and so to prepare the way for that blessing.
2. But it is little that we endure willingly the humiliation which
God of His own accord sends to us, if we do not welcome with a
similar willingness that which H e puts upon us by the agency of some
other person. Wherefore receive a remarkable instance of this from
holy David. H e was once reviled, and that by one of his servants,
but he did not even feel the insults which were heaped upon him,
because his mind was preoccupied by Divine grace. What have I to
do with you, he said, ye sons of Zeruiah ? (2 Sam. xvi. 10). O man
truly ' after God's own Heart/ who thought that it behoved him to be
angry rather with him who would have avenged the repeated insults,
than with him who offered them ! Hence he could say with a quiet
conscience : If I have re?idered to them that repaid me evils, let me
deservedly fall empty before my enemies (Ps. vii. 5, Douay). H e forbade, then, [his servants] to hinder the man who was attacking him
with insolence, regarding his curses as a gain. And he added : It is
the Lord that hath said unto him, Curse David. Truly he was a man
' after God's own Heart/ since he knew so well the intention in the
Heart of God. The tongue of an evil speaker was raging against him,
but his concern was only to divine the secret purpose of God in permitting it. The voice of the reviler was in his ears; but his heart
was preparing itself in humility for the Divine benediction. Was
God, then, in the mouth of the blasphemer ? By no means. But
God used it for the humbling of David. Nor was that hidden from
the Psalmist, for God had made known to him the hidden secrets of
15

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His wisdom ; therefore he says : 7/ is good for me that Thou hast
humbled ?ne, that I may learn Thy justifications (Ps. cxix. 71, Douay).
3. Do you see that humility justifies us ? I say humility, not
humiliation. How many are humiliated who are not humble ? Some
are bitter and grudging because they are humiliated; others bear it
with patience; some even with willingness. The first are blameworthy ; the second blameless; but the last righteous. Although
innocence is a part of righteousness, yet its perfection is to the
humble. H e who is able to say : 7/ is good for me that Thou hast
humbled me, is the truly humble. H e who bears humiliation unwillingly cannot say this, much less he who murmurs at it. To neither
of these do we promise grace merely because he is humiliated;
although indeed the two differ widely from each other, since while
the one possesses his soul in patience, the other perishes in his murmuring. But although only one of these is deserving of anger, to
neither is there a promise of grace, since it is not to those who are
humiliated, but to the humble that God giveth grace (James iv. 6).
He, therefore, is humble who turns humiliation into humility of soul,
and it is he who says to God : It is good for me that Thou hast
humbled me. To no one at all is that good which is endured merely
with patience, for we know that God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor.
ix. 7). Wherefore also when we fast we are bidden to anoint our
head with oil, and to wash the face (Matt. vi. 17), so that our good
work may be seasoned, as it were, with spiritual joy, and our burntoffering be fat and without blemish. For it is a perfect and joyful
humility which alone deserves the grace of God, of which it is a sign
beforehand. That which is constrained or forced, such as he feels
who possesses his soul in patience, although it obtains life because of
the patience, yet will not have grace, 1 on account of the sorrow and
regret mingled with it. For such a person does not answer to the
description given in this saying of Scripture : Let the brother of low
degree2 rejoice in that he is exalted (James i. 9), because his humiliation is not endured willingly or gladly.
4. But do you wish to look upon one who glories in the right way,
and is truly worthy of glory ? Most gladly, says the Apostle, will I glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor.
xii. 9). H e does not say that he patiently endures his infirmities, but
that he even glories, and that most gladly, in them, and thus he shows
that it was good for him that he was humbled; nor was it sufficient
for him to possess his soul in patience when humiliated, unless he
could accept it, as it were, by his own will, and thereby receive grace.
Listen to that which is the general rule upon this question: He that
humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke xiv. 11). The Lord here
signifies that not every kind of humility shall be exalted, but that
only which is willingly accepted, not of necessity, nor with sorrow
1
That is, the special grace promised to the humble, which is not only inward,
but also outward, and consists in exaltation even in this life.
2
Humilis.

HUMILITY AND PATIENCE

227

and reluctance. So, also, on the other hand, it is not everyone who
is exalted that shall be abased; but those only who exalt themselves
of their own accord and through vanity. Thus, then, it is not he who
merely is humiliated that shall be exalted, but he who willingly and
cheerfully accepts humiliation, and that because his willingness is a
merit. For grant that the material part of humility is supplied to you
by another person, for example, by reproaches, losses, or sufferings,
yet a person cannot be rightly said to be rendered humble by another
in the same sense in which he is rendered humble by himself, when
he is resolved to surfer all these things quietly and with a joyful mind,
because it is the will of God that he should undergo them.
5. But whither am I being borne? Very patiently, as I feel, are
you enduring the excessive length of this discourse, though it be of
humility and patience; but let us return to the point whence we have
digressed. For all this was suggested to us by the reply made by the
Bridegroom to the Bride, who needed to be cautioned and repressed
when aspiring to great things. For Him to do this was not to offer
her reproaches, but to afford her an opportunity for a greater and
more complete degree of humility, and to render her more capable
and worthy of those loftier privileges and attainments which she
sought. But since we are only, as it were, at the portals of the
present chapter, we will resume the consideration of the subject, if
you please, at the beginning of another discourse; especially lest the
words of the Bridegroom should .be treated of with strength exhausted, or should fall on weary ears. Which may H e avert from His
servants, who is JESUS CHRIST our Lord; above all, God blessed for
ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XXXV.
OF THE SHARP REPROOF WHICH THE BRIDEGROOM GIVES TO T H E
BRIDE, AND OF TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE WHICH ARE
ESPECIALLY TO BE FEARED AND AVOIDED.

F thou knowest not, He says, go forth.
This is a harsh and severe
reproof; since He says, go forth.
This is the phrase which
servants are wont to hear from their lords when displeased and
angry, or maidens from their mistresses, whom they may have deeply
offended. ' G o forth,' they say, 'leave me, depart out of my sight
and out of this house/ With this speech, severe and bitter, and
having so sharp an edge of blame, it is that the Bridegroom
addresses His beloved; but all the blame is under the express condition ' if thou knowest not.' H e could say nothing stronger or more
effectual to affright her, than to threaten her that she shall be sent
away from Him. This you may easily realize, if you take notice
whence she is bidden to go, and whither. What is she to leave, do

/

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

you think, and for what exchange ? Is it not to go from the Spirit
to the flesh, from the blessings of the soul to worldly desires, from
the inward rest, in which the mind is at peace, to the din and bustle
of the world, and the inquietude of outward cares ? All of these are
things in which is nothing but labour, sorrow, and distress of spirit.
For the soul which has once learned of the Lord, and received from
Him the power to enter into itself, and in its inmost depths to sigh
for the Presence of God, and at all times to seek His Face; for God
is a Spirit, and those who seek Him must walk in the Spirit, not in
the flesh, to walk after the flesh; such a soul, I say, would think it
less horrible and less insupportable to endure for a time even hell
itself, than, after having once experienced the sweetness of that
spiritual life, to go forth from it and leave it, in order to be exposed
to the enticements, or rather to the troublous claims of the flesh, to
be cast again upon the insatiable desire (euriositatem) of the senses,
of which it is said in Ecclesiastes : The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing (Eccles. i. 8). Listen to a man who
had experienced that of which 1 speak: The Lord is good unto them
that wait for LLim, to the soul that seeketh Him (Lam. iii. 25). If anyone should try to turn away from this supreme happiness that holy
soul, I verily believe that it would feel as if torn away from Paradise,
and from the portal of glory. Listen, again, to another and a similar
soul: My heart said unto Thee, Thy Face, Lord, will Lseek (Ps. xxvii. 8).
Wherefore it was his wont to say: It is good for me [i.e., it is for me
the highest good] to draw near to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28); and again,
speaking to his soul, he declares : Return unto thy rest, O my soul:
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully ivith thee (Ps. cxvi. 7). I say, then,
to you: There is nothing which he who has once received this blessing so greatly fears, as that he should be abandoned by grace, and
find himself obliged to go forth to the consolations, or rather the
desolations, of the flesh, and to support again the tumultuous assaults
of the carnal senses.
2. Terrible, then, and greatly to be feared, is that threatening command : Go forth, and pasture thy kids. For it is as if He said:
' Know yourself to be unworthy of that sweet and familiar contemplation of things heavenly, intellectual, and Divine, which you now enjoy.
Wherefore go forth from My sanctuary, which is your heart, in which
you were accustomed to drink with pleasure such deep draughts of
the hidden and sacred meanings of truth and wisdom; be as one of
those in the world; entangle yourself again with the delights of the
flesh, and feed upon them/ These are what He speaks of as ' kids T
(these signify sins, and are said to be collected, in the Last Judgment,
on the left hand of the Judge), the wandering and wanton senses and
desires of the flesh, by which, as by windows, death has entered into
the soul. To these well apply the words which follow in the text :
beside the shepherds1 tents. For kids are pastured, not as lambs, above
the tents of the shepherds, but beside them. Now, those shepherds
(pastores) who are true pastors, although they have tabernacles com-

SHARP REPROOF WHICH T H E BRIDEGROOM GIVES TO THE BRIDE

229

posed of earth, and set upon the earth, that is to say, their bodies,
in these days of their service here below, yet are wont to feed their
Lord's flocks, not with things of earth, but from celestial pastures;
nor do they preach to them according to their own will, but to that
of their Lord. But kids, that is, the senses of the body, do not seek
for, nor desire, heavenly food, but feed beside the tents of the
pastors; that is to say, among the good things cognizable by the
senses of the present world, which is the region of material bodies,
and with these they do not indeed satisfy their desires, because these
grow with habit, but indulge them.
3. A sad and shocking change of pursuits ! After having made it his
endeavour to nourish the soul during the time of its exile and wandering here with holy meditations, as it were with food from heaven, to
seek out the good pleasure of God and the mysteries of His will, to
reach up to heaven by the fervency of his devotion, after having
saluted Patriarchs and Apostles, and the choirs of Prophets, marked
with admiration the triumphs of Martyrs, and viewed with wonder
the glorious ranks of the Angels, now, to lay all these occupations
aside, to subject himself in disgraceful servitude to the body, unto
obedience to the flesh, to become a slave to gluttony or intemperance, and to seek throughout the world for means to satisfy, in some
degree, or at least to soothe their imperious, yet insatiable, desires,
by the resources of this world which passes away ! My eyes let fall
a torrent of tears over such a soul as that, which, after being brought
up in scarlet, embraces dunghills (Lam. iv. 5). He evil entreateth the
barren which beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow (Job xxiv. 21).
For notice, it is not merely said, Go forth, but go forth by the flocks
of thy companio?is, and feed thy kids, in which, as it seems to me, a
warning is given to us of no small importance. What is it ? Alas !
that a creature so fair, once made a member of the [Lord's] flock,
but now rushing miserably to destruction, is not permitted even to
remain among the flocks, but is bidden to fall behind them. How
is that, do you ask ? It is in that manner of which we read in the
Psalms : Man, when he was in honour, did not understand; he hath
been compared unto senseless beasts, and is become like unto them
(Ps. xlviii. 13, Douay). See how this creature, so beautiful, came to
belong unto the general body of the animals. And I think that these
would say, if they were able to speak: Behold, Adam is become as one
of us (Gen. iii. 22, Douay). Says the Psalmist: When he was in
honour. If you ask, In what honour ? he dwelt in Paradise; his life
was passed in a place of entire pleasure ; he suffered no manner of
pain or of privation ; his steps were among trees loaded with fragrant
fruits ; he reposed upon a bed of flowers ; he was crowned with glory
and honour, and set over all the works which the Hands of His
Creator had made ; but above all, he excelled in glory, because he
bore the Divine image and likeness ; he ranked with, and enjoyed
the society of, the Angels, and all the powers of the army of heaven.
4. But he changed that glory of God into ' the similitude of a calf

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that eateth hay.' Thence it is that the Bread of Angels is made to
be, as it were, hay laid in the manger, and set before us as before the
beasts in the stable. Indeed, the Word was made Flesh (John i. 14);
and, according to the Prophet, All flesh is but grass. But that grass
is not dried up, nor has its flower fallen, because the Spirit of the
Lord hath rested upon it. And when once the end of all flesh came
[by the Flood], it was for this reason, namely, that the Spirit of life
had left it; for God said: ' My Spirit shall not remain in man for
ever, because he is flesh (Gen. vi. 3, Douay). By the name of
' flesh ' in this passage it is man's sin that is specified, not his nature;
for it is sin, not nature, that drives away the Spirit. Because of sin
it is, then, that all flesh is grass, and the glory thereof as the flower
of grass. The grass withereth, he goes on, the flower fadeth, but
not that Flower which springs out of the stem and root of Jesse, inasmuch as the Spirit of the Lord has rested upon Him (Is. xi. 2);
not that grass which the Word was made, since the Prophet continues, But the Word of our God shall stand for ever (Is. xl. 6-8).
For if the Word is made [Flesh, that is] grass, and the Word abides
for ever, then [that] grass abides for ever. Otherwise, how shall H e
bestow eternal life, if H e Himself does not live eternally ? for H e
says : If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. And of what
bread H e speaks H e explains in adding : And the Bread that I ivill
give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John vi. 51).
How, then, can He, by whom eternal life is bestowed, be other Himself than eternal ?
5. But recall now with me, if you please, the declaration of the Son
to the Father in the Psalm : Thou wilt not suffer Thy Holy One to
see corruption (Ps. xvi. 10). Doubtless, H e refers here only to His
Body, which lay for a time dead in the sepulchre. This is that Holy
Thing of which the Angel declared to the Virgin : That Holy Thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke i. 35).
How, then, could that holy Flesh (grass, fenum) see corruption which
was born of a pure womb, as it were of meadows ever flourishing in
perpetual greenness, and which draws upon it without ceasing the gaze
of the Angels, who regard it with never-failing delight? It would
surely lose its greenness if Mary lost her virginity. The food of man
has, then, been changed into that of beasts, since man has changed
into a beast. O sad and lamentable transmutation ! that man, the
dweller in Paradise, the lord of earth, a citizen of heaven, and one of
the household of the Lord of Sabaoth, the brother of blessed spirits,
and co-heir of celestial Virtues, should have found himself, by a
sudden transformation, and through his own weakness, lying in a
stable, clamouring for food such as is the lot of beasts, because of his
resemblance to their nature, and still more, bound fast to the manger,
on account of his savage unruliness, like as those of whom it is
written : With bit and bridle bindfast their jaws, who come not near to
thee (Ps. xxxi. 9, Douay). Yet know, O ox, thy owner, and thou, O
ass, thy master's crib, that the Prophets of God may be found faithful

SHARP REPROOF WHICH THE BRIDEGROOM GIVES TO T H E BRIDE 2 3 T

in their predictions of these wonderful works of God. Recognise,
now that thou art become a beast, Him whom, when thou wert man,
thou didst not recognise ; adore in the stable Him whom in Paradise
thou didst flee from; honour the Manger of Him whose Throne of
authority thou didst contemn; and that Bread—yea, that Bread of
Angels, from which thou didst turn in distaste, now that it has become
food suited to thy state of animal, take and eat.
6. But what is the cause, you would ask, of such an abasement ?
It is certainly no other than that man when he was in honour•, did not
understand. What did he not understand ? The Psalmist does not
explain ; but let me explain. H e was placed in honour, and took
such pleasure in the loftiness of his elevation, that he failed to
remember that he was but clay; and he soon experienced in himself
the truth of what one of the sons of his captivity, at a period far later,
both wisely observed and truly recorded, that ' if a man think himself
to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself (Gal. vi. 3).
Woe to that unhappy one, who was not then in existence when it was
said of him : Why is earth and ashes proud ? (Ecclus. x. 9). Hence
it is that a creature so beautiful1 is confounded with the h e r d ; hence
it is that its likeness to God is changed into the likeness of the brute
creation ; and in place of the companionship of Angels a fellowship
with beasts of burden entered upon. Do you see, then, how great
reason we have for fleeing from that ignorance which has been the
cause of so many hosts of evils to all our race ? For the Psalmist
declares that man became like unto the beasts that perish, and are
devoid of reason, because he did not understand. Ignorance, then,
must at any cost be avoided by u s ; lest, perhaps, if we are found to
be still without understanding, after having been so severely disciplined and punished, evils greater and heavier than the former
should find us out, and it be said of us : We would have healed
Babylon, but she is not healed (Jer. li. 9). And rightly so, since
chastening has not enabled us to understand and take heed of what
we have heard.
7. Is it not perhaps for this reason also that the Bridegroom, in
order to turn His beloved from her ignorance by the thunder of
His reprimand, said to her, not ' Go forth with the flocks'; or, ' Go
forth to the flocks/ but Go forth by [or after] the footsteps of the
flocks.
Why is this? Without doubt to show that a second
ignorance is more shameful and more to be feared than the first,
because it has rendered man equal to the beasts, or even inferior to
them. For men justly deprived of the light of God's countenance
(ignorali), that is reprobate, because of this ignorance of theirs, both
have to endure His terrible judgment, and to be given over to the
everlasting fire—a punishment to which beasts are not liable. Without doubt, then, the condition of those who will be in that state is
worse than that of those who will not be liable to it at all. It were
1
The Bride, i.e., the human soul; or sometimes the word is used in the sense
of the Church, which is the aggregate of regenerate souls.—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

better for him [says the Scripture, of one] if he had not been born a
man (Mark xiv. 21, Vulg.). Not, you observe, that he had not been
born at all, but that he had not been born a man ; but (for example)
a beast of the field, or some other creature which, not having received
the power of judgment, would not have to appear before the judgment
of God, nor by consequence be liable to everlasting punishment.
Let the rational soul, then, which is full of shame to have, by its
former ignorance, made itself a companion of the beasts of the field
in the enjoyment of the good things of earth, know that it will not
have even them for companions if it incurs the penalty of enduring
the torments of hell; that it will be driven away with shame from
their company; that it will be no longer with them, but obviously
will be after them, since they will have no more evil to endure, while
it will be exposed to every kind of suffering; and from these it will
not be delivered for ever, because it has added a second ignorance
to the first. Therefore man comes forth, and goes away solitary
after the bands of his companions, since it is he alone who is to
be thrust into the depth of hell. Does it not seem to you that he
who is cast, with hands and feet bound, into the outer darkness
(Matt. xxii. 13) is found in the lowest place? Assuredly the last
state of that man shall be worse than the first; since, instead of
being made, as before, like unto the beasts that perish, he is now set
below even them.
8. I think, farther, that if you examine the matter closely, you
will conclude that even in this life [such a] man takes a place lower
than the beasts of the field. Does it not seem to you that the man
who is gifted with reason, and does not act according to reason, is in
some sense more beastlike than the beasts themselves, which are
without reason ? For if the beasts of the field do not govern themselves by reason, they have an excuse in their very nature, since the
gift of reason has been denied to them ; but man, on whom it has
been bestowed as his special endowment and prerogative, has no
such excuse. Justly, therefore, on this account, ought man to be
separated from other living creatures, and ranked after them all,
since he alone has degenerated from his condition and violated the
laws of his nature; he alone, though gifted with reason, feels and
acts similarly to those who are without it. It is shown, then, that man
[if in a state of sin] is inferior to all the tribes of the brute creation,
both in the present life, by the depraving of his nature, and in the
future life, by the extremity of punishment which awaits him.
9. See, then, in what a miserable and accursed condition a man is
who is found in ignorance of God. Ignorance of God, or of his own
self, ought I to say ? Unquestionably both the one and the other—
each kind of ignorance is fatal, and each suffices to bring about everlasting perdition. Would you know how this is the case? As
regards ignorance of God, you will, I think, have no doubt, if you
believe without question that this only is eternal life, to know the true
God, and Jesus Christ whom H e has sent (John xvii. 3). Listen,

SHARP REPROOF WHICH THE BRIDEGROOM GIVES TO THE BRIDE 2 3 3

then, to the Bridegroom, who condemns clearly and unmistakably in
the soul an ignorance of itself. For what does H e say ? Not, ' if you
know not God/ but if thou know not thyself etc. (Cant. i. 7, Douay).
It is plain, then, that [the soul] which is ignorant will be left to be
ignorant (1 Cor. xiv. 38), whether it be with regard to God, or with
regard to itself. Of these two kinds of ignorance there is much to
be said that will be useful, if God shall enable me to say it. I will
not, however, say it now, lest you being wearied, and the discourse
not having been preceded by your prayers, as is our custom, either
I may expound with too little care, or you may listen with too little
attention to, a subject of such great importance, and which is not to
be entered upon except with a strong and eager desire. For if the
food of the body, if taken without appetite, and in a state of repletion,
not only does not profit, but even is the cause of much harm, much
more will the food of the soul bring, not increase of knowledge, but
merely unhappiness of mind, if it be taken without desire, or even
with disgust. Which sad effect may H e avert from us, who is the
Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all,
God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXXVI.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF LITERATURE IS GOOD FOR OUR INSTRUCTION,
BUT T H E KNOWLEDGE OF OUR OWN INFIRMITY IS MORE USEFUL
TO SALVATION.

I

AM here in fulfilment of my promise, in order to comply with
your requests, and in discharge of the duty I owe to God. It
is a threefold reason, as you see, which urges me on to speak :
respect for my promise, brotherly charity, and the fear of the Lord.
If I be silent, my own mouth will condemn me. If, on the contrary,
I speak, I still fear the same judgment, inasmuch as my mouth will
none the less condemn me because I say and do not. Aid me, I entreat
you, by your prayers, that I may be able to speak what is true and
edifying, and to carry out in my actions that which I preach to others.
You are aware that I propose to speak to-day of ignorance, or rather
of the various kinds of ignorance; for, if you remember, we distinguished two kinds—the one in regard to ourselves, the other to God
—and I warned you that each was to be avoided, because each was
a cause of condemnation. What I have to do now is to expound this
subject more clearly and at greater length. But I think we must in
the first place inquire whether every kind of ignorance be a cause of
condemnation ? And it seems to me that this is not the case; that
it is not every [kind or degree of] ignorance that is blamable, since
there are many things—they are, indeed, innumerable—of which we

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are allowed to be ignorant without peril to our salvation. For
example, if you are ignorant of some mechanical art, as that of the
wheelwright, or of the mason, or some other of those industries which
are carried on by men for the purposes of this present life, would that
be an obstacle to your salvation ? How many men are there who
have been saved, being acceptable to God in character and actions,
without having been acquainted even with the liberal arts (though
these latter are more honourable and more useful both in learning
and in practice) I How many persons does the Apostle enumerate
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, who became dear to God, not by their
acquaintance with polite literature, but by a pure conscience and by
faith unfeigned ! (Heb. xi.). Others there were who pleased God in
their life by the merits, not of their knowledge, but of their life.
Peter and Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, and all the rest of their
fellow-disciples, were not drawn from the school of rhetoric or of
philosophy, and yet the Saviour used them as instruments [by which
to bring about] salvation throughout the earth. It was not because
the wisdom in them was greater than that of all other men (as a
certain holy man confesses of himself—Eccles. i. 16), but because of
their faith and gentleness, that H e saved them; yea, and made them
Saints, and even teachers of others. They have made known to the
world the ways of life, not by the sublimity of their preaching, or by
the learning taught by human wisdom ; but after that the world in its
wisdom knew not God; it pleased Him to save by the foolishness of
their preaching those who believed (T Cor. ii. i ; i. 17, 21).
2. I may seem to you, perhaps, to speak too severely of knowledge;
to blame, as it were, the learned, and to forbid the study of literature.
But I would by no means do this. I am not ignorant how great are
the services that have been rendered to the Church, and are rendered
to her continually, by her learned sons, whether in repulsing the
attacks of her enemies or in instructing the simple. Besides, I have
read the words of the Prophet: Because thou hast rejected knowledge I
r will also reject thee, and thou shall be no priest to Me (Hosea iv. 6 ) ;
and also : They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever
and ever (Dan. xii 3). But I know also where I have read : Knowledge puff eth up (1 Cor. viii. 1); and again : He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow (Eccles. i. 18). You see that there is a difference between these [kinds of knowledge], for one kind renders [the
possessor] vain, and another renders him sad. Now, I would ask
you whether of the two is the more conducive to salvation, that which
puffs up or that which saddens? But I doubt not that you would
prefer the latter, since pain is a means to health, of which tumour and
swelling is but a semblance. But he who entreats for salvation is
near to gain it, for he that asketh receiveth (Luke xi. 10). Also, H e
who heals the heart that is broken holds in abhorrence that which is
swollen with pride, as the highest Wisdom teaches us : God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James iv. 6). And the

KNOWLEDGE OF LITERATURE IS GOOD FOR OUR INSTRUCTION

235

Apostle declares : / say, by the grace given unto me, to every man that
is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to
think, but to think soberly (Rom. xii. 3). H e does not forbid knowledge, but only the knowledge which renders vain. And what does
he mean by ' soberly' ? He means to guard with the greatest care
that knowledge which is essential before and beyond everything else
to our salvation, for the time is short. All knowledge, however,
which is founded on the truth is good in itself. But you whom it
behoves, on account of the briefness of the time, to hasten to work out
with fear and trembling your own salvation, you must take care to
acquire first and most carefully what you feel to be of nearer concern
to your salvation. Do not the physicians of the body define a part
of medicine to consist in the choice among different kinds of food,
which should be taken first and which afterwards, and in what
manner each should be taken ? For although all kinds of food, since
God created them, must be good, yet you may certainly render them
evil [to you] if you do not observe the proper manner and sequence
in partaking of them. Apply, then, what I say of the food of the
body to the various kinds of knowledge, which are food to the mind.
3. But it is better to send you at once to the Master, for this teaching comes not from us, but from him; or, rather, it is ours, because
it is the word of Truth. If any man, he says, think that he knoweth
anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know (1 Cor. viii. 2).
You see that he does not praise the person who knows many things
if he is still ignorant of the right manner to know them, and that it
is in that very point he places the fruit and usefulness of knowledge.
What, then, does he understand by the manner of knowing ? What
else can he mean by it than in what order, with what degree of eagerness, and with what intention and object we ought to acquaint ourselves with all things ? In what order ? that is to say, so as to
acquire first that which is more fitted to the work of our salvation.
With what degree of eagerness ? by which we learn that we ought to
apply ourselves with the greatest ardour and vehemence to make progress in that which excites us the most strongly to the love of God.
And lastly, with what intention and object ? not to learn, that is to
say, in order to satisfy vainglory, to indulge curiosity, or any motive
like that, but only for our own edification or that of our neighbour.
For there are those who wish to learn merely in order that they may
know,1 and such curiosity is blamable. There are others who wish
to learn for no other reason than that they may be looked upon as
learned, which is a ridiculous vanity; and these will not escape the
censure which a satiric poet levels against them when he says : ' To
know a thing is nothing in your eyes, unless some other person is
1
John of Salisbury writes in a very similar way: 'Some are drawn towards
learning by curiosity, others by the desire to be accounted learned, or even by
motives of self-interest. There are very few who pursue study in a disposition of
charity or humility, to instruct themselves or to be of service to others' ('Polycraticus,' Bk. vii. c. 15).

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

aware of your knowledge' (Persius, Satire I., 27). And others, again,
desire to learn only that they may make merchandise of their knowledge, for example, in order to gain money or honours ; and such
trafficking is ignoble. But there are those who desire to learn that
they may edify others; that is charity. And, lastly, there are some
who wish to learn that they may be themselves edified ; and that is
prudence.
4. Of all these the two last are the only learners who do not fall
into an abuse of knowledge; since they wish to know only that they
may do good. Says the Psalmist: A good understanding have all they
that do His commandments (Ps. cxi. 10). But let all the others note
what is said by the Apostle: To him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin (James iv. 17); as if he had said by a
metaphor: ' To take food, and not to digest it, is injurious to the
health. For food badly cooked and ill-digested generates unhealthy
humours, and injures the body instead of nourishing it. So also
much knowledge stuffed into the memory, which is, as it were, the
stomach of the soul, if it is not digested by the fire of charity, and
transfused into the limbs, that is, into the actions and habits, so
that it is made the means of good actions through the good that is
known, shall not that knowledge be counted for sin, like food turned
into bad and injurious humours?' Is not sin, in fact, as a bad
humour in the soul? and are not bad tendencies and habits as
depraved humours? He who knows the good, and does it not, will
his conscience not suffer from inflammations and torturing pains?
Will it not return in itself a response of condemnation and death, as
often as that Divine saying comes into the memory : That servant
which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes ? (Luke xii. 47).
It is perhaps the-cry of such a soul to which the Prophet gives utterance, when he says : My bowels, my bowels I I am pained at my very
heart (Jer. iv. 19). Except that perhaps the very repetition seems to
point to a double sense in the words, and obliges me to look for some
other than that I have given. I think that the Prophet may have
spoken this in regard to himself, inasmuch as being full of knowledge
and of charity, and earnestly desiring to communicate that knowledge,
he could find no one who cared to listen to him, and thus his knowledge was, as it were, a burden to him, since he was unable to communicate it. Therefore the pious teacher of the Church laments,
both for those who scorned the opportunity of learning their duty,
and for those who, knowing it, yet lived evil lives. And on this
account he repeats the word.
5. Do you observe with what emphatic truth the Apostle asserts
that knowledge puffeth up? I wish, then, that the soul should first of
all commence by acquiring a knowledge of itself, as is required both
by natural order and by that of usefulness. The natural order,
because we are to ourselves the first and nearest fact; but also that
of usefulness, since the knowledge of ourselves does not puff us up,

KNOWLEDGE OF LITERATURE IS GOOD FOR OUR INSTRUCTION

237

but rather humbles us, and prepares us for edification. For certainly
the spiritual edifice cannot stand except on the firm foundation of
humility. Now, the soul can find no motive more effective or more
powerful for humility than a thorough knowledge of itself as it really
is, only it must be honest in purpose and without guile, and standing
in presence of itself, must ignore nothing that it beholds. When it
views itself thus in the clear light of truth, it will find itself far different
from what it had believed itself to b e ; and sighing at the sight of its
truly miserable state, will it not cry to the Lord with the Psalmist:
In Thy truth Thou hast humbled me ? (Ps. cxix. 75, Douay). For
how can it be otherwise than humbled, in obtaining this true
knowledge of itself, when it beholds itself laden with sins, heavily
burdened with its mortal body, involved in earthly cares, infected
with the corruption of carnal desires, blind, bent earthwards, weak,
entangled with many errors, exposed to a thousand perils, trembling
with a thousand fears, struggling with a thousand difficulties, the
subject of a thousand suspicions and a thousand distressing necessities, prone to vices, but to virtues slow and backward ? How, after
that revelation of himself to himself, can he lift up his eyes and walk
with head erect ? Will he not rather be converted at the sight of so
many miseries, at the sharp pang of the ' thorn which is fastened' [into
it]? (Ps. xxxi. 4, Vulg.). He will be converted, I say, to tears, to
sighs and groans; he will be converted to the Lord, and in deep
humility will cry to Him : Heal my soul, for I have sinned against
Thee (Ps. xli. 4). And then, when converted unto the Lord, it shall
receive consolation, because He is the Father of mercies, and the
God of all consolation.
6. As for me, as long as I look at myself, I see only one subject
after another for bitter regret. But if I look up, and lift up my eyes
towards the help of the Divine compassion, the joyful sight of God
tempers at once the bitter revelation of myself, and I say to H i m :
My soul is troubled within me, therefore will I remember Thee
(Ps. xlii. 6). Nor is that vision of God of small avail, in which we
have experience of His kindness and readiness to be entreated. For
He is in truth good and merciful, so much better than we are evil,
as to prevail over our ill (Joel ii. 13). His Nature is goodness, and
to Him it belongeth to have mercy always and to spare. Through
such an experience, and in such an order of events, then, does God
make Himself known to us, and to our great benefit; that is to say,
after man has become aware of the deplorable condition in which he
is, and has cried unto the Lord, the Lord hears and helps him,
declaring: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me (Ps. 1. 15).
Thus, the knowledge of thyself will be a step to the knowledge of
God: H e will become visible in His image, which is renewed in
thee; whilst thou, beholding with confidence as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, art changed into the same image^ from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
7. But now notice, finally, how each of these kinds of knowledge

2$8

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

is necessary to your salvation, so that if you are wanting in one or in
the other, you cannot be saved. For if you do not know yourself,
you will not have the fear of God in you, and therefore you will have
no humility. What ground, then, you can possibly have to hope for
salvation, without the fear of God and without humility, you can see
for yourself. You have done well to show me by that little murmur
that you do not nourish any such vain expectation, or rather that
your belief is entirely opposite to it; and therefore we need not linger
upon a question which is clear in itself. But listen to what remains—
or had we better stop here, on account of those who are weighed
down by sleep ? I thought that I would include in one sermon what
I had promised respecting the two kinds of ignorance, and I would do
so, only that I should seem to be excessively lengthy to those whom
this sermon wearies and disgusts. For I see some yawning, and
others are asleep. Nor is that strange; the Vigils 1 of the preceding
night (which were, indeed, very long) are their excuse. But what
shall I say to those who slept then, and yet are sleeping now all the
same ? But I do not wish to put them to shame farther; it is sufficient to have mentioned the fact. I think that henceforth they will
keep awake better, and fear to be again remarked. In that hope I
pass over the matter for this time, and in consideration for them will
divide what remains to be said, and make an ending, where the end
really was not. May the indulgence shown to them bring them to
render glory with us to the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST
our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XXXVII.
OF THE TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE : T H E EVILS OR INJURIES CAUSED BY THESE.

I

T H I N K that there is no need to-day to urge you not to yield to
sleep, because the exhortation given to you so recently as yes
terday will doubtless be still in your minds, and being addressed
to you in a kindly spirit has, I hope, produced a good effect. You
remember, then, that you agreed with me in holding that no one is
saved without a knowledge of himself, because from that knowledge
is born humility, which is the mother of salvation, and the fear of the
Lord which, as it is the beginning of wisdom, so it is the beginning
of salvation. No one, I say, is saved without that knowledge; at
least, no one who is of an age and capability to have it. This exception is made to cover the case of young children and of those
wanting in the powers of reason, to whom another principle applies.
1
That office which we call ' Matins ' was thus named, according to the intention
of St. Benedict (Mabillon's note).

TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND TWO* KINDS OF IGNORANCE 2 3 9

But if you have not the knowledge of God, could there be a hope
of salvation for you without that knowledge ? No, not even a hope.
For you cannot love One whom you do not know, nor have eternal
happiness in the possession of One whom you do not love. Attain,
then, to the knowledge of yourself, that you may fear God ; and
attain to the knowledge of Him, that you may love Him also. In
the one is the beginning of wisdom, in the other is the consummation
of it, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
(Ps. cxi. 10), and love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. xiii. 10). So
great reason is there for your guarding against both the one and the
other kind of ignorance, since without the fear and the love of God
salvation is not possible. Other things are indifferent; the knowledge of them does not ensure salvation, nor does ignorance of them
prevent it.
2. Yet I must not be understood to say that the knowledge of
literature is either to be neglected or despised, since it both instructs
and adorns the soul, and renders it capable of instructing others.
But it is needful and expedient that those two things, in which, as
we have said above, consist the essentials of salvation, should precede
that knowledge. Did not the Prophet have that order in view, and
intend to inculcate it, when he said: Sow to yourselves righteousness',
reap the hope of life ? And then, after that, light for yourselves, he
says : the light of knowledge.1 He has placed knowledge the last, as
it were a picture, which cannot be drawn on the empty air; and he
has set in the first place the two things which form, so to speak, the
solid substance upon which the picture is to be superposed. I may,
then, apply myself in all security to gaining knowledge if I have previously received good assurance of life by the blessing of hope. You
have, then, sown for yourself to righteousness if you have learned,
from a true knowledge of yourself, to fear God ; if you have humbled
yourself, wept sincerely for your sins, given liberal alms, and done
other works of piety ; if you have afflicted your body with fasts and
vigils and your breast with blows; if, finally, you have wearied
heaven with your prayers. This is indeed to sow to righteousness.
Good works, pious pursuits, tears of penitence—these are the seeds.
Going, they went, says the Psalmist, and wept, casting their seeds. But
what, shall they weep always ? By no means. They shall come with
joyfulness, carrying their sheaves (Ps. cxxvi. 6). Rightly is it said with
joyfulness, since they bring back fruits of glory, as it were, sheaves of
1
Hos. x. 12 ; but probably quoted from memory. No version or commentator
that I can discover has anything like this reading. The nearest is the LXX. :

<T7reipare havroiQ SIQ ducaiocrvvrjv, rpvyrj<raTE eiQ Kapnov %<orJQ, 0wri<rar€ ZCCVTOLQ

(j)u>Q yvwcretijg, etc. The Vulgate version (and those founded on it) take quite a
different turn here. St. Bernard may have had in his mind the following from
St. Ambrose {Comm. in Ps. cxix., octon. prim.)-. l Seminate vobis ad justitiam,
vindemiate ad fructum vita, illuminate vobis lumen cognitionis : non prius
illuminate, sed seminate,' etc. The sentiment is a common and favourite one with
St. Bernard. See parallel passages in ' Convers. ad Clericos,' c. 15, and ' Serm.
de St. Benedicto.'—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

grain. But that, you say, shall be in the resurrection at the last day;
and that is a very long time to await. But be not discouraged, do
not in mere failure of heart lose hope; in the meantime you have
the first-fruits of the Spirit, which, even at the present time, you reap
with joy. Sow to yourselves righteousness ; reap the hope of life. H e
does not merely put you off to the last day, when the object desired
shall be possessed, not hoped for : but he speaks of the present. Our
joy, no doubt, and exultation shall be very great indeed when [eternal]
life shall come to be in our actual possession.
3. But shall the hope of so great a joy be itself without joy ? Rejoici7ig in hope, says the Apostle (Rom. xii. 12). And David said,
not that he should rejoice, but that he did rejoice, because he hoped
to go into the house of the Lord (Ps. cxxi. 1). H e did net yet
possess [eternal] life, but he had attained the hope of life; and he
experienced in himself the truth of that saying of Scripture that not
only the reward, but the hope itself, of the righteous shall be gladness
(Prov. x. 28). That gladness is produced in the soul of him who
has sown to himself righteousness, by the assurance that his offences
are pardoned, provided that the efficacy of the grace which he has
received to live more holily for the future attests for him the certitude
of that pardon. Everyone among you who feels this working in himself knows what saith the Spirit, whose words and whose working are
never contrary the one to the other. That which is heard outwardly
with the ears is felt inwardly by the heart, and therefore it is that the
teachings of the Spirit are understood with full sympathy. For it is
one and the same Spirit who speaks in us and who works in you,
dividing to every man severally as He will (1 Cor. xii. n ) ; giving to
some the grace to speak, to others the grace to do that which is good.
4. Whosoever, then, of you, after the first stages (so bitter and full
of tears) of his conversion, has the happiness to breathe freely in
hope, and to be raised as upon the wings of grace into the peaceful
air of heavenly consolations, is even now reaping the harvest and
receiving the fruit of the tears which for a time he shed ; he has
attained to see God, and has had the happiness to hear Him say :
Give to [him] of the fruit of his hands (Prov. xxxi. 31). For how can
it be that he who has tasted and seen how sweet the Lord is
(Ps. xxxiv. 8) has not seen God ? How full, O Lord Jesus, of sweetness and kindness has that soul felt Thee to be who has not only
received of Thy bounty pardon for sins, but also the gift of holiness !
Nor is even that all, for, as if to load him with blessings, there has
been added to it the promise of eternal life. Happy is he who has
already reaped as much as this, and who has in the meantime his
fruit unto holiness, and in the end eternal life ! It was with good
ground that he who wept and lamented at the sight of himself as he
really was, rejoiced when he had seen the Lord, since to the sight of
that marvellous mercy he owed it that he returned home bearing
sheaves of glory so great: remission, sanctification, most of all the
hope of [eternal] life. How true is the prediction which we read in

TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE

241

the Psalm : They that sow in tears shall reap i?i joy (Ps. cxxvi. 5).
In it is briefly referred to each kind of knowledge : the one the
knowledge of ourselves, which causes us to sow in tears; the other
the knowledge of God, which enables us to reap in joy.
5. If, then, we begin with this twofold experience—the knowledge
of God and of ourselves—any knowledge which we may be able afterwards to add to this will not make us vainglorious, inasmuch as any
worldly gain or honour wThich it can possibly bring us is far below the
hope which we have conceived and the joy which that hope brings to
us, and which is profoundly rooted in the soul. And that hope maketh
not ashanied, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. v. 5). It makes us not to
be ashamed, because it fills the heart with an assured and settled
conviction [of the mercy of God]. By this the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. viii. 16).
What, then, can come to us from any knowledge of our own, however
great it be, which is not far below this glory, to be counted among the
sons of God ? That is indeed too little to say, for the whole earth
and all that it contains, if it were possible to put that into the possession of each one of us, would not deserve to be put into comparison
with a gift so precious. But if we be ignorant of God, how is it possible for us to hope in One whom we know not ? And if we be
ignorant of ourselves, how can wre be humble, since we think ourselves to be something, while we are nothing ? But we know well
that neither those who are proud, nor those who are without hope in
God, have any part or lot in the inheritance of the saints.
6. Consider, then, now with me with what care and solicitude we
ought to repel from us both these kinds of ignorance, of which the
one produces the beginning, the other the consummation, of every
kind of sin ; just as, on the contrary, of the two corresponding kinds
of knowledge, the one is the beginning of wisdom, and the other its
perfection—that is to say, the one produces the fear of the Lord, the
other the love of Him. But with regard to these two kinds of knowledge, we have explained above; let us now consider the two kinds of
ignorance. Now, just as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom (Ecclus. i. 14), so pride is the beginning of every sin (Ecclus.
x. 13); and as the love of God is justly considered as the perfection
of wisdom, so despair [of His love and mercy] is both the startingpoint and completion of malice. And in like manner, as from the
knowledge of thyself is caused in thee the fear of God, and equally
from the knowledge of God the love of Him, so, on the contrary,
from ignorance of thyself comes pride, and from ignorance of God
despair. For ignorance of yourself produces in you pride, inasmuch
as your mind, being at the same time deceived and deceiving, causes
you to think yourself better than you really are. In this way pride
is the beginning of all sin, since you are greater in your own eyes
than in the eyes of God, or than you are in fact and reality. And
therefore the Scripture, speaking of him who first committed this
16

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

242

great sin (I mean the devil), declares that he abode not in the truth,
but was a liar from the beginning^ inasmuch as he was not in truth
what he was in his own imaginations. But suppose that he had
erred from truth in thinking himself lesser and lower than he
really was, what then ? Doubtless ignorance would then have been
an excuse for him; he would have escaped the snare of pride, and,
instead of being brought into disgrace by [this] his iniquity, would
perhaps have been brought back into grace and favour by his
humility. For if we could know clearly the condition in wThich each
of us individually is before God, we might have an opinion of ourselves which should be neither too high nor too low, but which should
conform in all respects closely to the truth. 2 But since it has pleased
God that this should be hidden from us, so that no man knows
whether he be worthy of love or of hatred (Eccles. ix. 1), it is
assuredly both more fitting and more safe to choose for ourselves the
lowest place, according to the advice of the Truth Himself; from this
we may afterwards be transferred to a higher, and that with honour,
instead of being obliged to cede with shame the higher place to
another (Luke xiv. 10).
7. There is, then, no danger, howsoever much you may humble
yourself, that you will regard yourself as much less than you really
are—that is to say, than truth holds you to be. But it is a great evil
and a peril to be guarded against, to exalt yourself even in a small
degree more than the truth, or in your own thoughts to prefer yourself even to one person whom, perhaps, the Truth regards as equal
to you, or, perhaps, even superior. To explain this by a familiar
illustration : when you pass through a low doorway you have nothing
to fear from stooping, however low you may stoop; but if you raise
your head higher than the doorway, though it were but by the breadth
of a finger, you will strike against the frame and injure yourself by
the blow. So also with the soul: there is nothing to be feared from
humbling yourself, to however great an extent, but much to be apprehended from even the least presumptuous self-exaltation. Therefore
beware, O man, of comparing yourself either with those who are
greater than you, or those who are less ; with many or with one. For
how do you know whether that very one, whom you perhaps regard
as the vilest and most miserable of mankind, at whose life you
shudder as being infamous and defiled with crimes beyond all others;
whom you think is to be scorned therefore, not only in comparison
with yourself, who are living, as you confidently think, in temperance,
righteousness, and piety, but even in comparison with other criminals,
as being of all the ungodly the worst; how do you know, I say,
whether he may not one day be made, by an exertion of the power
of the Most High, to be better than you, and than those whom you
prefer to him, or whether he is not so even now in the sight of God ?
And for these reasons it is that the Lord has willed us to take our
place, not in the midmost ranks, not in the lower, nor even among
1

John viii. 44.

2

See Sermon XX,, De Diversis*

TWO

KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND TWO KINDS OF IGNORANCE 2 4 3

the lowest, but has said : Sit down in the lowest place (Luke xiv. 10)
—that is to say, alone and last of all; and do not presume, I say
not to prefer yourself to any, but even to put yourself in comparison
with one. See what great evil is caused by ignorance of ourselves,
since it produces the sin which is that of the devil, and is the beginning of all others—namely, pride. What is produced by ignorance
of God we will see on another occasion. For, as we assembled today a little late, the shortness of the time will not permit of more
now. Let it suffice on this occasion for each of us that he is warned
against ignorance of himself; warned, not merely by this discourse,
but by the condescension and goodness of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God
blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON
HOW

XXXVIII.

FROM IGNORANCE OF GOD COMES DESPAIR : AND HOW THE
BRIDE IS CALLED T H E FAIREST AMONG WOMEN.

J HAT, then, comes from ignorance of God? For, as you
•
remember, it was at this point we left off yesterday, and we
have to take up our subject here. What, then, comes of
it ? Despair, as I have already said; but in what manner we have
now to consider. A man perhaps, returning to a right frame of mind, 1
and sincerely condemning himself for all the evil actions which he
has done, proposes to reform, and to retire from the evil road on
which he is, and from his sensual thoughts and actions. But if he
is ignorant how good and merciful God is, how gentle and favourable
to the penitent, and how willing to forgive, will not his carnal reason
accuse him, and say : ' What are you doing ? do you wish to lose
this life as well as the future life? Your sins are too many and too
great. If you were even to cut the skin off your bones, 2 you could not
make satisfaction for offences so numerous and aggravated. Your
constitution is delicate ; you have lived in comfort, and you will not
easily alter the habits of a life.' And the unhappy man, rendered
desperate by these and similar arguments, returns to his former errors,
not knowing how easily the Almighty Goodness, who willeth not that
any should perish, would break through all those obstacles [for him].
Then follows [a settled state of] impenitence, which is the worst of all
crimes, and is indeed that blasphemy which cannot be forgiven (Matt,
xii. 31). H e is deeply agitated, and swallowed up by excessive sadness, and by a profound melancholy, so that he refuses to emerge
from it, or to receive any consolation. It is with him as it is said in

W

1

2

' Reversus in se? This is the phrase in the Vulgate, Luke xv. 17.—ED.
Excories, a Low Latin word, not classical.—ED.

244

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Scripture : The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemns [them] (Prov. xviii. 3). Or, at least, he shuts his eyes to^his
miserable state, and, flattering himself with some plausible reasoning,
throws himself again, and irrevocably, into the business and the
pleasure of the world, to enjoy and to profit by all its good things to
the utmost of his power. But when he [and those like him] shall say,
Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, like
travail upon a woman with child : and they shall not escape (1 Thess.
v. 3). Thus it is that from ignorance of God comes the consummation of all evil, which is despair.
2. The Apostle says that some have not the knowledge of God
(1 Cor. xv. 3 1 ) ; but I say that all those who are unwilling to be converted to God are without the knowledge of Him. For, doubtless,
they are not reluctant to do so for any other reason except that
they imagine Him to be rigorous and severe who is good and kind;
hard and implacable, who is full of mercy; cruel and terrible, who is
most to be loved—and iniquity deceives itself, imagining an idol in
place of that which H e really is. O ye of little faith, wherefore do ye
fear ? Because you think H e is unwilling to forgive your sins ? But
when His Hands were nailed to the Cross H e nailed your sins to it
also with them. Because you are delicate, and nursed in habits of
luxury ? But H e knoweth the clay of which we are made. Because
you are accustomed to evil, and bound by habits of sinning as by iron
chains ? But the Lord looseth them that are fettered (Ps. cxlvi. 7).
Are you perhaps afraid that H e is enraged because of the number
and greatness of your crimes, and will be slow to extend to you a
helping Hand ? But you have the assurance that where sin abounded,
there grace did much more abound (Rom. v. 20). Are you careful and
anxious about food and clothing, and other things necessary for your
body, and on that account are reluctant to give up your property ?
Your Heavenly Father knotveth that ye have need of all these things
(Matt. vi. 32). What more can you wish? or what still holds you
back from salvation ? But this is the very thing I say: you are
ignorant of God, and you are not willing to believe that which I tell
you of Him. I could wish that you would believe those at all events
who tell you what they have themselves experienced ; for unless you
believe you will not have true understanding. But that faith is not
given to all.
3. May God grant us never to suffer from such ignorance as this,
that is to say, respecting God, which the Bride is warned to avoid;
she on whom has been bestowed, not merely knowledge, but friendship and familiarity with Him who is as well her Bridegroom as her
God, to whom is the favour of continual communion and conversation with Him, and who asks here with fearless directness : Tell me
where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon. In
which she asks to be shown to her, not Himself, but the place where
His glory dwelleth; although, in truth, His place and His glory are
no other than Himself. But He thinks fit to reprove her for pre-

FROM IGNORANCE OF GOD COMES DESPAIR

245

sumption, and warns her to know her own self, and to consider by
what limitations she is restrained, since she has regarded herself as
fit for so great a Vision, whether because the excess [of her love]
hindered her from considering that she was still in the body, or that
she hoped, but fruitlessly, to be able to attain, even while remaining in
the body, to that Brightness which is inaccessible. Therefore she is
forthwith recalled to herself, is convicted of ignorance, and corrected
for presumption. If thou know not, go forth.
The Bridegroom
thunders terribly against His beloved, not as Bridegroom, but as
Master; not as being angry, but because He desires to purify her by
terror, so that being purified she may be rendered fit for that Vision
to which she aspires. For that Vision is reserved for the pure in heart.
4. It is with great beauty that, instead of calling her simply
'beautiful/ H e styles her fairest amongwomen ; that is to say, beautiful, with a qualification, and in this way to humble her still more, that
she may learn in what she is deficient. For I think that in this
passage, under the name of 'women,' He speaks of carnal and worldly
souls, which have in them no manly force, displaying nothing constant
or generous in their actions, but of which the whole life and character
is soft, remiss, and, in a word, womanish. Now, although the soul
that is spiritually minded is already beautiful, inasmuch as it walks,
not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, yet, because
it is still in a mortal body, it still falls short of perfect beauty. Thus,
it is not beautiful absolutely, but beautiful ' among women;' that is,
among worldly souls, which are not spiritually minded as she; but
not among Angelic Beatitudes, not among Virtues, Powers, and
Dominations. For as among the Patriarchs one was formerly said
to be just in his generation (Gen. vi. 9), that is, beyond all of his time
and his generation; and as Tamar was asserted to be righteous by
Judah, that is to say, beyond7udah (Gen. xxxviii. 26); and as in the
Gospel the Publican is declared to have gone down to his house
justified, indeed, but justified rather than the Pharisee (Luke xviii. 14);
and as that great Saint John [the Baptist] was once commended as
having no superior, yet only ' among those who are born of women'
(Luke vii. 28), not among the choirs of the blessed and heavenly
spirits, so also is it here said of the Bride that she is fairest, but only
among women, not among the blessed spirits of heaven.
5. Let the soul, then, desist henceforth, as long as she is on the
earth, from searching out with too eager a curiosity the things which
are in heaven, lest in seeking to view too nearly the majesty [of God],
she should be overwhelmed by His glory. Let her desist, I say, as
long as her lot is cast among women, from inquiring into the events
which take place among those Powers which are on high, which are
intelligible to them alone, and with which, because they are heavenly,
it is lawful to heavenly beings alone to concern themselves. ' T h a t
Vision/ H e declares, ' which you ask, O My Bride, to be permitted
to behold, is far above your powers; nor are you now capable of
sustaining the blinding splendour of that Glory, as of the noonday

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sun, in which I dwell. For you have said: Tell me where Thou
feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon. But to be borne
upon the clouds, to penetrate into the fulness of Light, to burst into
the abysses of Glory, to dwell in the Light which none can approach
unto, for this the present is not the time, nor is your mortal body
capable of sustaining it. That felicity is reserved for you at the last,
when I shall have caused you to appear before Me in a condition full
of glory, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Do you not
know that as long as you remain in your present body, you are exiled
from the Light ? How can you, who have not yet attained the full
beauty of heaven, suppose yourself capable of beholding the Source
of all beauty ? How, finally, can you, who do not yet know yourself,
seek to know Me in My Glory ? For if you had known yourself more
fully, you would be aware that your corruptible body is not capable
of lifting its eyes to that blinding Splendour upon which the Angels
desire to look, much less of fixing them upon it. The time will come
when I shall appear [to judge], and then you shall be wholly fair,
even as I am now; then you shall be like Me, inasmuch as you shall
see Me as I am (1 John iii. 2). Then you shall hear the words :
Thou art all fair, my love: there is no spot in thee (Cant. iv. 7). But
now, though you are like unto Me in part, yet in part you are still
unlike; therefore be content to know [Me] only in part. Have
regard to your own powers; seek not things too high for you, nor try
to penetrate those that are too hard (Ecclus. iii. 21). Otherwise, if
thou knowest not [thyself], O thou fairest among women ; for I do not
call you simply 'fairest/ but 'fairest among women,' that is, in part;
but when that which is perfect shall have come, then that which is in
part shall be done away (1 Cor. xiii. 10). If, then, thou knowest not
thyself; but the words which follow have been noted, and it is not
needful that they should be repeated. I had promised myself to say
something that might be useful respecting the two kinds of ignorance;
if, nevertheless, I seem not to have fulfilled this promise, forgive m e ;
it has not been for want of goodwill. For to will is present with m e ;
but how to perform I find not, except in so far as Our Lord JESUS
CHRIST shall of His goodness deign to bestow upon me [grace] for
your edification.
H e is the Bridegroom of the Church, over all
things, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

T H E CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH

247

SERMON XXXIX.
OF T H E CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH, THAT IS, T H E DEVIL j AND OF THE
CHIEFS OF HIS ARMY, WHO ARE MALICE, SENSUALITY, AND
AVARICE.

HA VE compared thee, O my love, to my company of horsemen
among PharaoKs chariots (i. 9). In the first place we recognise
/
willingly in these words that the Church has been prefigured in
the Patriarchs of the ancient Law, and that the mysteries of our salvation have been foreshown [in them]. In the Exodus of Israel out
of Egypt, in that twofold wonder at the Red Sea, the giving passage
to the people of God, while at the same time vengeance was executed
upon their enemies, the grace of Baptism is clearly typified, inasmuch
as it saves men and submerges offences. All our fathers, says the
Apostle, were under the cloud, and were all baptized unto Moses in the
cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. x. 1, 2). But it is needful to notice,
according to our custom, the succession of words [in our text], and
to show the connection between the former ones and those which
follow them, and so to draw, if we can, some sweet and profitable
lesson from them to bear upon our practice. So, then [the Lord],
after having repressed the presumption of the Bride with grave and
severe reproof, not wishing that she should remain in too great dejection, recalls to her memory some of the blessings which she hae
already received, and promises to her others which have not yet beer
granted; H e also gives testimony that she is beautiful, and even calls
her ' love.' ' If 1/ says the Bridegroom, ' have spoken to thee harshly
and severely, O my love, do not suppose that it was from mistrust of
thee, from hatred, or bitterness of feeling. For the gifts which I have
lavished upon thee are unmistakable proofs of my affection. Nor is
it in my mind to take away from thee these honours and adornments,
but rather to add more and greater ones.' Or the words may be thus
understood: ' Do not take it ill, O my love, that you do not receive
instantly all that you ask, for you have already received very great
gifts from Me, and shall receive still greater if you walk in My precepts, and persevere in My love.' Thus much with respect to the
connection of the words.
2. Now let us see of what nature are the gifts which H e mentions
that H e has given. First of all is this, that H e has rendered her like
unto His army among the chariots of Pharaoh, in freeing her from
the yoke of sin by the destruction of all the works of the flesh, in
like manner as the people of Israel was freed from slavery to Egypt,
and the chariots of Pharaoh were overturned and submerged in the
Red Sea (Exod. xiv. 28). That was indeed a very great mercy, and
I shall not be wrong if I desire to glory in having received it. It
is a great truth that I declare. I confess, and will confess, that.

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unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell
(Ps. xciii. 17, Douay). I am not ungrateful; I am not forgetful; I
will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever (Ps. lxxxix. 1). Let us
leave there the resemblance which the Bride bears to my soul. For
the rest, after she has been liberated by that unexampled condescension and goodness, she is taken by Him to be His dear friend,
endued with glory and beauty as the Bride of the Lord; but as yet
her ornaments are only upon neck and cheeks. For there are promised to her jewelled necklaces for adornment, and golden earrings
of price inlaid with silver for an added beauty. Who will not be
pleased with the order itself of these gifts ? First, she is mercifully
freed ; then condescendingly loved ; thirdly, with kindness cleansed
and purified; lastly, she receives the promise of ornaments the richest
and most precious.
3. I do not doubt that there are some among you who feel already
in themselves the truth of what has been said, and, indeed, anticipate
it, because they are forewarned by their own experience. But it is
for me to be mindful of that verse of a Psalm : The entrance of Thy
wordsgiveth light: itgiveth understanding unto the simple (Ps. cxix. 130).
And for their sakes it is that I think it advisable to explain these
things at greater length, for loving is the Spirit of wisdom (Wisd. i. 6).
And it pleases Him that a teacher should be loving and diligent, and
that, while desirous to satisfy the intelligent and learned, he should
so proceed as to make allowance for those who are of slower comprehension. Wisdom herself says : They that explain me shall have life
everlasting (Ecclus. xxiv. 31, Douay), and I should be unwilling to be
deprived of that recompense. Furthermore, even in those things
which appear plain there are often hidden meanings, and those of
such a character that it is not superfluous to explain them with great
care, even to those of the most capacious and swiftly-apprehensive
minds.
4. But consider the comparison drawn from Pharaoh and his army
and from the horsemen of the Lord. The comparison is not of the
two armies between themselves, but of each with a third thing. For
what concord hath light with darkness ? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel ? (2 Cor. vi. 15). The Bridegroom compares,
no doubt, the holy and spiritual soul to the horsemen of the Lord; and,
again, Pharaoh to the devil, and the army of the one to the army of
the other. You will not wonder that one soul is likened unto horsemen, who are a multitude, if you consider the array [as it were an
army] of virtues which are found in that single soul which is holy.
What order and regularity in its affections, what discipline in the use
of all its faculties, what an armoury of strength in its prayers, what
unshrinking resolution in its actions, how formidable is its zeal,
what constancy in the combats it sustains with the enemy of souls
himself, and how numerous the triumphs it obtains over him ! Therefore, it is that we read of it in a later verse : Terriole as an army with
banners (Cant. vi. 4). And, again : What will ye see in the Shulamite ?

THE CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH

249

As it were, the company of two armies (vii. 1). Or if that explanation
does not please you, know that a pious soul is never without a guard
of Angels, who vie with each other in watching over it with a care
truly Divine, that they may keep it for Him to whom it belongs, and
present it as a chaste virgin to Christ. Do not say in your heart:
' Where are they, then ; who has seen them ?' The prophet Elisha
saw them, and obtained at his petition that his servant [GehaziPJ
should see them too. 1 If you do not see them it is because you are
not a Prophet, nor the servant of a Prophet. The Patriarch Jacob
saw them, and said : This is God's host (Gen. xxxii. 2). The Apostle
and Doctor of the Gentiles saw them too, and said of them : Are they
not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation ? (Heb. i. 14).
5. Therefore the Bride, being in all her ways protected by Angelic
ministries and attended by a bodyguard of Angels, is rightly compared
to the horsemen of the Lord; to that army which on a former occasion, in the midst of the chariots of Pharaoh, triumphed over them
by an astonishing miracle of Divine assistance. For if you notice
with attention, you will find that all those circumstances in that
former incident which you regard with wonder and admiration are to
be discovered here, and to be admired no less. Indeed, it may well
be thought that here the triumph is more magnificent still, since the
former had to do with material things only; but here the type is
spiritually fulfilled. Does it not appear to you, in fact, that there is
far more of glory as of bravery in overcoming the devil than Pharaoh,
and in conquering the powers of the air than in overturning the
chariots of Pharaoh? There the combat is against flesh and blood;
but here against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places
(Eph. vi. 12). Follow out with me the details of this comparison.
There it is a people delivered from Egypt, here man drawn away from
the world; there Pharaoh is overcome, here the devil; there the
chariots of Pharaoh are overthrown, here carnal and worldly desires
which war against the soul are destroyed ; those in the billows, these
in floods of tears ; billows of the sea in one case, floods of bitter regret
in the other. I believe that when the demons encounter such a soul
as this they cry out, as did the Egyptians of old : Let us flee from the
face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them (Exod. xiv. 25). Do you
wish now that I should point out some of the chiefs of Pharaoh's
army by their own names, and that I should describe some of his
chariots, so that you may in a similar manner find out others for
yourselves ? Learn, then, that one of the great captains of the
spiritual and invisible king of Egypt is Malice, another is Sensuality,
1 and a third is Avarice. These princes each possess under their king
provinces bounded by such limits as are assigned to them by him.
1
2 Kings vi. 17. St. Bernard says 'Gehazi'; but this attendant on the prophet
was probably not Gehazi, who had been before this period rendered unfit for
service by leprosy (2 Kings v. 27).—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

For Malice rules in the region of injuries and crimes; Sensuality
presides over all uncleanness of the flesh; and x\varice over the
province of rapine and fraud.
6. Listen also and learn of what kind are the chariots which
Pharaoh has prepared for his princes that they may pursue the
people of God. Malice has a chariot standing on four wheels, and
these are cruelty, impatience, presumption, impudence.
Swift is
that chariot to shed blood; it is not stayed by innocence, nor
retarded by patience, nor restrained by fear, nor kept back by
shame. It is drawn by two horses extremely vicious, and ready
for any injury to others—worldly Power, and temporal Ostentation.
This car of Malice advances with great rapidity, since on the one
side it has Power to accomplish the malicious designs of its occupier,
and on the other, Ostentation to approve and applaud them when
completed; so that the saying is fulfilled which is written: The
wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous (Ps. x. 3 ) ;
and also another Scripture : This is your hour, and the power of darkness (Luke xxii. 52). Over these two rule two drivers: Arrogance
urges Pomp, and Jealousy Power. For the heart that is swelling
with vanity is borne swiftly to the love of the pomps of the devil;
while that, on the contrary, which is restrained by fitting fear, which
gravity renders modest, humility sincere, and purity healthy and clearsighted, will certainly not be borne lightly away by the wind of vainglory. In the same way is not the horse of worldly Power directed
by Jealousy, and urged on with the two spurs of envy, I mean the
apprehension of failing, and the uneasy fear of being surpassed. One
of these is felt by him who is successful, the other by him who is
trying to succeed; and by one or the other of these the powers of the
world are constantly galled. So much as to the car of Malice.
7. The car of Sensuality also rolls upon four wheels : the Gluttony
of the belly, the Lust of sexual passion, the Luxury of dress and
adornment, and the Languor of sloth. It also is drawn by two
steeds, Prosperity in life, and Abundance of goods; and directed by
two drivers, Ease shameful and inglorious, and treacherous Security.
For an abundance of all things easily produces sloth, and according
to Scripture the prosperity of fools shall destroy them (Prov. i. $2), and
assuredly for no other reason than this, that it infuses into them an
unfounded sense of security; for when they shall say, Peace and
safety, then sudden destruction co?neth upon the?n (1 Thess. v. 3). Now,
these have no spurs, nor whip, nor anything of that kind; instead of
these they make use of a net of gauze1 to give them shade, and of a
fan to give them a cooling breeze. The gauze net may stand for
Dissimulation, which casts a kind of shadow over the soul, and
enables it to escape the heat and labour of cares. It is the mark of
an effeminate and weak soul to seek to avoid even necessary cares
for fear of feeling the anxiety and uneasiness of them ; and for that
1
Conopeum, used in the sense of ' a sunshade.' In many editions is added
'parvulo papilione? which in the MSS. is a marginal note.—ED.

THE CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH

25 1

object to conceal itself under the shadow of dissimulation. And the
fan is Prodigality, which produces the breeze of adulation. For the
luxurious are wont to be prodigal, and to purchase with their gold
the breath of the mouth of flatterers; but enough upon this subject.
8. Avarice also is drawn upon a chariot of which the four wheels
are: Pusillanimity, Inhumanity, Disregard of God, and Forgetfulness
of death. It is drawn by Stubbornness and Rapacity as steeds, and
these have but one driver, Eagerness for gain. Avarice is content
with one servant only; he is not willing to bear the expense of more.
But that servant performs what is commanded him with promptness
and unwearied industry; he urges on the steeds which draw his
master's car with a whip of double thong—the Craving to acquire,
and the Fear to lose.
9. The king of Egypt has other captains besides with their chariots,
who serve their master in his wars : as Pride, who is one of his chief
princes; Impiety, the enemy of the faith, who holds a chief place in
the household and realm of Pharaoh; there are also lords and knights
of lower rank in the army, whose number is very great, and I leave it
to you to seek out the names and the offices, the arms and the equipment of these, to occupy you in these studies. It is thus that the
invisible Pharaoh, full of confidence in the prowess of his captains
and the strength of their chariots, charges to and fro, here, there, and
everywhere, and as a cruel tyrant, wreaks his rage to the utmost of
his power against the whole of the Lord's household, and pursues
even at this very day Israel escaping from Egypt. The people of
God are indeed neither clad in armour, nor borne onward in chariots;
nevertheless [His army] is rendered strong by the Hand of the Lord
alone, and sings aloud in cheerful confidence: / will sing unto the
Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath
He thrown into the sea (Exod. xv. 1); and again : Some put their
trust in chariots, a?id some in horses ; but we will remember the Name
of the Lord our God (Ps. xx. 7). All this bears on the comparison of
the horsemen of the Lord, and the chariots of Pharaoh.
10. The Bride is called by the Bridegroom his Love. For she was
beloved by Him, even before she was set free; H e would not have
set free one whom H e did not love. But as for her, she was drawn
to love Him, because of the priceless blessing of freedom which H e
had conferred upon her. Hear, in fact, the confession which she
herself makes : We love Him, because He first loved us (1 John v. 19).
Now recall to your minds the history of Moses and the Midianite
(CEthiopisscB) woman, and you will see that in it is prefigured the
mystical union of the WORD with the soul of a sinner; and distinguish,
if you can, what it is, in the consideration of that most sweet of all
mysteries, which gives you most heartfelt consolation and pleasure.
Is it the benignant condescension of the WORD, all too great as it is ?
is it the priceless glory accruing to the soul ? or is it the sudden and
unhoped for faith of the sinner ? But Moses was not able to change
the skin of his Midianite wife; while Christ is able to change the

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complexion of the soul which H e loves and saves. For He goes on
to say: Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's (Cant. i. 9, 10,
Douay). But this is reserved for another sermon, so that we may
take with eagerness and avidity the viands which are set out for us
upon the table of the Bridegroom ; and may burst forth (eructemus) to
His praise and glory who is JESUS CHRIST our Lord, God blessed lor
ever.

AMEN.

S E R M O N XL.
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE FACE OF T H E SOUL ; WHAT CONSTITUTES ITS
BEAUTY OR ITS DEFORMITY, ITS SOLITUDE AND ITS MODESTY.

T

HY cheeks are beautiful as the turtle-dove's. Tender and sensitive is the modesty of the Bride, and I think that at the
reproof of her Bridegroom her whole face was suffused with
one blush, and its beauty made so strikingly apparent as to draw
from Him the praise: Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtle-dove s.
But, nevertheless, that is not to be understood in an outward and
carnal sense, as if H e spoke of the flush due to the blood coursing in
the veins, mounting into the countenance, and mingling there swiftly
with the pearl-white tints of the complexion. That causes, indeed, a
beauty momentary and perishable, varying from one moment to
another, as the bright colour now flames upon the cheeks, and now
sinks into paleness; but it is not of this that He speaks. For the
substance of the soul, which is incorporeal and invisible, is neither
portioned into limbs and organs, nor shadowed with visible colours.
Try, then, to reach, in a spiritual way, the conception of a substance
wholly spiritual, and in order to estimate justly the comparison made
by the Bridegroom, for the face of the soul understand the intention
of the mind. For it is by that you judge of the rectitude of an action,
just as it is by the face that you judge of the beauty of the body.
Understand, then, by the colour which mounts into the cheeks,
modesty, which is, more than any other, the quality which beautifies
the soul, and adds grace to it. Thy cheeks, then, are beautiful as the
turtle-dove's. He was able to describe her beauty as that of the face,
according to the ordinary phrase, in which one, whose beauty is
praised, is said to have ' a sweet or beautiful face'; but I know not
what could have been the intention in speaking of ' cheeks' in the
plural, yet I do not at all think that it was without an object. For it
is the Spirit of wisdom who is speaking, and it is not permissible to
attribute to Him a single word spoken in a faulty or even objectless
way. There is undoubtedly some reason, then, whatever it may be,
wherefore He preferred to speak of ' cheeks' in the plural, rather than
of 'face' in the singular; and if you have nothing better to propose,
I will explain my idea of what it is.

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE FACE OF T H E SOUL

253

2. In an intention or purpose, which we have said to be the countenance of the soul, there are two elements necessarily required,
namely, the act of the will, and the reason of that act; that is, the
thing that you intend, and the reason why you intend it. And it is
by these two that you form an opinion of the excellence (that is, the
moral beauty) or the defect of that soul. So that one in whom these
two things are correct and pure may rightly and truthfully be
addressed as here : Thy cheeks are beautiful as a turtle-dove's. But
if any is wanting in one or the other of these qualities, this cannot be
said of her, because of the want of symmetry which that defect causes.
Much less is this praise due to her in whom both of these excellences
are wanting. This will appear more plainly by examples. If, for
instance, a person applies his mind to the discovery of truth, and does
that from the love of the truth alone, does it not seem to you that the
purpose, and the reason of it, are alike honourable, and that such a
soul may rightly apply to itself what is said here: Thy cheeks are
beautiful as a turtle-dove}s 1 since on neither of them does a speck
(ncevus) of blame appear? But if it seeks the truth, not from a pure
desire of truth, but for vainglory, or in order to obtain some temporal
advantage, whatever it may be, then, although on one side it may
appear fair, yet you will not hesitate, I think, to pronounce that on
the other it is deformed, since it is disfigured by the faultiness of the
motive. But if you see a man who does not devote himself to any
honourable pursuits at all, but is entangled in the nets of sensual
pleasures, and given up to gluttony and self-indulgence, such as they
are whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind
earthly things (Phil. hi. 19), what of that man? will you not declare
that he is wholly foul, and evidently condemned for both intention
and act ?
3. To have not God but the world for the motive and end is then
the sign of a worldly mind, and it is to have none at all of this
spiritual beauty. But to have a degree of regard for God, yet not to
act wholly for the sake of God, is evidently the mark of a soul that is
insincere. Although it has a fair appearance on one side, because it
has a certain degree of regard and care for God, yet this insincerity
not only destroys such beauty as there is in this, but spreads foulness
over the whole countenance. If, again, the intention is directed
towards God wholly or chiefly because of the necessities of the present
life, that is not indeed insincerity, but it is a mark of lowness and
poorness of heart which is far from being acceptable to Him.
Further, to direct the mind towards some other object than God,
though it be for the sake of God, is not the repose of Mary, but the
care and trouble of Martha. I would by no means assert that a soul
doing this has anything of deformity in it, yet I could not declare
that it has reached the perfection of beauty, since, inasmuch as it
is careful and troubled about many earthly things, it cannot help
being covered, by the continual agitation in which earthly things continually exist, with some grains of the dust they scatter everywhere.

254

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

No doubt these will be quickly and easily blown off again in the
hour of a holy death by the breath of a pure intention and the
answer of a good conscience towards God. Therefore, to seek only
God, and that for Himself alone, is to have a countenance perfectly
fair upon either side, and that because both of the intention and the
act; and this it is which is the special quality and prerogative of the
Bride by which she merits these wrords : Thy cheeks are beautiful as a
turtle-dove's.
4. But why as a turtle-dove's ? That bird is modest, and is said
to consort not with many companions, but to lead its life with a
single mate, so that, if it should lose that mate, it does not seek
another, but thenceforth lives solitary. You, then, who listen to
these words, and who wish to profit by these things which are written
for your behoof, and which we are dwelling on and discussing now
for your edification, you, I say, if you feel within you the urgings of
the Spirit of God, and are earnestly desiring so to act that you may
make your soul to become the Bride of Christ {Dei), do you make it
your study that the two sides of your intention—the act and the
motive of it—should alike be beautiful; be like that bird so modest and
chaste; sit alone and keep silence, as says the Prophet, because thou
hast laid it upon thee ? (Lam. iii. 28). It is indeed an aim altogether
above you to be espoused to the Lord of the Angels. Is it not above
you to be joined to God, and to be one spirit with Him ? Sit, then,
solitary as the turtle-dove. Have nothing to do with crowds, nothing
to do with the masses of mankind ; forget, also, thine own people
and thy father's house; so shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty
(Ps. xlv. 10, n ) . O holy soul, remain alone, so as to preserve thyself for Him alone, whom thou hast chosen to thyself from among all
others. Avoid appearing in public, shun even those who dwell in
the house with you, withdraw yourself from friends and intimates,
yea, even from him who ministers to you. Do you not know that
you have a Bridegroom who is diffident, and not willing to honour
you with His presence when others are present ? Withdraw thyself,
therefore; I do not mean in body, but withdraw in mind, in intention, in devotion, in spirit. For the Lord Christ, who presents Himself to you, is a Spirit, and H e requires solitude of spirit, not of body,
although this last is sometimes not without its uses when you are able
to maintain it, and especially in the time of prayer. You thus
observe the precept of the Bridegroom and the practice H e advises :
Thou, zvhen thou prayest, enter into thy closet, a?id, when thou hast shut
thy door, pray (Matt. vi. 6). And what H e has said, that H e Himself did. H e would wear away the night alone in prayer, withdrawing
Himself not only from the crowds which followed Him, but also from
the company of His disciples and familiar friends (Luke vi. 12, 13).
H e had indeed taken with Him three of His Apostles when He was
hastening of His own accord to meet death, yet H e withdrew Himself even from them when H e desired to pray (Matt. xxvi. 36-39).
Do you, then, do likewise when you wish to pray.

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE FACE OF THE SOUL

255

5. For the rest, the only solitude prescribed to you is solitude of
mind and spirit. You are alone if you are not thinking of common
things, if you are not interested in things present to you, if you think
little of that which many estimate highly, if you despise what all
others desire, if you avoid disputes, do not take to heart losses, nor
bear injuries in mind. Otherwise you are not really alone, though
there be no one with you. 1 Do you not perceive that it is possible
for you to be alone when you are in the company of many persons,
and to be in company with many persons when you are alone?
However large be the throng of men in which you find yourself, you
are alone, if only you take care not to listen eagerly to the conversation around you, nor to judge of it rashly. Even if you are witness
of a bad action, do not judge your neighbour, but rather make
excuses for him. Excuse the intention if you cannot the action ;
suppose that it was done in ignorance, or by surprise, or by accident.
If the case is so clear that there is no room to palliate it, yet strive to
persuade yourself that there was some excuse, and say to yourself:
* The temptation was very strong, and it prevailed. What should 1
have done if I had been similarly tried ?' Now, remember that it is
to the Bride I have said all this, not to the friend of the Bridegroom,
who has another reason for being careful and observant not to commit
sin, as also to examine whether he has failed in his duty, and to
amend his conduct if in any respect he has done so. But the Bride
is free from any such necessity; she lives for herself alone and for
Him whom she loves, who is at once her Bridegroom and her Lord,
who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XLI.
OF THE GREAT CONSOLATION WHICH THE BRIDE FEELS FROM THE
CONTEMPLATION OF THE DIVINE GLORY BEFORE SHE ATTAINS
TO THE CLEAR VISION OF IT.
/
nr^HY
neck is as chains of gold (i. 10). It is the custom to adorn
J[
the neck with necklaces, not to compare it to them. But
those who load themselves with jewels are they who seek to
obtain from external ornaments the beauty which they do not find in
themselves. But in the case of the Bride, the neck is so beautiful
and becoming in itself, as it was formed by nature, that nothing
could be added to it by outward ornaments. For what need is there
to adorn with borrowed hues that of which the natural and, as it
were, innate beauty suffices, insomuch that it is fully equal to the
soft splendour of the pearls which are so sought for in order to adorn
1

Compare this with the Letter to the Monks of Mont Dieu.

256

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

it ? This is what the Bridegroom desired to intimate in declaring
not at all that the Bride has jewelled chains pendant from her neck,
as is usually the case, but that it is itself as chains of gold. Now, we
must invoke the Holy Spirit, so that, as He was pleased to show us
what was meant in a spiritual sense by the cheeks of the Bride, so
H e will deign now to show us what is spiritually meant by her neck.
And as far as I have understanding (for I must say to you what I
think), no explanation seems more reasonable and probable than to
say that the intelligence of the soul is intended here by the ' neck' of
the Bride. You will agree to this opinion, I think, if you consider
the reason for this metaphor. For does not the function of the neck
[in the body] seem to you to answer to that of the intelligence, by
which the soul transmits the vital nourishment of the spirit, and distributes it throughout all the viscera, that is, the faculties and affections ? As, then, the neck of the Bride, that is to say, the intelligence,
is sufficiently admirable in its pure and simple truth, it has no need
of any extraneous ornament, but itself adorns the soul, as it were a
precious necklace; and for that reason is described under the metaphor of golden and jewelled chains. Truth is a good necklace, as is
purity and simplicity; and wisdom that is sober and chastened is an
ornament that is priceless. The intelligence of philosophers or of
heretics has in it none of this pure lustre, none of the splendour of
truth; and therefore they take great pains to colour and to veil it
with trappings of fine words, with ingenious tricks of logic, lest if it
should be suffered to appear unadorned, its essential falseness and
meanness should become visible also.
2. We will make thee bordersY of gold> with studs of silver. If the
speaker had said, in the singular, ' I will make,'and not 'we will
make' in the plural, I should have pronounced without hesitation the
speaker to be the Bridegroom. But now consider whether we shall
not do better, and with greater fitness, to attribute these words to His
companions, who are consoling the Bride by such a promise as this,
that while she is awaiting the vision of Him whom her soul so
earnestly desires, they will fashion for her the beautiful and costly
pendants which are wont to be ornaments for the ears. And this
for the reason, as I think, that faith cometh by hearing, and that as
long as we walk by faith, and not by sight, our efforts must be directed
rather to the purifying and building up of [the soul] by means of
hearing than to attaining 2 a revelation by the sight. In vain is it
that the eye is bent upon the truths of heaven, if it be not purified
by faith, since to those alone who are of clean heart is that blessed
vision promised (Matt. v. 8). It is written also: Purifying their
hearts by faith (Acts xv. 9). Since, then, faith cometh by hearing, and
from it is the purifying of the spiritual vision, there is good reason
for directing endeavours to the adornment of the ears, since the hearing, as we are taught by reason, is the preparation for sight. * You,
O Bride/ they say to her, 'are sighing for the glory of your Beloved ;
1

Or pendants.

2

Exserendo, but otherwise exercendo.

THE GREAT CONSOLATION WHICH T H E BRIDE FEELS

257

but this grace is reserved for another season. For the present we
bestow upon you these ornaments, to be both a consolation to you in
the meantime, and a preparation for the glory which you crave.' It
is as though they spoke to her those words of the Psalmist: Hearken,
O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear (Ps. xlv. 10). You desire
to behold ; but first hearken. Hearing is the step by which you
reach sight. Therefore listen, and incline thine ear to the ornaments
which we devise for thee, so that by the obedience of hearing thou
mayest come to the glory of vision. Upon thine hearing we bestow
joy and gladness. As for that Vision (in which is fulness of joy, and
the fulfilment of all thy desire), it is not ours to give, but His alone
whom thy soul loveth. It is for Him to show Himself to thee, so
that thy joy may be full; H e shall make thy joy perfect with His
countenance. In the meantime, do thou receive at our hand these
jewelled pendants for a consolation; but in His Right Hand are
delights for evermore.
3. We must now consider what are the pendants which they offer.
Pendants of gold, it is said, and studs of silver. Now, gold denotes the
splendour of Divinity, and the wisdom which is from above. It is
this gold which the celestial wrorkers, to whom that ministry is committed, promise to fashion into glittering signs and tokens (so to
speak) of truth, and to insert them into the inward ears of the soul.
That signifies, I believe, nothing else than to construct the similitudes
of certain spiritual realities, and to bring the purest intuitions of the
Divine wisdom before the perception of the soul absorbed in contemplation, so that it may behold, at least darkly and as in a glass,
what it is not yet equal to beholding face to face. These things are
wholly Divine, and are known only to those who have had experience
of them ; they alone know how, while yet in this mortal body, while
yet in the state of faith, while the real substance of Light perspicuous
and lucid is not yet made manifest, it may nevertheless come about
that contemplation of the pure truth may sometimes already mark out
within us the outline of its form, at least in part, so that he from
among us who is so happy as to have received that gift from on high
may say with the Apostle : Now I know in part; and again : Now we
know in part, and we prophesy in part (i Cor. xiii. 12, 9): But when
the spirit, coming forth, as it were, out of itself, and rapt in ecstasy,
beholds somewhat of the more Divine and sacred Truth, which flashes
before its vision with the rapidity of lightning, then, either in order
to temper the exceeding brilliance of a light too penetrating to be
endured, or to render us capable of communicating the substance of
it to others, forthwith, I know not whence, there present themselves
to our imagination images and figures of lower (that is, earthly) things,
to which the truths revealed from above are accommodated, which
veil in a certain sense that most pure and splendid ray of truth, and
render it more supportable by the mind, and more able to be communicated to others. These are, I think, formed in our minds by the
ministry of good angels, as, on the other hand, there is no doubt
i7

258

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

that those other [images] which are evil, are produced by the agency
of evil spirits.
4. And perhaps this is that very mirror [of the imagination] through
which, as I have said, the Apostle saw darkly (1 Cor. xiii. 12), which
is formed, so to speak, by the hands of Angels, and from which come
gleams of pure light, beautiful and heavenly ideas and images. This,
indeed, gives us the knowledge of God, who is discerned as pure
Being, and without any phantasy of bodily semblance, and we must
attribute to this Angelic ministry that similitude of supreme excellence
which affords to us an idea of Him who is clad in majesty so awful.
There is another version which seems to express this more strikingly
still: We [artificers] will make for thee images of gold, with [badges
or] distinctions of silver} One says with badges of silver, [the other)
with studs of silver. In which are signified, as it seems to me, not
only that the inward images are suggested to our minds by the Angels,
but also that the grace and eloquence of their outward clothing [of
words] is ministered to us by the Angels also, so that by their fitting
and graceful expression they are more easily received, and more fully
enjoyed, by the hearers. If you shall say, What relation or likeness
is there between words spoken and silver, the Psalmist replies to you :
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace
(Ps. xii. 6). Thus, then, it is that those heavenly and ministering
spirits fashion for the Bride, while she is a pilgrim here on earth,
pendants of gold with studs of silver.
5. But notice how, while desiring one thing, she receives another.
She sighs for the repose of contemplation, and the labour of preaching is laid upon her; and while she is thirsting for the presence of
the Bridegroom, the care of bringing forth children for Him and of
nourishing them is entrusted to her. Nor is this the only occasion
when this was s o ; for once before, as I remember, when she was
sighing for the presence and affection of her Bridegroom, the reply to
her was : Thy breasts are better than wine (i. 1), so that she might
. recall that she was a mother, and be reminded of her duty to impart
milk to her little children and nourishment to her sons. Perhaps
you may remark the same thing in other passages of this Canticle if
you will take the trouble to seek them out. Was not the same truth
once prefigured in the holy patriarch Jacob when he was defrauded
of the nuptials with Rachel, which he had desired and long waited for,
and instead of a wife who was barren, though beautiful, he received
against his will, and even without his knowledge, one who was fertile
though dim-eyed? (Gen. xxix. 23-25). So, also, it is now; the Bride,
inquiring and longing to know where the Bridegroom feedeth, where
H e maketh His flock to rest at noon, receives, instead of that knowledge, pendants of gold with studs of silver—that is, wisdom with
eloquence, without doubt for the work of preaching.
6. From this we are taught that it is often needful to leave spiritual
contemplation, however sweet, for the sake of the practical labours
1

Cant. i. I I in the L X X .

oriynarojv

rov apyvpiov.—

ED.

TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY

2

59

which give nourishment, and that no one must live for himself alone,
but for the good of all. 1 Woe to those who have received the grace to
think and to speak worthily of God, if they make a gain of Godliness; if
they turn into a reason for vainglory that which they had received that
they might win souls to the glory of God; if, having lofty and noble
thoughts, they have not also lowly personal feelings. Let them listen
in fear and trembling to that which the Lord speaks by the mouth of
His prophet: I gave her . . . silver and gold, which they have used in
the service of Baal (Hosea ii. 8, Douay). Do you, then, hear what the
Bride replies, having received on the one hand a reproof, and on the
other a promise; for she is not exalted by promises, not angered by
a repulse, but practises that which is written : Rebuke a wise man, and
he will love thee (Prov. ix. 8 ) ; and also that which relates to gifts and
promises : T h e greater thou art, the more humble thyself (Ecclus.
iii. 18), which will appear the more clearly in her reply. But the
consideration of that we will defer, if you please, to the commencement of another sermon; and for what has been said let us render
glory to the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who

is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XLII.
OF TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY : T H E ONE BORN OF TRUTH, T H E
OTHER WARMED BY CHARITY.

W

HEN the King sitteth at His table, my spikenard sendeth
forth the smell thereof (i. 12). These are the words of the
Bride, which we have deferred till to-day to speak of; this is
the reply which she makes when reproved by the Bridegroom; yet it
is not made to Him, but to His companions; the words themselves
make this clear. For she does not say, as if addressing Him : * O
King, when Thou sittest at Thy table,' but When the King sitteth;
and it is clear that she speaks not to Him, but of Him. Thus,
imagine that the Bridegroom, after having (as it appeared) reproved
or repulsed the Bride, seeing by her blushes that she was covered
with confusion, retired from the spot, that in His absence she might
express her feelings more freely; and that if, as was commonly the
case, she yielded too much to depression and grief, the consolations
of His companions might raise her up again ; which, nevertheless,
H e does not neglect to do Himself when H e considers it the right
time. For, to show clearly how much she pleased Him, even during
the reproof given to her, because she received it with becoming
1
The first editions read: ' Sed omnes illi qui mortuus est pro omnibus, esse
vivendum.i

260

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

humility and submission, He wished, before leaving her, to express
the praises of her which burst forth, there is no doubt, from the
fulness of the heart, and extolled her as beautiful in cheek and neck.
Therefore, those who remain with her, knowing the will of their Lord,
speak to her courteously, and offer her gifts. It is to them, therefore,
that her reply is addressed. So much as to the purpose and connection of the words of the text.
2. But before beginning to extract the kernel of spiritual meaning
from this outer shell (testa), I will make one brief reflection. Happy
is he by whom reproofs are as well received as those of which we
have here a pattern. Would that it were never necessary to reprove
anyone, that would be better still! But since in many things we
offend all, it is not permitted to me to be silent; my duty obliges me
to censure those who do wrong, and charity urges me still more
strongly to discharge it. But what if, in the discharge of my duty, I
thus censure someone, and the reproof does not effect at all its
intended purpose, does not accomplish that wherefor it is sent, but
returns to me empty, like a javelin which strikes without piercing and
recoils, with what feelings am I affected, do you think, brethren?
Am I not pained and angered ? And, to press into my service some
words of a Master [in Israel], because of my own wisdom I am unequal [to express my meaning as well], I am in a strait betwee?i two,
and what I shall choose I know not (Phil. i. 23, 22): whether to feel
any pleasure in what I have said, because I have performed what was
my duty, or whether to experience any regret regarding it, inasmuch
as I have not attained the result I wished for. For I desired that an
enemy should perish and a brother be delivered, and this I have not
succeeded in, but the event has been precisely the contrary: I have
wounded his soul and increased his fault, since scorn has been added
to it. They will not hearken unto thee, says the prophet, for they will
not hearken unto Me (Ezek. iii. 7). You see what Majesty it is that
is in this case contemned. You think that it is I only that have been
scorned. But it is the Lord that has spoken [unto you through m e ] ;
and what H e said to the Prophet H e said also to His Apostles : He
that despiseth you despiseth Me (Luke x. 16). I am not a prophet, I
am not an apostle, and yet I am bold to say I am fulfilling the
duty of both the prophet and the apostle; though I am far from
approaching their merits, I am charged and burdened with their
cares. Though it be to my great confusion, though it be even to my
extreme danger, yet I do, in fact, sit in the seat of Moses, though I
am far from claiming that my life is such as his, or the grace committed to me equal to that he enjoyed. But what then? Is not
respect to be shown to that seat of authority because it is filled by an
unworthy occupant ? Even when it was occupied by the Scribes and
Pharisees, of them the Lord said : Whatsoever they bid you observe,
that observe and do (Matt, xxiii. 2, 3).
3, Very often impatience also is joined to disrespect, so that a
person, when blamed, does not only take no care to correct himself,

TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY

261

but shows irritation against his reprover, and, like one who is raving
in insanity, repels the hand of the physician. Strange is that perversity ! H e is angry with the man who is anxious to cure his
wounds, but for the enemy who pierces him with the shafts of
temptation he has no anger! For there is one who shoots his arrows
against those who are upright in heart (Ps. xi. 2), who has now
wounded you even unto death, and yet against him you are not
angry ! Your indignation is wholly against me, who desire to see
you cured. Be ye angry and sin not, says the Apostle (Eph. iv. 26).
If you are angry on account of [your own] sin, not only do you
commit no sin, but you root out the sin which you had committed.
But now you retain the sin in rejecting the remedy, and you heap sin
upon sin by being angry without reason ; this is indeed to sin beyond
measure.
4. Sometimes even impudence is added to this; not only reproof
is borne impatiently, but the fault reproved is impudently defended ;
and this is mere madness. Thou hadst, saith the Lord, a harlofs
forehead: thou wouldst not blush (Jer. iii. 3, Douay); and H e says, My
jealousy shall depart from thee, I will be no more angry (Ezek. xvi. 42).
I tremble at the very hearing of the words. Do you feel what a
perilous and horrible and fearful thing it is to attempt to defend sin ?
For He says again : As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten (Rev.
iii. 19). If, then, the anger [of God] has deserted you, so also has
His love; nor can you think yourself worthy of His love, if you do
not think yourself worthy of His chastisements. You see, then, that
it is when God shows no anger with the wicked that H e is the more
angry with them. Let favour be showed to the wicked, He saith, yet
will he ?iot learn righteousness (Is. xxvi. 10). May such indulgence
be far from me. To be thus spared appears to me more terrible
than the most violent anger, because it closes up to me the ways of
righteousness. Far better is it for me, according to the counsel of
the Psalmist, to embrace the severity of discipline, lest the Lord be
sometime angry with me, and so I perish from the right way (Ps. ii.
12). I desire that Thou wouldst be angry with me, O Father of
mercies ; but with that anger wherewith Thou dost correct one who
wanders from the way, not that with which Thou dost exclude such
an one from it. That censure of Thine is the utterance of a compassion merciful and blessed for us ; but that concealment of Thy
wrath is what we have to fear most of all. It is not when Thy wrath
is concealed from me, but when it is displayed and felt by me that I
have most trust in Thy coming favour; for it is especially in Thy
anger that Thou rememberest mercy. Thou, says the Psalmist, wast
a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their
inventions (Ps. xcix. 8). H e speaks of Moses and Aaron, and of
Samuel, whom H e had sent before H i m ; and he regards it as an
instance of God's favour and goodness that H e did not spare their
faults and failings. After that, will you still go on defending your
faults, and showing anger when reproved for them, and thus shutting

262

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

against yourself for ever the door of the mercy of God ? Is not that,
in fact, calling evil good, and good evil? Will not that odious
impudence speedily produce impenitence, which is the mother of
despair? For who repents for that which he considers not to be
wrong ? Woe to them, says the Prophet. And that woe is eternal.
It is one thing for a person to be drawn away from the right and
enticed by his own concupiscence; and quite another and very
different to seek out evil of free will, as if it were good, and thus in a
false confidence to draw near to death as if it were to life. For this
very reason, I assure you, I have sometimes preferred to hold my
peace, and take no notice in words of an evil which I have observed,
rather than to give occasion for so great a mischief in reproving it.
5. You will perhaps say to me that, in such a case, the good of
my action would return to me again; that I have delivered my soul,
and am clean from the blood of that man to whom I have spoken,
and have warned him to turn from his evil way that he may live.
But although you should add an infinity of such reasons, they would
still be no comfort to me while I am apprehending the spiritual ruin
of a soul under my pastoral charge. As if I had sought only my
own acquittal from blame in speaking to him, and not rather his
good! For what mother is there who, when she has diligently
nursed her child, and lavished upon him every care in her power,
will be able to restrain her tears if she shall find that all her labours
and pains were inefficacious, and that her child was dying in spite of
them ? And she would feel this only with regard to the death of the
body; how much more ought I to weep and lament for the eternal
death of a son of mine, even if I am conscious that I have left
nothing undone to warn or to help him ? You see also from how
great evils he escapes himself, and also delivers me, who, when
reproved, replies with gentleness, acquiesces with modesty, avows
his fault humbly, and obeys with submission. To such a soul I
profess myself a debtor in all things; I am his minister and servant,
as to a soul which is a most worthy Bride of my Lord, and which is
able to say with truth : When the King sitteth at Bis table, my spikenard sendeth forth the sme/l thereof.
6. The odour of humility is excellent, since, rising up from this
vale of tears, it is diffused everywhere around, and fills even the
chamber of the King with grateful fragrance. Spikenard is a humble
plant, which those who have studied with care the nature of herbs say
is of a warm nature; and therefore it may be taken here not unfitly,
as it seems to me, to denote that virtue of humility which glows with
the ardour of Divine love. I say this because there is a kind of
humility which truth produces in us, and which is without warmth, as
there is also another kind, which is produced and warmed by charity.
The one has its seat in knowledge, the other in the affections. If, in
fact, you look into yourself under the light of truth and without dissimulation, and judge unflatteringly of yourself, there is no doubt that
you will be humbled, even in your own eyes, and that this true know-

TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY

263

ledge of yourself will render you more vile in your own sight, although,
perhaps, you cannot as yet endure that this should be the case in the
sight of others. You will then be humble, but as yet only by the
working of truth, and not at all by the inpouring of love; for if you
had been, in addition to the working of truth, which has shown you
to yourself in a manner veracious and salutary, affected equally by love,
you would without doubt have wished, as far as in you was, that others
should have the same .opinion of you as you know that the Truth has.
I should say that H e is nevertheless in you, for it is often inexpedient
that all which we know ourselves should be known to others, and we
are forbidden by the love of truth itself, as also by the truth of love,
to wish to discover to another that which would do him injury. But
if you are restrained by self-love, and induced to keep hidden the
judgment which truth has formed of you, who can doubt that your
love of the truth is imperfect, since you make it subordinate to your
own interest or your own reputation ?
7. You see clearly, then, that it is not the same thing whether a
man, being constrained by light and knowledge, has a lowly opinion
of himself, and whether he is assisted by the grace of charity, and
accepts a humble position with willingness; for the one is enforced,
the other voluntary. He emptied Himself says the Apostle, and took
upon Him the form of a servant (Phil. ii. 7), thus giving to us a
perfect form and model of humility. H e emptied Himself, H e
humbled Himself, not from any necessity of fact or judgment, but by
charity towards us. H e was able to appear vile and despicable in the
eyes of men without thinking Himself so, because H e knew Himself
well. H e was, then, voluntarily humble, and not because He was
judged to deserve so to be ; H e presented Himself as if H e had been
such, as H e knew Himself not, in fact, to be ; but though H e was not
unmindful that He was the Highest, yet H e preferred to be regarded
as the least of all. H e said, in fact: Learn of Me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart (Matt. xi. 29). H e says ' in heart,' in the feeling of
the heart—that is, in the will; and in saying this He excludes all idea
of necessity, for although I or you find ourselves, in truth, worthy of
disgrace and contempt, worthy of the lowest rank and of the worst
treatment, worthy even of stripes and punishment, yet it was not thus,
it was far otherwise with H i m ; yet H e endured all these things, and
as one humble in heart, because H e chose so to do—that is to say,
H e was humble with the humility which was prompted by the kindness of His heart, not enforced by the verdict of truth.
8. For this reason I have said that this kind of voluntary humility
is not produced in us by the logical force of truth, but is created within
us by the inpouring of charity, because it comes of the heart, the affections, the will; whether I have spoken rightly you must judge. Consider also whether I have been right in attributing it to the Lord,
inasmuch as it is clear that it was charity which led Him to empty
Himself, to become a little lower than the Angels, to be subject to
[those who were supposed His] parents, to bend His head under the

264

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

hands of the Baptist, to endure the weaknesses of the flesh, to submit
at length to death, and that the ignominious death of the Cross. I
submit to your judgment again, whether I have been right in deciding
that this humility, thus warmed by charity, is denoted by spikenard,
which is a herb unassuming in appearance and of a warm nature. And
if you assent to both these opinions, which I think you will do, as they
are supported by very plain reasons, then, if you feel yourself humbled
by that forced humility which the Truth, who searcheth the very hearts
and reins, produces in the senses of a soul that is watchful, make a
virtue of this necessity, and add to your humility a glad and willing
acquiescence, since there is no true virtue without the assent of the
will.1 That will be the case if you are unwilling to appear otherwise
to the outward eye than you find yourself to be inwardly. Otherwise
you may well fear lest that which you read in a psalm should apply
to you : He flattereth hwiselfin his own eyes, until his iniquity be found
to be hateful (Ps. xxxvi. 2). And again: Divers weights and divers
measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord (Prov. xx. 10).
What ! do you at the bottom of your heart think lowly of yourself
because you weigh yourself in the balance of truth, and yet outwardly
you wish to deceive, to be regarded as of greater value, and to sell
yourself at a higher price than that at which the truth values you ?
Have regard to the judgment of G o d ; do not by any means commit
this most discreditable action of exalting yourself by your own selflove, while the truth requires you to be abased, for this is to resist the
truth; this is even to fight against God. Rather acquiesce in the
Divine conclusion. Let your will be rendered submissive to truth,
and not merely submissive, but willingly and devotedly so. Shall not
my soul, says the Psalmist, be subject to God? (Ps. lxi. 1, Douay).
9. But it is not enough to be subject to God, unless you are subject
also to every human creature for the sake of God; whether to the
Abbot, as to the superior of all, or to the Priors, as authorities constituted by him. I say even more than this : I say, subject to your
equals, and even to those who are inferior to you. For thus it
becometh us, says the Lord Himself, to fulfil all righteousness (Matt,
iii. 15). If, then, you wish to be perfect in righteousness, make the
first step towards him who is less than you; defer to your inferior,
show respect towards your junior. For in doing this you shall make
the words of the Bride apply to you : My spike?iard sendeth forth the
smell thereof. That perfume is devotion; it is the holy and saintly
reputation which you obtain with all persons, so that you are a good
odour of Jesus Christ in every place, visible to all, and by all regarded
with affection. He whom truth alone obliges to be humble can never
reach this degree of perfection, since his humility is only for himself,
and does not flow forth to reach and delight others. It has, in fact,
no odour, because it has no devotion, inasmuch as such humility is
not voluntary and spontaneous, but enforced. But the humility of
the Bride is like sweet perfume, and diffuses its fragrance, warm
1

Convenientia voluntatis.

Another reading is conniventia voluntatis.

TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY

265

with love and devotedness, and redolent of sweetness to all. The
humility of the Bride is spontaneous, constant, fruitful, and it is as
unaffected by severity as by praises. To her it had been said : Thy
cheeks are beautiful as those of a turtle dove, thy ?ieck as a string of
pearls. She had received also the promise of golden ornaments, and
yet she replies with humility; the more she is raised up, the more
humble she is in all respects. She does not boast of her merits, nor
in the midst of the praises of herself which she receives is she at all
forgetful of humility, which, indeed, she frankly avows, speaking of it
under the name of spikenard. She speaks in the language of the
Blessed Virgin Mary: ' I am conscious of no merit deserving of so
great a condescension, except that God hath regarded the low estate
of His handmaiden ' (Luke i. 48). For what is the signification of
these words, My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof except this,
c
My.humility hath found favour in His sight'? ' N o t my wisdom,'
she says, in effect, ' not my nobleness, not my fairness, for these in
me were nothing worth, but my humility, the only quality which was
mine, it was this which gave forth its o d o u r ' ; that is to say, that
odour which was customary to it. Humility is accustomed to please
God, and the Lord, who is high above all, is wont, according to His
custom, to regard those things which are humble. Therefore when
the King sitteth at His table, that is, when H e is in His lofty habitation, the odour of humility ascends thither. He dwelleth on high, saith
the Psalmist; He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in
heaven and in the earth (Ps. cxiii. 5, 6).
10. When, then, the King is in His habitation, the spikenard of
the Bride gives forth its odour. The habitation of the King is the
Bosom of the FATHER, for the SON is always in the FATHER. Doubt
not, then, that this King is ever merciful, since His abiding-place
continually is the home of Fatherly goodness. It is no wonder that
the cry of the humble, rising up, reaches Him, who dwells always in
the fountain-head of mercy, to whom gentleness and goodness are
familiar, are natural, yea, are consubstantial with Him, who derives
all that H e is from the Father, so that the trembling glance of the
humble penitent, looking up to Him, sees nothing in Him which is
not fatherly. Therefore it is that for the oppression of the poor, for
the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord (Ps. xii. 6).
This the Bride knows, because she is of the household of the Lord
and is His beloved; she believes that her poorness in merits will
not exclude 1 her from the Bridegroom's grace, and she puts her confidence in humility alone. She calls Him 'the King,' for she is
terrified by the reproof she has received, and does not venture to
call Him her Bridegroom. Nevertheless, though she confesses that
He dwells in a high and lofty place, her humility does not lose
confidence.
n . It is possible to apply this discourse, and that with much fitness, to the Primitive Church. If you recall the days in which the
1

Arcendam^

otherwise

arctandam.

266

SERMONS ON THE - SONG OF SONGS

Lord ascended up where H e was before, and sat on the Right Hand
of the Father, in His ancient, august, and glorious dwelling-place, you
remember how the disciples assembled with one accord in one place,
continuing in prayer with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus,
and with His brethren (Acts i. 13, 14). Does it not seem to you
that in truth that was a time when the Bride, though so young and
so fearful as yet, gave forth the odour of her spikenard? Again,
when suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting
(Acts ii. 2), could she not, though so poor and undistinguished,
have taken into her lips these words : When the King sitteth at His
table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof! Assuredly it
appeared to all who abode in that place, how sweet and how acceptable was that fragrance of humility which ascended to heaven, since
it was immediately replied to with gifts so copious and so magnificent
as a response. And she was not ungrateful for such a benefit. For
listen how in her fervour of gratitude she shows herself to be prepared to suffer all possible evils for the Name of JESUS, for what
words follow ? A bundle of myrrh is my Well-beloved unto me: He
shall lie betwixt my breasts. But my weakness, which you know,
does not permit me to go on longer. This only I add, that by the
mention of myrrh she denotes that for affection to her Beloved she
is prepared to endure bitter trials and persecutions. The rest of the
verse we will finish another time; if, that is to say, you obtain for
me by your intercessions the assistance of the Holy Spirit, to enable
me to understand and to interpret the words of the Bride, which H e
Himself, by His holy inspiration, has originated, and to grant unto
me words befitting the praises of Him of whom H e is the Spirit: I
mean the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS C H R I S T our LORD, who

is above all, GOD blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON X L I I I .
HOW MEDITATION ON T H E SUFFERINGS AND T H E PASSION OF JESUS
CHRIST ENABLES T H E BRIDE, THAT IS, T H E FAITHFUL SOUL,
TO PASS UNINJURED ALIKE THROUGH T H E PROSPERITY AND
T H E ADVERSITY OF THIS WORLD.

A

BUNDLE
of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me: He shall lie
between my breasts. Before H e was called ' the King,' now
He is called ' well-beloved'; before he was in His royal banqueting-room, nowr H e is abiding willingly with the Bride. Great is
the virtue of humility, since the majesty of Godhead itself so easily
condescends to it. A name of reverence is quickly changed into a
term of friendship, and he who was afar off was in a brief time

THE BRIDE MEDITATES ON T H E SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST

267

brought near. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. Myrrh,
which is bitter, signifies the hard and rigorous facts of trouble and
sorrow. The Bride, foreseeing that she is about to endure these for
the sake of her Beloved, says these words with a feeling of gladness,
trusting that she will endure bravely all that is laid upon her. As it
is said of the Apostles : They departed from the presence of the Council,
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name
(Acts v. 41). Wherefore, also, she speaks of Him, not as a great or
weighty mass, but as a small bundle ;x in order to convey that whatever labour and grief threatens her, she regards it as light for the
sake of His love. She has well called it small and light, for He is a
little Child who is born to us (Is. ix. 6). Again, it is a bundle small
and light, since the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom. viii. 18).
And the same Apostle says that our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory (2 Cor. iv. 17). That, then, which is now a little bundle of
myrrh shall at some future period be to us a weight of glory exceeding great. Is it not a little bundle [we have to bear], since His yoke
is easy and His burden is light 1 (Matt. xi. 30). It is not that it is
light in itself, since the severity of suffering and the bitterness of death
are not light, but that to the loving heart it seems a light thing to
endure them. And for that reason the Bride does not say merely:
My Beloved is a bundle of myrrh, but she adds unto me—that is to
say, 'to me who love Him.' So, also, she calls Him her 'wellbeloved,' meaning to declare that her love has force to overcome the
bitterness of all troubles, and that it is strong as death (viii. 6). And
that you may know that she does not glory in herself, but in the
Lord, and relies, not upon her own strength and bravery, but upon
the help of the Lord, she declares that He shall lie between my breasts,
and on that account she can say to Him in a Psalm with the fullest
confidence : Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me (Ps. xxiii. 4).
2. I remember that in one of my former Sermons 2 1 explained these
as signifying sympathy in joy with others, and sympathy with them
also in sorrow, according to the precept of St. Paul: Rejoice with them
that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Rom. xii. 15). But
because, as she lives between prosperity and adversity, she is aware
that there is danger upon either side, she desires to have her Beloved
upon her breast and near her heart, so that by His protection she
may be continually strengthened against both the one danger and the
other, and neither be unduly lifted up in time of rejoicing nor cast
down in time of sorrow. You, also, if you are wise, will imitate the
wisdom of the Bride ; you will not allow that bundle of myrrh, which
you hold so dear, and which is the fellowship you have with the
sufferings of your Master, to be torn away from your heart even for
1
2

Fascis, fasciculus.
Sermon X., n. 1.

This fanciful play upon words can hardly be translated.

268

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

an hour; you will retain always in your memory all the bitter pains
which H e bore for you, and meditate upon them continually, so that
you too may say with the Bride : A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me : He shall lie between my breasts.
3. As regards myself, I, brethren, from the beginning of my conversion, set myself, in place of all the merits in which I knew that I
was wanting, to bind up this little bundle of myrrh for my individual
needs, collected from all the cares and bitter experiences of my Lord,
and to keep it always close upon my breast; in the first place, of the
privations of His infant years ; then of the labours H e underwent in
preaching, His fatigues in journeying to and fro, His watchings in
prayer, His fastings and temptations, His tears of compassion, the
snares laid for Him in discourse; and, lastly, of His perils among
false brethren, of insults, spitting, blows, abuse, scorn, piercing by
nails, and other such things, which H e suffered for the salvation of
our race, which in the Gospel history, as in a wood, may abundantly be gathered. And, among so many branches of that fragrant
myrrh, I think that cannot be passed over, of which H e tasted when
upon the Cross, nor that wherewith H e was embalmed in the sepulchre.
In the first of these He applied to Himself the bitterness of my sins,
in the second H e pronounced the future incorruption of my body.
As long as I live I will proclaim loudly the abundance of the graces
which come from these; I will never forget those mercies, since it is
by them that I have been restored to life.
4. It was these mercies of which holy David formerly entreated
with tears : Let Thy tender ??iercies come unto me, that I may live (Ps.
cxix. 77). Of them, too, another saint recalled the remembrance, with
weeping : Great are the mercies of the Lord. How many kings and
prophets have desired to see the things which I see, and have not seen
them ! They have laboured, and I have entered into their labours ;
I have reaped the harvest of myrrh which they have planted; it is
for me that this salutary bundle has been reserved. No one shall
take it from m e ; it shall lie between my breasts. To meditate on
these things I have called wisdom ; in these I have placed the perfection of righteousness for me, the fulness of knowledge, the abundance
of merits, the riches of salvation. There is among them for me sometimes a draught of salutary bitterness ; sometimes, again, a sweet
unction of consolation. In adversities they raise me up, and in prosperity repress my exuberant delight, and among the joys on the one
hand, and the sorrows of the other, of this present life, they enable me
to walk in safety along the royal road which leads to life by defending
me from the perils on either hand. These conciliate on my behalf
the Judge of all the world, showing to me Him who is so greatly to
be feared, as one who is gentle and humble, and not only making
Him willing to receive and to pardon, but even more, in giving me
Him who is far above all powers, and terrible among the kings of the
earth, as a model for me to imitate. It is for these reasons that I
have these [sufferings of Jesus] frequently in my mouth, as you know,

THE BRIDE MEDITATES ON THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST 2 6 9

and always in my heart, as God knows. These are familiar themes
in all my writings, as is well known. In a word, my philosophy is
this, and it is the loftiest in the world : to know JESUS, and Him
crucified. I do not ask, as does the Bride in this passage, ' where
reposes at n o o n ' Him who I embrace with joy and gladness, for H e
dwells ever upon my breast and in my heart. I do not ask ' where
H e feeds His flock,' for I behold Him as my Saviour, upon His
Cross. The one object is loftier, the other has more of sweetness ;
the one is bread, the other milk ; the one the children's food, the other
the nourishment which infants find at their mothers' breasts, and
therefore He shall lie betwixt my breasts.
5. My dearest brethren, do you also gather for yourselves each a
bundle so precious and beloved, give it a place in the depths of your
heart, fortify with it the portal of your breast, that it may abide between
your breasts also. Let [JESUS] be borne, not behind you and on your
shoulders as a burden, but in front of you and before your eyes,1 lest
1
A curious and interesting incident is connected with these words of the Sermon :
W h e n the Abbey of Clairvaux had been suppressed by the Directory of France,
the church and monastic buildings were sold, on the 10th February, 1792, to the
* Sieur Pierre-Claude Cauzon, architecte,' for the sum of 337,500 livres. H e proceeded to set up a manufactory of glass there, and in order to carry out this purpose,
required of the vendors, according to the conditions of sale, that all the relics of
saints, as well as the remains of bishops, monks, and others, of which there were
great numbers deposited in the church and its precincts, should be forthwith
removed.
T h e inhabitants of Ville, in which parish Clairvaux is situated, seem to have
been shocked and outraged, as well they might be, at the contemplated spoliation
and sacrilege. T h e y desired that the relics of St. Bernard and St. Malachi and
other holy men, ' for which their veneration is extreme,' should be deposited, if
they must be removed, in their parish church of Ville-sous-La Ferte. In order to
meet their wishes, which (says the official charged to carry out the affair) ' it might,
perhaps, be dangerous to treat with disregard and contempt {fronder),' order w7as
given by the Directory of Bar-sur-Aube that this should be done, and that the
bones of all the less distinguished persons should be deposited together in the
churchyard of that parish. This seems to have been accordingly done in 1793.
(' Report of M. Delaine, A d m i n i s t r a t e s du Directoire.')
T h e statement of these details was necessary to explain what follows.
In 1855 the Count de Montalembert, the illustrious author of ' T h e Monks of
the West,' was collecting materials for that ' Life of St. Bernard,' which, unfortunately, he did not live to finish. At his instance, M. Guignard, T o w n Librarian
of Dijon, visited this Church of Ville-sous-La Ferte, and from his account of what
he found there we extract the following interesting facts : .
' In the little sacristy of that church there repose, in an old wooden chest, once
used for treasure, the bones removed from the Church of Clairvaux in 1793.
Before 1836 or 1837 they were in the shells used for their translation ; at or after
that date they were thrown pele mele into this worm-eaten coffer, and the shells
were burned. It is half-filled by them.'
After describing the nature and condition of the bones, and other mouldering
fragments which were with them, he continues :
' Finally there was a very thin board, nearly 5 inches long, and 3 | inches high,
which was covered with a leaf of parchment turning up at the edges, along which
it is fastened by small nails. A wooden link, nailed at its lower part to the board,
suggests that it was intended to be hung up, or at all events, to be put in an upright
position. This parchment bears four lines of writing ; it is entirely eaten away in

270

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

if you bear Him and do not perceive His sweetness, you should be
oppressed by His weight, without being refreshed by His fragrance
rising up before you. Remember how Simeon took Him up in his
arms (S. Luke ii. 28), how Mary bore Him in her womb, nursed Him
on her bosom, how H e who is the Bridegroom was laid upon her
breast, and, not to pass over anything, how the word [of prophecy of
Him] was spoken by the aged Zacharias (i. 67), and, indeed, by others
also. I suppose that Joseph, too, the husband of Mary, must frequently have taken the Child upon his knees to smile upon and to
please Him. All these bore Him before them, and by no means
behind. Let them be for an example to you. Do ye do likewise; for if
you have Him whom you are bearing, always before your eyes, it is
certain that, beholding the pains and troubles which the Lord endured,
you will more easily and willingly bear your own, by His help, who
is the Bridegroom of the Church, above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN.

the centre, but the ends of the lines are still legible. The writing is plainly of the
twelfth century.' This is a facsimile of the inscription :

The presence of this written quotation is a proof (wrere any needful) that the
relics are those of St. Bernard. But it suggests even more than this. When we
bear in mind the Saint's own words : ' Habete hunc fasciculum . . . ante prce oculisf
and observe that we have here a text nailed upon a board, with a hook by which it
might be hung up, for instance upon a wall, the inference is surely not a violent
one that the Saint had carried into effect his own precept, and that this text was
written out, it may be by his own hand, to hang upon the wall of his cell, and thus
to be literally ' always before his eyes.' Then his disciples, after his lamented
death, would carry out the precept so dear to their master, a step further; they
would lay it upon his breast in his tomb, and thus his devout aspiration would be
accomplished : ' inter ubera mea commorabitur.'
It is a pleasant thought, and not at all an improbable one, that we have here
some few words in the autograph of the Saint.—ED.

CORRECTION TO BE ADAPTED TO THE CHARACTER OF OFFENDERS

27 I

SERMON XLIV.
CORRECTION OUGHT TO BE ADAPTED TO T H E CHARACTER OF
OFFENDERS, SO THAT THOSE OF HUMBLE AND COMPLYING DISPOSITION SHOULD BE GENTLY DEALT WITH, BUT T H E STUBBORN
AND OBSTINATE SEVERELY CHASTENED TO OBLIGE THEM TO
REFORM.
1
My beloved is to me as a cluster of camphire1 in the vineyards of Engedi?—
Cant. i. 14.

I

F the Bridegroom were beloved in the bitter myrrh, much more
will H e be so in the sweetness of the grape. Therefore my
Lord Jesus Christ is to me in His Death myrrh, in His Resurrection a cluster of grapes; and thus He has given Himself to me as
a most salutary draught, though commingled with tears. For our
sins H e died, for our justification H e was raised again from the dead
(Rom. iv. 25), so that we, being dead unto sins, should live unto
righteousness (i Peter ii. 24). If, then, you have mourned for sins
past, you have tasted the bitterness of the draught; but if you have
now entered upon a holier life, and are beginning to breathe in more
and more the hope of eternal life, the bitterness of the myrrh is
changed for you into wine, which maketh glad the heart of man.
And, perhaps, when there was offered to the Saviour upon the Cross
wine2 mingled with myrrh, and H e would not drink it, this was signified, that He thirsted only for the former. You, then, after experiencing, as I have said, the bitternesses of the myrrh, and then tasting
the wine of gladness, may yourself say without rashness : My Beloved
is to me as a cluster of camphire [grapes] in the vineyards of Engedi.
Engedi has a twofold meaning, and each sense tends to teach the
same lesson, for it means ' the fountain of the kid' and ' the washing
of the nations'; and both the one sense and the other point to the
tears of sinners. It signifies also ' the eye of temptation,' which also
pours forth tears, and looks onward to temptations, which are never
wanting to the life of man upon the earth. But the people of the
Gentiles, who walked in darkness, were never able to discover by themselves, nor, on this account, to escape, the snares of temptations, until,
1 1E>3 ; porpvg riJQ Kvirpov (Sept.), the Cyprus flower, or Alhenna {Lawsoiiia
inertnis, Linn.), which is indigenous to India and probably to Egypt, and may
have been introduced by Solomon into his vineyards at Engedi for the sake of the
strong odour of its flowers. The Henna blossoms are yellowish-white in colour,
and the powder from them is used by Eastern women as a dye for the ends of the
fingers and the nails, as well as the blossoms (Tamar-henna) for bouquets. They
grow in grape-like clusters. The Greek word fiorpvg denotes, in fact, simply a
bunch of grapes or the grape itself. The Latin derivative, botrys, signifies, also, the
strongly aromatic plant artemisia, called also ambrosia ; but here it appears to be
used in the sense of a bunch of grapes. See Cant. iv. 13.—ED.
2
Some copies omit vinum.

272

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

by His grace who gives light to the blind, they received the eyes of
faith, until they came to the Church which has an eye to discover temptation, until they gave themselves to the instructions of spiritual men,
who, having been enlightened by the Spirit of Wisdom, and rendered
learned also by their own experience, are able to say truly that we are
not ignorant of the snares of the devil nor of his devices (2 Cor. ii. 11).
2. It is said that in Engedi grow aromatic shrubs, which the people
of the country train in the manner of vines; and thence, perhaps, it
is that they are here called vineyards. For otherwise, what would
the cluster of camphire do in the vineyards of Engedi ? Whoever
carried clusters [of grapes] from one vineyard to another ? For wine
is usually carried to places where there is none, and not whither
there is a store of it already. H e calls, then, by the name of the
vineyards of Engedi the peoples of the Church, which possesses a
liquid balm, that is, a spirit of gentle kindness, in which she tenderly
cherishes the weakness of those who are still babes in Christ, and
consoles the sorrows of penitents. If any brother, then, shall have
fallen into some fault, the minister of the Church, who has already
received of that Spirit, will at once take measures to restore him, and
that in the same spirit of gentleness, considering himself lest he also
be tempted (Gal. vi. 1). That material oil, with which the Church
is accustomed to anoint all those who are baptized, is a type of this.
3. But as the wounds of that traveller who fell among thieves, and
whom the charitable Samaritan took up and carried on his own beast
to a hostelry, that is, to the Church, were not healed with oil alone,
but with wine and oil together (Luke x. 30-34), so the spiritual
physician needs to mix the wine of fervid zeal with the oil of gentleness, since it behoves him not only to console the weak, but also to
restrain the unruly. For if he perceives that the wounded man, that
is, the sinner, is not at all amended by the gentle and kindly reprimands which he has first employed, but, on the contrary, abuses his
forbearance, becomes more negligent by his patience, and sleeps the
more securely in his sin, then, the oil of his gentle remonstrances
being shown to be of no use, it behoves him to employ more powerful remedies, and so to pour in the wine of penitence—that is, to
have recourse to stern accusations and reproofs, and if need be, and
the stubbornness of the offender be so great, to smite him with the
staff of ecclesiastical censure. But whence shall he obtain that wine ?
It is not wine, but oil, that is found in the vineyards of Engedi. Let
him seek it in the isle of Cyprus, for that isle is fertile in producing
wine, and that of the best; let him gather there of those weighty
clusters, which the spies of Israel formerly bore upon a strong pole
(Numb. xiii. 23) between two, [in which they typified] the prophets
who went before, and the Apostles who followed after, and in the
midst JESUS in His beauty; let him take unto himself this cluster,
and say : My Beloved is to me a cluster of the grape of Cyprus.
4. We have spoken, then, of this cluster; let us now see how the
wine of fervent zeal is expressed from it. For if a man, being himself

CORRECTION TO BE ADAPTED TO T H E CHARACTER OF OFFENDERS

273

a sinner, does not show anger towards one who offends, but, on the
contrary, manifests compassion for him, and, as it were, pours over
him the dew of a sweet and healing balsam, we know whence that
proceeds; and you have already heard, though perhaps without taking
notice, the source of it. For it has been said that everyone, from
consideration of himself, should be gentle to all others; and following
the wise counsel of St. Paul, should know how to make kindly allowance for such as have been overtaken in a fault, considering himself
lest he also be tempted (Gal. vi. T). Is it not, in fact, from thence
that the love of our neighbour, of which it is said in the Law as a
commandment: Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself (Luke x. 27)
derives its origin ? Brotherly affection has without doubt its first
beginnings in the deepest feelings of human nature; and from the
deeply-seated principle of love to oneself, as from a terrestrial humour,
the love of our neighbour draws without doubt a degree of life and
increase by which, if grace from on high be breathed upon it, the
fruit of charity is brought forth ; so that what the soul naturally desires
for itself, it considers is not to be denied to another, who seems to
have a right to share in it, as being a participant in the same nature,
and by the mere right of humanity, but is, on the contrary, to be
willingly and gladly shared, as far as it is possible, or there is need of
it. Thus, that anointing of sweetness and kindness of disposition
which is natural to man, if it be not decayed and ruined by sin, disposes him more to compassionate the faults and offences of sinners
than to treat them with indignation and severity.
5. But since according to the word of the Wise man, Dying flies
spoil the sweetness of the ointment (Eccles. x. 1, Vulg.), and when that
is once lost, nature has no means in itself of repairing the loss; a
man feels that a sad change has passed over him, and that he has
fallen into that state, of which the Scripture says truly : The imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth (Gen. viii. 21). That youth
was not well spent or good, of which we read in the Scripture
that the younger son made demand that his portion of his father's
substance should be given over to him, and began to wish to have in
his separate possession that which he had enjoyed so happily in
common with others, so as to possess alone that, which though it
loses nothing by participation, is lost altogether by partition. For he
spent all his substance, says the Scripture, in living riotously with
harlots (Luke xv. 13, 14). Who are these harlots? Are they not
those carnal concupiscences which banish and destroy the sweetness
of this anointing, and of which the Scripture gives us the salutary warning : Go not after thy lusts (Ecclus. xviii. 30). Truly does the Wise
Man describe them as ' about to die'; for the worldpasseth away, and
the lust thereof"(1 John ii. 17). When, therefore, we desire to indulge
these, we deprive ourselves of the sweetness of good which is common
and social for the sake of that which is individual and selfish. These
are undoubtedly those foul and acrid flies which defile in us the
beauty of nature, distract our mind with cares and anxieties, and
18

274

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

destroy the pleasure and charm of the common life. It is for this
reason that such a man is figured [in the parable] as the younger
son, because his nature is corrupted by the unregulated passions of
youth, and is without the ripeness and the gathered wisdom which
belong to manhood, so that when he has fallen into distress his
mind becomes hardened and loveless, and he has no regard for any
but himself.
6. It is, then, from the commencement of such a most wicked and
unhappy youth as this that the thoughts and inclinations of man turn
easily to evil, and that he is by nature more prompt to anger with
his neighbour than to compassion for his faults. Thus it is that a
man is divested of almost every sentiment of humanity; and while
he still needs and expects the help of others, he is disinclined to
render help to others in return. [Such] a man, though himself a
sinner, judges others severely who are sinners as himself, and even
ridicules and scorns them, not considering himself, lest he also
should be tempted. From this evil, nature cannot, as I have said,
recover by its own strength, nor regain the oil of that original sweetness and kindness which has once been destroyed in it. But yet,
what nature is unable to do is in the power of Divine grace. And
he upon whom the Holy Spirit shall in His pity deign to pour the
salutary unction of His goodness will at once regain his former
feelings of goodness and sympathy, and shall obtain from grace even
more than he had at first by the gift of nature. It will render him
holy in faith and in goodness, and will bestow upon him, not merely
oil, but the balsam gathered in the vineyards of Engedi.
7. For there is no doubt that from the 'Fountain of the kid'
flow forth gifts more precious still, the anointing of which transforms
kids into sheep, which enables sinners to pass from the left hand to
the right, after they have been abundantly steeped in the oil of
mercy; and thus, where sins abounded, grace much more abounds
(Rom. v. 20). Does it not appear to you that such a man is restored
in a sense to his humanity, who, putting off the hardness of the spirit
of the world, and recovering, by the help of grace, the abundance of
human loving-kindness, which carnal lusts, as it were foul and acrid
flies, had well-nigh destroyed in him ; so that he derives from the
humanity which he bears, or, rather, which is himself, the means and
the manner of compassionating other men ; and regards as something
inhuman 1 and brutal, not merely for a man to do to another that
which he would not wish to have done to himself, but also the not
doing to others whatsoever he wishes they should do to him ?
8. This, then, is the source of the oil. But whence is the wine ?
Evidently from the cluster of the Cyprus grape. For if you love the
Lord Jesus with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
strength, could you possibly see and endure without emotion the
injuries inflicted upon Him, and the contempt of which H e is the
object ? Assuredly n o t ; you would be at once actuated by a spirit of
1

Another reading is ritum exhorreat.

CORRECTION TO BE ADAPTED TO T H E CHARACTER OF OFFENDERS

275

judgment and of zeal, and would be as a strong man to whom wine has
given new powers, and being filled with zeal like Phinehas, would say,
in the words of David : My zeal hath consumed ;//<?, because mine
enemies have forgotten Thy words (Ps. cxix. 139); and with the Lord :
The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up (Ps. Ixix. 9 ; John ii. 17).
That most fervent zeal, then, is wine expressed from the cluster of
Cyprus, and the love of Christ is as a cup which inebriates. For our
God is a consuming fire (Deut. iv. 24), and a prophet once declared
that a fire from above was sent into his bones (Lam. i. 13), insomuch
that he burned with the love of God. When, therefore, the love of
your neighbour has given you the oil of kindness, and the love of
God has procured you the wine of zeal and emulation, you may
safely draw near to heal the wounds of him who has fallen among
thieves, and be a perfect imitator of that most charitable Samaritan.
Safely also may you too say with the Bride: My Beloved is to me as a
cluster of Cyprus grapes in the vineyards of Engedi: that is to say, the
love of Him who is dear to me imparts unto me a zeal for righteousness in feelings of brotherly kindness. But now enough of this ; for
my weakness warns me, as it does often, to come to a close, and thus
obliges me, as you know is frequently the case, to leave my discourses
uncompleted, and to reserve for another day the remainder of the
verses. But of what account is that? For I am ready for scourges
(Ps. xxxvii. 18, Douay), and know that what I have hitherto received
of chastisement has been less than I deserved. Strike me, O my
God; strike me as a servant who labours ill, and perhaps the stripes
may be reckoned to me as merits ; perhaps Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Spouse of the Church, who found not in me any good to reward,
may yet find in my stripes and my sorrows a reason for exercising
His mercy, and have pity upon me. H e is above all, God blessed
for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XLV.
OF THE TWOFOLD BEAUTY OF THE SOUL : H O W THE SOUL SPEAKS
TO GOD THE WORD, AND THE W O R D TO THE SOUL, AND W H A T
LANGUAGE THEY EMPLOY.
* Behold, thou art fair, my love ; behold, thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes.'—
Cant. i. 15.

H

OW beautifully, how exquisitely is all this spoken ! From the
love of the Bride comes her presumption, from that of the
Bridegroom His anger. This is shown by the issue of the
matter; for reproof has followed presumption, amendment reproof,
and recompense amendment. The Beloved One only is present, the
master is withdrawn, the king disappears, dignity is put off, reverence
laid aside ; for where affection is perfect and strong, there pride gives

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way. And as Moses once spake unto the Lord, as a friend to his
friend (Exod. xxxiii. n ) , and the Lord replied to him, so there is
now established between the Word of God and the devout soul a
relation and communications as close and familiar as that between
two neighbours. Nor is that strange; for their love having but one
source, it is reciprocal, and their affection mutually manifested.
Therefore, words sweeter than honey are exchanged between them,
and they exchange looks full of all sweetness, in token of the sacred
love wThich unites them. Then H e calls her His beloved one, pronounces repeatedly that she is fair, and receives from her in return
similar tokens of affection. Nor is that a superfluous repetition, which
is the confirmation of His love, and which perhaps also has some
mystery indicated by it.
2. Let us inquire, then, what is the twofold beauty of the soul;
for it is that which seems to me to be referred to here. Now, the
beauty of the soul is humility. I do not say this of myself, a prophet
has said it before me : Thou shalt wash me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean (Ps. li. 7); signifying the humility of the heart by that herb,
which is lowly and of a purifying nature. The writer, who was both
king and prophet, having fallen into a grave offence, expresses in
these words his good hope that he shall be cleansed, and thus recover
his former whiteness of innocence. But the humility of one wTho
has deeply offended, though it may be loved, yet it cannot be
admired. But if one who has preserved innocence joins with it
humility, does he not seem to you to possess a twofold beauty of the
soul ? St. Mary lost not holiness, and yet was not wanting in
humility. Therefore it was that * the King desired her beaiity? because she joined humility to innocence; for, as she herself says : He
hath regarded the humility of His handmaid (Luke i. 48, Douay).
Blessed are they who have kept undefiled their vestments (Rev. iii. 4)—
that is to say, their simplicity and their innocence, if they are careful
also to be clad in the beauty of humility. Assuredly the soul that is
found to be such shall hear the words addressed to her: Behold, thou
art fair, My love ; behold, thou art fair.
May I, O Lord Jesus, hear
Thee say but once to my soul: Behold, thou art fair.
Do Thou
preserve for me, at least, my humility, for I have ill-kept my first robe
[of innocence]. I am Thy servant. I do not dare to profess myself
Thy friend, for I do not hear Thy repeated testimony to my spiritual
fairness. Even to hear it once is sufficient for me. But what shall
I do if even that be in question ? I know what 1 will do : I, being
a servant, will venerate Thy friend (amicam); being but a man deformed and dwarfish, I will dwell in admiration on her perfect beauty ;
I will rejoice at the voice of the Bridegroom, who Himself admires a
fairness so great. Who knows whether I may not at least find grace
in the eyes of that friend, that by her favour even I may be found
among the number of His friends ? For the friend of the Bridegroom
remains in silence, yet rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom's
voice. This is His Voice in the ear of the Beloved; let us hear it

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277

and be glad. They are in each other's presence, they are conversing
together; let us, too, pause and listen ; let no care of this world, no
allurement of the flesh, withdraw us from that sacred colloquy.
3. Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair.
Behold
expresses admiration, the rest praise. It is with reason that she is
admired, because she has not adopted humility after the loss of holiness, and on account of it, but has retained it while remaining holy.
And rightly, too, is she twice over called beautiful, since neither kind
of beauty is wanting to her. It is a rare being (avis) upon the earth
who has not lost innocence, or in whom sanctity, if retained, does not
exclude humility; and therefore happy is she who has retained both
the one and the other. That she has done so is proved, inasmuch
as though conscious of no fault, she does not reject the reproof of the
Bridegroom. We, even when we have committed great faults, scarcely
suffer ourselves to be reproved; but she, even when she has done no
wrong, listens meekly to bitter words addressed to her. For if she
desires to behold the glory of her Bridegroom, that is no fault, but
rather a ground for praise. And yet when she is blamed she repents,
and says: A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved unto me; He shall lie
between my breasts, which is as if she said : ' That is sufficient for me :
I desire to know none but Jesus, and Him crucified.' How great is
this humility ! Though innocent in every act, she takes upon her the
feeling of the penitent, and though she has nothing to repent of, yet
she is able to repent. ' Why, then,' you ask, ' is she chidden, if she
has done no wrong ?' But now listen to the prudence of the Bridegroom, and the dispensation of His grace. For as formerly the
obedience of Abraham was tried and made proof of, so now is it with
the humility of the Bride. And just as he, when his obedience was
complete, heard these words spoken to him : Now I know that thou
fearest God (Gen. xxii. 12), so in like manner, though in other words,
it is said to the Bride, ' I know now that thou art humble;' for that is
the significance of what H e says : Behold, thou art fair.
And H e
repeats the commendation, to show that the beauty of humility is
added to the glory of holiness. ' Now I know that thou art fair, not
only by the love which I feel for thee, but also by thy humility. I
say not now that thou art fairest among women, I praise not thy
beauty of cheeks or of neck, as I did aforetime; but I say simply,
not in comparison of others, not in part, or with a qualification, but
simply that thou art fair!
4. And H e adds : Thou hast the eyes of doves. Plainly He is still
continuing the praise of humility. For H e sees that, being blamed
and checked for placing so high her researches, she at once, and
without delay, lowers them to things simpler, so as to say: A bundle
of myrrh is my Beloved unto me. There is no doubt a great difference
between a Countenance full of glory and a bundle of myrrh, and
therefore it is a great mark of humility to suffer the being recalled
from the one and to the other. Thus, to say : Thou hast the eyes of
doves signifies : ' No longer dost thou hold converse with great matters,

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nor inquire into subjects too high for thee; but, like that gentle and
artless bird, art content with simpler matters, making thy nest in the
hollows of the rock (that is to say), abiding in My wrounds, and contemplating of thy own free will, as it were with dove-like gaze, the
things only which relate to Me Incarnate, and to My Passion.'
5. Or it may be that, because the Holy Spirit appeared in the form
of a dove (Matt. iii. 16), it is rather a spiritual vision than a simplicity
of vision that is here commended under the term ' dovelike.' If you
approve of this supposition, it will be necessary to refer the verse
before us to that which was spoken before by the companions of the
Bridegroom, when they promised to her pendants of gold, with no
intention, as I warned you at the time, of adorning the ears of the
body, but rather of developing and training the spiritual hearing. 1
And by this means it follows that, having the heart more completely
purified by faith, which cometh by hearing, she is rendered more
capable of discerning that which before was beyond her powers. And
as by the receiving of these (symbolical) pendants she has obviously
obtained an increased power of vision for the discerning of spiritual
things, so she has also become pleasing to the Bridegroom, whose
preference it is always (as far as relates to Himself) to be contemplated
in a spiritual manner. Therefore H e numbers this among her praises,
and declares : Thy eyes are those of doves. Now thou regardest Me,
H e says, in the spirit, since Christ the Lord is as a spirit before thy
face (Lam. iv. 20). Thou art able to do this, because thou hast
dove's eyes. Before thou hadst not this power, and so incurred
rebuke; now thou mayst behold me as thou wilt, because thou hast
a spiritual vision, the eyes of the Dove. This, indeed, is not the
grace for which thou madest petition, for not even now art thou
capable of that; but this shall suffice thee for the present. Behold
Me now to the utmost of thy powers, and as these augment, thou
shalt behold Me more clearly; for assuredly, thou shalt be led on
from glory to glory (Ps. lxxxiv. 7).
6. I do not think, brethren —I repeat, I do not think—that this
Vision, which alone belongs to the present, is either mediocre or
common to all, though it be inferior to that which shall one day be
enjoyed. This may be inferred from the words which follow, for she
goes on to say : Behold thou art fair, my Beloved. Now, consider the
greatness and high elevation of a soul which claims the right to call
Him, who is the Lord of the whole world, her Beloved. For notice
that she does not even say simply Beloved, but my Beloved, to show
that she had a right to call Him hers. Assuredly this Vision of Christ
must be august and privileged, which confers upon the soul such confidence and authority that it regards the Lord of all, not as her Lord,
but as her Beloved. For I suppose that in this instance there is not
at all presented to the soul any defined image of the bodily form of
Christ, or of the likeness of our weak flesh, or even of His Cross, for
in these respects, according to the prophet, He hath no form nor come1

See Serm. XLL, nn. 2-4.

THE TWOFOLD BEAUTY OF THE SOUL

279

liness (Is. liii. 2). But that she, beholding Him, now pronounces Him
fair and comely, shows that H e appeared to her by means of a nobler
vision, for the Bridegroom speaks to the Bride face to face, as once
H e spake to Moses (Exod. xxxiii. 11), and she beholds God clearly,
not by symbols and types. Thus, beholding Him in the spirit, by a
vision sweet and sublime, she declares Him to be such as in her
vision she sees Him to be. Her eyes have seen the King in His
beauty; yet not as King, but as her Beloved. One prophet beheld
Him upon His throne, high and lifted up (Isa. vi. 1), and of another it is
testified that he saw God face to face, and his life was preserved
(Gen. xxxii. 3 0 ) ; yet it seems to me that the Bride surpasses both, in
that we read that the Lord was beheld by her, and that He was her
Beloved. But H e says : If I be the Lord, where is My fear ? (Mai. i. 6).
If, then, to them this revelation was attended with fear, for where the
Lord is there fear must be [to those who behold Him], I certainly,
if the choice were given to me, would prefer the vision of the Bride,
and that with so much more willingness and gladness, as I perceive
that it is the occasion of a nobler feeling, that is, love. For fear
hath torment, but perfect love casteth out fear (1 John iv. 18). Great
is the difference between [the Lord] appearing terrible in His doings
toward the children of men (Ps. lxvi. 5) and His appearing fairer than
the children of men (Ps. xlv. 2). Behold Thou art fair, my Beloved,
yea, pleasant!
These words express affection, not fear.
7. But perhaps thoughts arise in your heart, and you ask doubtfully : ' By what means can the words of the Word, spoken to the
soul, and again those of the soul to the Word, be rendered audible,
so that the soul should hear the Voice of Him that speaks to her,
and praises her as fair, and should pour forth in turn her tribute to
Him who has praised her ? How can that take place ? For it is not
the word which speaks, but we speak by the word. Also the soul has
no means of speech, except by the words which the bodily organs
articulate for her for that purpose.' A very reasonable inquiry ; but
consider that it is the spirit which speaks, and that [the speaking as
well as] the things spoken are to be spiritually understood. As often,
then, as you hear or read that the Word and the soul behold each
other or converse together, do not imagine that they behold visible
bodily forms, or that audible words pass from one to the other. This
is what you ought rather to think. The Word is Spirit ; the soul is
a spirit also ; they have faculties [linguas] of their own for indicating
their presence, and for communicating the one with the other. The
tongue of the Word is the favour of His condescension; that of the
soul is the fervour of its devotion. The soul which has no devotion
is like an infant and speechless, and to such an one no discourse with
the Word is possible. Therefore when the Word wishes to speak to
the soul, and thus moves His tongue, the soul cannot but hear, for the
Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul a?id spirit (Heb.
iv. 12). And, again, when the soul thus addresses the Word, H e

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

cannot possibly be unconscious of it; not only because He is everywhere present, but still more and especially because the tongue of
devotion is never stirred to speak, except by an impulse from Him.
8. Therefore for the Word to call a soul beloved, and say to it, thou
art fair, is to pour upon it the grace which shall enable it to love, and
to know itself loved. In like manner, when the soul in turn names the
Word her Beloved and speaks of Him as full of beauty, it is that she
ascribes to Him, without fiction or disguise, the grace that she has to
love Him and to be loved by Him ; it is that she admires His condescension, and wonders at the greatness of His grace. Indeed, His
fairness consists in His love, and that is the greater because it was the
earlier {praveniens). For this reason it is that she cries in the depths
of her heart, and with all the powers of her strongest affections, that
she is bound to love Him, and with so much stronger an affection,
because H e first loved her. Therefore the speech of the Word is an
infusion of grace, and the response of the soul is the giving of thanks
and glory. She loves so much the more ardently, because she feels
that the affection of her Spouse surpasses her own, and her admiration is the greater, because that affection preceded hers. On that
account it is that she is not content with saying once that H e is full of
beauty; she repeats her praise in order to heighten it by repetition.
9. Or perhaps that double phrase may be explained as applying to
the two Natures in Christ—in the one the beauty of nature, in the
other that of grace. How beautiful art Thou to Thy Angels, O Lord
Jesus, in the Form of God, in Thy Eternal Nature, begotten before
the morning star, in the splendour of Thy saints, who art Thyself the
Form and Splendour of the Substance of the Father, in whom the
glory and brightness of life eternal are resplendent from everlasting !
How august art Thou to me also, O my Lord, when I contemplate
Thee in that state of glory which is Thine ! Even when Thou didst
empty Thyself of Thy glory, when Thou layedst down the rays of
splendour proper to that unfailing Light, even then Thy kindness
shone the more brightly, Thy charity was more conspicuous, Thy
grace the more radiant. O Star out of Jacob, how beautiful Thou
art unto me in Thy rising (Num. xxiv. 17); O Branch springing out of
the stem of Jesse (Is. xi. 1), how bright is Thy Flower; O Dayspring
from on High, in what joyful light hast Thou visited me, who sat in
darkness ! (Luke i. 78). What an object of admiration and wonder is
He, even to the heavenly Virtues, in His Conception by the Holy
Ghost, in His Birth of the Virgin Mary, in the spotless innocence of
His Life, in the flowing streams of His doctrine, in the glistering
brightness of His miracles, in the mysteries revealed by His Sacraments ! In what blaze of glory dost Thou rise, O Sun of Righteousness, from the heart of the earth, after Thy setting [in death] ! In
what a resplendent vesture (Is. lxiii. 1), O King of glory, dost Thou
enter again the highest heaven ! At the sight of all these marvels,
how can I do otherwise than cry, All my bones shall say, Lord, who
is like unto theel (Ps. xxxv. 10).

T H E STATE AND COMPOSITION OF T H E WHOLE CHURCH.

281

10. Believe, then, that the Bride, in beholding her Beloved, saw
these and similar excellences in Him when she said : Behold, Thou
art fair, my love; behold, Thou art fair.
Nor is it these only, but
without doubt some other wonder of the beauty of the higher nature
which she had remarked, which transcends our capacity of knowledge, and lies altogether beyond our experience. That repetition
points out, then, the perfection of Jesus in each of His two Natures.
Hear also how, transported with the sight and at the words of her
Beloved, she leaps, as it were, with joy, and sings before Him a
nuptial song, full of tender and loving sentiments : Our bed is flourishing ; the beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress (i. 16,
Douay). But let us reserve that song of the Bride for another beginning in a newer day; so that, being rendered more willing and
active by repose, we may the more readily be glad and rejoice with
her, to the praise and glory of her Bridegroom, JESUS CHRIST our
LORD, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON XLVI.
OF T H E STATE AND COMPOSITION OF THE WHOLE CHURCH. ALSO OF
THE MANNER IN WHICH, BY AN ACTIVE LIFE SPENT UNDER
OBEDIENCE, T H E LIFE OF CONTEMPLATION MAY BE ATTAINED.

* Our bed is flourishing; the beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of
cypress,"1—Cant. i. 16.

T

H I S is an Epithalamium she is singing; and she describes in
graceful phrase the nuptial chamber and bed. She invites
the Bridegroom to repose ; for, indeed, it is better for her to
rest and be with Christ. It is only for the sake of saving souls that
it is necessary for her to go forth. But now, believing that she has
found a suitable opportunity, she announces that the chamber is
decked; she points out the couch, as it were, with the finger; she
invites, as I have said, the beloved one to rest there ; and, like the
Apostles going to Emmaus, not being able to endure the fire of love
burning within her heart, she constrains Him to accept the hospitality
of mind and soul, to abide with her for the night (Luke xxiv. 29, 32),
and says with Peter : Lord, it is good for us to be here (Matt. xvii. 4).
2. Let us now inquire what is the spiritual significance of all these
things. First, it refers to the Church. And I consider that the
* b e d ' upon which rest is taken means the monasteries and cloisters
in which a quiet and peaceable life is passed, exempt from the cares
and inquietudes of the world. That bed is said to be decked or
adorned, because the life and appointed course of the brethren is
adorned and rendered bright by the examples and precepts of our
fathers, as if bedecked with fragrant flowers. By ' houses ' we are to

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understand the great masses of Christians, which those among them
who are set in offices of power and dignity, such as Princes of the
Church and of the State, bind together, and retain them each
strongly in his place, as the beams and rafters of a house retain the
walls, by the just and firm laws laid upon them; lest, if everyone
lived in his own way and at his own pleasure, they should disunite
from each other like walls that begin to bend and spread, and thus
the entire structure of the edifice falls to pieces and is destroyed.
As for the ' rafters,'1 which are firmly attached to beams, and are a
striking ornament to the mansions of the great, I take the term to
signify the kindly and regular lives and characters of a clergy properly
taught and ordained, and of the rites of the Church rightly performed
and administered. For how shall the Orders of the clergy be able
to subsist, or the charges of the Church be administered, if Princes
did not, like strong and substantial beams, both protect them by
their power, and maintain them by their munificence ?
3. If the beams are said to be of cedar, and the crossing-rafters of
cypress, it is, without doubt, because the nature of each of these
kinds of wood has something which befits the meaning intended.
The cedar being a tree of lofty height, and of which the wood is
fragrant and incapable of decay, denotes with sufficient fitness the
qualities needed in those men who are to hold, as it were, the place
of beams in the Church. For those who are set over others need to
be strong and steadfast, hopeful and patient, that their eyes and their
mind should be lifted up to heavenly things; and that, spreading
abroad everywhere the good odour of their faith and life, they should
be able to say with the Apostle : We are unto God a sweet savour of
Christ in every place (2 Cor. ii. 15). The cypress, also, being similarly
a fragrant and incorruptible wood, signifies and declares that every
person, whosoever he may be, that is in Holy Orders ought to be of
right faith and of pure life, that he may be worthy to serve as the
ornament of the house of God, and to be in it, as it were, as its
panelled ceiling, enriched with colours and gold. For what saith
the Psalmist: Holiness becometh Thine House, 0 Lord, for ever
(Ps. xciii. 5). In which words are well expressed both the beauty of
holiness, and the endurance of a never-failing grace. It is obviously
necessary that the man who is chosen to be the ornament and
decoration of that House should be himself adorned with goodness
of life and character; and although he ought always to have the
inward witness (that is, of his own conscience), yet he should also be
such an one as has a good testimony from them who are without.
There are other qualities still in these woods, which have no little
relation to those spiritual truths of which we are treating; but I pass
them over for the sake of brevity.
1
Laquearia (Vulg.) originally denoted the hollow spaces or panels formed by
planks crossing each other at regular intervals to compose the ceiling of a room ;
but in later times they were painted, gilded, or inlaid with ivory and enamels. See
Cheetham's 'Dictionary of Antiquities,' art. Lacunary Work.—ED.

T H E STATE AND COMPOSITION OF T H E WHOLE CHURCH

283

4. As to the well being of the Church, it is happily expressed in a
very few words: the authority of prelates, the good life and good
report of the clergy, the disciplined obedience of the people, and the
peaceful devotion of monks. When in each of these respects all is
well, the holy Church, our mother, rejoices in the contemplation of
them, and presents them to the sight of her Beloved; she refers all
things to His goodness as their cause, knowing that He is the Author
and Giver of all good things; nor does she attribute anything to herself. For she says : Our bed, and, The bjsams of our houses, and the
rafters ; this is a sign of her affection, not of her usurping the ownership of these things ; the very abundance of her affection gives her
such confidence, that she regards nothing which appertains to Him
whom she so loves as unconnected with herself. She believes that she
is not to be excluded from the companionship of her Spouse, or from
the sharing of His repose; inasmuch as she is accustomed to seek,
not her own interests, but His. And it is for that reason that she
ventures to speak of, as common to both, the bed and the mansion
which are His. She is bold to associate herself in the possession of
those things which belong to Him, with whom she knows herself to be
associated in love. It is not thus with that soul which has not yet
given up her own will, but dwells amid her own possessions, and lies
down by herself; or, I should say more accurately, not by herself,
but who dwells and associates in disorder and shamelessness with
harlots; I speak of the lusts of the flesh, with whom that soul
squanders its good things, and wastes its portion of the Father's
substance, for which it had made request (Luke xv. 12).
5. But is it the case with you, who hear or read these words of the
Holy Spirit, that you think some of these things which are said capable
of being applied to yourself; that you recognise in your own soul
somewhat of the felicity of the Bride which is chanted in this song
of love by the Holy Spirit Himself; and yet it is perhaps said to you
also that you hear His Voice, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
nor whither it goeth (John iii. 8) ? Perhaps you desire also the repose
of contemplation ; and in this you do well, provided that you do not
forget the flowers with which, as you read, the couch of the Bride is
strewed. Therefore do thou take great care similarly to wreathe around
thine the blossoms of good works, and to make the exercise of virtues
precede that sacred rest, as the flower goes before the fruit. Otherwise, it would be self-indulgent that you should so earnestly desire to
rest before you have earned that rest by labour, and you would be
neglecting the fruitfulness of Leah in desiring to enjoy only the
society of Rachel. But it would be a reversing of the proper order
to ask for the reward before having earned it, and to grasp at the
mid-day meal before performing the labour, of which the Apostle
says : If a man will not work, neither shall he eat (2 Thess. iii. 10).
And what says the Psalmist ? Through Thy precepts I get understanding (Ps. cxix. 104), so to teach you that the taste for contemplation is not due except to obedience to God's commandments. Do

284

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

not, then, imagine that the love of your own repose is to be in any
wise made a hindrance to works of holy obedience, or to the fulfilment of the traditions of the elders. Do not suppose that you will
have the company of the Bridegroom for that bed, which you have
strewed, not with the flowers of obedience, but with hemlock, and
even with weeds and nettles, by your disobedient conduct. When it
is thus with you, this is the reason that H e will not hear and answer
your prayers, and that when you call Him He will not come ; for He
who is so great a lover of obedience that H e preferred to die rather
than not to obey [His Father], will assuredly not bestow His gifts
upon one who is disobedient. And how should H e approve the
inane idleness which you call contemplation ? For H e says by the
prophet : I have laboured with patience (Jer. vi. n ) , referring to the
time when, an exile from the heaven of perfect peace, which is His
country, He accomplished salvation for us in the midst of the earth.
But I fear the more lest that fearful judgment should involve you
also which once thundered against the treachery of the Jews in these
words : Your new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, J cannot
away with ; and again : Your new moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto Me (Is. i. 13, 14). And the
prophet will weep over you, and say: The adversaries saw her, and
did mock at her sabbaths (Lam. i. 7). For why shall not an adversary
mock at that which the Beloved rejects ?
6. I am extremely surprised at the shamelessness of some among
us who, after having troubled us all by their singularity, annoyed us
by their impatience, and contemned us by their contumacy and rebellion, 1 have, nevertheless, actually the boldness to invite, and that
with importunate prayers, the Lord of all purity to come into the foul
resting-place of their conscience. But what does the Lord say to
such ? When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from
you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear (Is. i. 15).
And why ? Because your bed, far from being strewed with flowers,
is defiled with filth. And do you dare to invite the King of glory
thither ? Do you think that H e will rest there for a moment, or are
you doing this to ensure reproof to yourself? The centurion in the
Gospel prayed that the Lord would not come under his roof, because
of his unworthiness, and yet there was not found such faith as His
even in ail Israel (Matt. viii. 8, 10); and you would have the Lord
to enter your soul, reeking as it is with the foul vestiges of your
vices ? The Prince of the Apostles cries out: Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke v. 8) ; and do you say : ' Come to
1
There is added here in many editions * sua inobedientia coinquinaverint'; but
this clause is wanting in most MSS., and is a mere repetition of the words which
precede. The earliest editions contain them, but omit.' sua coutumacid et rebellione
contempserint.'* A certain degree of surprise may be felt that in a community of so
high a character as that of Clairvaux, any members should be found so insubordinate
as those referred to by St. Bernard in this passage. But the fact is shown still more
clearly in Serm. LXXXIV., n. 4, and in the * Life,' Bk. vii. It is evident that the
evil are mingled with the good everywhere.

THE STATE AND COMPOSITION OF THE WHOLE CHURCH

285

me, Lord, and enter into my heart, for I am holy ?' Be ye all of one
mind, says the same Apostle, love as brethren (i Peter iii. 8). And
he who was ' a chosen vessel' says : Lifting up holy hands without
wrath or doubti?ig (i Tim. ii. 8). Do you see, then, how the Prince
of the Apostles and the Apostle of the Gentiles agree and speak in
the same spirit with regard to the peace and tranquillity which the
person who prays ought to possess? You may stretch out your
hands to God all the day long, you who all the day long are engaged
in distressing your brethren, destroying tranquillity, and separating
yourself from unity [but it is to no purpose].
7. 'What, then,' you ask, 'would you have me to do?' In the
first place, I would have you cleanse your conscience from every
defilement of anger, and murmuring, and envy, and dispute; and
that you should hasten to banish from the hiding-place of your heart
all that evidently conflicts with the peace which ought to reign among
brethren, and the obedience due to your elders. In the next place,
I should wish you to adorn yourself with the flowers of good works
and laudable studies of every kind, and seek the sweet perfumes of
all virtues ; or, in other words, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,
if there be any virtue, if there be any praise of discipline, think on these
things (Phil. iv. 8, Vulg.), and endeavour to employ yourself in them.
To that end you shall call upon the Bridegroom, and then with confidence, because when you shall bring Him into your soul you, too, shall
be able to declare truthfully, our bed is adorned; because your conscience shall everywhere be fragrant with the perfumes of piety, of
peace, of gentleness, of justice, of obedience, of cheerfulness, of
humility. Let this suffice as regards the bed.
8. As to the house. Each person, provided that he walks, not
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, ought to regard
himself as spiritually a house of God. The Temple of God is holy,
says the Apostle St. Paul, which Temple ye are (1 Cor. iii. 17). Take
careful heed, then, brethren, of that spiritual building, which is no
other than your own selves, lest, perhaps, when it begins to rise to a
loftier height, if the beams of it be not strong, firmly fixed, and well
bound and braced together, it should totter and fall; take careful
heed, I say, that the beams you use are such as are sound and will
not decay, such as are massive and will not bend—that is to say, use
the fear of the Lord, which is clean, and endurethfor ever (Ps. xix. 9 ) ;
and patience, of which it is written, the patience of the poor shall ?iot
perish for ever (Ps. ix. 18); long-suffering, also, which perseveres
without bending under the weight of the structure laid upon it, whatever it be, and is extended even unto the unending ages of the life of
blessedness, according to the saying of our Saviour in the Gospel :
Whosoever endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved(Matt. x. 22);
and, above all, use charity, which never faileth (1 Cor. xiii. 8), because,
as is said in this Song, it is as strong as death (Cant. viii. 6), though

2 86

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

jealousy be cruel as the grave. Lastly, take careful heed to underprop and brace firmly together these, the great beams of the structure,
with other timbers equally precious and beautiful, if you have it in
your power so to d o ; they will serve to form the panelled and fretted
ceiling, and to render the house beautiful; I mean the utterance and
teaching of wisdom or knowledge, prophecy, the gift of healing, interpretation of the Scriptures, and other such gifts, which are known to
serve rather to the beautifying and perfecting of the character than
to be necessary to the salvation of the soul. Concerning these I
have no precept to give you; I have only this advice: that since, as it
is abundantly evident, timbers (so to speak) of this kind must be
sought with much labour, are found with difficulty, and, if found, are
not made fit for use without considerable risk, for our earth, especially
in these times, is found to produce but few such ; for these reasons
my counsel and warning to you is, that such as these should not be
too eagerly sought for, but that you should make use of other and
humbler woods for the panelling of your roofs, which, though they
be less splendid in appearance, are shown by experience to be not
less useful and strong, and, moreover, are to be obtained with far
greater safety and ease.
9. I earnestly desire, also, that I may be possessed of an abundance of those other woods which growT so freely in the garden of the
Bridegroom—that is, the Church—I mean peace, goodness, gentleness, joy in the Holy Ghost, the showing mercy with cheerfulness,
the giving with simplicity, the rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and
weeping with them that weep. Do you not think that a house is (as
far as regards the ceiling) sufficiently well adorned when you perceive
that it is panelled with such woods as these, skilfully arranged, and in
sufficient quantity? Lord^ I have loved the honour of Thy House
(Ps. xxvi. 8). Bestow upon me always, I entreat, the materials wherewith to adorn the chamber of my own conscience, and of that of
others, so that it may be made ready for Thy searching view. With
these I shall be content. There will be those also who, following my
judgment in this matter, will be content also, because they believe
that Thou wilt be so ; the other [and higher endowments] I relinquish
to holy Apostles and apostolic men. But do you also, my beloved,
even though you are without those more precious woods, yet if these
others are yours, have no fear; approach with confidence to that chief
corner-stone, elect and precious, and be ye also built up, as living
stones, upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, into a
spiritual house, so that you are [made to be] a holy Priesthood, to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, by JESUS CHRIST our
Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed
for ever.

AMEN.

THE THREEFOLD FLOWER OF HOLINESS

287

SERMON XLVII.
OF THE THREEFOLD FLOWER [OF HOLINESS], NAMELY, OF VIRGINITY,
OF MARTYRDOM, AND OF GOOD WORKS ; AND OF THE DEVOTION
WITH WHICH WE SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN DIVINE SERVICE.

' 1 am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys.''—Cant. ii. I.

I

SUPPOSED that this recalls what the Bride had said in commendation of their couch, that it was decked with flowers. For,
lest she should take to herself the praise of the flowers wherewith the couch is decked and the chamber adorned, the Bridegroom
replies that H e is Himself the Rose of the plain [of Sharon]; that the
flowers do not grow7 in the chamber, but in the plain, from which is
derived their beauty and their fragrance. Lest, then, any should
have it in their power to reproach His Bride, and to say to her:
What hast thou which thou didst not receive ? now if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (i Cor. iv. 7)
H e Himself, as a solicitous lover and kindly censor, deigns to point
out benignantly to His beloved to whom she ought to attribute the
beauty and the fragrance of her couch in which she was glorying.
/ a??i the Rose of Sharon, He says; it is to Me you owe that of which
you boast. We are here warned, then, to our great benefit, that it
behoves us by no means to glorify ourselves; if any glory, let him
glory in the Lord (2 Cor. x. 17). So much with regard to the letter;
let us now examine, with the help of Him who is the subject of it,
into the spiritual sense which it contains.
2. In the first place, notice that there are three conditions referred
to in which a flower may be—in the plain, in the garden, and on the
couch : and then you will more easily understand why the speaker
* has chosen to call Himself, by preference, the Rose of [the field of]
Sharon. Flowers grow and bloom in fields and in gardens, but not
in the chamber. There they show their beauty and exhale their
fragrance, but not erect upon the stem, as in the place where they
have grown: they are severed and prostrate, because they have not
grown there, but have been brought. They have to be watered, and
to be frequently renewed, because they do not long retain their beauty
and freshness. If, as I have foreshown in another discourse, the
couch strewn with flowers means the soul stored with good works,
then, to maintain the same metaphor, you see clearly that it is not
sufficient to do once or twice merely that which is right, but that it is
needful to add new deeds of good constantly to the former, so that
having sown deeds of blessing, you may reap blessings also. Otherwise the flowers of good works wither and fall, and [the adornment
formed of them] speedily loses all beauty and strength, unless they
are continually renewed by fresh blossoms of good works piled upon
the old. Thus much as regards the chamber.

288

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

3. In the garden and in the plain it is not so. There flowers
once produced are constantly nourished, and so are long maintained
in the beauty natural to them. Yet there is this difference between
them, that the garden, in order to produce flowers, needs the labour
and the skill of man who cultivates i t ; but the field produces its
bloom naturally, and of its own accord, without any aid from the industry of man. Now, do you already perceive what is signified by
that field, Which, though neither furrowed by the ploughshare, nor
broken by the hoe, nor enriched by manure, is yet rendered beautiful
by its carpet of flowers, upon which, without doubt, rests a blessing
from the Spirit of the Lord? See, it is said in the Scripture, the
smell of my son is as the s?nell of a field which the Lord hath blessed
(Gen. xxvii. 27). That flower of the field was not as yet clad in its
full beauty, yet it already exhaled fragrance, which the holy and aged
Patriarch, though feeble in body, perceived beforehand in the spirit,
as his joyful exclamation shows ; for though he was deprived of sight,
its sweet scent was very apparent to him. It was not fitting, then,
that the Bridegroom should call Himself a flower of the chamber,
because H e is a flower whose bloom is perpetual; nor yet of the
garden, lest He might seem to be engendered by the operation of
man. But He says with the fullest fitness and grace : / am the Rose
of the field of Sharon; for H e appeared without any effort or cooperation of man, and when H e had appeared H e was at no time
subject to corruption, according to the saying of the Prophet: Thou
shall not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption (Ps. xvi. 10).
4. But let me, if you please, give you another explanation of this,
which seems to me quite worth consideration; for why has the Wise
Man said that the Spirit manifests Himself in many forms, unless that
H e is wont frequently to hide under the bark, as it were, of the same
text several and diverse spiritual senses ? According, then, to the
division which I gave before of the various states of flowers, there
are three distinct blooms—virginity, martyrdom, and a holy life.1
Virginity is the flower in the garden ; martyrdom that in the field ; a
holy life that in the chamber. Rightly is virginity compared to a
flower in the garden, inasmuch as it is nearly related to modesty—it
flies from publicity, it rejoices in concealment, it is willing to endure
rule and discipline. Furthermore, in a garden flowers are enclosed,
while in the field they are open to the view of all, and in the chamber
they are strewed or scattered. So we read : A garden enclosed, a
fountain sealed (Cant. iv. 12), which phrase expresses the bulwark of
modesty, and the inviolate defence which preserves the sanctity of a
virgin soul, provided that its sanctity is both in body and spirit.
Martyrdom, again, is well said to be a flower of the field, since martyrs
are exposed to the mockery of all, and made a spectacle both to
Angels and men. Is not theirs the pitiable condition which is described in the Psalms ?— We are become a reproach to our neighbours,
a scorn and derision to them that are round about us (Ps. lxxix. 4).
1

Actio bona.

THE

THREEFOLD FLOWER OF HOLINESS

289

The good actions of a holy life, also, are well compared to flowers in
a chamber, for they produce the testimony of a quiet and safe conscience. After a good work the repose of quiet contemplation is
entered upon more securely; and the more fully a man is conscious
of not having been wanting through inertness or love of self in the
performance of good works, the more confidence will he have in
attempting to view and to investigate deeper and loftier truths.
5. In a certain sense all these things represent to us the Lord
JESUS. H e is the Flower of the garden, the Virgin Birth of a Virgin
Mother, herself a shoot [from the stem of David]. 1 H e is the Flower
of the field—a martyr, the pattern of martyrdom, and the crown of
martyrs. H e was led forth out of the city, He suffered ' without the
camp/ H e was raised upon the Cross to be seen of men, He was
made the object of universal scorn. H e is the Flower of the chamber
also ; the mirror and the model of every kind of beneficence, as H e
Himself declared in His protest to the Jews : Many good works have
I showed you from My Father (John x. 32); and the Scripture also
testifies of Him : He went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed (Acts x. 38). If, then, each of these three represents the
Lord, for what reason has H e preferred to call Himself the Flower of
the field only ? It was doubtless that H e might encourage the Church,
His Bride, to endure the persecution which H e knew was impending
over each soul which should desire to live godly in Christ JESUS. H e
does this that H e may make it the better known in what H e most
desires to find imitators. It is because the Church, as I have said
elsewhere, always desires repose and quiet, while He, on the contrary,
urges her to earnest effort, forewarning her that ive must through much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Acts xiv. 22). On which
account also, when H e had espoused to Himself the new Church
which H e had founded upon the earth, H e said [to her members] :
The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service (John xvi. 2) ; and again : If they have persecuted Me,
they tuill also persecute you (xv. 20), and many other similar sayings,
which you may easily find for yourselves in the Gospels, in which H e
warns them to be prepared to endure suffering.
6. / am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valleys. She then
points to the couch ; but H e summons her to the plain—that is, He
excites her to vigorous effort. H e regards it as the most persuasive
argument possible to her to enter upon this struggle that H e should
propose Himself to her either as an example for one engaged in the
struggle, or a reward for one that has overcome in it. The words
may be understood in either of these two senses. Thou, O Lord
JESUS, art to me both a mirror of endurance and the reward of enduring. The one is a powerful incentive; the other a great encouragement. By the example of Thy valour Thou dost teach my
hands to war ; by the Presence of Thy Majesty Thou dost crown me
after the victory. Whether I view Thee as a combatant in the midst
1

The terseness of the Latin here, lvirgo, virga, virgine? is admirable.—ED.
J

9

290

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

of the strife [with evil], or regard Thee as at once the Bestower of the
crown of victory, and that crown itself; in either case Thou dost
attract me wonderfully to Thyself; in either capacity Thou art as a
strong cable to draw me after Thee. ' Draw m e ; we will run after
Thee. 7 Willingly do I follow; more willingly still do I enjoy the
fruits [of obedience]. If Thou, O Lord, art so good to those who
seek Thee, what shall Thy goodness be to those who find P1 I am
the Flower of the field. Let him who loves Me come into the field ;
let him not refuse to engage in the combat with Me and for Me, that
he may have it in his power to say with St. P a u l : I have fought a
good fight (2 Tim. iv. 7).
7. And as it is not the proud and arrogant, but rather the humble,
who do not presume that they are able to do anything as of themselves, that are really fit for martyrdom, so the Lord adds : I am the
Lily of the valleys—that is to say, the crown of the humble, wishing
to mark by the commanding height of this flower over others, the
special glory of their future exaltation. 2 For there will be a time when
every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made
low (Is. xl. 4), and then shall appear that splendour of eternal life—the
lily, so to speak, not of the hills, but of the valleys. The righteous?
says the prophet, shall grow as the lily (Hos. xiv. 5 ) ; and who is
righteous except he be humble? Thus, when the Lord bent Himself
to the hands of His servant John, and the Baptist was stricken with awe
of His Majesty, the Lord said : Sujfer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness (Matt. iii. 15), showing that He
considered the consummation of righteousness to consist in perfect
humility. The righteous man, then, is humble ; he is of the valley.
And we also, if we are found humble, shall grow as the lily, and
bloom for ever before the Lord. Shall he not, then, truly and completely show himself the lily of the valleys, when the Lord shall
1

Comp. the hymn fubihts

Rhythmicus, Be Nomine fesu:
Quam phis es petentibus
Quam bonus Te qtiarentibits
Sed quid invenieniibus f
This is one of the coincidences in thought and expression (of which there are not
a few) between the prose works of St. Bernard and some of the hymns which have
come down to us under his name, which show without doubt that if the latter were
not written by St. Bernard propria manu (which is, upon the whole, the more
probable conclusion) they are, at the least, a cento of Bernardine phrases. But see
M. Haureau, ' Des Poemes Latins attribues a St. Bernard,' p. 63 (Paris, 1890).
Compare also Serm. IV., De Diversis, n. 1.—ED.
2
The term ' lily of the valleys' suggests to the English reader the modest
clustered stalks of the Convallaria majalis, with their white pendent flowers. But
this flower is a native of Britain, and, as far as I know, is not found at all in Palestine.
There is much difficulty is exactly determining the flower intended here by the word
shushan. The white lotus, tulip, or amaryllis, and the * Crown Imperial,5 have been
suggested by various commentators as being meant. But the flower which seems
best to satisfy the various requirements of this and other passages of Scripture is the
scarlet martagon {Lilium Chalcedonicum), which grows in profusion throughout the
Levant. See Matt. vi. 28, Luke xii. 27.—ED.
8
' Israel' in the passage quoted.—ED.
1

THE THREEFOLD FLOWER OF HOLINESS

291

change the body of our humility, and make it like unto the Body of
His Glory (Phil. iii. 21)? H e does not say ' our body,' but ' t h e
body of our humility'; and thus signifies that it is only those who
are humble who shall be rendered glorious with the wonderful and
immortal splendour of that Divine Lily. Thus much, then, with
iegard to the words of the Bridegroom, in which H e testifies that H e
is the Rose of the field of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys.
8. It would be interesting to go on here without a break to comment
on what H e says with regard to His Bride most dear; but the time
does not permit. For by our Rule (Rule S. Bened., c. 43) nothing
must be preferred to ' t h e Service of God,' 1 which is the name that
our father Benedict desired to be given to the solemnities of Divine
worship, which are offered day by day in our oratory, thus showing
more clearly how desirous he was that we should apply ourselves with
all our heart to that holy work. Therefore I warn and entreat you,
beloved, always to occupy yourselves in the praises of God with pure
hearts and earnest minds. With earnestness, so as to present yourselves at the worship of the Lord, as well with willingness and gladness, as with reverence; not with laziness and sleepiness, not yawning,
not keeping silence, not cutting your words short, or even passing
over some altogether, not chanting through the nose or between the
teeth, with broken and lowered voice, in a lazy and effeminate fashion,
but pronouncing the words of the Holy Spirit with manly and earnest
voices, which correspond with the dignity of the subjects of which they
speak. And purely also—that is to say, so as to occupy your thoughts
while you are chanting with nothing else than the words which you
are chanting. I do not refer only to the avoiding vain and idle
thoughts; those also should at that hour, and in that place at least,
be repressed which relate to the duties and occupations which those
brethren who are entrusted with various2 functions are obliged, at
other times, for the common good, and, as it were,' of necessity, to
employ their thoughts upon. I do not counsel you to carry with
you when you go into the choir even those thoughts which you have
derived from the books which you have been recently reading while
sitting in the cloister, or those which have come to you from my
voice, in this lecture-hall (auditorid) of the Holy Spirit. They are,
indeed, to edification; but they do not edify you when you reflect
upon them while you are chanting. For the Holy Spirit does not
regard as acceptable that which you allow to obtrude at such an
hour, which has no concern with your immediate duty, and occasions
the neglect of a part of it. We are always capable, by His holy
inspiration, of making our will conformable to His Divine Will;
through the grace and mercy of Him who is the Bridegroom of the
Church, our Lord JESUS CHRIST, Who is above all, God blessed for
ever. AMEN.
1
2

Open Dei.

The brethren who were deputed to discharge various exterior duties are distinguished from the cloistered or choir brethren in Serm. IX., De Diversis, n. 4,
and farther on in Serm. LVII., n. 11.

SERx\IONS

292

ON THE

SONG OF

SONGS

SERMON X L V I I I .
OF THE PRAISES WHICH THE BRIDE AND THE BRIDEGROOM ADDRESS
RECIPROCALLY TO EACH OTHER ; AND HOW BY T H E SHADOW OF
CHRIST IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD HIS FLESH AND FAITH IN HIM.
' As the lily among thorns,1

so is viy love among the daughters*—Cant.

ii. 2.

T

H E Y are not good daughters who, like thorns, pierce and
trouble. Consider the evil race of plants which our earth
produces, since it was cursed by sin. Thorns and thistles,
saith the Scripture, shall it bring forth to thee (Gen. iii. 18). As long
as the soul is clothed in flesh, its course lies among thorns; nor can
it avoid having to bear the inquietude of temptations, and the sharp
piercing of troubles. If the Bride is a lily, according to the words of
the Bridegroom, let her understand with what vigilance and care she
ought to watch over her conduct, surrounded as she is on all sides
with thorns, of which the sharp points encounter her everywhere.
For the tender substance of a flower is unable to endure the slightest
puncture of a thorn without injury. Do you feel, then, with how great
need and propriety the Psalmist exhorts us to se?ve the Lord with fear
(Ps. ii. 11); and the Apostle also, when he bids us work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. ii. 12)? They had learned
the truth of that saying by their own experience as friends of the
Bridegroom, whose course was full of difficulty, and believed that it
applied truly to their souls : As a lily among thorns, so is My love
among the daughters. One of them, in fact, says : I am turned in my
anguish, while the thorn is fastened (Ps. xxxi. 4, Douay). And it was
well that he was thus pierced, since by the anguish of the wound he
was turned to repentance. The piercing of the thorns is good for
you if it brings you to repent. Many correct their fault when they
feel the penalty of it; and such may take these words for their own.
A fault is a thorn, so also is its punishment; and in like manner a
false brother, or an evil neighbour, may be considered as a thorn.
2. As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters. O
lily, bloom bright, shining and beautiful, but tender and delicate,
doubters and subverters are all around thee! Among the thorns,
what caution and circumspection you have need of!
The
world is full of thorns ; they are on the earth and in the air,
and even in your own flesh. To live among these thorns and
1
Dr. Thomson, ' T h e Land and the Book,' i. 304, gives an interesting illustration of this phrase in his account of the Huleh lily : * It is very large, and the three
inner petals meet above and form a gorgeous canopy, such as art never approached,
and king never sat under, even in his utmost glory. . . . This flower delights most
in the valleys, but is also found on the mountains ; it grows among thorns, and I
have sadly lacerated my hands in extricating it from them. Nothing can be in
higher contrast than the luxuriant velvety softness of this lily and the crabbed,
tangled hedge of thorns about i t . ' — E D .

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not to be torn by them, is the effect of Divine power, not of any efforts
of your own. But be ofgood cheer, said the Lord, I have overcome the
world (John xvi. 33). Even though in looking forward you see
troubles and trials, as it were the sharp points of thorns threatening
you, yet let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid, remembering that tribulation worketh patience, and patience expe?'ience,
and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed (Rom. v. 3). Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow and shine bravely even in
the midst of thorns. If God so care for the grass of the field, which
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven (Matt. vi. 28-30), how
much more shall He care for her who is His very dear and cherished
Bride ! Assuredly the Lord preserveth all them that love Him (Ps.
cxlv. 20). As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.
It is no small proof of virtue to live a good life among the depraved,
to preserve the pureness of innocence, and gentleness of character,
among the evil-disposed; it is a still greater one to be peaceful wTith
those who are hostile to peace, and to show yourself a friend to your
enemies themselves. That will evidently constitute a special degree
of likeness to the lily, which does not cease to adorn and beautify
with its own fairness the very thorns which pierce it. Does it not
seem to you that this is to become a lily in truth, to fulfil in a certain
way the perfection taught in the Gospel, in which we are bidden to
pray for those who despitefully use us, to do good to them which
hate us? (Luke vi. 27, 28). Do you, then, do likewise, and your
soul shall be dear to the Lord, and He shall praise you, and say of
you : As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.
3. We read farther on : As the apple-tree among the trees of the
wood, so is my Beloved among the sons (ii. 3). To the commendations of the Bridegroom the Bride renders her praise in return ; to
praise Him is to acknowledge and to admire the Being who is truly
worthy of all praise, and to be praised by Him is to be rendered
deserving of the praises given. And as the Bridegroom has praised
her under the figure of a flower of surpassing beauty, so she declares
His unmatched glory and eminence by comparing Him to a tree of
great excellence. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the tree named
is not so beautiful as some others, so that it is not fully worthy to be
employed as a comparison, not being able to set forth sufficiently all
His praise. Nor, indeed, does the Bride seem to have estimated it
very highly, inasmuch as she puts it in comparison only with the
trees of the forest,1 which are sterile, or, at least, unable to produce
fruits fit for human food. Why, then, are better and nobler trees
omitted, and this of but moderate merit brought forward for the purpose of setting forth the praise of the Bridegroom ? Ought He, who
has not received the Spirit by measure (John iii. 34), to have this
measured praise given to Him ? It seems to me that He, who has
no equal, is spoken of in the making of this similitude 2 as if there
1
2

Inter ligna siharum.
Some writers have been desirous to understand here by mains (n-IDFlj \ir\Kov

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

might be a superior to Him. What shall we say to these things ? I
confess that the praise is small; but this is because He who
receives it is not considered in His greatness. For He is not spoken
of here as the Lord who is great, and greatly to be praised (Ps. cxlv. 3),
but as He who, though He is the Lord, is a little Child, and is
greatly to be loved. For unto its a Child is born (Is. ix. 6).
4. Therefore it is not His Majesty that is exalted here, but His
Humility that is commended; and this is reasonable and right,
because the weakness of God is stronger than men, and the foolishness of God is wiser than men (1 Cor. i. 25). Those [men] are as
barren trees of the forest, inasmuch as, according to the Prophet,
they are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; there is
none that doeth good, ?w not one (Ps. xiii. 3, Douay). Alone among
the trees of the forest the Lord Jesus is a tree bearing fruit—I mean
with respect to His Manhood—and though set above the sons of
men H e is made a little lower than the Angels (Ps. viii. 5). For by
a wonderful mystery He both, in becoming Flesh, made Himself to
be a little lower than the Angels, and, remaining God, always retained
the Angels in subjection to Him. Thou shalt see, says the Scripture,
Angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (John i. 51),
because that in one and the same Man, who is Christ Jesus, they
both sustain the weakness and humbly adore the Majesty. But as
the Bride finds greater sweetness in considering Him in His humility,
she extols with greater willingness His grace, she magnifies His
mercy, she is lost in wonder at His condescension. Her delight is
to admire [in Him] a Man among men, not God among the Angels;
just as an apple-tree among the trees of the forest is indisputably
superior, but not so evidently among the trees of a garden. Nor
does she consider that His praises are diminished when the goodness
and kindness of His actions are raised still more highly by the
thought of His physical weakness. For if, on the one side, she retrenches somewhat from His praise, on the other she fully supplies it,
and forbears to dilate upon the glory of His Greatness that she may
extol still more the grace of His condescension. For as the Apostle
says that the weakness of God is stronger, and the foolishness of God
wiser, than men, but does not say ' than Angels ? ; and as the Psalmist
declares of the Bridegroom : Thou art fairer than the children of
men (Ps. xlv. 2), but does not say * fairer than Angels,' so when the
Bride speaks here, assuredly by the same Spirit, of the Man-God
under the figure of a fruit-bearing tree as compared with forest trees,
the intention plainly was to exalt Him above all the favour of men,
but not above the excellence of Angels.
5. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved
among the sons. Most fitly is it said among the sons, because, being
the Only-Begotten Son of His Father, H e has made it His object,
Sept.) some nobler fruit-tree than the apple, as, for example, the quince, citron, or
orange ; but the received rendering seems to be correct.—ED.

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295

and without jealousy, to acquire for Him many sons, whom H e is
not ashamed to call His brothers, so that H e may be the first-born
among many brethren. But He, who is the Son by Nature, is of
right preferred to all those adopted sons, who are children by grace.
Just, also, is the simile, as the apple-tree, to Him who, like a fruitful
tree, affords a refreshing shadow as well as valuable fruit. Is not
that truly a fruit-bearing tree, whose flowers are the fruit of honour
and riches? (Ecclus. xxiv. 17). Assuredly He is a tree of life to
them that lay hold upon Him (Prov. iii. 18). All the trees of the
forest, however fair and however great they be, shall not be compared
unto H i m ; not even those who seem to be helpful by their prayers
and their ministry, by their teaching or their holy example; for
Christ alone, the Wisdom of God, is the Tree of Life (Rev. xxii. 2),
the Living Bread which came down from heaven and giveth life unto
the world (John vi. 41, 33).
6. Therefore it is that she goes on to say : I sat down under His
shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. She
might well long for the shadow of Him, from whom she has both
grateful shelter, and will receive needful nourishment. Other trees of
the forest afford, indeed, a shadow from the heat, but they have not
the Bread of Life, the immortal fruits of salvation. For there is
one Author of Life, and One Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. ii. 5), and it is He who says to His Bride:
/ am thy salvation (Ps. xxxv. 3), and, Moses gave you not that Bread
from Heaven, but My Father giveth you the True Bread from Heaven
(John vi. 32). On this account, then, she had desired greatly the
shadow of Christ, because it is He alone who shelters her from the
hot breath of vices, and also fills her with the refreshment and joy of
virtue. His Shadow is His Human Nature, and [that which brings
me under the shelter of] His Shadow is faith. The Human Nature
of Her Son it was which overshadowed Mary; it is faith in my Lord
which overshadows me. I might, indeed, say that His Flesh overshadows me also, since it is eaten by me in a mystery. The Blessed
Virgin also experienced that shadow of faith, as is shown by the
words spoken of her: And blessed is she who believed (Luke i. 45).
So a prophet says: The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord. . .
under His shadow we shall live among the Gentiles?- Under His
shadow among the Gentiles, but in His light among the Angels.
We are in the shadow as long as we walk by faith, not by sight; and,
therefore, the just, who lives by faith, is in the shadow. But he who
lives by the understanding, happy is he, because he is not in the
shadow but in the light. David was a righteous man, and he walked
by faith when he addressed this prayer to G o d : Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments, and I shall live (Ps. cxix. 73,
144). H e knew that understanding shall succeed to faith, that the
light of life and the life of light shall be revealed to the understand1
Lam. iv. 20, but inexactly quoted.
vivimus.

Rouald, Tiraqueau, and Horst, here read

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

ing. It is needful to come first to the shadow, and so to attain to
that of which it is the shadow; since, as says the Prophet: If ye will
not believe me, ye shall not understand (Is. vii. 9, and xliii. 10).
7. You see that faith is both life and the shadow of life. For the
life which is spent in enjoyments, since it is not lived by faith, is but
death and the shadow of death. For the widow, saith St. Paul, who
liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth (1 Tim. v. 6). And to be
carnally minded is death (Rom. viii. 6). It is also the shadow of
death—of that death which torments everlastingly. We, too, have
sometime been in the darkness and shadow of death, while we lived
according to the flesh and not according to faith ; we were, indeed,
already dead to righteousness, and soon to be swallowed up by that
which is the second death. For it is certain that our life, as it wTas
then, has drawn as near to death as the shadow is near to the body
which casts it, and each of us may say with the Psalmist: Unless the
Lord had been my helper; my soul had almost dwelt in hell (Ps. xciv. 17,
Douay). But now we have passed from the shadow of death to the
shadow of life, or, rather, we have passed from death unto life (1 John
iii. 14), and are living in the shadow of Christ; if, that is to say, we
are of a truth living and not still dead. For I do not think that a
person who has been in the shadow lives in it forthwith, because it is
plain that not everyone who has faith lives by faith. But faith without works is dead (James ii. 26), and that which itself has not life is
incapable of imparting it. That is why, after the Prophet had said :
' Christ the Lord is the Spirit before our face,' he goes on to say:
1
under His shadow we shall live among the Gentiles' (Lam. iv. 20).
Do you, then, take care, according to the example of the Prophet, to
live in His shadow, that hereafter you may reign in His light; for
H e has not only the shadow, He has also the light. Through the
flesh H e is the shadow of faith, through the spirit H e is the light of
knowledge. He is Flesh and H e is Spirit. He is Flesh to those
who remain in the flesh, and H e is ' the Spirit before our face'—that
is to say, in the future H e shall be, provided that, forgetting those
things which are behind and pressing forward to those things which
are before, we attain to the experience of the truth in those words :
It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing (John vi. 64).
Nor do I forget that the Apostle, while still sojourning in the flesh,
has said : Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we Him no 7iiore (2 Cor. v. 16). But this was His
peculiar privilege : we who have never been so highly favoured as to
be caught up into Paradise and into the third heaven, we still are
nourished by the Flesh of Christ, we venerate His sacred Mysteries,
we order our lives by His example, we keep the faith, and, without
question, we live in His shadow.
8. I sat down tinder His shadow with great delight Perhaps the
Bride is here extolling herself as having a happier experience than
the Prophet, inasmuch as she has sat under His shadow, not that
she lives in it. For to be seated is to rest. It is more to rest in His

THE SHADOW OF CHRIST

297

shadow than to live in it, as it is more to live in it than simply to be
in it. The Prophet predicates of himself that which is common to
many: ' We shall live;' but the Bride, who has a special privilege,
states it with pride : ' I sat down.' She does not say (as he has done)
' w e ' in the plural, but ' I , ' to mark that this is peculiar to herself.
Where, then, we live with labour, we who serve with fear, being conscious of our offences, there the Bride, loving and devoted, sweetly
rests. Fear is followed by a penalty, but love by sweetness ; wherefore she says : His fruit was sweet to my taste, signifying the heavenly
charm of the contemplation which she had obtained when sweetly
lifted up by love. Doubtless that is in the shadow, because it takes
place, as it were, through a glass and darkly. But a time shall come
when the light shall brighten to the dawn, the shadows shall wane
until they wholly disappear: and then, in the place of them, shall
begin a vision as clear as it is constant: it shall be not only sweetness to the taste, but satisfaction, yet without surfeit, to the whole
nature. Where the Bride makes pause, let us pause t o o ; glorifying,
for the portion given to us of spiritual dainties delightful to our
taste, Him who is the Head of the whole family in heaven and
earth (Eph. iii. 15), and the Bridegroom of the Church, Our Lord
JESUS CHRIST, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON XLIX.
HOW CHARITY IS REGULATED BY DISCRETION, SO THAT ALL T H E
MEMBERS OF T H E CHURCH, THAT IS, T H E ELECT, ARE HELD
TOGETHER BY MUTUAL BONDS.

' He brought me into the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.''—
Cant. ii. 4.

A

C C O R D I N G to the obvious meaning of the text, the Bride,
after an interview, as sweet as it was confidential, with her
Beloved, according to her prayer, returns, on His departure,
to her maidens ; to whom she appears so refreshed and excited in
word and gesture, that it is as if she were inebriate. They are
astonished at this novelty in her, and inquire the cause; to which she
replies that it is not at all wonderful she should seem to be excited
as if with wine, since she has entered into the banqueting house. So
much as to the literal sense. Spiritually understood, she does not
deny that she is inebriate, but declares that it is with love, not with
wine, unless love be wine. As long as the Bridegroom is present, she
directs her discourse to Him. She calls Him her Bridegroom, her
Beloved, or Him whom my soul loveth; but when speaking of Him
to the maidens, she calls Him the King. Why is this ? Because, as
I think, it is more fitting for the Bride, who is loving and beloved, to

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

use (as far as in her lies) terms of affection to Him whom she loves;
while at the same time she imposes respect upon her maidens, who
require the bond of discipline, by the use of a term of dignity which
inspires reverence.
2. The King has brought me into His banqueting house. Of what is
meant by the banqueting house I forbear to speak now, because I
remember that I have treated of it before. (Sermon XXIII.) But
if the term is to be understood of the Church, when the disciples,
being filled with the Holy Spirit, were thought by the people to be
full of new wine, then we must remember that St. Peter, answering
on behalf of the Bride, as a friend of the Bridegroom, declared:
These ai'e 7101filledwith wine, as ye suppose (Acts ii. 15). Notice that
he denied, not that they were inebriated, but that they were inebriated
in the manner, and from the cause, that the people supposed. Inebriate they were, yet not with wine, but with the Holy Spirit. And
as if they had wished to testify to the people that they had been, in
truth, brought into the King's banqueting house, St. Peter, speaking
still for them all, went on to say : This is that which was spoken by the
Prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams. Does it not seem to you that the
banqueting hall was that house in which the disciples were assembled,
when suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
wind (Spiritus), and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and
thus accomplished the prophecy of Joel ? And was not each of them,
going forth inebriated with the abundance of good things received in
that house, and having, as it were, drunk deep of the rushing torrent
of its pleasures, able to say with good reason : The King hath brought
me into His banqueting house ?
3. You also, if you shall enter into the House of prayer in solitude
and collectedness of spirit, if your mind be thoughtful and free of
worldly cares, and if standing in the Presence of God before some
altar, you shall touch, as it were, the portal of heaven with the hand
of holy aspiration and longing; if, having been brought among the
choirs of the saints by the fervour of your devotion (for the prayer of
the righteous soul can scale even the heights of heaven), you deplore
before them, in deep humility, your spiritual troubles and miseries,
you plead your necessities with frequent sighs and groans too deep
for utterance, and entreat earnestly their compassion; if, I say, you
act thus, I have full confidence in Him who said: Ask, and ye shall
receive (Matt. vii. 7), and I believe that if you persevere in knocking
earnestly at that door, it shall certainly be opened to you, and you
shall not go away empty. And when you shall return to us full of
grace and love, and are unable, in the fervency of your spirit, to conceal the gift which you have received, and which you will without
jealousy impart to others ; thus you will be, not merely acceptable to
all, but perhaps even the object of their admiration, on account of

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299

the grace which has been bestowed upon you, and you will be able
to declare with truth : The King hath brought me into His banqueting
house. Only be cautious that you glory, not in yourself, but in the
Lord. But I would not assert that every spiritual gift comes forth
from this cellar here mentioned. The Bridegroom has also other
cellars and storehouses, and in these are laid up divers gifts and
graces, according to the riches of His glory. But of these, too, as I
remember, I have already spoken. (Sermon XXIII.) Are not these
things stored up with Me, saith the Lord, and sealed up in My
treasures ? (Deut. xxxii. 34, Douay). Therefore the division of graces
is made according to the diversity of storehouses, and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. And although
to one person is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of
knowledge, to another prophecy, to another the gifts of healing, to
another divers kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of
tongues, and other gifts similar to these to other persons, yet it does
not follow that any one of those who receive gifts of this kind should
therefore be able to say that he has been brought into the banqueting
house. For it may have been from other storehouses that his gifts
have been drawn.
4. But if anyone, while in prayer, should obtain the grace to be
drawn out of himself, as it were, and into the sphere of the Divine
glory, from whence he returns after a time fired with an ardent love
of God, inflamed with a burning zeal for righteousness, and also filled
with extreme fervour in the pursuit of all spiritual occupations and
studies, so that he can say : My heart was hot within me, while I was
musing the fire burned (Ps. xxxix. 3), that soul will evidently have
a not unfounded claim to say that he has been brought into the
banqueting house, because out of the abundance of his charity he has
begun to manifest and utter the effects of that inebriation which,
unlike every other, is in the highest degree salutary and good. For
there are two kinds of ecstasy in holy contemplation: one of the
understanding, the other of the heart; one in the light of the understanding, the other in the fervour of the affections; the one a blaze
of discernment, the other a rapture of devotion; and the glow of
piety, the heart aflame with holy love, the access of sublime adoration, are all derived from the banqueting house of the King, equally
with the clear vision of the eager spirit; and everyone, whosoever he
may be, who rises from prayer endowed with the fulness of these
priceless gifts, may say with truth, The King hath brought me into His
ba?iqueting house.
5. Then the Bride goes on to say: He set in order charity in me
(Douay). This was absolutely necessary, because zeal without knowledge is insupportable. Where zeal is eager, there discretion, which
is the rule of charity by order, is most of all indispensable. Without
knowledge zeal is found to be always less useful and less effectual;
and most often it is even very dangerous. The more fervent is zeal,
the more eager the temper, the more profuse the charity; the more

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need is there of a watchful knowledge, which moderates zeal, tempers
the warmth of the disposition, and regulates the gushings of charity.
That is the reason why the Bride, lest the impetuosity of spirit,
brought, as it might appear, from the banqueting house, should be
excessive and ungovernable, as she fears especially for the souls of
the young, adds here that she has received also the orderly regulation
of charity—that is, discretion. For discretion assigns to every virtue
its due place; and order produces moderation, due proportion and
fitness, and therefore never-failing continuance. Therefore the Scripture saith: By Thine ordinance the day continues (Ps. cxix. 91)
calling virtue ' the day.' Discretion, then, is not so much a single
virtue, as a certain moderator and conductor of all the virtues, a
director of the affections, and a teacher of all the conduct of life.
Without it, even virtue degenerates into vice, and the natural impulses
themselves are changed into passions which disturb and destroy nature.
He set in order charity in me. This is what took place in the Church,
when [the Lord] gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some
Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the
Saints (Eph. iv. n , 12). But it is necessary that the same charity
should bind all these together into the unity of the Body of Christ,
which it cannot in anywise do, unless it be guided and regulated.
For if each person allows himself to be carried away by the warmth
and impetuosity of his spirit to do indifferently everything that occurs
to him, following rather his own preference than the dictates of
reason, it is plain that there will no longer be unity, but confusion
and disorder; for no one will be content with the ministry confided
to him, but will be busying himself indiscriminately with that of
others.
6. He set in order charity in me. Oh that the Lord Jesus
would, of His grace, set in order in me somewhat of the charity
which He has bestowed, so that I might have such care of all things
which are His, and relate to Him, as to put before all other things, to
the utmost of my power, the duties of the office entrusted to me, yet
so as, though these be put first, I may have a reserve of interest and
sympathy for matters which are beyond my especial charge, for it is
not always the case that those things should be the most loved which
have to be the first cared for, for though they come before others in
the care they require, they are frequently far behind them in usefulness,
and therefore also in the approval and affection they command.
Thus it is frequently the case that the thing which, according to a
command binding on us, is preferred to another, should, by the dictate
of reason, come after it •} and that which in the judgment of truth is
of the greater importance, the order of charity, requires to be adopted
with the greatest caution. Has there not, for example, been laid
u^on me by authority the care of you all ? Now, whatsoever I might
1
Such is the reading of all the MSS. and of the earliest editions. Later ones
read : ' Dei judicioj etc., and Horst, *proinde quod Veritas judicat prceponitur, de
Jud/cio,' etc.

HOW CHARITY IS REGULATED BY DISCRETION

301

perhaps set before that task, or which might prevent my acquitting
myself of the full discharge of it, according to my powers, even though
I might seem to be actuated by a motive of charity to do it, yet the
reason of the Order would not allow of its being done. Yet if I
apply myself wholly to this [my first] work, in preference to all others,
as I ought, but do not rejoice still more in greater services to God,
which I may perceive to be done, perhaps, by some other person, then
it is evident that I observe the order of charity only in part and not
wholly. But if I occupy myself chiefly with that which is my particular charge, yet do not omit to show sympathy with other and
greater work, then I shall be found to have fulfilled on both sides the
order of charity, and there is nothing to hinder my saying: He has
set in order charity in me.
7. If you say that it is difficult to rejoice more in the good work
done by another, though it be great, than in a smaller good brought
about by oneself, you will notice the more from this the excellence
of the grace bestowed upon the Bride, and how it is not given to
every soul to say : He has set in order charity in me. Wherefore have
the countenances of some among you fallen at this discourse ? For
those deep sighs are a sign of sorrow of soul and depression of conscience. It is because, when we compare ourselves with ourselves,
we feel by our own experience our imperfection, and how rare a
virtue it is not to envy the good of another, but, on the contrary, to
rejoice in it, and to be the more willing to praise another's goodness
in preference to our own the more we feel ourselves surpassed in
virtue. There is still some light in us, brethren, when we feel thus
about ourselves. Let us walk while we have the light, lest darkness
come upon us (John xii. 35). To walk is to make progress. The
Apostle was making progress when he said : I count not myself to have
apprehended; and adds : This one thing 1do•, forgetting those things
which are behind, and, reaching forth unto those things which are
before, I press toward the mark (Phil. iv. 13, 14). What does he
mean by this one thing ? It is to say, There is one thing remaining
to me which is at once a remedy, a hope, and a consolation. And
what is that ? It is the forgetting the past and pressing forward to
fresh endeavours in the future. It is a great ground for confidence
that even the great man who was ' a chosen vessel' did not regard
himself as perfect, but earnestly desired to make a farther advance
towards perfection. The danger, then, for us is that we should be
surprised by the shadows of death when we are not in progress towards
good, but are motionless and inert. And who is thus motionless
except he who does not make any effort to advance ? Take heed of
this, and then, if you shall be surprised by death, you will be in a
state of gradual amelioration (refrigerio). You will say to God : Thine
eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; nevertheless, continues
the Psalmist, all are written in Thy book (Ps. cxxxix. 16). Wherefore
all ? Doubtless those who are found in earnest desire for progress
in good, for there follows : * The days shall be formed, and none of

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them,' that is to say, shall perish. We must understand by ' t h e
days' those who are making spiritual progress, and these, if they are
surprised by death, shall be perfected in those merits which are
wanting in them. They shall be rendered wholly complete ; not one
of them shall be left unformed or imperfect.
8. And how, you ask again, can I make any spiritual progress,
seeing that I envy that of my brother ? If you lament that you envy
him, though you feel the envy, you do not consent to it. It is, so to
speak, an illness to be cured, not an action to be condemned. Only
you must not allow yourself to settle down into an habitual envy,
meditating evil designs upon your bed, nursing, as it were, and fostering your disease, satisfying your evil feelings, persecuting the innocent,
speaking evil of his good actions, impeding, perverting, and corrupting them. But that jealousy, if it be not yielded to, does not injure
a soul which is in motion and stretching forward to better things,
because, then, it is not he that does the wrong, but sin that dwelleth
in him (Rom. vii. 20). Condemnation, therefore, is not for him who
is far from giving his members as instruments unto iniquity ; neither
his tongue to detraction, nor any other part of his body to the injury
or wrong of his neighbour in any way whatsoever; who, on the contrary,
is ashamed to be of an evil disposition, who makes vigorous efforts to
expel the deep-seated vice by confessing and bewailing it in prayer ;
and if he does not succeed in doing so, is on that account more
gentle towards others and more humble in himself. Who is the wise
man who would condemn a soul like this, which has learned from
the Lord to be meek and lowly in heart (Matt. xi. 29) ? God forbid
that there should be found to come short of salvation anyone who is
a follower of the Saviour, the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord
JESUS CHRIST, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON L.
OF TWO KINDS OF CHAKITY—NAMELY, THAT OF FEELING AND THAT
OF ACTION—AND HOW THEY ARE CO-ORDINATED.

Y

OU are perhaps expecting, my brethren, that I should go on
to treat of the words next following in the Canticle, as the
words of the preceding verse were completed in the last
Sermon. But I have another object; and there are still some fragments that remain, as it were, of our banquet yesterday, which I had
collected that nothing might be lost, and which I mean to set before
you now. They will perish if not given to any for food; while, if I
keep them for my own use alone, I shall myself perish. I am most
unwilling to deprive you of those spiritual dainties, your hunger for
which I know so well, especially as they are out of the basket of

TWO KINDS OF CHARITY

3°3

charity, and the sweeter as they are smaller, and the more savoury as
more minutely divided. Otherwise, it would be too much against
charity to defraud you of charity itself. Therefore, here is my subject : He has set in order charity in me (ii. 4).
2. There is charity in action, and there is charity in feeling. As
concerning the first, I think that it is a law and explicit commandment given to men; but, as relates to the other, who can have it in
such perfection as is contemplated by the precept ? The one, therefore, is ordered as a command, the other given as a reward. We do
not deny, however, that with the grace of God it is possible, even in
this life, to attain the commencement, and even some degree of progress in the latter; but we maintain that the consummation of it is
reserved for the happiness to come. How, then, has that been commanded, which can by no means be fulfilled by us ? Or if you prefer
to think that the command given has reference to charity in feeling,
this I would not contest, provided that you agree with me in allowing
that it is not possible for any man perfectly to fulfil it, nor has it ever
been possible. 1 For who would dare to arrogate to himself a success
which St. Paul himself confesses that he had not attained? (Phil,
iii. 13). Nor did our great Teacher conceal that the weight of this
precept exceeded the powers of men ; but He has considered it useful
to call man's attention by means of this fact to his own weakness,
and that he might thus learn towards what object of righteousness to
direct his efforts as far as his powers permitted. In commanding,
then, things which are impossible [to the unaided strength of men],
H e has made men, not offenders, but humble: that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world may be made subject to God. Because by
the works of the Laiv no flesh shall be justified before Him (Rom. iii.
19, 20, Douay). We, then, receiving the commandment, and feeling
ourselves to come short of it, shall raise our cry to Heaven, and our
God shall have pity upon us, and we shall learn in that day that not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us (Titus iii. 5).
3. This is what I would say, provided that we were all of opinion
that the charity of the heart and of the feelings was commanded by a
distinct law imposed upon us. But the reason which seems to refer
the law rather to charity in act 2 is that when the Lord had said:
1

Tract, de Diligendo Deo, x. 29.
The opinion of St. Bernard is, that the precept regarding charity relates rather
to charity in act, than in feeling. But by charity in feeling he means that lofty
and perfect love which is to be found only in the saints and those who are perfect.
Again, by charity in act (actualem) he means that which does not consist simply
in feeling, but comes forth and shows itself in action ; but he did not by any means
intend to exclude inward charity from it. ' I do not say,' he declares further on
{n. 4), ' that we ought to be without feelings of charity'; on the contrary, charity
in act should include charity in thought,' which, although it does not as yet refresh
the soul with the sweetness of inward delight, yet it powerfully contributes to fire
it with the love of that love itself.' Now it is precisely inward love * with which
charity in act is content' [n. 6). See on this subject the Admonition to De Diligendo Deo, Bk. ii.
2

3°4

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Love your enemies, H e at once introduces a precept relating to actions,
do good to them which hate you (Luke vi. 27). And another Scripture
says : If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink
(Rom. vi. 20). And these precepts relate to actions, not to affections.
Again, hear what the Lord Himself commands with regard to the
affection due to Him : If ye love Me, keep My commandments^ (John
xiv. 15). Here, also, we are referred by Him to actions in enjoining the observance of His commands. It would have been superfluous for Him to warn us as to the doing of works if charity had
consisted wholly in feelings. It is in this way that we should understand that commandment which orders you to 'love thy neighbour as
thyself (Matt. xxii. 39), although it is not explicitly thus stated.
And do you not consider it perfectly clear that, in order to fulfil that
command as to the love of one's neighbour, it suffices to observe
perfectly that which the law of nature prescribes: 4 Do that to no
man which thou hatest' (Tobit iv. 15), and which the Lord, in fact,
commands : All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them (Matt. vii. 12).
4. I do not say that we ought to be without feelings of charity,
that the heart should be barren and unmoved, and that all we should
do is to raise our hands to actions [of charity]. I have read among
the great and grave crimes, which the Apostle writes, that men
commit, this enumerated, that they are without natural affection
(Rom. i. 31). But there is an affection which the flesh produces,
there is another which reason rules, and a third which is seasoned by
wisdom. The first is that of which the Apostle says, that it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Rom. viii. 7 ) ; the
second, on the contrary, because it is good, shows itself consentient
to the Divine law, and there is no doubt, therefore, that these two are
contrary the one to the other, since the one resists, and the other
conforms to [the Divine Will]. As for the third, it is wholly different
from each of the former, for it tastes and appreciates fully the sweetness of the Lord (Ps. xxxiv. 8 ) ; it banishes the first, and rewards the
second. The first is attractive indeed, but dishonourable; the second
dry, but steady and strong; but the third full of unction and sweetness. It is, then, by the second that (good) works are done, and in
it charity consists; not, indeed, that charity of heart and feeling,
which is seasoned with the salt of wisdom, and made fat with an
unction from above, so as to bring to the soul the abundance of
sweetness which is in God; but rather a certain charity of action,
which, though it does not as yet refresh the soul with the sweetness
of inward delight, yet powerfully contributes to fire it with the love of
that love itself. Let us not love, says St. John, in woi'd, nor in tongue,
but in deed and in truth (1 John iii. 18).
1
* Where, then, are these to be kept?' says St. Bernard in Sermon V. for
Advent, n. 2. No doubt in the heart, as he there explains ; but they ought to be
to the heart what food is to the body, and ' pass not only into the affections, but
also into the character and actions of life.'

3°5

TWO KINDS OF CHARITY

5. Do you observe how cautiously he proceeds, between love which
is vicious and love which is only in feeling, distinguishing from each
of these the real and saving charity ? He does not admit in it the
feigned love of a false tongue; nor, again, does he demand the lofty
and consummate enjoyment of active wisdom. Let us love, he says,
in deed a?id in truth ; that is to say, let us be moved to the doing of
good works rather by the powerful impulse of truth and fact than by
a feeling of emotional charity. He has set in order charity in me.
Which of these two kinds of charity ? Each of them, in fact, but in
a reverse order. For charity in act chooses rather (for its sphere) the
lower sphere of life, while that of thought and feeling chooses the
higher. There is, for example, no doubt that in a right-thinking soul
the love of God is preferred to the love of man, heaven to earth,
eternity to time, the soul to the body. And yet in well-regulated
action the opposite order is frequently, or almost always, found to
prevail. For we are both more frequently occupied, and more busily,
with cares for the temporal good of our neighbour, and among our
brethren we assist with more diligent assiduity those who are more
infirm; we apply ourselves, by the right of humanity and the necessity of the case, more to promote the peace of the earth than the
glory of heaven; in our anxiety about temporal interests we scarcely
permit ourselves to think anything about those which are eternal; in
sickness our bodily pains and weakness occupy us almost without
ceasing, and the care of our soul is laid aside ; and, lastly, we surround
our weaker members, according to the saying of the Apostle, with
more abundant honour (1 Cor. xii. 23), and thus we fulfil, after a
fashion, that saying of the Lord : The last shall be first, and the first
last (Matt. xx. 16). Who doubts that a man, when he is in prayer,
is speaking with God ? and yet how often are we withdrawn, and, so
to speak, torn away, from prayer, and that at the very dictate of charity,
because of those who are in need of our assistance or our advice!
How often does holy quiet give place, and that from a pious motive,
to the tumult'of business affairs! How often do we with a good
conscience lay down the manuscript we are reading, to go and perspire over manual labour ! How often, in order to carry out our
worldly occupations, do we (and that very justly) temporarily supersede even the Celebration of the solemnities of the Holy Eucharist I1
A preposterous order in which to act; but necessity has no law.2
1
Among the Cistercians the Daily Services (Sacra) used at one time to be
intermitted during the harvest. On which account Philip Augustus, having heard
that among the monks of Barbeaux, ' at the period of harvest, the brethren used
to sojourn in their farmhouses, and thus on account of their temporal interests the
celebration of mass was omitted,' is said to have given an order that thenceforth
mass should be celebrated every day, in the morning, for the soul of his father,
who was buried there. There are letters on this subject in De Re Diplomatica,
Bk. vi., p. 603. As to St. Bernard himself, we learn from his ' Life,' by Geoffrey
(Bk. v., c. 1), that he scarcely ever omitted to offer the holy sacrifice 'down to his
last illness' (Mabillon's note).
2
Necessitas non habet legem. This is said in the dictionaries to be a c Maxim
of Law,' but I have not been able to trace it to any one author.—ED.

20

306

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Charity in act follows its own order, and commences by the last
things, according to the bidding of the Father of all (Matt. xx. 8).
At least it is a charity kindly and just, not an acceptor of persons;
nor does it consider the relative value of things, but the necessities
of men.
6. Not so with charity in feeling ; that commences always with the
first things. For wisdom sets upon all things the value which is
really theirs; thus, for example, that which is in its nature the more
valuable receives from it the greater measure of attention ; those which
have less value receive less, and those which have less still, least of
all. It is truth, then, that determines this order of charity; but it is
charity that adopts it. For the true charity consists in this, that
those whose needs are greatest receive first; and, again, charitable
truth is manifest, in preserving in our affections that order which is
founded in the reason. If, then, you love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength (Matt. xxii. 37),
rising in the earnestness of that affection above that love of love,1
with which actual charity is content, and receiving in all its fulness
the Divine love (to which that other love serves only as a step), are
wholly fired and pervaded by it, assuredly you have a knowledge of
God, although you cannot know Him adequately or as He is (which
is a thing impossible to any creature), but at least such a knowledge
of Him as you are capable of receiving here below. Then you shall
have a true knowledge of yourself also, when you attain a perception
of the fact that you have nothing whatever in yourself to deserve
love, except in so far as you belong to God, and because you have
poured out upon Him all the affection you can command. You well
know yourself, I repeat, as you really are, when by experience of your
own love, and of the affection which you bear to your own self, you
find nothing in yourself that merits your love, except it is on account
of Him without whom you yourself have no existence at all.
7. Now, as to your neighbour, whom you are bidden to love as
yourself, you shall know him also as he is, provided that he does not
appear to you as other than you appear to yourself; for he is that
which you are ; he is man, as you. Since, then, you love yourself only
because you love God, it follows that you love as yourself all those
who love God as you love Him. As for an enemy, he is, as it were,
nothing, since he has no love for God ; you cannot, therefore, love
him as you love yourself, who do love God; but you will love even
him that he may learn to love God. For it is not the same thing to
love a person so that he may love God, and to love him because he
does this. In order, then, that you may know him as he really is,
you must consider, not that which he is at the present moment (for
he is nothing), but that which he may perhaps some day be, which
is next to nothing, as long as the matter is still in doubt. Further1
In certain MSS. the word anioris is wanting. But it is not at variance with
the thought of St. Bernard, who, in treating of charity in act {n. 4), says, ' it
powerfully contributes to fire the soul with the love of that love itself.*

TWO KINDS OF CHARITY

307

more, if there be one who will clearly never return to the love of
God, you must look upon him, not as almost nothing, but as nothing
at all, inasmuch as throughout eternity he is nothing. With the
exception, then, of such a person as he, who is not merely not to be
loved, but who is, besides this, to be held in hatred, according to
that saying of the Psalmist: Do I not hate them, O Lord, that hate
Thee ? and am not I grieved with them that rise up against Thee ?
(Ps. cxxxix. 21) charity, which is jealous in this respect, does not
allow that you should refuse to any man, even to your most bitter
enemy, some small measure of affection. Whoso is wise will ponder
these things.
8. Give me a man who, before all things, loves God with all his
being ; who loves both himself and his neighbour in the same degree
in which each loves G o d ; who loves his enemy as one who may perhaps at some time in the future turn to the love of G o d ; who loves
his relatives according to the flesh very tenderly, on account of
nature, but his spiritual parents, that is, those who have instructed
him, more abundantly on account of grace, and thus his love for all
other things whatsoever is regulated by his love for God ; who
despises the earth, and looks upward to the heaven ; who uses this
world as not abusing it, and knows how to distinguish, by a certain
inward faculty of soul, between things which are to be chosen and
loved, and those to be merely used, so that things transitory are
made use of as they pass for temporary need, and as long as the
need requires, while things eternally enduring are embraced with
lasting joy: show me, I say, a man such as this, and I will boldly
pronounce him wise, since he takes things for what they truly are,
and is able with truth and confidence to boast: He hath set in order
charity in me. But where is such an one to be found, and when
shall it be thus with him? This I ask weeping : how long shall we
perceive this fragrance without tasting it ? how long look forward to
our heavenly home, without attaining it, sighing for it, while beholding it from afar? O Truth, fatherland of exiled souls, and end of
their exile ! I descry thee, but am unable to enter in ; I am detained in the flesh, I am defiled by my sins, I am not worthy to be
admitted. O Wisdom, whose powerful guidance extendest from the
beginning to the end of all things, establishing and controlling them ;
who disposest all with admirable gentleness, ordering, blessing, and
gladdening all affections, direct our actions according as our
temporal necessities require, and dispose our affections as thy eternal
truth demands ; so that each of us may be able securely to glory in
Thee, and say : He has set in order charity in me. For Thou art the
Power of God and the Wisdom of God, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, the
Bridegroom of the Church, God above all, Blessed for ever. AMEN.

3o8

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LI.
HOW THE BRIDE MAKES PETITION THAT THE FRUITS OF GOOD WORKS
AND T H E PERFUMES OF FAITH MAY BE MADE TO ABOUND WITH
HER AS FLOWERS, AND ALSO CONCERNING HOPE AND FEAR.

* Stay me up with flotvers, compass me about with apples: because I languish
with love.'—Cant. ii. 5 (Douay).

T

H E love [of the Bride] has grown because the incentives to it
have been more and greater than heretofore ; for you see
how precious has been the opportunity granted to her, of
not only seeing the Bridegroom, but of conversing with Him. It
seems, also, that He has appeared to her with a countenance more
serene, that His interview with her was more prolonged, and His
words kinder. Nor is she only delighted to have had an interview
with her Beloved, but is honoured by the praise He has bestowed
upon her. Furthermore, through Him she is refreshed with grateful
shade, nourished with His fruit, and has drunk of His cup. For it
is not to be supposed that she has come forth thirsty from the
banqueting-house, into which she gloried so lately that she had been
brought; yet, indeed, she is thirsty still, according to the Scripture :
They that drink me shall yet be thirsty (Ecclus. xxiv. 21). After all
these things, the Bridegroom retires according to His wont, and it is
then that the Bride declares herself to languish for love, that is to
say, the love which she has for Him. For the more delightful she
had found His presence, the keener is the pang she feels afterwards
because of his absence. The taking away of what you love increases
your desire for i t ; and the more ardently you desire it, the more you
feel the privation arising from its loss. For this reason the Bride
entreats that she may be comforted in the meantime with fruits and
the odour of flowers, until H e shall return to her, whose present
delay she endures with impatience. So much as relates to the order
and connection of the text.
2. Let us try now, under the guidance of the Spirit of truth, to
draw out some fruit of spiritual profit. And if it be taken that the
Church, which includes all the saints, is here speaking, we are here
referred to by flowers and fruits ; and not only we, but all those also
who have been converted from the world in every age. The flowers
mean those who are beginning the life of conversion, in whom it is
still new and tender; and the fruits, the strength of those who are
farther advanced, and the ripeness of those who are perfect. Surrounded and supported by these in this place of her exile, the
Church, our mother, to whom to live is Christ, and to die is gain,
endures with less impatience her long trial of deferred hope, since,
according to the Scripture, there is given unto her of the fruit of her

THE BRIDE MAKES PETITION

309

hands, the firstfruits, so to speak, of the Spirit, and her own works
praise her in the gates (Prov. xxxi. 31). But if you would that I
should follow the moral sense, and show you in the soul flowers and
fruits, then flowers denote faith, and fruits works. That explanation
will, I think, not seem unsuitable to you, if you consider how, just as
the flower necessarily precedes the fruit, faith must of necessity go
before good action. For St. Paul bears witness that without faith
it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6), and he says what is even
stronger, that whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. xiv. 23). Therefore, as there is not fruit without flowers, so is there no good action
without faith. But, again, as faith without works is dead (James ii. 20),
so in the same way it is useless for the flower to appear, if it be not
followed by fruit. Stay me up with jloivers, compass me about with
apples, because I languish with love. Thus it is that a soul, accustomed to quiet, draws consolation from good works rooted in a faith
unfeigned, whenever the light of holy contemplation is withdrawn
from it, as is often the case. For who is able to enjoy the light of
holy contemplation—I do not say continually, but even for any considerable time—while he remains in this body ? But as I have said,
as often as he falls from the state of contemplation, he resorts to that
of action, as to a convenient refuge, from whence he may be able
more easily to return into his former state. For these two things are
intimately related; they are chamber companions, and dwell together.
Martha is sister to Mary, and although she comes forth from the
light of contemplation, she never suffers herself to fall into the darkness of sin, or to subside into ignoble sloth, but remains still in the
light of good works. And that you may know that these are also
light, remember the Lord's words : Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works (Matt. v. 16); for it is quite clear
that He spoke of actions which were capable of being beheld by men.
3. Because I languish with love. When the object of affection is
present, love grows and strengthens ; but when he is absent, love
languishes. This languor is nothing else than the weariness of eager
and unsatisfied longing, with which the mind of her who loves is
necessarily strongly affected in the absence of her beloved. For as
she is always absorbed in watching for his coming, she regards as
delay whatever haste he may use. Therefore it is that you see the
Bride entreating that she may be surrounded with the fruits of good
works and the sweet odours of faith, among which she may rest
while her Lord delays His coming. I speak to you of that which I
have verified by personal experience. I do assure you, brethren, that
if I ever find that any of you have profited by my teaching and warnings, then I do not regret that I have preferred the preaching to you,
to my own quiet and ease. For when, for example, after a sermon,
someone who is passionate is found to have become gentle, a proud
mind to be humble, a timid one brave and strong; or when one
already gentle, humble, or brave, is seen to have made progress in
those graces, and to have become better than he was before; or

3io

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

when those who perhaps were lukewarm and languid, sleepy and
uninterested in spiritual exercises, are awakened and warmed by the
fiery touch of the word of the Lord; and when those who, having
deserted the fountain of true wisdom, have hewn out to themselves
at their own will cisterns which can hold no water, and because
their hearts are dry, and they have in themselves no impulse of
devotion, have been wont to murmur at every command laid upon
them—when, I say, such persons as these, by the dew of the
word, and the plentiful rain, which God has reserved to His inheritance, are shown to have, as it were, flourished anew in works
of obedience, and to have become submissive and devoted in all
things, I have no ground, I assure you, for feeling sorrow at the
interruption of my pursuit of happy contemplation, when I am
surrounded with such flowers and fruits of piety. I endure with
patience the being torn from the society of an unfruitful Rachel,
to obtain from Leah the plentiful fruits of your progress in goodness.
It will not trouble me at all, I repeat, to break in upon my quiet for
the purpose of preparing to preach to you, when I shall see the seed
which I have sown in your souls grow in them, and bring forth the
rich increase of your fruits of righteousness. For charity, which
seeketh not her own (i Cor. xiii. 5), has long since easily won me to
prefer your advantage to all else that I hold most desirable. To
pray, to read, to write, to meditate, and all the other advantages of
spiritual studies; I have counted them all as loss for your sake, and
in comparison with any loss to you.
4. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because
I languish with love. This says the Bride to her maidens in the
absence of her Spouse, thus warning them to make progress in faith
and good works, until H e come, because she believes that this will
be both well-pleasing to Him, a consolation to herself, and the
means of their salvation. I know that I have explained this passage
more fully and in another sense in my book upon the Love of God,
and if it shall please any of you to read that, he can decide whether
of the two is to be preferred. A prudent person will not, I think,
condemn the giving of two senses to the same passage, provided that
each appear to be grounded in truth, and that charity, which is the
rule in interpreting Scripture, shall edify the more persons, inasmuch
as there are a greater number of truthful senses, which each may
apply to his own special need. For why should that be found
faulty in the interpreting of Scripture, which we see is industriously
practised in other things? To how many different bodily uses (only
to take one thing for an example) do we put the element of water ?
In the same way a person is not to be blamed who gives divers
senses, fitted to the various needs of souls, to a passage of Scripture.
5. Then follow the words : His left hand is under my head, a?id
His right hand doth embrace me (ii. 6). I remember that this also
was discussed very elaborately in the treatise which I have mentioned ;
but let us observe the sequence of the discourse. It appears that

THE BRIDE MAKES PETITION

3™

the Bridegroom has at length returned, as I suppose, to encourage
by His presence the drooping Bride, and that H e is with her. For
how could it be otherwise than that she should be revived by His
presence, whom His absence had so cast down? H e is unable,
then, to endure the sadness of His beloved one; He is present; nor
when recalled by a desire so ardent is H e capable of making delay.
And as He had found her during His absence faithful to her labours
and earnestly desirous of [spiritual] profit, as was doubtless shown by
her direction that flowers and fruits should be gathered together for
her, so He returns to her with graces more abundant than heretofore
for her reward. Happy the soul which lies on the Breast of Christ,
and by the Arms of the WORD is enfolded in rest. His left hand
is under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. She does
not say, doth embrace} but shall embrace', to signify that she is so
grateful for the former grace, as to anticipate the second by her
giving of thanks.
6. Learn not to be slow and slothful in returning thanks to God ;
learn to render thanksgiving to Him for each of His gifts. Diligently,
says the Scripture, consider what is put before thee (Prov. xxiii. 1), so
as not to let pass any gift of God, whether great, or mediocre, or
even very small, without rendering due thanks for it. Are we not
bidden to gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost
(John vi. 12); that is to say, let not the least benefits be forgotten ?
For is not that lost which is bestowed upon an ungrateful receiver ?
Ingratitude is the enemy of the soul, the starving of merits, the
dissipation of virtues, and the loss of the benefits that God has
bestowed upon us. Ingratitude is as a burning wind, which dries up
for itself the fountain of goodness, the dew of mercy, the flowing
stream of grace. On this account it is that the Bride, when she has
felt the grace done to her by the left hand of her Spouse, renders
her thanks, and does not delay even to receive the farther grace
which awaits her from His right hand before so doing. For, after
having said, His left hand is under my head, does she go on to say
similarly, ' With His right He has embraced m e ' ; but shall embrace
me, she says instead.
7. But in what sense shall we understand that the Word has either
right hand or left? Can it be said of the WORD, as it is said of
ordinary human beings, that there are in Him bodily parts distinct
the one from the other, and separate lineaments, so that distinction
can be made between the right hand and the left ? Ought we not
rather to believe that the Word of God, who is Himself God, does
not admit in Himself any such diversity, but is that which He is
(Exod. iii. 14), that is to say, in His Nature Uncompounded, and
therefore without parts, as He is One, and therefore without number?
For He is God the WORD, of whom it is written: Of His Wisdom
there is no number (Ps. cxlvi. 5, Douay). But if that which is unchangeable is incomprehensible, it is therefore incapable of being
1

The Vulgate does not read amplexatur, but amplexabittir.

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

312

expressed in language; where, then, I ask, can you find words in
which that Majesty so exalted can either worthily be expressed, competently defined, or even suitably spoken of? Yet, in order to expound, according to our capacity, the little that we know and has
been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and taught us by the usage
of the Holy Scriptures and the authority of the Fathers, let it be permitted to us to make use of analogies from things that we know, and
not indeed to find out new terms, but to vary the meaning 1 of some
known to us, so as to clothe those analogies sufficiently and suitably.
For unless this were done, it would be absurd to attempt to teach
things unknown by means of words which are equally unknown.
8. Thus, as by the right hand and the left hand it is the custom
to denote prosperity and adversity, so it seems to me that by the left
hand of the Word may be meant the threatening of punishment, and
by His right hand the promise of the kingdom of heaven. Now,
there are times when our soul is servilely oppressed by the fear of
punishment, and then we cannot say that the right hand of the
Bridegroom is under our head, but that it is upon our head ; nor can
a soul thus affected say with the Bride: His left hand is under my
head. But if it makes progress, so as to pass out of this spirit of
servitude into a nobler disposition of free and willing service, insomuch that it is rather invited by the hope of reward than constrained
by the fear of punishments, and especially if it is influenced by the
pure love of good, then undoubtedly it will be able to say His left
ha?id is tinder my head. For it has, by a better and more excellent
disposition of mind, risen above that slavish fear which is aroused or
indicated by the left hand, and by the very power and worthiness of
its aspirations has drawn nearer to that which is signified by the
Right Hand. And in it, according to the saying of the Psalmist,
addressing the Lord, are all the promises : At Thy Right Hand there
are pleasures for evermore (Vs. xvi. n ) . This is why the Bride, speaking in the certitude of her hope, declares : And His Right Hand
shall embrace me.
9. You will now see with me whether a soul thus disposed, and
which has attained a position of such sweetness and happiness, may
well appropriate to itself what is said in a Psalm : I will both lay me
down in peace and sleep, especially as it may go on to give the reason
which follows: For Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety
(Ps. iv. 8). That, in truth, is the case. Whereas he who is oppressed
with a spirit of servitude, who has but little of hope and much of
fear, dwells not in peace, nor is able to rest, because his conscience
fluctuates continually between hoping and fearing, and is so much
the more tortured by the predominance of the latter, because fear
hath torment. And therefore it is not his happy lot to say, ' I will
lay me down in peace and rest,' because none can say that unless he
be firmly established in hope. But if, by a progressive growth in
grace, the fear diminishes, and the hope grows stronger—then at
1

Mutuari;

another reading is trans]erre.

THE BRIDE MAKES PETITION

3[3

length charity comes with all its powers to the assistance of hope,
and fear is driven out of the soul—will not hope under those circumstances have made good its ground, and will not that soul be able to
rest and sleep in peace ?
10. If you sleep among the midst of lots you shall be as the wings of
a dove covered with silver.1 What I think, then, is intended here is
that there is a medium between fear and security, as between the
right wing and the left—namely, hope—on which soul and conscience
sweetly repose ; that is to say, on the soft and pleasant bed of charity.
And perhaps it is this that is referred to in a later passage of this
Canticle, where, in a description of the couch of Solomon, among
other words you have: The midst thereof being paved with charity
for the daughters of Jerusalem (iii. 10). For he who feels himself to
be strongly established in hope does not serve in fear, but rests in
charity. That is, in fact, the case with the Bride, who rests and even
sleeps ; wherefore it is said [by the Bridegroom] : I charge you, O ye
daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye
stir not up, nor awake My love until she2 please (ii. 7). It is a great
and surprising condescension that He makes the contemplative soul
to repose in His Bosom; that He guards it also from intrusive cares;
that He protects it from the inquietudes of action and the embarrassments of business, and does not suffer it to be aroused at all, except
at its own will. That, however, is not a subject to be entered upon
at the close of a discourse; it will be better to defer it to another
occasion, when time will not be wanting for the treatment of a theme
so attractive. Not that even then we can be sufficient of ourselves
to think anything as of ourselves, especially with regard to a matter so
noble, so excellent, and so altogether sublime ; but our sufficiency is
of God, of the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord,
who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.
1
Ps. Ixviii. 13. A difficult verse j 1 and there are a great number of widely
differing interpretations of it. T h e Vulgate {inter medios cleros) follows the L X X .
(dva/uLSdov riov icXijpwv), i.e., in the midst of ' s u c h dangers and persecutions, as if
your enemies were casting tots for your goods and p e r s o n s ' (Douay, n.) ; but
St. Jerome turns it otherwise ' i n t e r medios terminos,' that is, ' u p o n the very
bounds or borders of the dominions of your enemies.' T h e English A.V., ' a m o n g
the pots,' is founded on still another reading, ' inter medias ollas,' which Francois
Vatablus thus explains : ' Even if you shall have been lying among vessels covered
with blackness, i.e., if you shall have been oppressed with great calamity, you
shall be rendered glad and, as it were, white and shining by your liberation.' But
it is better, with most modern expositors, to follow the Chaldee Targum, and read,
' among the sheepfolds.' T h e meaning will then be : ' Even if ye have been lying
between the sheepfolds, far from the battlefield, yet shall ye be enriched with
captured gold and jewels, till ye be as the wings of a dove, silver and gold' (Littledale, ' Psalms,' ii. 381). Ewald renders t h u s : ' If ye rest thus between hurdles,
doves' wings are covered with silver, and their pinions with green gold-shimmer'
('Psalms,'ii. 204.)—ED.
2
' H e , ' A.V.

' Hunc versiculum

fateor obscurissimnm

esse,' says Cornelius a Lapide.

314

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LII.
OF THAT ECSTASY WHICH IS CALLED CONTEMPLATION, IN WHICH T H E
BRIDEGROOM CAUSES T H E HOLY SOUL TO ATTAIN PEACE AND
REST, BEING EARNESTLY DESIROUS OF ITS BLESSEDNESS.

' I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the
field, that ye stir not up, nor tvake my love till she please?—Cant. ii. J.

I

T is to the maidens that this prohibition is addressed. By this
name, of daughters of Jerusalem, He calls those delicate and
weak souls which are, as it were, womanly in affections and
actions, but are, nevertheless, attached to the Bride, in the hope of
attaining spiritual profit, and making their way to Jerusalem with her.
These, then, He forbids to disturb the sleep of the Bride, or to presume to awaken her against her will. For her most sweet Spouse
has, as we have before been told, laid His left hand under her head,
and made her to rest and sleep. And now, as the text goes on
to say, He, in His abounding kindness and condescension, makes
Himself her guard, and watches over her, lest, being disquieted
by the small but frequent wants of her maidens, she should be,
awakened. That is the literal sense of the text. But as for that contestation 'by the roes and hinds of the field,' it seems to have no
reasonable consequence in the literal sense ; it is, therefore, to be
explained entirely according to its spiritual meaning. However that
may be, we may say here that it is good for us to behold for a little
the goodness, the sweetness, the condescension of the Divine Nature.
Kor that which thou, O man, hast ever experienced in human feelings,
which is most tender and sweet, it is that which is here predicated to
thee of the Heart of the Most High. And He who speaks of it thus
is H e who searches the deep things of God, and because H e is the
Spirit of God, cannot but know whatsoever is in Him ; nor, since He
is the Spirit of truth, can H e speak any other thing than that which
He has seen in Him.
2. [We must believe that] there are those belonging to our race
who have been so happy as to merit to taste this joy, and so to experience in their own selves the effects of a mystery so sweet; for
otherwise we should be wanting in faith in this Scripture before us,
where the heavenly Bridegroom is plainly brought before us, as feeling a most earnest desire for the peace and rest of a certain soul,
which was dear to Him, and so anxious as to hold that soul in His
own arms, that the sweetness of its sleep might not be troubled by
any care or disquiet. I cannot contain my joy to see that the
Sovereign Majesty does not disdain to condescend to the weakness
of our nature by entering into a relation to it so familiar and so sweet,
and that the Supreme Godhead does not think it below its dignity to

THAT ECSTASY WHICH IS CALLED CONTEMPLATION

315

ally itself with the soul, even in its present state of exile, and to show
for it the ardent affection of a loving Spouse. Thus, thus, it is in
heaven, I do not doubt, as I see it to be on earth; and that the soul
will assuredly feel that which is described in the text; except that
words are not capable of fully describing that which it will then be
able to experience, though it is not now able. What, think you, shall
the soul receive on high which even here below is honoured with
such near association with God as to feel His Arms around her, to be
sheltered in His Bosom, to be watched and guarded by His care, so
that when sleeping she shall not be aroused by any until she awraken
of her own accord ?
3. Let us now, then, consider, and let me explain if I can, what is
the nature of that sleep which the Bridegroom desires for His beloved
(Ps. cxxvii. 2), and from which He will not have her aroused, except
at her own will, lest perhaps someone reading what an Apostle has
written : Now it is high time to awake out of sleep (Rom. xiii. n ) , or
the prayer that the Psalmist makes to God to lighten his eyes lest he
sleep the sleep of death (Ps. xiii. 3), should be troubled by a misunderstanding of words, and be able to form no worthy idea of the
slumber of the Bride which in this passage is referred to. Nor is this
sleep at all similar to that other slumber of which the Lord speaks in
the Gospel—namely, that of Lazarus : Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ;
but I go, that 17n ay awake him out of sleep (John xi. 11). For this
He said of the death of the body, though the disciples thought that
H e referred to an ordinary sleep. But this repose of the Bride is not
the unconsciousness of the body which steeps the bodily senses in
deep forgetfulness for the time, however peaceful that may b e ; nor
yet that sleep, deeper and more to be feared, which steals away the
life. Much more is it far removed from that other slumber which is
the state of him who sleeps in death—that is to say, who perseveres
irrevocably in sin which leads to death. This may, on the contrary,
be called a sleep of life, and even a vigil; for it illuminates the inward
sense—it banishes death, and contributes to everlasting life. Yet that
is, in truth, a sleep which, though it does not steep the senses in
forgetfulness, ravishes and transports them [into a higher sphere]. It
is even a death (as I may say without hesitation), since the Apostle
speaks thus, in order to praise certain persons while they were still
living the life of the body : Ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God (Col. iii. 3).
4. I may, then, without any absurdity, call the ecstasy of the Bride
death ; but it is a death which, far from depriving her of life, delivers
her from the snares [which are dangerous to] life, so that she is able
to say: Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the foivlers
(Ps. cxxiv. 7). For in this life we proceed in the midst of snares ;
and the soul is delivered from the fear of these whenever it is, so to
speak, ravished out of itself by intense and holy thought, provided
that it is separated from, and elevated above, itself to such a degree
as to transcend its usual habit of thinking. For a net is spread in

316

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

vain before the eyes of them that have wings (Prov. i. 17, Douay).
Where there is no consciousness even of life, what fear is there of
impurity ? For when the soul is in that state it ceases, not, indeed,
to have life, but to have any consciousness of its life, and therefore it
does not feel any of the temptations of life. O that I had wings like
a dove ; for then would I fly away, and be at rest (Ps. lv. 6). Would
that thus I might die often, so as to avoid the snares of death, to
escape the deadly blandishments of a life of pleasure, to be insensible
to carnal delights, to the passion of avarice, to the incitements of
anger and impatience, to the troubles and disquiets of cares and
anxieties ! Let my soul die the death of the righteous, that no fraud
may ensnare it, nor there be any satisfaction to it in evil-doing.
Good, indeed, and to be desired, is that death which does not take
away life, but only changes it into a better form, which does not
strike down the body, but elevates the soul.
5. Yet this is but the death which belongs to men. May my soul
die the death which, if I may so speak, belongs to angels ; so that,
departing from the remembrance of things present, and being divested
not only of desire for, but also of the haunting ideas and images of,
things corporeal and inferior, it may enter into pure relations with
those in which is the image and likeness of purity. Of this nature, as
I consider, is the ecstasy in which contemplation wholly or principally
consists. For to be, while still living, delivered from the power of
desires for things material is a degree of human virtue ; but to be
brought out of the sphere of material forms and ideas is a privilege
of angelic purity. Yet each of these two is a Divine gift—each of
them consists in coming out of yourself, in rising above yourself; but
the one carries you only a little way, while the other carries you far
indeed. Blessed is he who can say : Lo, I have fled far away, and
abode in solitude (Ps. lv. 7). H e was not content to go forth unless
he could go far away, so as to obtain repose. Have you over-passed
the pleasures of the flesh, so that you no longer obey its lusts, nor are
subject to its allurements ? Then you have made progress ; you have
separated yourself [from the world]; but you have not yet detached
yourself entirely from it as long as you have not the power to banish,
by the mere purity of your spirit, and to rise entirely out of the reach
of, the inrushing and thronging crowd of material images and ideas.
Do not, at the point which you have thus far attained, promise yourself rest of soul. You mistake if you think that the place of repose,
the secret of solitude, the habitation of peace, the stillness of serene
light, is to be found on this side of your earthly existence. But show
me the soul who has attained that point of freedom of which I speak,
who can justly say : Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord
hath dealt bountifully with thee (Ps. cxvi. 7), and I will at once confess that he has found the rest desired. And this place is truly in a
solitude, this dwelling is truly in the light, according to the prophet;
a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a
place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain (Is. iv. 6 ) ;

THAT ECSTASY WHICH IS CALLED CONTEMPLATION

317

and of it holy David also says : In the time of trouble He shall hide
me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me
(Ps. xxvii. 5).
6. Regard this, then, as the solitude into which the Bride has
withdrawn, and in which place of delight she sweetly rests in communion with her Spouse, by which we are to understand that she is rapt
in ecstasy, from which she is not to be aroused by her maidens until
she shall choose. But in what terms is that prohibition stated ?
They are not forbidden in the usual manner, and with simple and
unemphatic terms, but with a new and unexampled adjuration : by
the roes and by the hinds of the field. And it seems to me that by
these two kinds of animals it is intended to designate the holy souls
who are delivered from the body, and the Angels who are in -the
Presence of God, with reference both to the clearness of their sight,
and the swiftness of their motions. Now, we know that both the one
and the other of these qualities befits these two classes of spirits, for
they rise easily to the loftiest truths, and penetrate to the deepest
mysteries. The fields or plains, also, over which they are said to
roam, evidently denote the lightness and freedom from all restraint
with which they expatiate in contemplation. What is the intention,
then, of that adjuration by them made by the Spouse? It is doubtless in order that the maidens, restless as they are, may not venture,
for any slight cause, to recall His Beloved from a company so august,
with whom she assuredly associates, as often as she is rapt out of
herself by contemplation. It is, then, with great fitness that they are
adjured by respect for those good and holy beings, from whose society
the Bride is being torn away by their importunity. These maidens
are to consider who it is that they are offending when they importune
their mother, and are not to presume so much on her motherly kindness as to have the boldness to burst in upon that celestial assembly
when no pressing necessity exists for so doing. Let them clearly
understand that this is what they do, as often as they disturb, without
real cause, the deep quiet of a soul fixed in contemplation. Evidently it is laid down by these words, that it is to such a soul that
the choice is left, whether to employ its leisure to its own spiritual
good, or to devote itself to cares for them, that is to say, by the words
in which it is forbidden to arouse the Bride, except at her own will.
The Bridegroom is well aware how ardent is the affection of His
Bride, even towards her neighbours, and that, good mother as she is,
she is sufficiently prompted by her own chanty anxiously to care for
the spiritual interests of her daughters, and that she will not, on any
account, deny herself to them, or withdraw herself from them, as
often and as much as there is need of her ; and therefore H e has
determined that the question of time can be safely left to her discretion. She is not one such as those whom a prophet subjects to
withering reproof, who have taken to themselves that wThich is fat
and strong, but have neglected that which was feeble (Ezek. xxxiv. 3, 4).
Does the physician seek those that are healthy, and not rather those

3i8

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that are sick ? If he visits the former, it is as friend, and not as
physician. So also, O thou who art a good teacher, if you repel all
that are unlearned, whom will you instruct ? To whom, I ask, will
you administer with care and zeal the rules of discipline, if you either
avoid the unruly, or are avoided by them? In whom, I ask, shall
your patience find its work and be approved, if you admit those only
who are peaceful and submissive, and exclude all others ?
7. There are some sitting here from whom I should wish to see a
more careful heed to this matter. Let them reflect, at least, what
respect is due to those set over them ; and that, by disturbing them
rashly and without good cause, they are drawing upon themselves
the displeasure of even the citizens of heaven. And then, perhaps,
they will begin to spare us a little more than they have been accustomed to do, and not to break in upon our leisure so inconsiderately
and rashly. Rarely, indeed, as they know, is an hour left to me for
resting from the incessant coming of visitors, even when [the
brethren] bear with me in all patience. But I reproach myself for
making that complaint, lest some timid soul should conceal his
spiritual needs longer than his strength holds out, in fear of disturbing
me. I say no more on this subject, then, lest I should seem myself
to afford to those who are weak an example of impatience. The
Lord has little children who yet believe in Him, and I could not
bear that I should be an occasion of scandal to such (Matt, xviii. 6).
1 do not make use of the power that I have over them [as their
Abbot] ; let them rather make use of me as they will, provided only
that they attain salvation. They will really spare me in not sparing
me at all, and I shall rest the more freely if they have no fear at all
of disturbing me when they have need of anything. I shall comply
with their wishes as far as I am able, and as long as I have a breath
of life shall serve my God in them with real and unfeigned charity.
I seek not my own interests, nor those things which are useful to
me, but rather court that which is of use to many, of use also to myself. This only I ask and entreat, that my ministry may be accepted
and become fruitful, so that at least I may find mercy in the evil day
in the eyes of Him who is their Father, and the Father of our Lord
JESUS CHRIST, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God
blessed for ever. AMEN.

BY 'MOUNTAINS' AND ' H I L L S ' ARE SIGNIFIED HEAVENLY SPIRITS

319

SERMON L I I I .
BY

(l

MOUNTAINS " AND ' HILLS ' ARE SIGNIFIED THE HEAVENLY
SPIRITS, OVER WHOM AND THROUGH WHOM THE BRIDEGROOM
PASSES IN HIS COMING TO EARTH, THAT IS TO SAY, IN T H E
MYSTERY OF HIS INCARNATION.
1

T

The voice of my beloved.''—Cant. ii. 8.

H E Bride, noticing the increased modesty of her maidens, and
their respectful timidity, shown by their no longer venturing
to intrude upon her sacred repose, nor presuming, as they
had previously done, to trouble the quiet of her contemplation,
recognises that this is the effect of the care and labours of the Bridegroom. Rejoicing, therefore, in spirit, as well because they are
advantaged in being restrained from needless and excessive restlessness, as because of the condescension and favour of her Bridegroom,
and her own prospect of unbroken quiet in future, she declares that
it is the Voice of her Beloved which does this, and His grace that
has brought it about, with so much zeal on behalf of her peace, and
earnestness in defending the sweetness of her leisure, or, rather,
of her fervent religious exercises. For the man who has in charge
the rule over others, and discharges it with faithfulness and care,
scarcely ever allows himself with a good conscience to enjoy rest,
since he is always in fear of not doing sufficient for those under his
authority, and of not pleasing God, if he prefers his own quiet, and
the sweetness of contemplation, to that which is for the common
advantage. But there is sometimes no little joy and security in his
mind, while enjoying his interval of peaceful repose, when he perceives, from the degree of awe and reverence for him with which God
inspires the hearts of those he governs, that his quiet is pleasing to
God, who causes them to endure their wants with a patient mind,
rather than venture to disturb the grateful rest of their spiritual
father. For the just fear of these his children shows manifestly
that they have heard inwardly that complaining and, as it were,
threatening voice of Him who speaks by the prophet: / that speak
in righteousness (Is. Ixiii. i). It is His voice, it is His inspiration,
and it impresses upon them a righteous fear.
2. When His Voice, then, is heard, the Bride is glad and rejoices,
saying: The Voice of my Beloved. She is His chosen, and rejoices
with great joy on account of the voice of her Spouse. Then she
adds: Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon
the hills. Having recognised by hearing His voice the presence of
her chosen, instantly she turns inquiring eyes around in order to see
Him whom she had heard. Hearing leads to sight, because faith
cometh by hearing (Rom. x. 17); and it is faith that purifies hearts,

32°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

and renders them capable of beholding God. For we read thus :
Purifying their hearts by faith (Acts xv. 9). Then she sees Him
approaching whom she had heard speaking, thus observing the order
indicated by the Holy Spirit, who has spoken thus by the mouth of
the Psalmist: Hearken, O daughter, and see (Ps. xliv. I T , Douay).
And that you may be the more surely convinced that it is not by
accident or chance, but of set design and purpose, because of the
reason already alleged, that I have here set hearing before sight,
notice whether the same order is not observed by holy Job where
he speaks thus to God : I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eye seet/i Thee (Job xlii. 5). So, also, when the Scripture relates that the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, is not
hearing described as having preceded sight ? For it is said: Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind;
and, then, in the next verse : There appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire (Acts ii. 2, 3). Here, then, it is plainly shown that the
coming of the Holy Spirit was perceived, first by hearing, and afterwards by sight. But enough has been said upon this subject, for
you also, if you will take the trouble to pursue this inquiry further,
will perhaps be able to find similar instances in other parts of
Scripture.
3. Now let us consider a subject which, because it cannot be
approached without difficulty, needs a specially careful examination;
in which I confess that I am altogether dependent on the aid of the
Holy Spirit, that I may be able clearly to explain what are those
mountains and those hills upon which the Church saw with great
gladness her Bridegroom leaping, and over which she saw Him pass
with rapid steps, when, as I think, He was hastening to come to
accomplish her redemption for whose beauty H e was filled with love.
That this is the case I have confidence in believing, inasmuch as a
similar passage of Scripture occurs to me in which the Psalmist evidently spoke prophetically under the guidance of the Spirit, and foretold the coming of the Saviour : Be hath set His tabernacle in the sun,
and He, as a Bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber, hath rejoiced
as a giant to run the way ; His going out is from the end of heave?i,
and His circuit even to the end thereof (Ps. xviii. 6, Douay). His
going forth, and His return likewise, are here most clear ; whence it
was undertaken, whither, and to what end, most clear also. What
then ? When we read these words in the Psalms, or in the Canticle
before us, ought we to imagine to ourselves a giant of prodigious
stature, who is captivated by the love of some fair one dwelling at a
distance from him, and whom we behold on his way to her traversing
with great steps, with leaps and bounds, those hills and mountains
which we see lifting their lofty mass out of the plain, and that so
high that some of their most elevated peaks are lost in the clouds ?
But it is not becoming to have recourse to material images such as
these when treating of a spiritual poem, and to us in particular it is
altogether forbidden, for we remember what we have read in the

BY 'MOUNTAINS' AND ' H I L L S ' ARE SIGNIFIED HEAVENLY SPIRITS

321

Gospel, that God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit a?id in truth (John iv. 24).
4. What, then [let us inquire], are these mountains and these hills,
spiritually understood, so that we may be able as a consequence to
comprehend in what way the Bridegroom (who, as He is God, is
therefore also Spirit), and with what kind of bounds, can leap upon
them and over them ? If we suppose that they are those mountains
upon which, as the Gospel declares, the ninety and nine sheep were
wandering when their kind Shepherd came to the earth to seek His
sheep which had gone astray (Matt, xviii. 12); the matter is still
obscure, and the understanding baffled, because it is difficult to find
out what are those other mountains on which dwell and feed the
heavenly and spiritual beatitudes, which are, without doubt, those
who are there spoken of as sheep. But if there were no such [mountains] in truth, then the Truth would not have said this. Nor, again,
would the Psalmist have said long before of the heavenly Jerusalem,
that her foundations were upon the holy mountains (Ps. lxxxvii. 1),
if there were, in fact, no such mountains at all. Lastly, to show that
the celestial country has mountains and hills, not only spiritual, but
also living, and of a reasonable nature, hear the words of Isaiah :
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before [God] into singing
(Is. Iv. 12).

5. What, then, are they except those very spirits, dwellers in
heaven, whom the Lord, as we have said, calls sheep, and who signify
at once sheep and mountains? Unless it should perhaps seem to
you absurd that mountains should be said to feed upon mountains
and sheep upon sheep. Taken in a literal sense, no doubt, this
explanation seems harsh; but to the spiritual understanding it will
appear harmonious if we understand it in a deeper sense—viz., that
the Shepherd of each flock, Christ the Wisdom of God, administers
one and the same food of truth both in heaven and on earth, but in
one way to His heavenly flocks and in another to His earthly ones.
For we mortal men, while we are in the place of our pilgrimage, have
indeed necessarily to eat our bread in the sweat of our brow, and to
beg it from without in labour and distress— that is, to gain a knowledge of the invisible things of God, which are understood by the
things which are made, either from men who are instructed in holy
things or from the Scriptures of God. But the Angels receive it in
themselves, though not for themselves, and with as much facility as
felicity, which is for them the great happiness of their existence.
For they are all (capable of being) taught of God, which blessing it
is promised that the elect among men shall assuredly attain at some
future time, though this assured felicity it is not granted to them as
yet to enjoy.
6. Thus mountains do feed upon mountains, or sheep upon sheep,
since those celestial and spiritual beings find abundantly in themselves, by the word of life which they receive, the means to render
their blessedness perpetual, and are at the same time (as it were)
21

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

mountains and sheep; mountains, because of their exaltation and
their fulness ; sheep, because of their gentleness and goodness. For
they are full of God, raised high by merits, and heaped with virtues,
and yet do not fail to bend their heads, however lofty, in complete
and humble obedience and submission to the sovereign Majesty of
G o d ; as innocent and gentle sheep conduct themselves in all things
according to the will of their shepherd, and follow him whithersoever
he goeth. And, according to David the Psalmist, upon these mountains truly holy, as upon wisdom created first of all things, the foundations of the City of God are firmly set and stand fast from the beginning (Ps. lxxxvii. i ) ; and this City is one, both in heaven and on
earth, though in part it is militant on earth, and in part reigning in
heaven. And, nevertheless, from these mountains, according to the
prophet Isaiah, resounds thanksgiving, and the voice of melody
(Is. li. 3), as from living and harmonious cymbals, accomplishing
thus, with sweet and never-ceasing sound, that word of the same
prophet which I quoted before, that the mountains and the hills shall
break forth before [God] into singing, and also this other word which
the Psalmist has addressed to the Lord God: Blessed are they that
dwell in Thy House, they will be still praising Thee (Ps. lxxxiv. 4).
7. So much, then, upon this subject; let us now take up again the
thread of our discourse, from which we have digressed a little, but
necessarily, as I think : those are the mountains and the hills on which
the Church has seen her heavenly Spouse leaping with wonderful
alacrity, and even overleaping them, in haste to meet and welcome
her. Do you desire that I should show you, out of the writings of
the Prophets and Apostles, what is to be mystically understood by
these ? I do not intend to repeat to you all the testimonies with
regard to this which may be found in those writings by those who
have leisure to search them (for this would take a long time, and
there is no need for it), but only those which appear to confirm
clearly and briefly what is said here of the boundings of the Bridegroom. Now, David says of Him that His going forth is from the end
of the heaven (Ps. xix. 6, already quoted). L o ! what a bound was
that, even from the height of heaven down to the earth ! For I find
not any other spot, but the earth, which can be intended when it is
said that H e has placed His tabernacle in the sun—that is, He, who
dwells in the inaccessible Light, has deigned to manifest His Presence
openly and in the light. Then, again, He was seen upon earth, and
conversed with men (Baruch iii. 38). Upon the earth, and before
the eyes of men, I say, that is, according to the phrase here used,
' in the sun ' hath He set His tabernacle ; that is, the Body which H e
has condescended to take to Himself from the body of a Virgin, so
that He, who was invisible in Himself, might become visible in It,
and thus all flesh might see the salvation of God, which was made
manifest in the flesh.
8. H e has bounded, then, upon the mountains; that is, upon the
highest spiritual beings, when He descended even to them, and

BY 'MOUNTAINS' AND ' H I L L S ' ARE SIGNIFIED HEAVENLY SPIRITS

323

deigned to reveal to them the great mystery of His goodness, which
was a secret hidden from the beginning of the world. But passing
over, or overleaping those loftier mountain heights, namely, Cherubin
and Seraphin, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, and Virtues, H e
deigned to descend, as it were, upon the hills—that is, even unto a
lower order of Angels. But has H e remained even with them?
Nay, He has overleaped even the hills. For He took not on Him the
nature of Angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham (Heb.
ii. 16), and this was inferior to that of the Angels, so that thus was
accomplished the word of the Psalmist, when he spoke thus to the
Father of the Son: Thou hast made Him a little lower than the
Angels (Ps. viii. 5). Though, indeed, it is possible to explain this
passage as spoken in commendation of human nature, inasmuch as
man, who is made in the image and likeness of God, and endowed
with reason in like manner as an Angel, is yet a little lower than the
Angel, because he has a body of earth. Hear what the Apostle Paul
says plainly of Jesus Christ: Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man (Phil. ii. 6-8); and
again : When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under
the Law (Gal. iv. 4, 5). It is, then, beyond doubt that being made
of a woman, and made under the Law, He has passed in descending
to the earth, not only the mountains, that is, the higher orders of
blessed spirits, but also the lower orders of these, who, in comparison
of their superiors, may rightly be called hills. But he who is least in
the kingdom of heaven is greater than whosoever bears a body of
flesh upon the earth, even though it were that great Saint, John the
Baptist (Luke vii. 28). For, although we do truly confess that He
who is God and man, even as Man is far above, and incomparably
superior to, every Principality and Power, yet it is certain that if H
surpasses them in majesty, He falls short of them in respect c.
physical weakness. Thus, then, it is that He leaps upon the mountains, and leaps over the hills, when by a vast condescension H e
shows Himself as inferior, not only to spirits of a higher rank, but
also to those of a lower. For H e was manifested as subject, not only
to those heavenly spirits, but also to those who dwelt in bodies of
clay, overleaping and overcoming by His humility even the humbleness of men. For when He was at Nazareth, at the age of twelve
years, H e was subject unto Mary and Joseph (Luke ii. 51, 52); at
the river Jordan, being then a young man, H e bent Himself under
the hands of St. John Baptist (Matt. iii. 13). But now the day is
already verging towards evening, nor have we yet been able to descend
from these mountains.
9. Yet if we should wish for this once only to satisfy our curiosity
by examining what is beautiful, by searching out what is hidden in
this mystery, it is to be feared that either the sermon would be weari-

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somely long, or that in our haste we should treat with too little care
a matter very large and important. Let us, then, stop here for to-day,
if you wish, upon these mountains, for it is good for us to be here;
and Christ our good Shepherd, having placed us with the holy
Angels in a rich pasture, we are able to feed in it at once with pleasure
and abundance. And we are indeed the sheep of His pasture. Let
us, then, as a pure flock of the good Shepherd, meditate with our
best powers (ruminemus) upon the spiritual food we have received in
the sermon of to-day. We will complete in the next what remains t o
be said upon this subject; let us try to give our best attention to it,
by the grace of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS
C H R I S T our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LIV.
ANOTHER INTERPRETATION ; IN WHICH BY MOUNTAINS
ARE SIGNIFIED
ANGELS AND MEN ; AND BY HILLS,
DEMONS. ALSO OF T H E
THREEFOLD FEAR WITH WHICH EVERYONE OUGHT TO FEEL
ANXIETY, LEST H E SHOULD LOSE T H E GRACE OF ACTING RIGHTLY,
WHICH H E HAS RECEIVED FROM GOD.

U

PON the same verse which was treated in the sermon of yesterday I will bring before you another interpretation, differing
from that which I gave before : you will choose which of
the two is to be preferred. There is no need to repeat what was said
before, which I think will not in so short a time have escaped you.
But if that be the case, that sermon, like the others, has been written
down as it was delivered, except perhaps the exact words, 1 so that
whatever has slipped from the memory may easily be recalled. Having
said this, let me go on to speak of other things. Behold, it is said,
He cometh leaping upo?i the mountains, skipping over the hills. She
speaks of the Bridegroom. H e no doubt leapt over the mountains
when, having been sent by the Father to preach the Gospel to the
poor, H e did not disdain to perform the function of Angels, though
H e was the Lord of Angels, and to become the Angel of the
great purpose of God. H e who was wont to depute others to come
down to earth descended hither in His own Person ; the Lord Himself made known the salvation which H e brought, and Himself
revealed His Righteousness in the sight of the nations (Ps. xcviii. 2).
Since, then, all the angels, according to the Apostle, are ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them zvho shall be heirs of salvation
(Heb. i. 14), H e who was above them, passing over the injury done
by men, and multiplying upon them His grace, was numbered among
Excepta stilo.

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325

the angels, becoming as one of them. But hear what H e Himself
said : I came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give My
life a ransom for many (Matt. xx. 28). Which, indeed, no angel was
found to have d o n e ; so that by the devotion and fidelity of His services to men, He has surpassed all those who had come to serve them
before. No minister has shown such self-devotion as He, who has
given (ministravit) His Flesh for their food, His Blood for their
cordial, His very life for their ransom. None, surely, is so good as
He who, by the fervour of His spirit, by the ardour of His love, and
the devotion of His goodness, has not only leaped upon the mountains, but leaped over the hills ; that is to say, He has surpassed and
overcome them by the earnest desire which H e felt to save men ;
wherefore God, His God, has anointed Him with the oil of gladness
above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 7). It is in this earnestness of His desire
that He proceeds with great and rapid steps ' as a giant to run his
course.' H e overpassed Gabriel, and, according to that Archangel's
own testimony, was with the Virgin before him ; for did he not say:
Hail) thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee f1 What ? Thou
findest Him now in the womb [of the Virgin], whom thou hast just
left in heaven. How can that be ? H e has flown and foreflown on
the wings of the winds. Thou art surpassed, O Archangel; the Lord
has overleaped and anticipated thee.
2. Or, again, He ' leaped upon the mountains ' when H e appeared
formerly to the Fathers in the person of angels ; which seems to agree
more closely with the letter of the text. For it is not said ' leaping
on to the mountains,' b u t c in the mountains,' 2 so that H e who causes
and enables them to leap, leaps also in them; just as it is He who
speaks in the prophets and acts in the righteous, when He enables
the one to speak and the other to do good works. Add to this that
some of them represented Him, so that whosoever of them spoke, he
did so not as angel, but as the Lord. For example, that angel who
spoke with Moses did not say ' I am the Angel of the Lord,' but ' I
am the Lord ' ; and repeated that frequently. He, therefore, leaped
in the mountains—that is, in the angels, in whom H e was wont both
to speak and to manifest His Presence to men. H e did this also
upon men, but in the person of angels, not in His own Person ; nor
in His own Nature, but in that of one of His subject races. For he
who leaps passes from one place to another, and this cannot be
ascribed to God. Therefore H e leaped in the mountains, that is, in
the angels, who would do this in His own Person ; and H e leaped to,
or upon, the hills, that is, upon the Patriarchs and Prophets, and other
spiritual men who were on the earth. But also, H e 'leaped over'
the hills, since H e deigned to appear to, and to speak with, not only
great men and spiritual men, but also to certain of the people, and
even to some women, by the same ministry of angels. Or it may be
1
Luke i. 28, prcBvenit. This is the reading in the MSS., not pervenit, as in the
printed editions. The early edition of Rouald also has prcevenit.
2
Non i in monies ' sed * in montibus?

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that by ' hills' the Scripture understands the powers of the air, which
are not now numbered among ' mountains,' because they have fallen
by pride from the height of virtue; and yet they are not abased by
penitence nor humbled to the lowliness of valleys, or to the valleys
of the lowly. I suppose that it was of these that those words were
spoken in the Psalms : The hills melted like wax at the presence of the
Lord (Ps. xcvii. 5). He who leaps in the mountains without doubt
leaps over these swollen and sterile hills, which hold, as it were, a
middle place between the mountains of the perfect and the valleys of
the penitent; these H e passes over with scorn, and descends into the
valleys, that the valleys may abound with grain. Those others, on
the contrary, are condemned to perpetual dryness and sterility, as in
that calling down of evil of the Prophet upon such : Let there be no
dew, neither rain upon you. And that you may know that, under the
figure of the mountains of Gilboa, this saying applies to the angels
who fell, notice the reason that is given : For there many wounded
have fallen (2 Sam. i. 21). How many from the army of Israel have
fallen upon those accursed mountains from the beginning, and how
many still fall at the present ! It is of those that the same Psalmist
speaks when he says to the Lord : Like as the dead, that lie in the
grave, whom Thou rememberest no more: a?id they are cut off from Thy
Hand (Ps. lxxxviii. 5).
3. It is not, therefore, wonderful if those spirits, which are not, as
it were, mountains of heaven, but hills of the lower air, upon which
neither dew nor showers of rain fall, should remain always sterile and
unfruitful; since the Author of grace and the Giver of blessings leaps
or passes over these, and descends to the valleys, so as to pour forth
rain from heaven upon the humble who are on the earth, and to make
them to bring forth fruit with patience, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some an hundredfold (Matt. xiii. 8 and Luke viii. 15). H e
visits the earth and blesses it; H e makes it to be very plenteous
(Ps. lxv. 9). But it is the earth, not the air, that H e has visited,
because the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Ps. xxxiii. 5). It
is declared also that God has worked salvation in the midst of the earth
(Ps. lxxiv. 12) : but does the Psalmist say also ' in the midst of the
air'? This [may be taken as] against Origen, who, by a false and
impudent theory, crucified the Lord of glory once again in the midst
of the air for the sake of demons : whereas St. Paul, being conscious
of this mystery, affirms that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth ?io
more: death hath no more dominion over Him (Rom. vi. 9).
4. But H e who has passed through the air has visited not only the
earth, but also the heaven, as the Scripture declares: Thy mercy, O
Lord, is in the heave?is, and Thy faithfulness reacheth u?ito the clouds
(Ps. xxxvi. 5 ) ; that is to say, unto the heaven in which dwell the
holy angels, whom the Bridegroom does not pass over, but leaps in
them, so that H e impresses in them, as it were, the prints of His
Feet—mercy, that is, and truth—as to which Footprints of the Lord
I remember that I have spoken at greater length in another sermon

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(Sermon VI.). But the abode of the demons is below the clouds,
and removed from them, in the obscure and gloomy air that is lowest
of all; and in them the Bridegroom does not make His beneficent
power operative, but passes them wholly over, without leaving in them
any trace of His Divine passage. For how can truth be found in the
devil, of whom we find in the Gospels the declaration of the Truth
Himself, that he abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him (John viii. 44) ? Again, wrho can say that he is merciful, when
the same Truth has testified of him likewise in the Gospel, that he
was a murderer from the beginning ? Now, such as the head of the
family is, such are they of his house also. With great fitness and
beauty, then, does the Church, singing of the Bridegroom, declare
that H e dwelleth on high, and humbleth Himself to behold the
things that are in heaven and in the earth (Ps. cxiii. 5, 6), but makes
no mention of those spirits of pride which are in the air, because
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble (James iv. 6).
5. The Church sees Him, then, leaping in the mountains, and
passing over the hills, according to the imprecation of David : ' Let
the Lord visit all the mountains which are in their circuit'—that is,
in the circuit of Gilboa—' but Gilboa let Him not visit.'1 For there
are mountains which the Lord visits, on this side and on that of
Gilboa, by which is signified the devil; above there are angels, below
there are men. To him, when he fell from heaven, was assigned as
punishment an abode in that region of the air (Eph. ii. 2) midway
between heaven and earth, that he might see and be envious, and
be tortured with the envy which he feels. And this the Scripture
describes when it says: The wicked shall see it, and be grieved: he
shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away (Ps. cxii. 1 o). How unhappy must he be when he looks up to heaven and descries its
mountains innumerable, all illuminated and shining with the Divine
glory, all resounding with the praises of God, full and abounding
with His glory and grace ! How still more unhappy when he looks
down upon the earth, and beholds there also many mountains of
people, chosen and made the sons of God, 2 who are established in
the faith of lofty hope, of wide-extending charity; who are accomplished in virtues, rich in the fruits of good works; upon whom falls
day by day the Divine benediction, as it were by the dew from heaven,
or, so to speak, from the mystical touch of the Bridegroom's foot
in His leaping ! With how great grief and jealousy, must we suppose,
does that spirit so greedily desirous of glory behold those glorious
mountains in their perfect ring, while he and his followers are (as it
were) regions rough, gloomy, unfruitful in any good thing, and every
way to be despised ; so that he who calumniated all that lived is
himself become the opprobrium of men and of angels, according to
1
2 Sam. i. 2 1 . This is not, however, a quotation, but a gloss or paraphrase ;
and the same remark applies to the citation of this verse on p. 326.—ED.
2
Populo
acquisitionis.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that saying in the Psalms : That dragon whom Thou hast formed to be
a derision (Ps. civ. 26).1
6. And the cause of this is that the Bridegroom passes them over
on account of their pride, leaping upon the mountains which are
around, as the fountain which arises from the midst of Paradise,
watering the whole earth, and filling with blessing every living thing.
Blessed are those who deserve to drink sometimes, even though it be
rarely, of the torrent of this delight, and in whom the water of wisdom
and the fountain of life leaps forth from time to time, though it does
not flow continuously, so that it becomes in them a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life (John iv. 14). And, indeed, the
flowing of this river is perennial and abundant, making glad the city
of God (Ps. xlvi. 4). May God vouchsafe, in His condescension, to
send upon our mountains on earth some gushings of this stream
sometimes, as it were by a kind of inundation, so that they, being
sufficiently watered, may be able to distil upon us also, who are
valleys, some little rills, though they be few and small, that we may
not remain altogether dry and unfruitful. Only misery, and poverty,
and biting famine is the lot of that region which is never moistened
by plentiful flowings, or even little tricklings, from the fountain of
wisdom, but is altogether passed by and passed over. ' They were
destroyed,' it is said, 'because they had no wisdom, and perished
through their own foolishness J (Baruch iii. 28).
7. Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains', skipping i/pon the
hills. He leaps so as to overleap (transiliat), because it is not His
will to extend [His presence] to all; nor is it the good pleasure of
God [to do this] in every case. Brethren, if, according to the wise
saying of St. Paul, those things are written for our admonition (1 Cor.
x. n ) , let us observe the discretion and circumspection of the mystical
bounds of the Bridegroom ; let us remark how, as among the angels,
so among us, He bounds spiritually upon the humble, and passes over
the proud. For though the Lord be highest of all, yet hath He respect
unto the lowly ; but the proud He knoweth afar off (Ps. cxxxviii. 6).
Of this, I say, let us take notice, so that we may be prepared for the
saving bounds of the Bridegroom, lest, as He passes over the mountains of Gilboa, so He may pass over us also, if He shall have perceived that we are unworthy of His visitation. Why dost thou, who
art but earth and ashes, indulge in pride ? The Lord abhors the
pride even of angels [wrho are proud], and passes them over on that
account. Therefore let the casting off of angels cause the correction
of men ; for it has been recorded for our admonition. Let the evil
even of the devil co-operate for good to me, and may I wash my
hands in the blood of the ungodly. In wThat manner, do you inquire?
As thus : A terrible and fearful malediction has been hurled against
that proud one, the devil, the Prophet David speaking in the Spirit
1
This interpretation is a traditional Eastern one, and seems to be founded on
the rendering of the LXX. : dp&Kiov OVTOQ OV tirkaoag sfnraiZeiv avrtf. See Job
xli. 5, and Baruch iii. 17.—ED.

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of Him under the type of Mount Gilboa, as was related above : ' Let
the Lord visit all the mountains which are in his circuit; but Gilboa
let Him not visit.'
8. When I read these words, and when, turning my eyes upon
myself, I consider myself diligently, 1 find that I am infected with
that very disease which the Lord regarded in an Angel with displeasure so great as to turn away altogether from him, at the same
time that He deigned to honour with His visitation all the mountains
which are around him, whether of Angels or of men; and I say to
myself with fear and trembling: ' If it was thus done with an angel,
what shall be done with regard to me, who am but earth and ashes ?'
It was in heaven that he indulged in pride ; but I have done so upon
a mere dunghill. Who does not find pride more bearable in the
rich than in the poor ? Woe unto me ! if a spirit so powerful was
punished with such severity because his heart was lifted up with
pride, and if it availed him nothing that pride is recognised to be
congenial to the powerful, what penalty must be exacted from me,
who am poor and miserable, and yet am proud ? But I receive
already the chastisement; I am stricken already with many stripes.
Not undeservedly has for days past that languor of soul, that mental
slothfulness, that unaccustomed inertness of spirit stolen over me. I
did run well; but, lo ! a stone of stumbling was in my path ; I have
stumbled against it, and fallen. Pride has been found in me, and
the Lord has turned away in wrath from His servant. Hence is
that barrenness of my soul and that defect in devotion which I experience. How is it that my heart is thus dried up ? soured as it
were milk, made like earth in which is no water? Its hardness has
become so great that I am not able to shed tears. In the chanting of
the Psalms I feel no interest, I do not care to read, I have no delight
in prayer, I do not resort to my habitual meditations. Where is my
former cheerfulness and delight of soul ? my calm, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost ? For the same reason I am slothful in
manual labour, drowsy during vigils, hasty in anger, obstinate in
hatred, more unguarded in speech, and self-indulgent at the table
than I was wont, unobservant and slow of heart during preaching.
Alas ! the Lord visits all the mountains which are around me, but to
me He draws not near. Am not I that one of all these hills which
the Bridegroom passes over ? For of those around me I see one
remarkable for abstinence, another for admirable patience, another
for consummate humility and gentleness, another for much mercy
and kindness ; this man I behold spending long hours in contemplation, and that man knocking hard at the doors of heaven by
the earnestness of his prayers ; and there are others whom I see to
excel in other virtues. I remark (I say) that all these are fervent, all
devoted, all of one mind in Christ, all rich in grace and in heavenly
gifts, as being, so to speak, in truth spiritual mountains which are
visited by the Lord, and receive often in themselves the mystical
bounds of the Bridegroom. But I, who find in myself none of all

33°

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these things, what else can I suppose myself to be than one of the
mountains of Gilboa, which the Saviour, who visits in His great
goodness all the others, passes over in His wrath and indignation?
9. My dear children, this reflection takes away the vain glorification of self, attracts to us the gifts of grace, prepares us for the
mystical bounds of the Bridegroom. These things I have, for your
sakes, transferred to myself, and spoken as if they had taken place in
my own person, that you might learn a lesson from them. Be ye
then followers of me : I do not say in the exercise of virtues or the
discipline of character, or the glory of holiness (for in all these
respects I do not set myself up as worthy of imitation), but I would that
you should follow me in not sparing yourselves, but on the contrary,
accusing your own selves as often as you detect that grace is lessening in you, that zeal is growing cold, and virtue languishing, as you
see that I likewise accuse myself. To do this is to act as a man who
watches exactly over himself, who examines with care his ways and
his desires, and who in everything holds in suspicion the vice of
arrogance, for fear that it should creep secretly into his heart. In
truth, I have learned by my own experience that there is nothing so
efficacious in deserving grace, in preserving it, or in recovering it
if lost, as to be found at all times not high-minded before God,
but filled with holy fear. Happy is the man that feareth a/way
(Prov. xxviii. 14). Fear, then, when favouring grace is with thee;
fear when it has departed; fear also when at length it returns ; this
it is to fear alway. Let these three kinds of fear succeed each
other in your soul, according as you are favoured by the presence of
grace, or as it has retired grieved from you, or forgivingly returns.
When it is present, let your fear be that you may not act and walk
worthily of i t ; for this is the precept of the Apostle St. Paul : See
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. vi. 1); and to one
of his disciples, Neglect not the gift that is in thee (1 Tim. iv. 14) ;
while of himself he said : The grace (of God) which was bestowed
upon me was not i?i vain (1 Cor. xv. 10). That great man, who
knew the counsel of God, was well aware that to neglect the gifts of
God, or not to use them to the purpose for which they were given, is
to display great disregard, and even contempt, for the giver; and that
he considered to be intolerable pride. Therefore it was that he both
avoided this wrong-doing with the greatest care himself, and taught
others to avoid it also. But there is still another den or hiding-place
in which pride is wont to lurk, which I wish to discover to you; and
this is the more perilous because it is very closely concealed; as
says the Psalmist: He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den
(Ps. x. 9). For if he is not able to hinder [a good] action, he
endeavours to tamper with the intention of it, suggesting and persuading you to attribute to yourself that which is the effect of grace.
And do not be under any mistake about this kind of pride; it is
even far worse than the former. For what can be more hateful than
language of this kind, which has been used by some : Our mighty

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hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things (Deut. xxxii. 27,
Douay).
10. If, then, you ought to fear while grace remains with you, what
should you do when it has left you? Ought you not, then, much
more to fear? Plainly that is the case, for, where grace fails you, you
fail too. Listen to the words of Him who is the sovereign Giver of
grace : Without Me, He says, ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). Fear,
then, the withdrawal of grace, as the sure prelude of your speedy fall.
Fear and tremble exceedingly because you feel that God's just anger
is aroused against you, and that the powerful guardianship which
hitherto has kept you safe has abandoned you. Do not hesitate to
believe that your pride is the cause of this, even though you are conscious of no pride, and there is none apparent in your actions; for
that which you do not know God knows, and it is He who is your
Judge. And it is not he that commendeth himself that is approved,
but whom the Lord commendeth (2 Cor. x. 18). Now, if the Lord
deprives you of grace, is that a sign of His commendation ? Or will
He who giveth grace unto the humble (James iv. 6) take away from
one who is humble that which He has already given ? Therefore
the taking away of grace is a proof of pride [in him from whom it is
taken]. Though it must be added that sometimes grace is taken
away or withheld, not on account of pride which is present at the
time, but to prevent pride which would follow unless grace were
taken away. Of this we have a clear example in the person of the
Apostle [St. Paul], who endured reluctantly his thorn in the flesh,
not because he was exalted above measure, but in order that he
might not be so (2 Cor. xii. 7). But pride, whether existing in the
present or to be apprehended in the future, will ever be a cause for
the withdrawal of grace.
n . Again, if grace shall have returned with the regaining of God's
favour, much more is there reason for fear lest a second fall should
happen to us, according to that saying in the Gospel: Behold, thou
art made whole ; sin ?io more, lest a ivorse thing come unto thee (John
v. 14). You hear, then, that it is worse to fall again into sin than to
sin the first time ; let your fear, therefore, be greater in proportion as
your danger increases. Happy are you if your heart be filled with
this threefold fear, so that you fear when you have received grace, still
more when that grace is lost, but most of all when it has been regained. Do this, and you will be as the waterpot at that marriage at
Cana where Christ was a guest, filled to the very brim, containing, not
two measures apiece, but three; and you will deserve the blessing of
Christ, which shall turn the water [of your poor nature] into the wine
of gladness, until the time when your charity, being perfected, shall
cast out all fear (1 John iv. 18).
12. I say, then, that thus it is that fear is typified by water, inasmuch as it tempers the heat of carnal desires. The fear of the Lord,
saith the Scripture, is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. cxi. 10); and
again: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life (Pro v. xiv. 2 7 ;

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Ecclus. xv. 3 ; xix. 18-20). Your mind, then, is as one of those
waterpots, containing, says the Scripture, two or three measures apiece.
Now, the three measures represent the three kinds of fear. They
filled 'them, continues the Evangelist, up to the brim. So that it is not
one kind of fear, nor two, which suffices to fill [your mind] to its
utmost extent, but three are needed. Fear God at all times and with
all your heart, and then you have filled that measure, which is your
mind, up to the brim. God loves that an offering made to Him
should be without defect, that love offered to Him should be without
reserve ; in short, that the sacrifice laid upon His altar should be in
every way perfect. Therefore be careful to bring that measure, your
mind, filled [with holy fear] to the heavenly marriage feast, so that it
may be said of you also : He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear
of the Lord (Is. xi. 3, Douay). He who fears thus neglects nothing;
for how can negligence enter into that which is wholly filled ? That
which is capable of receiving something more is not absolutely full.
For a similar reason it is not possible to fear and at the same time to
indulge in thoughts of pride. And there is no place for pride to enter
your mind if it be filled with the fear of the Lord. And it is the
same with other faults and vices, they are of necessity excluded by
the fulness of this gracious fear. Then, when your fear shall be
thus full and perfect, love, bringing the benediction of the Lord, shall
impart to your water the rich flavour and fragrance of wine. For fear
without love is but pain and suffering, and love is that wine which
maketh glad the heart of man (Ps. civ. 15). For love, when perfected,
casteth out fear, so that where there was but water, there begins to be
the glow and the sparkle of wine, to the praise and glory of Him who
is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is
above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LV.
HOW IT IS POSSIBLE, THROUGH A TRUE PENITENCE, TO ESCAPE
THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.

' My Beloved is like a roe or a young hart.''—Cant. ii. 9.

T

H I S depends upon the preceding verse. The Bride now compares to a roe or a young hart Him whom she had just
described as advancing with rapid leaps. The comparison
is an apt one, since those animals are swift of foot and agile in leaping. She speaks, then, of the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is
the Word. And the Psalmist says of God that His Word runneth
very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15), which exactly agrees with this passage, in
which the Bridegroom, who is the Word of God, is described as

HOW TO ESCAPE THE JUDGMENT OF GOD

333

leaping and traversing swiftly the mountains in the manner of a roe
or young hart. This is the ground of the comparison made. To
this add, that not even the smallest ground of similarity may be
wanting, that the roebuck is remarkable not only for its headlong
swiftness, but also for the keenness of its sight. Which last quality
has special reference to this part of the narrative, since the Bridegroom is described as not only leaping on some mountains, but as
overleaping others, and unless His sight were keen and piercing He
would not be able to distinguish, especially during the rapid speed of
His course, those on which He should alight from those which He
should pass over. Otherwise, to mark simply His speed, it would
have sufficed to compare Him to a young hart, for that animal is
noted for its swiftness. But because the Bridegroom, though the
ardour of His affection is carrying Him with exceeding swiftness to
the meeting with His beloved, yet does not omit to direct His steps,
or rather His bounds, with prudence and circumspection, and to
take heed where He ought to set His foot, therefore it was expedient
to compare Him to a roe as well as to a young hart, as if to express
as well by the one His strong desire to save, as by the other His discerning and careful choice. For Christ is just as well as merciful;
H e is Judge as well as Saviour. Because He loves men H e desires
all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (i Tim. ii. 4),
and because H e has the office of judgment He knoweth them that
are His (2 Tim. ii. 19) and whom He hath chosen [from the beginning] (John xiii. 18).
2. Let us, then, in the meantime recognise that these two transcendent attributes of the Bridegroom—namely, mercy and judgment
—are commended to us by the Holy Spirit under the types of these
two animals, so that for a testimony of the uprightness and perfectness of our faith we may imitate the Psalmist, and sing with him
unto the Lord of mercy and judgment (Ps. ci. 1). But I do not
doubt that those who are instructed and inquiring in such subjects
will be able to point out other points of likeness of a similar kind
which may fitly and usefully be applied to the Bridegroom; but these
may, I think, suffice here as giving a reason for the comparison.
Yet there is one more point of beautiful significance in this similitude
here instituted by the Holy Spirit between the Bridegroom and (not
a stag, but) a young hart. For in that is recalled at once the memory
of the Fathers (of whom, according to the flesh, Christ came) and the
Infancy of the Saviour. For the Child who unto us is born (Is. ix. 6)
came into the world weak and poor, and, as it were, as a young fawn.
But thou who desirest the coming of the J Saviour, do thou hold in
salutary fear the scrutiny of the Judge ; fear His piercing glance;
fear Him who by the mouth of the prophet declares : It shall come
to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles1 (Zeph.
i. 12). Piercing is His sight; His eye shall leave nothing unexamined. H e shall try the hearts and reins (Ps. vii. 9), and the
1

In lucerniS) Vulgate.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

very thoughts of men are open and confessed to Him (Heb. iv. 13).
If Jerusalem shall undergo a scrutiny so searching, who shall be safe
in Babylon ? For I think that in this passage the Prophet refers,
under the name of Jerusalem, to those who in this world lead a
religious life; who imitate, as far as they are able, by their regulated
and honourable conduct, the condition and mode of existence in that
heavenly Jerusalem, and who are not as those who belong to Babylon,
and whose life is full of disorders and crimes. For their sins are
manifest, going before to judgment (r Tim. v. 24); and require, not
examination, but punishment. But as for me, who appear to be a
monk and a citizen of Jerusalem, my sins are covered and, as it were,
cloaked under the monastic habit and name; and on that account
there will be need of strict and exact inquiry (of the bringing of
lanterns, so to speak), and throwing light upon what is now in the
darkness.
3. I may bring forward something more from one of the Psalms to
confirm what is said about the judging of Jerusalem. For the
Psalmist, speaking in the Name of God, says : When I shall take a
time, I will judge righteousnesses (Ps. Ixxv. 2). By this H e means, if
I do not mistake, to say that H e will discuss and examine the ways
and the actions of the righteous. We have great reason to fear that
when subjected to a scrutiny so vigorous, many of our actions which
we believe to be praiseworthy will be shown to be veritably sins.
But there is one resource : that if we would judge ourselves, we should
not be judged (1 Cor. xi. 31). Good for me is that judgment, which
withdraws me and hides me from the Divine judgment, which is so
terribly severe. I fear and tremble to think of falling into the hands
of the living God; I would be brought before the countenance of
His anger already judged, and not for judgment. He who is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man (1 Cor. ii. 15).
I will judge, then, the evil which is in me, and I will judge also the
good. I will take care to correct the evil by better actions, to wash
it away by tears, to punish it by fasts and other actions of holy discipline. I will think humbly of any good qualities I have, and,
according to the precept of the Lord, will count myself an unprofitable servant, who has done only that which it was his duty to do
(Luke xvii. 10). I will make it my endeavour not to offer Him tares
for grain, nor yet chaff mingled with the grain. I will examine closely
my ways and my purposes, so that H e who will search Jerusalem with
lanterns may find nothing in me unexamined or unsifted. For H e
will not judge the same thing twice over.
4. Who will give me grace to find out and search clearly all my
defaults to their very lowest grounds, so that I may have no need to
fear those keen eyes (caprece), nor to blush when the light of those
lanterns is thrown upon me ? Now I am seen, but I do not see.
The eye of Him to whom all things are open and manifest is present,
though H e Himself is not visible. There will be a time when I shall
know, even as also I am known; but now I know only in part, though

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it is not in part, but wholly and entirely that I am known. I fear the
sight of that Divine Observer who stands, as it were, behind a wall.
For this is what the Scripture adds respecting Him whom, for the
keenness of His sight, it has compared to a hart: Behold, He standeth
behind our tvall, He looketh forth at the windows, shewing Himself
through the lattice (ii. 9). But we will explain that in its place. Him
I fear, the hidden Observer of hidden things. But the Bride fears
nothing, because she is conscious of no wrong. What has she, in
fact, to fear, who is His beloved one, His dove, His undefiled ?
(vi. 9). Also you read farther on : My Beloved spake unto me. H e
speaks, and that is why I fear to behold him, because I have not His
testimony that I am His. But thou, O Bride, what is it that thou
hearest Him say of thee ? What to thee dost thy Beloved say ?
Rise up, H e says, My love, My fair one, and come away. But this we
must defer to the beginning of another sermon, so as not to limit too
much that which requires to be treated at length, lest perhaps I be
found faulty in this matter, if you do not find that you are edified
and built up in the knowledge and love of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God
blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LVI.
THAT SINS AND VICES ARE AS WALLS INTERPOSING
AND THE SINNER.

BETWEEN GOD

* Behold, He standeth behind our mall, He looketh forth at the windoivs,
Himself through the lattice?—Cant. ii. 9.

A

shewing

CCORDING to the letter the Bride seems to say that H e
whom she descried from afar, approaching with leaps and
bounds, has now drawn near to her dwelling, and stands
behind the wall gazing earnestly through the windows and other
openings, and modestly not presuming to enter. But, according to
the Spirit, it is to be understood that He has indeed drawn near, but
after another manner worthy to be adopted by that Heavenly Bridegroom, and to be described by the Holy Spirit. For the true and
spiritual understanding will admit nothing which is not becoming to
Him who is described as acting, or to Him who records what is done.
The Bridegroom, then, has drawn near to the wall, because He has
united Himself to human flesh. The wall is human nature, and the
drawing near of the Bridegroom is the Incarnation of the Word.
The windows and the lattices by which H e is said to look out are as,
I think, the senses of the flesh, and the human affections and feelings
by which Christ gained an experimental knowledge of human necessities. For He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Is. liii. 4).

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

H e has, then, made use of the human feelings and bodily senses as
windows and openings, so to speak, by which, being a man, He might
know by personal experience the miseries of men, and so become
compassionate. H e no doubt knew them also before, but after
another manner. Being the Lord of virtues, He well knew the virtue
of obedience; and yet, according to the statement of the Apostle, He
learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Heb. v. 8). In this
manner also H e learned mercy, though the mercy of God is from all
eternity. The Doctor of the Gentiles also teaches the same thing,
when he asserts that the Saviour was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin, that He might be merciful (Heb. iv. 15). Do you
see, then, how that was done which was already the fact, and how
He learned that which H e already knew; how He sought out for
Himself, as it were, windows and openings in our nature by which
H e might become more intimately acquainted with our troubles and
miseries ? He has found as many gaps in the walls of our nature,
ruinous and full of fissures as they are, as He has had experiences in
His own person [during His sojourn upon earth] of our infirmity and
our corruption.
2. This, then, is how the Bridegroom, standing behind the wall,
looks through the lattices and windows. Well is H e represented as
standing, since H e alone who, being in the flesh, yielded in nothing
to the sins of the flesh, can be said truly to have stood. We may also
understand with confidence that, though He took upon Him the
weakness of flesh, He stood firm in the power of His Divinity; and
we know that He Himself once said [of others] : The spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. xxvi. 41). I think, also, that this
interpretation is supported by what holy David, who was a prophet of
the Lord, said of this mystery, speaking prophetically and of the Lord,
though the subject he mentioned was Moses. For He is the true
Moses, who came indeed by water; and not by water only, but by
water and blood. For this is what that Psalmist says : He said thai
He would destroy them (he refers to God the Father) : had not Moses
His chosen stood befo7-e Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath,
lest He should destroy them (Ps. cvi. 23). But in what manner, let
me ask, did Moses stand in the breach ? and, similarly, how could he
stand, if he were broken down? or, in the other alternative, how
could he be broken down if he stood? 1 But I will show you, if you
will, who it was that truly stood in the breach. I know of no one
who was able to do this except Jesus our Lord, who assuredly lived in
death, who, though in Body broken (fractus) and shattered; who in His
Divinity stood erect with the Father, in the one supplicating, as being
one with u s ; in the other, propitiating, as being one with the Father.
H e stood, then, behind the wall, since that in Him which was in [the
likeness of] fallible flesh (jacebat) was manifested in the flesh, and
that in Him which stood [and was not fallible], was hidden, as it
1
In confractione . . . stetit. The passage is not clear ; or, at all events, the
ground of the argument not evident.—ED.

SINS AND VICES ARE AS WALLS

337

were, behind the flesh, so that one and the same Person was to the
outward eye a Man, and though His Divinity was concealed, was the
Almighty God.
3. To each of us, also, who desire His Coming, H e is, as I believe,
still standing ' behind the wall,' as long as our body, which is assuredly
a body of sin, hides His Face from us, and hinders our perception
of His Presence, for a while. And this was the experience of the
Apostle : Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the
Lord (2 Cor. v. 6). Not because we are in a body simply, but in
this body—namely, a body which is from sin, and is not without sin.
And that you may know that it is not our bodies, but our sins, which
are the obstacle between God and ourselves, hear the Scripture:
Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Is. lix. 2).
And would to God that this one wall of the body were the only
obstacle ; would that the sin which is in the flesh were the single
barrier, and that many other walls and enclosures made by my vices
did not also rise to shut me off from the Source of goodness. For I
greatly fear lest, beside that obstacle which exists in my nature, I
have added many others by my own iniquity, which have separated
me only too far from the Bridegroom, so that, to speak the truth, I
must confess that to me H e stands behind many walls, and not
behind one only.
4. But this I wish to state more plainly. The Bridegroom is
indeed equally and indifferently present everywhere by the Omnipresence of His Divine Majesty, and by the Greatness of His Power.
Nevertheless H e is said to be, by the showing forth or communication
of His Grace, nearer to some among His reasonable creatures—that
is to say, of Angels and men, and farther off from others. For Salvation is far from the wicked (Ps. cxix. 155). And yet holy David says :
Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord? (Ps. x. 1). But with the Saints,
though H e sometimes makes Himself to be, in a sense, at a distance
from them, it is only partially and for a time, and even then it is by
the dispensation of His goodness. But from sinners, from those of
whom it is said in a Psalm : The tumult of those that rise up against
Thee increaseth continually (Ps. lxxiv. 23); and, again : Their ways
are always grievous (Ps. x. 5), from them H e is always far renoved,
and that in anger, not in mercy. Wherefore the Psalmist prays to
God : Hide not Thy Face far from me; put not Thy servaitt away in
anger (Ps. xxvii. 9 ) ; knowing that the Lord was able to turn away
also in mercy. Therefore the Lord is near to His saints and His
elect, even when H e seems to be far from them; nor does He draw
near equally to all, but to some more, to others less, according to the
difference of their merits. For although the Lord is near to all them
who call upon Him in truth, and is beside those who are of humble
heart, yet perhaps He is not so near to all as to enable them to say
with the Bride that He standeth behind the wall. To her H e is near
indeed, for only a single wall separates them. AVherefore she desires
to be dissolved, and the wall of division being thus broken through
22

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

in the midst, to be with Him, who, as she confidently believes, is
behind it.
5. But as for me, because I am a sinner, I am far from desiring to
be dissolved, but, on the contrary, fear and tremble, knowing that the
death of the wicked is very evil (Ps. xxxiii. 22, Douay). How can
that death be otherwise than very evil where the Life does not come
to bring His succour ? I fear to go forth; I tremble when at the
very entrance of my wished-for harbour, as long as I have no confidence that I shall meet Jesus coming forth from it to receive and
to help me. Can I in anywise go forth securely [from the body] if
the Lord do not guard my passing away ? Alas ! without His help
to rescue and save me, I shall be intercepted by demons and made
their sport. Nothing like this was to be feared by the soul of the
Apostle Paul, between whom and the sight and embrace of the
Beloved, one obstacle only interposed, namely, the law of sin, which
he found in his members. This is the very concupiscence of the
flesh, which he could not be altogether without, as long as he lived
in the flesh. Yet it is certain that he did not wander far from the
Lord, for this one wall only was interposed between them, wherefore
he earnestly desired its removal, crying, Who shall deliver 7?ie from
the body of this death? (Rom. vii. 24) knowing that by the short way
of death he should come at once to life. By this one law, then, only,
namely, that of concupiscence, St. Paul confesses himself to be
bound ; and this he was obliged to endure, however unwillingly,
because it was rooted in his flesh; for the rest, he says, I know
?iothing by myself (1 Cor. iv. 4).
6. But who is like unto St. Paul? who, that is to say, does not
sometimes consent unto concupiscence, and obey it, even unto sin ?
Let him who has given the consent of his will to any sin know that
in this unlawful and evil consent he has raised up another wall between
God and himself. And a person in that condition cannot indulge in
the happy thought that for him the Bridegroom standeth but behind
the wall; since, not one wall only, but several, intervene between
them. Much less can he think this, if the consent of his will has
passed into sinful action; for thus a third wall is raised against the
approach of the Bridegroom, and that wall is the act of sin. What
if repetition should even convert the sin into a habit, and the habit
should root itself in defiance and contempt of the law ? as it is written :
The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth
(Prov. xviii. 3, Douay). Is it not true, that if you shall come into
that state, you will be devoured a thousand times by the roaring lions
which await their prey, and not be able to attain unto the Bridegroom
from whom you are cut off by so great a number of walls ? Of these
the first is concupiscence; the second, consent of the will; the third,
the actual fact; the fourth, the habit of sin; the fifth, hardened indifference and contempt. Be careful, then, to resist with all your
might the first approach of concupiscence, so that it may not draw
you into an inward consent, and then the whole fabric of evil will

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disappear; nor is there anything to hinder the drawing near to you
of the Lord, who is the Bridegroom, except only the barrier formed
by your body, and you will be able to glory with the Bride, and to
say of Him : Behold, He standeth behind our wall.
7. But this one thing you must look to also with all vigilance, that
He may always find open the windows, so to speak, and lattices of
your nature—that is, your confessions of sins, so that by these H e
may look upon the secrets of your heart in His mercy and goodness,
for the gaze of God is the advancement of your soul. For lattices
(cancellos) are explained to be very narrow windows, such as those
who are engaged in the writing of books are accustomed to make, so
as to let the light fall upon the pages. For this reason it is, I suppose,
that those whose charge it is to draw up official documents are called
Chancellors} Since, then, there are two kinds of compunction, the
one from sorrow for our faults, the other from joy for the Divine
mercies bestowed upon us, it seems to me that as often as I feel the
one, which cannot be without anguish of heart—that is to say, as
often as I make confession of my sins, I throw open the lattice, that
is, the narrower window of my heart. Nor is there any doubt that
He, who is a kind and merciful Searcher of hearts, H e who stands
behind our wall, will look benignantly through that lattice; for a
humble and contrite heart God will not despise (Ps. li. 17). And
this H e Himself bids us to do, saying by the Prophet: Declare thou
[thy transgressions] that thou may est be justified (Is. xliii. 25, 26).
But if my heart is sometimes expanded with love and gratitude at the
consideration of the condescension and goodness of God, and I
desire to pour forth my feelings in the voice of praise and of giving
of thanks, then I open, as I think, no longer a narrow aperture, but
a broad and ample window to the Bridegroom, who ' standeth behind
our wall,' through which, I believe, H e gazes with so much the more
willingness and satisfaction, as H e regards the sacrifice of praise as
more to His honour. I have at hand passages out of the Scriptures,
showing that H e approves both one and the other kind of confession ;
but I speak to those who are well instructed in those subjects, and
you are not to be burdened with things unnecessary, since you have
scarcely time for the investigation of those which are strictly needful.
For very great indeed are the mysteries of this marriage song, and
the proclamations of praise which are made in it to the honour of the
Church, and of Him who is her Bridegroom, JESUS CHRIST our Lord,

who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

1
This derivation is to be noted ; and it seems to be correct, that the official
scribes or notaries were so named because they usually sat behind cancellz, or
latticed barriers.—ED.

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SERMON LVII.
THAT THE VISITATIONS OF THE LORD ARE TO BE CAREFULLY AND
REVERENTLY OBSERVED, AND BY WHAT SIGNS AND TOKENS
THEY MAY BE KNOWN.
' My beloved spake, and said to me?—Cant.

S

ii. 10.

E E the onward steps of grace, and mark the degrees of the
Divine condescension. Notice the devotion and promptness
of the Bride, with what a vigilant eye she observes the coming
of her Spouse, and then notes very diligently even His smallest
actions. H e comes, H e hastens, H e draws near, H e is present, He
looks at, and then addresses, her; and none of all these actions
escapes the notice, or wearies the attention, of the Bride. H e comes
in the Angels, H e hastens in the Patriarchs, H e draws near in the
Prophets, H e is present in the Flesh, He has regard to the Church
in miracles, and addresses her in the Apostles. Or we may explain
it thus: He comes by the pity which He feels and the desire that
H e has to show mercy, He hastens by His zeal to bring help, H e
draws near to us by humbling Himself, He is present to each generation as it is present upon the earth, H e has regard to those which are
to come, He speaks of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God
(Acts i. 3), teaching and persuading. Of such a nature, then, is the
Coming of the Bridegroom. The blessings and the riches of salvation accompany H i m ; all things which are from Him are full of
delights, and abound assuredly in joyful and salutary mysteries
(sacramentis). She who loves Him watches and observes all these
things. And blessed is that servant whom the Lord shall find watching. He shall not pass her by, H e shall not pass away from her, H e
shall stay by her, and shall speak to her loving words, since He is, in
truth, Her Beloved. And thus it is that you read here : My Beloved
spake, and said to me. Well is H e called her Beloved, who comes
to speak to her, not words of blame, but of comfort and love.
2. For here the question is not of those who are deservedly blamed
by the Lord; who know not how to discern the face of the sky, nor
know at all the time of His Coming (Matt. xvi. 3). For [the Bride]
is so prudent and so full of foresight that she sees Him coming from
afar, leaping, as it were, in His haste, and, passing over the proud to
draw near to her in her humility, humbling Himself so to do. This
she has observed with vigilant care; and when at length H e was at
hand, yet concealed Himself, as it were, behind the wall, she, nevertheless, did not fail to recognise His Presence, and to discern that
H e looked in through the windows and lattices. Now, as a reward
for her great devotion and religious care, she hears Him speaking ;
for if He had looked upon her and not spoken, she would have

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suspected that the look was one of indignation rather than of love.
It was thus that He looked upon Peter without speaking a word to
him, and that was perhaps the reason why Peter went out and wept
bitterly (Luke xxii. 61, 62), because the Lord had looked upon him
in silence. But the Bride, who has deserved not only to behold Him
but to hear His voice, is so far from weeping that she rejoices, and
cries out in her joy: My Beloved spake, and said to me. You see
that the look of the Lord, though in itself it remains always the
same, is not always of the same effect, but varies according to the
deservings of those upon whom He looks, so that, while it strikes
some with fear, it imparts unto others consolation and security. On
the one hand, H e looks upon the earth, and it shaketh (Ps. lxxvii.
16-18); on the other, He looks upon Mary, and it is to pour grace
upon her. He hath regarded, she says, the low estate of Bis handmaiden : for behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me
blessed (Luke i. 48). These are not the words of one who weeps or
trembles, but of one who rejoices. Similarly He is described here
as looking upon the Bride, and she trembles not nor weeps like Peter,
because she was not attached to things earthly, as at that time he
was; but H e filled her heart with joy, testifying by His words the
affection with which H e regarded her.
3. Listen to the words which He addresses to her—words, not of
anger, but of affection : Rise up, my love, my fair o?ie, and come away.
Happy is the soul that may deserve to hear such words as these ! Is
there anyone among us, do you think, who is so wakeful and observant of the time of his visitation, who watches so diligently for the
coming of the Bridegroom, as, when He shall come and shall knock,
to open the door of the heart unto Him at once ? For those
words do not so apply unto the whole Church, as that we, who
together make up the Church, should not have our individual share
in these blessings.- All of us are, in fact, called, whether severally or
together, to this very end, that we should possess blessings as an
heritage. Wherefore also the Psalmist dared to say unto the Lord :
Thy testimonies have I take7i as an heritage for ever, for they are the
rejoicing of my heart (Ps. cxix. i n ) . He speaks, I think, of that
heritage on account of which he claimed to be the son of his Father
which is in Heaven. And if a son, then an heir—heir of God, and
joint-heir with Christ. And in that heritage he glories that he has
acquired a thing of great price—the testimonies of the Lord. Would
to God that I might be found worthy to possess for myself one testimony only of the Lord ! Though he exults not in one only, but in
many, and says again : I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies
as much as in all riches (Ps. cxix. 14). And, in truth, what is it that
forms the riches of salvation, the delight of the heart, the true and
safe security of the soul, except the testimonies which it has from the
Lord ? For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the
Lord commendeth (2 Cor. x. 18).
4. Why, then, do we hitherto defraud ourselves of these Divine

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testimonies or commendations, and deprive ourselves of this our
paternal heritage ? As if the Father had not at all begotten us of
His own will with the Word of Truth (James i. 18), so we in no
respect keep in remembrance the assurance that has been rendered
to us of this, nor His testimonies concerning us. Where is that of
which the Apostle says : The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. viii. 16). How are we
children if we are without the heritage of children? Our poverty
itself clearly convicts us of negligence and carelessness of our privileges. For if any of us brings a heart pure and perfect, according to the
word of the Wise Man, to seek at daybreak the Lord who created him,
and will pray before the Most High (Ecclus. xxxix. 5), and studies in all
his petitions to prepare the ways of the Lord—according to the word
of the prophetTsaiah (xl. 3), to make straight a highway for our G o d ;
in whose power it is to say with the Psalmist: Mine eyes are ever
toward the Lord (Ps. xxv. 15), and for this reason, that I have set the
Lord always before me (Ps. xvi. 8), will not he receive blessing frojn
the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation ? (Ps. xxiv. 5).
He shall, without doubt, be frequently visited, nor shall he ever be
ignorant of the time of his visitation, however secretly and noiselessly
his spiritual visitor, in His modest reserve, may come. The soul, then,
that is watchful and disengaged from other cares shall see Him
coming from afar, and shall discern in due course all the incidents
which, as we have said, the Bride has remarked with as much precision as skill in the coming of the Bridegroom, for H e says : Those
that seek Me early shall find Me (Pro v. viii. 17). She will recognise
the earnestness and rapid approach of her Bridegroom ; she will
know at once when He is drawing near, or when He is actually
present; when H e looks upon her she will perceive with a happy eye
that Divine gaze, as it were a ray of sunlight penetrating through the
windows and the openings of her wall; and at length will hear His
accents of joy and of affection, calling her His beloved, His dove,
His fair one.
5. Who is wise and will understand these things, so as to be able
to distinguish them, to define them each in its turn, and to explain
them worthily to make others understand them also ? If you hope
for that from me, I, for my part, would rather listen to someone who
has experience, who is fully conversant with, and accustomed to,
such subjects. But since such men as this frequently prefer to hide
in a modest silence what they have in silence learned, and judge it
the safer course to keep to themselves their secret lore, I, the duty
of whose charge obliges me to speak, and to whom it is not permitted
to be silent, will declare what I know of these matters, either from
my own experience or that of others, keeping to truths which most
people may easily verify for themselves, and leaving higher and deeper
ones for such as are able to apprehend them. If, then, I have been
warned, either from without by a man, or inwardly by the Spirit, to
have regard to righteousness, and to observe equity, I must consider

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343

that salutary counsel as a token of the speedy coming of the Bridegroom, and a kind of preparation for the worthy receiving of that
heavenly Guest. This is what I am taught by the Psalmist when
he says that Righteousness shall go before Him (Ps. lxxxv. 14); and
again, when addressing God -.Justice and judgme?it are the preparatio?i
of Thy throne (Ps. lxxxviii. 15, Douay). Nor will the same hope fail
if the counsel that I hear be of humility, or of patience, or, again, of
brotherly charity and obedience to those set over me, and especially
if it be of following holiness and peace, and of seeking pureness of
heart, because a Scripture saith: Holiness becometh the House of the
Lord (Ps. xciii. 5) ; and again : His place is in peace (Ps. lxxv. 3,
Douay); and : The pure in heart shall see God (Matt. v. 8). Therefore whatsoever shall be suggested to my mind of these or of other
virtues shall be to me, as I have said, for an intimation that the Lord
of virtues is about to visit my soul.
6. But if a righteous man shall reprove me in loving-kindness, and
correct me, I shall draw the same inference, knowing that the zeal of
the righteous, and his goodwill, make a way for Him who ascendeth
upon the west (Ps. lxvii. 5, Douay). Happy is that fall,1 since a man
rises again, and stands by the correction of one who is righteous ;
since it is his sin that falls, and the Lord ascends upon it, treading it
under His feet, and crushing it so that it rises not again. The reproof
of the righteous is therefore not to be scorned; it is the destruction
of sin, health to the heart, and, as it were, the path of God towards
the soul. Speaking generally, it is not safe to listen negligently to
any discourse which tends to edification in piety, in virtues, in a good
and holy character, since it is the way by which is shown the salvation
of God (Ps. 1. 23). If a discourse which we hear be sweet and agreeable to us, if we listen to it without distaste and even with ardour, then
we ought to believe, not only that the Bridegroom is coming to us,
but that H e is hastening—that is, is coming with eager wish [to be
received in our soul]. For His wish produces yours, and that you
hasten to receive His discourse comes from His eager haste to enter
into your soul; for we did not first love Him, but, as St. John declares:
He first loved us (1 John iv. 10). If, then, you feel that His word is,
as it were, a burning flame, and that your conscience is so touched
by it as to burn within you at the remembrance of your sin, remember
what the Scripture saith—that a fire goeth before Him (Ps. xcvii. 3) ;
and do not doubt that H e is near you. And, indeed, we know from
another Psalm that the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart (Ps. xxxiv. 18).
7. But if you are not only touched with penitence by His Word,
but also wholly converted to the Lord, so that you resolve and vow to
keep the statutes of His righteousness, know, then, that H e is Himself present, and especially if you feel yourself glowing with the love
of Him. You meet in Scripture with each of these statements con1
Occasus ; a play upon the double meaning of the word, i.e., the sunset, and a
fall, or error.—ED.

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344

cerning Him—namely, that fire goeth before Him, and that H e Himself is a fire. For Moses says of Him expressly that H e is a consuming
fire (Deut. iv. 24). But there is a difference between these two : for
that fire which precedes the Lord has ardour, but not love; it burns,
but it does not dissolve; it moves that which it touches, but does not
carry it wholly away. It is sent before Him by God only to arouse
and prepare you, and also to make you aware of what you are in
yourself, so that you may taste with the greater pleasure what you
shall be hereafter by the grace of God. But that Fire which is God
Himself consumes indeed, but causes no pain ; it burns that which it
takes possession of, but with a sweetness wonderful and indescribable;
it destroys, and in destroying confers the supreme felicity. For it is
truly a consuming fire; but though as a fire it burns up vices, yet in
the soul it acts as a healing unction. Recognise, then, the presence
of the Lord in the virtue which changes your heart, and in the love
which fires it. For the Right Hand of the Lord worketh virtue
(Ps. cxviii. 16). But this change worked by the Right Hand of the
Most High takes place only in fervour of spirit, and in charity unfeigned, so that he who experiences it may say : My heart was hot
within me, and while I zvas thus musing the fire burned (Ps. xxxix. 3).
8. When, then, by this fire has been consumed every taint of sin
and all the stains of past vices, when the conscience is purified and
calmed, 1 there follows a sudden and unusual extension of the mind,
an infusion of light which illuminates the intellect either to the knowledge of the Scriptures, or to the comprehension of mysteries; whereof
the one is bestowed, I think, for our own satisfaction, the other for
the edification of our neighbour; that is, doubtless, the effect of the
Divine Eye looking upon us, bringing forth thy righteousness as the
light, and thy judgment as the noonday (Ps. xxxvii. 6), according to
that prophecy of Isaiah : Then shall thy light break forth as the morfling (Is. lviii. 8). But, in truth, that ray of brightness so great shall
penetrate not as through open doors, but through small and narrow
apertures, at least, as long as that ruinous and tottering wall, that is,
thy body, shall endure. You mistake if you think that it shall be
otherwise, to whatever degree of purity of heart you may attain, since
he who had meditated so deeply upon heavenly things says : Now we
see through a glass, darkly : but then face to face (1 Cor. xi. 12).
9. After this Divine look, so full of condescension and goodness,
comes a Voice, gently and sweetly presenting to the mind the Will of
God ; and this is no other than Love itself, nor can it be without
effect in soliciting and persuading to the fulfilment of those things
which God requires. Thus the Bride hears that she is to arise and
hasten, no doubt to work for the good of souls. This is indeed a
property of true and pure contemplation that it sometimes fills the
mind, which is warmed with Divine fire, with a fervent zeal and
desire to gain for God those who are of a like mind in loving Him,
and to that end it very willingly lays aside the calm and rest of
1

Senerata ; a somewhat unusual sense of the word.—ED.

VISITATIONS OF THE LORD TO BE REVERENTLY OBSERVED

345

meditation for the labour of preaching; and again, when it has
attained the object desired, to a certain extent, returns with increased
eagerness to that contemplation, which it remembers that it laid
aside for the purpose of gaining more fruit. Then, when it has tasted
again the delights of contemplation, it recurs with increased power,
and with its accustomed willingness, to its labours for the good of
souls. But the soul frequently hesitates between these continual
changes, being profoundly anxious and fearful, lest when drawn to
one or the other of these alternatives by the attractions and advantages
which it discerns in each it should deviate ever so little from the
Divine will. It was perhaps something of this kind that holy Job
suffered, when he said : When 1 lie down, I say, when shall I arise ?
and again, I shall look for the evening (Job vii. 4, Douay) ; that is to
say, when I am in repose I accuse myself of having neglected some
work; and when busied in work, of having disturbed my repose.
You see that even a holy man feels grave uncertainty between the
claims of fruitful labour and of restful contemplation; and although
he is always occupied about good things, yet he always feels a sense
of regret as if he had been doing that which is wrong, and from one
moment to another intreats with tears and sighing to be shown the
Will of God. In these uncertainties, the one and only remedy is
prayer and frequent upliftings of the soul to God, that H e would
deign to make continually known to us what we ought to do, and
when, how, and in what manner we should do it. You have, as I
think, these three things pointed out and commended in these three
words of the Bridegroom—namely, preaching, prayer, and contemplation. For the Bride is fitly called My love, since she faithfully studies [to bring about] those objects which are dear to Him,
by preaching, by advising, by ministering. Fitly also My dove, since
she sighs and plains continually in prayer, entreating the Divine
mercy without ceasing for her sins. And fitly, again, My fair one,
since she is all bright and shining with heavenly desires, and devotes
herself to celestial contemplation at all times that it is proper and
opportune to do s o ; thus she enfolds herself more and more in their
glory and beauty.
10. Let us see, however, if these three words describing that threefold blessing, which may be attained by one and the same soul, can
be set in relation with those three persons spoken of in the Gospel,
who dwelt in the same house, who were friends, and indeed very
intimate friends of the Saviour. I refer to Martha, Mary, and
Lazarus. For Martha served, Mary remained quiescent in contemplation, and Lazarus groaned, as it were, under the weight of
death and of the stone that shut close his grave, and earnestly begged
for the grace of the Resurrection (Luke x. 38-42, and John xi.).
These things have been said on this account, because the Bride is
described as being so watchful and so skilful in observing the paths
of the Bridegroom that it cannot be concealed from her at what time,
and with what degree of haste He will come to her. Whether H e be

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afar off, or be drawing near, or be present, by no degree of suddenness
can she be taken by surprise ; and on that account she has merited,
not only to be looked upon with favour, but that her Spouse should
deign to make her glad with accents of love, and to give her great
joy because of His Voice.
11. I have added, somewhat boldly perhaps, to this that every soul
(as, for example, among ourselves) which shall watch with the Bride,
shall with her be saluted as well-beloved, consoled as dove, embraced
as fair.
Every man shall be counted as perfect in whose soul these
three things shall be united with all fitness and propriety, so that he
shall know how to repent for his own faults and failings, to rejoice in
God, and at the same time to assist his neighbours with all his power ;
and thus to show himself pleasing to God, circumspect with regard
to himself, and useful to others. But who is capable of uniting these
three ? Would that even after long years they might be found united
among u s ; I do not say all together in each of us, but at least each
of them in some of u s ! We have indeed among us a Martha, the
friend, so to speak, of the Saviour, in those who faithfully administer
our external affairs. We have a Lazarus (as it were), a mourning and
plaining dove, in our novices, who, lately dead in trespasses and sins,
labour and mourn under wounds yet recent, and from fear of the
Divine judgment, and as those who, wounded unto the death, sleep
in the tomb, and are out of the remembrance of all, as they themselves no longer believe that they are borne in mind, until at the
bidding of Christ the fear which pressed them down as a heavy stone
upon the mouth of a tomb is rolled away, and they are able to breathe
in the hope of pardon. We have also a contemplative Mary in those
who, in the course of a longer time, and by the co-operation of grace,
have been able to attain unto a better and happier state, to presume
already that the Divine pardon will be extended to them, and instead
of anxiously reflecting upon their offences, to meditate day and night
with delight upon the law of God, and never to grow weary of it.
Sometimes, even, as they contemplate with ineffable joy the glory of
the Lord the Bridegroom, they are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
Now, to what purpose He bids the Bride to rise and come away, while
but a little before H e had forbidden that she should be aroused from
her sleep, we must examine in another sermon. May He be present
with us in the inquiry, and deign to reveal to us the reason of that
mystery; He, I mean, who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS
CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

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THE RULE AND TRAINING OF SOULS

SERMON L V I I I .
HOW THE BRIDEGROOM BIDS THE BRIDE, THAT IS TO SAY, THOSE
MEN WHO ARE PERFECTED, TO UNDERTAKE THE RULE AND
TRAINING OF SOULS LESS PERFECT.
ALSO OF THE CUTTING
DOWN OF VICES IN THEM THAT VIRTUES MAY GROW AND
INCREASE.
' Rise up, my love, my fair

one, mid come away.'—Cant.

ii. 10.

r

H O says this? Without doubt it is the Bridegroom. But
is it not He who, a little time before, so strongly forbade
that His beloved should be aroused? How, then, is it
that now H e bids her not only rise up, b u t ' come away ?' Something
like this comes into my mind from the Gospel. In the night on
which Our Lord was betrayed, after having bidden His disciples who
were with Him, and who were fatigued with long watchings, at length
to sleep and take their rest, in the very same hour 1 H e said to them,
Rise, let us be going; behold, he is at hand that doth betray Me
(Matt. xxvi. 46). Now, also, He similarly, almost at the same moment,
forbids the Bride to be aroused, and arouses her. Rise up, H e says,
and come azvay. What, then, is the object of so sudden a change of
will, or of plan ? Must we suppose that the Bridegroom acted with
levity, and desired something at first, which immediately afterwards
H e desired not ? By no means. But recognise in this what I have
said to you more than once, if you remember, about the two alternatives of sacred repose and of necessary action, and that there is not
in this life space for lengthened contemplation, or prolonged repose,
because the duties of office and the usefulness of work press upon us
more urgently, and are more immediately necessary. The Bridegroom,
therefore, as is His wont, when His beloved has been for a while reposing in sacred communion with Him, does not delay to summon
her to duties which seem to be more needful. Not as if this were
against her will, for what He forbade to be done by others (ii. 7) He
would not Himself d o ; but for the Bride to know a wish of her
Bridegroom is for her at once to feel the desire to be enabled to
fulfil it (i. 4), the desire for good works, the desire to bear fruit to the
honour and glory of H i m ; since for her to live is Christ, and to die
is gain.
2. And that desire is vehement; it bids her not only rise, but rise
in all haste, for we read: Rise up, and come away. Nor is it a small
comfort and strength to her that she hears: Come, and not ' Go.'
because she understands by this that she is not so much sent, as led,

W

1
Some recent editions add the words surge?-e cogit, which words are wanting in
most M S S . , and in the earliest editions. A n d , indeed, the text is smoother and
more compact without them.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

and that the Bridegroom will be with her. What task can she think
difficult with such a companion ? Set me beside Thee, she says, a?id
let any man's hand fight against me (Job xvii. 3, Douay). And again :
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear
?io evil, for Thou art ivith me (Ps. xxiii. 4). She is not, then, aroused
against her will, since her Lord bestows upon her previously the will
to be aroused; nor is this anything else than an ardent desire to
grow and increase in all that is good. She is also animated and
rendered more prompt to do that which is enjoined upon her, by the
opportunity of the time. ' It is now the time to act, O My Bride/
the Bridegroom seems to say, ' for lo, the winter is past, during which
no one was able to work. The rain, too, is over and gone ; the rain,
which covered the earth with its floods, hindered the culture of the
soil, and either destroyed the corn sown, or prevented the harvests
being reaped; the rain, I say, has departed, it is over and gone ; the
flowers appear on the earth,' and this is a sign that the season of spring
has come, that toil out of doors is safe and convenient, and that fruits
and harvests are near. Then He adds, where this toil should begin,
and to what end it should be directed : The time of pruning is come
(ii. 12, Douay). She is then led to the cultivation of the vines, and
in order that these may respond to the hope of the vine-dressers by
an increased abundance of fruit, it is before all things necessary that
the barren boughs should be cut out, the hurtful ones lopped, and
those which are unnecessary pruned. This, then, is the literal sense.
3. Let us now see what is the spiritual meaning hidden, as it were,
under this narrative of an historical kind. I have already said to
you, and you took note of it, so that you do not need to hear it again,
that vines signify souls, or Churches; and I gave also at the same
time the reason for this. The more perfect soul is then invited to
examine these, to correct them, and to instruct them, to the end that
they may be saved; yet this ministry is allotted to it, not undertaken
as a matter of ambition, but because called to it by God, as was Aaron.
Furthermore, what is this invitation but a certain inward movement
of charity, leading us piously to care for the salvation of our brethren,
for the beauty of the house of the Lord, for its increase in spiritual
gains and in the fruits of righteousness, and for the praise and glory
of His Name ? As often, then, as one whose duty calls upon him to
take the direction of souls, or to instruct them by the delivery of
sermons, feels his inner man thus touched with religious sentiments
towards God, so often he may understand certainly that the Bridegroom is present with him, and is inviting him to the care and culture
of His vines. But to what end ? That he may root up and destroy,
that he may plant and edify.
4. But since for this task, as for every task under heaven, not every
time, or every kind of weather, is fit and suitable, so H e who gives
the invitation adds also i the time of pruning is come.' He knew
well that this time was come who said: Behold, now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of salvation; giving no offence in anything,

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349

that the ministry be ?iot blamed (2 Cor. vi. 2). His warning, without
doubt, was to prune, and even to cut off, everything faulty and superfluous and that was able to give even the least offence, and to hinder
the fruit of salvation, because he knew that the time of pruning had
come. That was why he said to the faithful cultivator of these vines,
Reprove, rebuke, exhort (2 Tim. iv. 2), indicating by the first and
second of these words the practice of pruning or even cutting off, and
by the third that of planting. And this, indeed, is said by the Bridegroom through the mouth of St. Paul, as to the time of working. But
listen to what H e has Himself said as to the proper discrimination of
times and seasons, to those souls which were, so to speak, new Brides,
though this was spoken under another metaphor : Say not ye, There
are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? behold, I say u?ito you,
Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white already to
harvest (John iv. 35) ; and again : The harvest truly is plenteous, but
the labourers are few; p?'ay ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that
He will send forth labourers i?ito His harvest (Matt. ix. 37). Just as
then He pointed out that it was time to reap the harvest of souls, so
here He declares that it is the time to prune and to cultivate these
spiritual vines, that is, souls or Churches, wishing, perhaps, by the
difference of the names of which He makes use that we should understand by harvests, peoples, and by vines, societies of saints dwelling
together.
5. Now, the time of winter, which He says has passed, seems to me
to signify that period during which the Lord Jesus did not walk openly,
because the Jews conspired against Him, and sought to kill Him.
Wherefore He said to certain of them, My time has not yet come ; but
your ti??ie is always ready ; and again : I go not up yet unto this feast ;
for My time is not yet full come (John vii. 6-8). Yet H e afterwards
went up, though not openly, but, as it were, in secret. The winter,
then, endured from that time until the coming of the Holy Spirit, who
aroused into warmth the torpid hearts of the faithful, and was, as it
were, that fire which the Lord came to send upon the earth (Luke
xii. 49) for this very end. Would you deny that it was then winter
when Peter sat beside the fire of coals, being ice-cold in heart as well
as in body ? The Scripture says expressly, / / was cold (John xviii. 18).
Great, in truth, was the cold which lay at the heart of him who denied
his Master, cramping its throbs with deadly grasp. Nor was this
strange, since the fire had been taken away from it. A little time
before he was aflame with fervent zeal, being then beside Him who is
the Fire, so that, in order not to lose Him, he drew his sword and cut
off a servant's ear. But that was not the time for pruning, and therefore the Saviour said, Put up thy sword into the sheath (John xviii. n ) .
For that was the hour and the power of darkness; and whosoever of
His disciples had then lifted up the sword, whether of steel or of the
Word, would either have perished by the sword, and thus have been
of service to no one, and have borne no fruit, or at least have been
constrained to apostasy by the fear of the sword, and thus to perish

35°

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the more surely himself, according to the word of the Lord spoken
immediately afterwards : All they that take the sword shall perish with
the sword (Matt. xxvi. 51). For which of the others could have stood
undismayed before the terrible image of death, when their prince
himself, whom the great Leader of their salvation had forearmed with
His puissant Voice, and forewarned to strengthen his brethren, when
even he trembled and fled ?
6. But neither he nor they had as yet been filled with powrer from
on high ; and for this reason it was not safe for them to go forth
among the vines, to make use of the spiritual hoe and pruning-knife
—that is, the inspired tongue and the sword of the Spirit—to prune
the boughs and cut back the young shoots so that they may bear
more fruit. And, lastly, the Lord Himself wras silent during His
Passion, and when interrogated about many things, answered not
(Matt, xxvii. 12), being made, as says the Psalmist, as a man that
heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs (Ps. xxxviii, 14). And
indeed H e said : If I tellyon, ye will not believe: and if I also answer
you, ye will not answer Me (Luke xxii. 67, 68), knowing that the time
of pruning had not yet come, and that His vine would not respond at
all to labours bestowed upon it, that is to say, would not produce
the fruit either of faith or of good works. Wherefore ? Because it
was winter in the hearts of the perfidious, and the winter rains of
malice and evil had overspread the earth, more calculated to drown
than to foster tr^e seeds of the Word that were sown; and these would
render profitless^any labour that was undertaken for the culture of the
vines.
7. Of what rains, do you think, am I now speaking ? Of those
which we see that are carried hither and thither by strong winds, and
which the clouds at length let fall upon the earth ? By no means.
I speak of those which men of a turbulent spirit cause to rise from
the earth into the air, when they open their mouth against the
heaven, and with their tongue go through the world ; and thus, like
sour and bitter showers, make the earth marshy and barren, useless
for cultivated plants, though not, indeed, for that wild herbage,
visible and exuberant, which is bestowed by God for bodily uses,
and of which He takes care only for the beasts of the field. For
what plants, then, does God care ? For those assuredly which His
Hand, and not that of man, has sown and planted, which can
germinate and take root in faith and charity, and bring forth fruits
unto salvation, if they be watered by good and seasonable rains.
They are, in fact, souls for which Christ died. Unhappy are the
clouds which let fall upon these rains such as I have described,
which cause only mud, and do not help on fertility. For as there
are good trees which bear good fruits, and evil trees which bear evil
fruits, the difference in the fruits corresponding to that in the trees
which bear them, so, as I think, there may be clouds which are
good, and let fall benign showers, and others which are evil, and let
fall injurious ones. Perhaps it may have been to indicate this

THE RULE AND TRAINING OF SOULS

35 1

difference in the character of clouds, and of the showers they let fall,
that a Prophet has these words as spoken by the Lord: / will command My clouds that they rain ?io rain upon it (that is, upon His vineyard) (Is. v. 6). For why, do you think, does H e add so significantly
My clouds, unless there were also evil clouds which are not His ?
Away with Him ! away with Him ! Crucify Him ! cry the Jews
(John xix. 15). O clouds full of violence and storm ! O rain laden
with tempests ! O torrent of iniquity, fitter to ravage the earth than
to make it fat! Not less evil nor less bitter, though it did not fall
with equal violence, was that which followed : He saved others ; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come
down fro?n the Cross, and we will believe Him (Matt, xxvii. 40). Nor
was the windy loquacity of the philosophers a shower of good, for it
brought barrenness, rather than fertility, upon the lands. Much
more are the evil doctrines of heretics evil rains, producing thorns
and thistles instead of harvests of good grain. Evil rains also were
the traditions of the Pharisees, which the Saviour condemned; and
they themselves were as injurious clouds. And do not suppose that
I do injustice to Moses (who must himself be regarded as a beneficent
cloud) when I say that not every shower that fell from him can be
called good ; for, otherwise, I should contradict Him who says : /
gave them also (that is, to the Jews) statutes that were not good, and
judgments (and doubtless this refers to those given by Moses) whereby
they should not live (Ezek. xx. 25). Such was, for example, that
literal observance of the Sabbath which, though the word signifies
rest, did not bring them rest; the rigid system of offering sacrifices,
the prohibition to eat the flesh of swine, and of other animals, which
were similarly pronounced unclean by Moses ; all these were showers,
so to speak, falling from the same cloud; but I would not that they
should fall upon any field or garden of mine. They were doubtless
good in their time; but that time having passed, I do not hold them
to be good now. For every shower, however soft, or however gently
it falls, is injurious if it be unseasonable.
8. Thus, as long as such harmful rains had flooded and occupied
the land with their weight, the time favourable for the vine had not
yet come, nor did it come to pass that the Bride was invited to the
task of its culture. But when they had passed away, and the dry
earth appeared with its carpet of flowers, this was the sign that the
season of culture had come. When was this, do you inquire?
When, indeed, except in that season which saw the Flesh of Christ
taking life again, and as it were reflowing, i n j h e Resurrection, H e
is the first and chiefest Flower of the human race which has ever
appeared on earth. For the Christ is called the first fruits of them that
slept (1 Cor. xv. 20). Jesus, I say, is the Rose of Sharon, and the
Lily of the valleys (ii. 1), He who was supposed the Son of Joseph,
H e who was Jesus of Nazareth, which itself means a flower [or
branch]. H e then appeared as the first Flower of the Resurrection;
but He did not appear alone. For many bodies of the saints who

35 2

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

slept arose with Him, and appeared upon our earth as bright and
shining flowers. They went, in truth, into the Holy City, and appeared
unto many (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53). Those, too, who first believed from
among the people, the firstfruits of the saints, they were flowers.
Their flowers were miracles which, like flowers, produced the fruits
of faith. For after that rain of unbelief had a little passed, and had
at least in part rolled away and ceased, then speedily followed that
shower of grace (voluntaria) which the Lord reserved to His inheritance (Ps. lxviii. 9), and flowers began to appear. The Lord
gave His blessing, and our earth yielded her flowers, so that in one
day three thousand of the people believed, and in another they were
five thousand (Acts ii. 41, and iv. 4 ) ; in so short a time did the number
of flowers, that is, the multitude of believers, increase. Nor was the
cold and frost able to prevail against the flowers which appeared,
nor could it cause to perish, as is frequently the case, the fruit of
life of which they gave promise.
9. For since all those who believed wrere filled with power from on
high, there arose among them those who, strong in the faith, contemned
the threats of men. They suffered, indeed, very many opposers ; but
they yielded not, nor ceased from proclaiming, to the utmost of their
power, the great works of God. It is that which is spoken of in a
Psalm, if it may be spiritually interpreted : They sow the fields, and
plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase (Ps. cvii. 37). In
course of time the tempest was stilled, and, peace being restored to
the earth, vines grew, and were propagated, and increased and multiplied beyond number. And then at length the Bride is invited, not,
indeed, to plant the vines, but to prune and cultivate those already
planted. And that was in due season, for the task required a time
of peace. How could it be performed in time of persecution ? How
was it possible [for the saints] to take in their hands two-edged swords,
to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people,
to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, to
execute upon them the judgment written (Ps. cxlix. 6-9)—for all this is
to be included in the task of pruning the vines ; all these things are
scarcely to be performed in peace even in a time of peace. So much
for this subject.
10. This discourse might come to a close here if, according to my
custom, I had given to each of you some words of counsel and warning
with regard to the care of his own vineyard. For who has cut away, even
to the quick (ad unguem), all things in himself which are superfluous,
so as to have nothing which requires to be farther pruned ? Believe
me, those [evil tendencies] which are cut down shoot up again ; those
which have been driven away return ; the fires which have been extinguished are, in a while, rekindled ; and those desires which seemed fast
asleep awake again. It is of little avail, therefore, to have pruned once;
we must prune frequently, nay, if it were possible, always; because if
you are honest with yourself, you will always find something within
requiring to be sternly repressed. Whatever spiritual progress you

THE RULE AND TRAINING OF SOULS

353

may make while you remain in this body, you err if you suppose that
sins and vices are dead in you, because they are suppressed. Whether
you are willing, or unwilling, the Jebusite dwells within your borders
(Judg. i. 21); he may be subjugated, but cannot be exterminated.
/ know, says the Apostle, that in me dwelleth no good thing. But that
is little in comparison with the confession which he goes on to make
—that evil dwells in him. For he adds : The good1 that I ivould, I
do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that
I would not, it is no more 1 that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me
(Rom. vii. 15-17). Either, then, prefer yourself to the Apostle (for
he it is who speaks thus), or confess with him that you, too, are not
without indwelling sins. Now, virtue maintains the mid-place between
impulses which, if yielded to in excess, become wTrong; and thus it
is that you have need, not only of sedulous self-denial, but also of
circumcision. Otherwise, it is to be feared that our vine, being closely
enfolded, or rather gnawed, by the vices which surround it on every
side, should languish little by little without our perceiving it, or, if
they get the upper hand, should be altogether suffocated. In face of
so great a peril, I have but one counsel to give—that you watch with
the greatest care, and cut away with prompt severity the first shoots
of reviving vices as soon as they shall make their appearance. Virtue
cannot increase at the same time with vice; and if the one flourish, it
will not suffer the other to increase. Take away things superfluous,
and those which conduce to salvation will have vigorous growth. Whatever you take away from things which minister only to pleasure, you
add to those which minister to the soul's benefit. Let us give to selfdenial its perfect work, and cut off the satisfaction of our desires and
lusts that virtue may be strengthened thereby.
11. It is always, then, the time of pruning with us, my brethren,
because there is always need of pruning; and I trust that with us,
too, the time of winter has now passed away. Do you know of what
winter I speak ? Of that fear which is not joined with charity—which
leads all to the beginning of wisdom, but perfects no one in it;
inasmuch as advancing love casts out fear, as the spring banishes the
winter. For the love of God is the spring of the soul, and if it has
come to us, or, rather, because it has come to us (as it is just that I
should consider is the case with you), all the winter rain must needs
be dried : that is, all the anxious weeping which the bitter remembrance of past sin, and the fearful looking for of judgment, have
drawn forth. Therefore (and I assert this without hesitation of most
of you, if not of all) this winter rain has passed away, it is over and
gone : and the flowers which are the signs of the milder and sweeter
showers of spring begin to appear. For spring, too, has its showers,
1
Mabillon omits bonum, with the earliest printed editions, and with five of the
best MSS., as he says ; the others admit the word, following, of course, the
Vulgate, from which St. Bernard professedly quotes. It is obvious, also, that his
argument requires the words 'good' and 'evil,' and is incomplete without them.—

P:D.
23

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SERMONS O N T H E SONG OF SONGS

but these are sweet and fruitful. What is there more sweet and
comforting than the tears of charity ? T h e weeping of charity is
inspired by love, and not by grief; it comes of the very depth of
longing, or of the sympathy felt with those who weep. I do not
doubt that with such a gracious rain as this your acts of obedience
are bedewed ; and I behold with joy that, far from being disfigured
by murmuring, by sullenness and reluctance, they are accompanied
by a spiritual gladness which renders them enlivening and happy.
They are as flowers that you bear always in your hands.
T2. If, then, the winter has passed; if the rain is over and gone;
if flowers have at length appeared on our earth, and the sweetness
and gentleness of grace, as a spiritual spring, indicates that the time
of pruning for the vine has come, what remains but that we should
set ourselves with all our strength to the doing of this work, so sacred
and so necessary ? Let us, as says the prophet, search and try our
ways (Lam. iii. 40), and our disposition, so that each of us may consider himself to have made progress, not in supposing that there is
nothing in him to blame, but in blaming and correcting that which
he has found. If you have learned that there is an ever fresh need
to examine yourself, your self-examination will not be perfunctory and
useless ; and as often as you shall have found that there is good reason
for your scrutiny, so often will you feel that it ought to be repeated.
If, then, you do this whenever there is need of it, you will do it
always. Remember, in conclusion, that you have always need of help
from on high, and of the mercy of Him who is the Bridegroom of the
Church, JESUS C H R I S T our Lord, who is, above all, God blessed for
•ever.
AMEN.

SERMON L I X .
O F T H E GROANS OF T H E SOUL, WHICH SIGHS FOR ITS HEAVENLY
FATHERLAND ; AND OF T H E COMMENDATION OF CHASTITY AND
WIDOWHOOD.
c

I

The voice of the turtle is heard in our land.'—Cant.

ii. 12.

AM obliged to allow that this is the second time that H e who is of
the heaven speaks of the earth; and that H e mentions it with as
much intimate knowledge of it, as affection, as if H e were one
of its citizens. It is the Bridegroom who speaks ; and as, when H e
observed that the flowers had appeared, H e did not say simply ' on
the earth,' but ' o n our earth,' so now H e says: ' T h e voice of the
turtle is heard in our land.' What can, then, be the reason for a mode
of speech so unusual, not to say so unworthy of God ? You will
nowhere find, I think, that H e has spoken thus of heaven, and that
in no other place has H e done so of earth. Observe, then, how kind

COMMENDATION OF CHASTITY AND WIDOWHOOD

355

and sweet it is of the God of heaven to say lour earth? Listen, sons
of men and earth-born ones: The Lord hath done great things for
us (Ps. cxxvi. 3). H e has a close relation with the earth, and with
the Bride, whom it has pleased Him to draw from the earth to associate
closely with Himself. Thus it is that H e says our land. This phrase
is not one of sovereignty, but of familiarity and of alliance. H e speaks
thus not as Lord, but as Bridegroom. What ? H e is Creator, and
yet regards Himself as companion ! It is Love that speaks, and love
knows nothing of mastership. For this Song is a song of love, and
it is appropriate to fill it with loving speeches only. Also this love is
of God ; nor has H e it from any other than Himself, because H e is
the Source of love. And it is so much the more powerful and vigorous,
inasmuch as H e and love are but one. But those whom He loves,
H e treats as friends, not as servants. From being the Master, He
becomes the Friend ; for He would not call His disciples His friends,
unless they were so in reality.
2. Do you perceive that even His Majesty yields to His Love ? It
is so, indeed, brethren ; love looks up to no one, but neither does it
look down upon any. Tt regards with an equal eye ail who are united
among themselves by a perfect bond of love; it combines together
in its own self the loftiest with the lowest; nor does it merely make
them to be equals, but makes them to be one. You think perhaps
that God is excepted from this rule of love ; but do you not know that
he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17) ? Why do
you wonder at this ? He is made to be, as it were, one of u s ; and
yet it is too little to say this, for H e is made, not, as it were, one of
us, but one of us in truth. It is too little for Him to be made equal
to men ; H e is Himself made a man. Thus it is that H e claims our
earth as His, not as a mere possession, but as' His birthplace and
fatherland. Why should H e not so claim it ? It is from thence that
He takes His Bride; thence is the substance of His Body; thence
does He become a Bridegroom; and since He and His Bride are
<one flesh (Gen. ii. 4 ; Matt. xix. 5), why should they not have one
fatherland also ? The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, saith
the Psalmist; but the earth hath He given to the children of men
(Ps. cxv. 16). It is, then, as Son of Man that H e inherits the earth,
as being Lord H e has it in His power, as Creator H e administers it,
and as Bridegroom H e shares it with His Bride. In saying, then,
our land, He shows that He disclaims the possession of it in sole
proprietorship, and does not disdain to share it with another. It is
on this account that the Bridegroom so benignantly uses this phrase,
and deigns to say our land. Now let us go on to consider other things.
3. The voice of the turtle is heard in our land. This is a sign that
the winter has passed, a warning that the time of pruning and culture
is at hand. That is according to the letter. Taking it in another
-sense, the voice of the turtle is not sweet in itself, but it announces
things which are sweet. This is a little bird, and not of great cost to
buy ; yet, if you consider the matter, it is of no small value. Its

35^

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

voice resembles more a moan of pain than a song of gladness, and
this recalls to us our state of pilgrimage. Willingly do I listen to
the voice of a preacher who arouses, not applauses for himself, but
grief and sorrow for sin, in me. If you teach others to mourn, you
will show yourself truly like the turtle ; and if you desire to be persuasive [to penitence], you must effect this, not by declamation, but
by being unfeignedly penitent yourself. Example is especially in
this matter, as in many others, far more effectual than precept. Your
voice will be persuasive and powerful if it be known that you are persuaded yourself of that which you are endeavouring to enforce on
others. Actions speak louder and more effectively than words. Practise
yourself what you urge upon others, and you will not only correct
more easily what is wrong in me, but will free yourself from a great
responsibility. It will not, then, apply to you if any should say : They
bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on me?i's
shoulders: but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers (Matt, xxiii. 4). Nor need you fear that reproach : Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself7 (Rom. ii. 21).
4. The voice of the turtle is heard in our land. As long as men
have received their reward for the worship which they render unto
God only in the earth, and that land which flows with milk and
honey, they do not at all realize that they are strangers and pilgrims
upon the earth, nor mourn as the turtle in sad remembrance of their
own country; but on the contrary, misusing the place of their exile
as if it were their country and home, they have set themselves to eat
the fat things of it, and drink the sweet. Thus it is that so long a
time passes without the voice of the turtle being heard in our land.
But when the promise of the kingdom of heaven has been made,
when men have realized that they have not here a continuing city,
and have begun to seek eagerly for that which is to come, then first
the voice of the turtle is plainly heard sounding in the land. For
when a holy soul sighs for the Presence of Christ, when it endures
with pain to see the possession of His Kingdom deferred, when it
hails from afar with sighs and groans the dear land it longs for, does
it not seem to you that each soul which so bears itself on earth is
as the chaste turtle which sits apart and utters its mournful note ?
Then it is, and thenceforward, that the voice of the turtle is heard in
our land. How can it be otherwise than that the absence of Christ
should move me to frequent tears and daily groanings ? Lord, all
my desire is before Thee: and my groaning is not hid from Thee
(Ps. xxxviii. 9). Thou knowest, O Lord, / am weary with my groaning ; but blessed is he who can say, like the Psalmist: All the night
make I my bed to swim ; I water my couch with my tears (Ps. vi. 6).
Nor is it only I in whom these groanings are found, but all those
who love His appearing. For what does H e Himself say ? Can the
children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with
them ? but the days will come when the Bridegroo?n shall be taken from
them, and then shall they (mourn) (Matt. ix. 15); as if H e had said:
* Then shall the voice of the turtle be heard/

COMMENDATION OF CHASTITY AND WIDOWHOOD

357

5. So it is, O dear Lord Jesus ; those days have come. For the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,
waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. viii. 19-22).
And not only they, but we ourselves also groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our
body ; knowing this, that whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord (2 Cor. v. 6). Nor are those groans fruitless
to which a response so kind and merciful is made from heaven,
inasmuch as we hear: For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saiih the Lord (Ps. xii. 5).
That voice of groaning and complaint was heard in the time of the
Fathers also, but seldom, since each of them retained his groans, as it
were, within his own breast. Wherefore, also, one of them said:
My secret to myself my secret to myself woe is me (Is. xxiv. 16,
Douay). So, also, he who said : My groaning is not hid from Thee
(Ps. xxxviii. 9), in declaring that from God alone "was it not hidden,
showed that it was hidden from others. And, therefore, it could not
then be said, The voice of the turtle is heard in our land, since it was
then a secret, known but to few, and not yet divulged to the multitude. But when the proclamation has been openly made : Seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
God (Coloss. iii. 1 ) ; that plaintive cry of longing, the lament, as it
were, of the turtledove, begins to belong to all, and the reason for
it to be the same for all, since all know the Lord, as we read in the
prophet Jeremiah : They shall all know Me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord (Jer. xxxii. 34).
6. But if there are many who utter that plaintive cry, why does He
speak of only one ? The voice of the turtle, H e says. Why does He
not say, ' of the turtles ?' Perhaps the Apostle resolves this difficulty,
where he says that the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for the
saints with groanings that cannot be uttered (Rom. viii. 26). Thus,
in fact, it is. H e who arouses in others those aspirations which
groans manifest outwardly, is brought before us as Himself groaning.
And however many there be whom you hear thus groan, it is one
sound that the lips of all of them utter. Why should it not be, in
fact, His voice, seeing that it is H e who in the mouth of each forms
the words of petition for the necessities that each feels ? For the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal
(1 Cor. xii. 7 ) ; to each one His Voice declares Him present, and
makes Him manifest. Learn from the Gospel that the Holy Spirit
has a voice. The Spirit breatheth where He will, and thou hearest
His voice, but thou knowest not whence He cometh or whither He goeth
(John iii. 8, Douay). But he, who was as a master who was himsejf
dead, 1 teaching the dead letter of the Law to those who were
similarly dead, did not know this. Nevertheless we, who have been
brought from death unto life by the life-giving Spirit, we know,
by His gracious illumination, and through our assured and daily
1

I.e., Nicodemus (John iii. 10).

358

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

experience, that our vows and aspirations come from Him, and ascend
to Him, and there find mercy before the eyes of God. For when
has God ever rendered the voice of His Spirit ineffectual ? And
H e knows what His Spirit desires, inasmuch as H e maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God.
7. It is not only its plaintive cries which render the turtle acceptable, but also its chastity. For this merit it was judged a worthy
offering for a Virgin Birth; and thus we read in the Scripture: A pair
of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons (Luke ii. 24). And although the
Holy Spirit is in other passages customarily spoken of under the
figure of a pigeon or dove, yet that is a bird given to passion,
and therefore not suitable to be offered in sacrifice to the Lord,
except it were young and immature. But for the turtle-dove no
age is prescribed, because its chastity at any age is recognised. It
is content with one mate, and if he be lost does not take another,
thus condemning a plurality of marriages among men. For although
that is a remedy for incontinence, and therefore only a venial fault,
yet that the incontinence itself should be so great is not creditable.
It is a cause for shame that reason should be unable to do in man,
and that in a matter of honour and uprightness, what nature is able
to do in a bird. The widowed turtle may, in fact, be seen to practise
all the tasks belonging to holy widowhood diligently and without
weariness. You see it everywhere solitary; you hear it everywhere
uttering its melancholy note; nor is it ever to be found perched upon
any green bough ; and from it you may learn to avoid as pestilential
the ever green and vigorous shoots of pleasures. Add to this that it
is most given to haunt mountain peaks and the loftiest summits of
trees, and thus teaches us to despise earthly things and to love
heavenly, a purpose especially appropriate to a state of chastity.
8. From all this it may be inferred that the note of the turtle is
also a preaching of chastity. This utterance was not at first heard in
the earth, but rather that other : Increase, and multiply, and replenish
the earth (Gen. i. 28). To no purpose would that call to chastity
have sounded, when the country of the resurrection (Luke xx. 35, 36)
had not as yet been revealed, in which men, far more happily,
neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of
God in Heaven. Or was it the time for that utterance to be heard
when every barren woman in Israel was held to be under a reproach,
wThen the Patriarchs themselves had many wives at once, when the
Law required a man whose brother died without children to raise up
seed unto his brother ? But when that commendation of eunuchs
who had made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's
sake was heard from the mouth of the heavenly turtle (Matt. xix. 12),
and when also the counsel of that other chaste turtle as regarding
virgins was everywhere followed (1 Cor. vii. 25), then it might begin
truly to be said that the voice of the turtle has been heard in our land.
9. Since both flowers, then, have appeared, and the voice of the
turtle has been heard in our land, without doubt the Truth has been

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359

made known both to hearing and to sight. For a voice is heard and
a flower seen. By flowers are meant miracles, as I have explained
above, which, joined to the impression made by the voice [of him
who preaches the truth of the Gospel], brings forth the fruit of faith.
For although faith cometh by hearing, the confirmation of the faith
comes from sight. The voice has sounded, the flowers have shone,
and truth has sprung up out of the earth by the confession of believing
souls, word and sign thus concurring to the testimony of the faith.
Those testimonies are rendered abundantly easy of belief when the
flower attests the witness of the voice, the sight that of the hearing.
The things that are heard confirm those that are seen, so that the
testimony of two witnesses (I mean that of the ear and of the eye)
establish the truth of that which they declare. Wherefore the Lord
said : Go your way, and tell John (for H e was addressing the disciples
of that teacher) what things ye have seen and heard (Luke vii. 22).
The certitude of faith could not have been expressed to them more
briefly or more clearly. The same conviction was speedily brought
about throughout the whole world, and by the same summary of argument. What things, He said, ye have seen and heard. O saying of
little length, yet strong and effectual ! I assert with assured belief
that which I have perceived by the testimony of my own ears and
my own eyes. The trumpet of salvation sounds, the miracles shine
clear before the eyes of men, and the world believes. It is speedily
persuaded of the truth of that which is asserted, when it is authenticated by actions so marvellous. Thus we read that the Apostles
went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the Word with signs following (Mark xvi. 20). We read
that H e was transfigured on the mount in a cloud of wonderful
brightness, and that nevertheless a Voice from Heaven bore witness
to Him (Matt. xvii. 2-5). We read also of a Dove which similarly
pointed Him out on the banks of Jordan, and of a Voice which bare
witness to Him (Matt. iii. 16, 17). And thus it is that the mercy of
God makes these two things, the voice and the outward sign, to concur
everywhere to introduce the faith ; so making, by these two senses, as
by two open windows, a wide opening for truth to reach the soul.
1 o. There follows, The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs. Of these
we do not eat; their immaturity makes them unfit for use. They
have the appearance, but not the taste, of good figs ; and in this they
are perhaps made to describe hypocrites. Yet we do not altogether
reject them, for we may perhaps have need of them another time.
They will fall prematurely of their own accord, like grass growing
upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up (Ps. cxxix. 6),
which, as I think, is spoken of hypocrites. Yet not without cause is
mention made of them in this nuptial song. Doubtless they are of
no use for food, but they may serve for another purpose; for in a
nuptial festival many other things beside viands are needed. I think
that the subject ought not to be passed by altogether without mention • but whatever be its significance I am unwilling to discuss it

36°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

within the narrow limits left me at the end of this Sermon ; I defer it,
therefore, to another time, which may be less occupied. I leave you
to judge whether I am right in so doing; do you only obtain for me
from God, by your prayers, that I may be enabled to explain, so as
to conduce to your edification, what I think; and that all may be to
the praise and glory of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church,
our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who is above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN.

SERMON LX.
OF

T H E INCREDULITY OF T H E JEWS, AND OF THEIR SLAYING
CHRIST, BY WHICH THEY FILLED UP T H E MEASURE OF THEIR
FATHERS.

' The Jig-trte putteth forth her green figs.''—Cant. ii. 13.

^ T " ^ H I S sentence depends on those which precede it. The speaker
I
had said that the time for pruning and culture of the vine
"*had come, and that this was shown as well by the appearance
of flowers, as by the hearing of the note of the turtle-dove. H e
shows it by the production of green figs also, because the coming of
spring is evidenced not only by the appearance of flowers and by the
call of the turtle-dove, but by the fruits of the fig-tree. For the
season is never more mild than when the fig-tree has produced its
green fruit. The fig-tree has not flowers, but fruit, at the time when
other trees flower. And as flowers appear and pass away, being
useful only as a mark of, and a stage in the production of, the fruits
which are to follow them, so is it with those fruits which appear for a
time, but fall prematurely, and are themselves unfit to be eaten, but
give place to others which attain ripeness. It is by this, as I have
said, that the Bridegroom marks the advance of the season, and
makes it the ground for earnestly urging the Bride not to be slothful
in entering upon the work in the vineyard which has to be done, in
its proper season, so that it be not lost. So much for the literal sense.
2. But what of the spiritual meaning ? It is plain that here we
must regard, not the fig-tree as being spoken of, but the people which
it represents, since God's care is for men, not trees. Truly, the
people is (as it were) a fig-tree; frail because of the flesh, of small
sense and intelligence, of no high disposition, and whose earliest
fruits (to carry on still the metaphor) are earthly and unripe. For it
is not the object of popular desire to seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness (Matt. vi. 3 3 ) ; but rather, as says the Apostle,
to think of the things of this world, wherewith husbands may please
their wives, and wives their husbands. Such shall have trouble in the
flesh (1 Cor. vii. 28, ^^), but we do not deny that at the last they

THE INCREDULITY OF THE JEWS

361

shall attain the fruits of faith, if they repent sincerely of, and confess,
their faults, and especially if they make amends for the works of the
flesh by almsgiving. The first fruits, then, which such persons produce are not properly speaking the whole products of their lives, but
are like the green and immature fruits of the fig-tree. If they shall
afterwards bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (Matt. iii. 8), for
that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural (1 Cor.
xv. 46), it shall be said to them : What fruit had ye then in those things
7Vhereofye are noiv ashamed (Rom. vi. 21) ?
3. But yet I think that we are not at liberty to interpret this
passage of all peoples indiscriminately, but that one people in particular is intended. For the Scripture does not speak of trees, but of
one tree: The fig-tree pit tteth forth her green figs ; and, as I think, by
that one is meant the nation of the Jews. In fact, how often does
the Saviour seem to employ the same metaphor in the Gospel, in the
parables which H e delivered ? For example: A certain man had a
fig tree planted in his vineyard (Luke xiii. 6 ) ; and, again : Behold the
fig-tree, and all the trees (xxi. 29); and to Nathanael it was said:
When thou wast under the fig-tree, 1 saw thee (John i. 48). And
again, it is a fig-tree upon which H e pronounces a curse, because He
has found upon it no fruit (Mark xi. 13, 14). Thus, that people is
well compared to a fig-tree, which, although sprung from the root of
the Patriarchs, which was good, was never willing to lift itself from the
ground, or shoot upwards towards the sky; never responded to the
goodness of its root, either by the greatness of its branches, the
beauty of its flowers, or the abundance of its fruit. O tree stunted,
knotty, and twisted, nothing answering to thy root is seen in thee:
for thy root was holy. What appears in thy branches which is worthy
of it? The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, saith the Bridegroom.
O evil seed, it is not from thy noble root that thou hast derived these !
That which is in it is from the Holy Spirit, and all is refined and
sweet which is produced by Him. Whence hast thou these figs crude
and coarse ? And, in truth, what is there in that people which is not
crude and coarse, whether we consider their actions, their inclinations, their understanding, or even the rites with which they worship
God ? For their actions carried them [of old] into many wars, their
inclinations are all devoted to the pursuit of gain, their intelligence
stopped short in the thick husk of the letter of their Law, and their
worship consists in shedding the blood of sheep and of cattle.
4. But someone says: Since that nation has never ceased to produce such crude fruit, then the time for pruning has been reached at
an earlier period, since the two events are represented as contemporaneous. But that is not the case. Wre say that women are mothers,
not when they are in travail, but when they have brought forth. And,
similarly, we say that trees have flowered, not when the flowers have
begun to appear, but rather when they have fallen. So also is it said
here that the fig-tree hath put forth1 her green figs, not when it has
1

Protulit (Vulgate).

362

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

produced a few, but when it has produced them all—that is, when
the production of them has come to an end. If you ask me at what
period this took place with that [Jewish] people, I reply, when it slew
Jesus Christ. For it was then that its malice was consummated,
according as H e Himself had foretold to them : Fill ye up then
the measure of your fathers (Matt, xxiii. 32). Wherefore at the
moment when He was about to yield up His spirit upon the Cross,
He said : / / is finished (John xix. 30). O what a consummation of
its continual production of fruits crude and coarse did that fig-tree, so
cursed and condemned to a perpetual sterility, at length reach ! O
how much worse were the last than the former ones ! At first they
were only useless, but the last came to be hurtful and poisonous. O
nature not merely crude, but touched with viperous venom, to hate
that Man, who not only cures the bodies of men, but saves their
souls ! O intelligence, coarse, dense, and, as it were, bovine, which
did not recognise God even in His own works !
5. Perhaps the Jew will complain, as of a deep injury, that I call his
intelligence bovine. But let him read what is said by the prophet Isaiah,
and he will find that it is even less than bovine. For he says : The
ox k?ioiveth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth
not know, My people doth not consider (Is. i. 3). You see, O Jew,
that I am milder than your own prophet. I have compared you to
the brute beasts ; but he sets you below even these. Or, rather, it is
not the Prophet who says this in his own name ; but he speaks in the
Name of God, who declares Himself by the very works H e does to be
God. Though ye believe not Me, H e says, believe the works ; and, If
I do not the works of My Father^ believe Me not (John x. 38, 37); and
not even that aroused them to understand. Not the flight of demons,
not the obedience of the elements, nor life restored to the dead, was
able to expel from their minds that stupidity bestial, and more than
bestial, which caused them, by a blindness as marvellous as it was
miserable, to rush headlong into that crime, so enormous and so
horrible, of laying impious hands upon the Lord of Glory. From
that time, therefore, it could justly be said of them : The fig-tree hath
put forth her green figs, inasmuch as the institutions of the Jewish
Law began to draw towards their end, and, according to the ancient
prophecy, on the coming of the new, the old should be abandoned
(Lev. xxvi. 10). Even so do the green figs fall, and give place to the
good figs which succeed them. ' As long,' says the Bridegroom, ' a s
the fig-tree continued to put forth its green fruit, I did not call upon
thee, O My Bride, knowing that it could not, at the same time, produce good fruit. But now that those earlier ones have been put forth,
I invite thee now in the due time, since, in the place of those that were
useless, good and salutary fruits are about to appear.'
6. The vines, H e continues, in flower yield their sweet scent, and
this is the sign of fruit to come. This odour drives away serpents.
It is said that when the vines are flowering every venomous reptile
leaves the spot: they cannot endure the sweet scent of the flowers

THE INCREDULITY OF THE JEWS

363

in fresh bloom. Which I wish our novices to take particular notice
of, and to act with corresponding trust and confidence, reflecting what
manner of spirit they have received, that evil spirits cannot sustain
even its first approaches. If their fervour is such at its beginning,
what shall be its complete perfection ? Let the fruit be judged from
the flower, and the excellence of the savour of the one be estimated
from the strength of the perfume exhaled by the other. The vines in
flower yield their sweet scent. And, indeed, in the beginning it was so.
Upon the preaching of the new grace of Jesus Christ followed newness
of life in those who had believed, who had their conversation honest
among the Gentiles (1 Pet. ii. 12), and were a sweet odour of Christ
in every place (2 Cor. ii. 15). That sweet odour was the good testimony
which was rendered to them, and which arises from good works, as
perfume from a flower. And since, in the first period of the rising
faith, the souls of the faithful were like spiritual vines covered with
flowers and exhaling a pleasant odour, having a good testimony from
those who were without, I think that what is here said applies not
unfitly to them—that the vines in flower yield their sweet scent. To
what end was this ? It was that by this means even those who had
not yet believed, reflecting on these good works, and being attracted
by them to the faith, might themselves glorify God, and so to them
also the odour of life might begin to be the means of life. It is then
said of them, not undeservedly, that they sought not their own glory,
but the salvation of others, by the good report which their actions
obtained, and that they thus gave forth a sweet odour. For it would
have been in their power to seek, after the example of certain others,
to make a gain of godliness; for example, by ostentation or avarice.
But that would have been not to give their good odour, but to sell it;
and this they were careful not to do, because all their actions had
charity for their sole motive.
7. But if the vines are believing souls; if their flowrers are good
works, and the odour they exhale the estimation they produce in the
minds of others, what is the fruit they produce ? It is martyrdom ;
yes, the blood of the martyr is truly the fruit of the vine. When He
shall give sleep to His beloved, says the Psalmist, behold the inheritajice
of the Lord are children, the rezvard, the fruit of the womb (Ps. cxxvi. 2, 3,
Douay). I had almost said ' the fruit of the vine.' Why should I not
call the Blood of the Innocent and the Just the most pure blood of
the Vine—that red and most precious and approved lifeblood of the
Vine of Sorek,1 forced out by the winepress of suffering? For in the
sight of the Lord the death of His saints is precious (Ps. cxvi. 15).
1
Sorech or Soreth. The name is found three times only in Scripture—Gen.
xlix. 11 ; Is. v. 2 ; Jer. ii. 21. The Hebrew root signifies tawny or reddish,
according to Gesenius. The name is used in modern Arabic for a certain purple
grape, grown in Syria, and highly esteemed ; it is noted for its small berries and
minute soft pips, and produces a red wine. The valley of Sorek, in the Philistine
country (Judges xvi. 4), the home of Delilah, was perhaps so called from the
growth of such vines ('Dictionary of the Bible,' s.v.).—ED.

364

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

So much as to that which is said: The vines in floiver yield their
sweet scent.
8. So, then, if we prefer to regard this passage as referring to the
times of grace, this will be the meaning of it. But if we rather refer
it to the Fathers (for the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord
of Sabaoth), it will be explained thus : The Prophets and Patriarchs
discerned as an odour of sweetness the future Coming and sacrifice
of Christ in the Flesh, but did not give forth that odour in themselves, because they did not show forth in the flesh that which they
felt in the spirit by anticipation. They did not give forth the odour
of it in themselves, nor divulge their secret, awaiting its revelation in
due time. Who, in fact, had then any comprehension of the wisdom
which was hidden in a mystery, and not shown forth in the body?
Thus the vines, indeed, did not then yield their sweet scent. But
they did so afterwards, when, in the succession of generations, they
brought into the world JESUS CHRIST, born of them, according to the
flesh, of a Virgin Mother. It was then, I say, that those spiritual
vines yielded in truth their sweet scent, since the kindness and love of
God our Saviour towards man appeared (Tit. iii. 4), and the world
began to have the presence of Him whom, while He was still absent,
few had anticipated. That good man, for example, who, touching
Jacob, had the feeling and anticipation of Christ, and said: See, the
smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed
(Gen. xxvii. 27). When he said this, he had the delight of this
anticipation for himself, but he did not communicate it to any other
person. But when the fulness of that time came in which God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, that He might
redeem those which zvere under the Law (Gal. iv. 4), then, indeed, the
sweet odour which was in Him diffused itself everywhere, so that the
Church, perceiving it from the extremities of the earth, cried out :
Thy Name is as ointment poured forth (Cant. i. 2), and souls, as young
maidens, flocked towards its sweet perfume. Thus that vine yielded
its sweet scent; and at that time other vines also, in which was the
same odour of life, similarly gave it forth. Wherefore should they,
from whom Christ came according to the Flesh, not have done so ?
It was said, therefore, that the vines yielded their sweet scent, either
because faithful souls shed forth everywhere around them the good
opinion which they aroused, or because the oracles and revelations of
the Fathers were made openly known to the world, and their sweet
odour went forth throughout all the earth, as the Apostle declares:
God was manifest in the Flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory (1 Tim. iii. 16).
*
/
9. But it would be wonderful if neither the fig-tree nor those vines
had in them anything which would serve to our edification. I
believe, then, that this passage has a moral sense also; for, by the
grace of God which is in us, we have also fig-trees and vines. The
fig-trees are those whose characters are sweet and peaceable, and the

T H E INCREDULITY OF T H E JEWS

3^5

vines those of a more ardent and fervent spirit. Everyone among us
who acts in union and peace with others, who lives among his
brethren, not only without giving ground of complaint to any, but
approving himself kind and helpful to all, and fulfilling towards them
every office of charity, why may I not speak of him very fitly as a figtree ? Yet if he have put forth crude and coarse fruits, it behoves
him to cast them off; as, for example, the fear of judgment, which
perfect love casteth o u t ; and the bitterness of remorse for past sins,
which is sure to yield to sincere confession, to abundant shedding of
tears, and to the infusion of grace; and also other similar things,
which are as the green figs which go before the good and sweet fruit.
Such truths as these you are able by yourselves to reflect upon.
10. But that I may add here one more thought which occurs to
me at the moment, may there not be counted among green figs such
gifts as knowledge, prophecy, gifts of tongues, and the like ? For
these things must, like green figs, pass away, and give place to better,
as the Apostle declares, asserting that prophecies shall fail, tongues
cease, and knowledge vanish away (1 Cor. xiii. 8). The discernment
of spiritual things shall exclude even faith in them, and the place of
hope must of necessity be taken by sight. For that which a man sees
why doth he yet hope for ? Charity alone never faileth, but that
charity only wherewith God is loved with all the heart, with all the
soul, with all the strength, and with all the mind (Luke x. 27).
Therefore I do not reckon this at all in the number of crude figs ; I
do not think that it is to be compared even to the fig tree, but to the
vines. Now, those who are as vines show themselves severe rather
than sweet; they act in a spirit full of ardour, are zealous for discipline, prompt and severe in rebuking vice, and applying to themselves
very fitly that saying of the Psalmist: Do not I hate them, O Lord,
that hate Thee ? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against
Thee ? (Ps. cxxxix. 21). Also, the zeal of Thine House hath eaten me
up (Ps. lxix. 9). The former seem to me to excel in love of their
neighbour; the latter, in love of God. But let us make a pause
under this vine and under this fig-tree, where the love of God and of
our neighbour casts a delightful shade. Of each of these I am
possessed when I love Thee, O dear Lord Jesus, who art my neighbour, because Thou art Man, and hast shown Thy love and mercy
towards me, and who art, nevertheless, God over all, blessed for evermore.

AMEN.

366

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LXI.
HOW THE CHURCH FINDS THE RICHES OF DIVINE MERCY IN THE
HOLLOWS OF CHRIST'S OPEN WOUNDS : AND OF THE FORTITUDE
OF THE MARTYRS, WHICH THEY HAVE RECEIVED OF CHRIST.
i

Arise,1 my love, my fair one, and come away.'—Cant. ii. 13.

T

H E Bridegroom manifests His great affection by repeating the
words of affection. For repetition is a sign expressive of
affection; and that H e again summons His Beloved to
labour among the vines, shows how full of solicitude H e is for the
salvation of souls. That the vines denote souls, you have already
heard ; nor need I repeat what has been said upon that subject.
Notice what follows. If I remember rightly, H e has never yet clearly
named the Bride in all this work except when H e leads her to the
vineyards, when H e brings her near to the wine of charity. When
she shall have come thither, when she shall have been perfected, H e
will make with her a spiritual marriage; and they two shall be, not
one flesh, but one spirit, according to the saying of the Apostle : He
that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17).
2. Then follow the words : O My dove, that art in the clefts of the
rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see thy countenance, let Me
hear thy voice. H e loves, and therefore goes on to speak words
of love. H e winningly calls her anew His dove; H e says that H e is
hers, and claims her as belonging wholly to Him ; it is no longer she
who earnestly entreats that H e will show Himself unto her, and
speak to h e r ; it is now H e who in turn begs for these graces. H e
acts as a bridegroom, but as one who is modest and diffident, who
shrinks from exposing himself to public gaze, who determines to
enjoy his happiness in retirement, or, as it were, in the clefts of the
rock, or in the hollows of the wall. Imagine, then, that the Bridegroom speaks thus to His Bride: ' D o not fear, My beloved, that
the labour upon the vines to which I call you will interfere with or
interrupt the enjoyment of our love. There will even be in it some
advantage.' This is a kind of trifling founded upon the literal
sense of the words. But why do I call it trifling, seeing that there is
nothing serious in the literal explanation ? The outward appearance
of this passage is not worthy of our attention unless the Spirit shall
help our infirmity to understand the inward meaning of it. Let us not,
then, remain outside of this spiritual sense, lest it should seem (which
God forbid!) that we desire to refer to what is impure and dis-

1
Some editions repeat here * make haste,' from verse 10; but not the earliest
ones, nor the MSS.

T H E FORTITUDE OF THE MARTYRS

367

honourable. Take heed that you bring chaste ears to this discourse
of love; and when you think of these two who are its subject,
remember always that not a man and a woman are to be thought of,
but the Word of God and the devout soul. And if I shall speak
of Christ and the Church, the sense is the same, except that under
the name of the Church is specified not one soul only, but the unity,.
or rather the unanimity, of many souls. And do not think that by
the clefts of the rock or the hollows of the wall are meant the hidingplaces of those who work iniquity; reject from your minds every
thought or suspicion of such works of darkness.
3. Another writer has thus expounded this passage, interpreting the
clefts of the rock of the wounds of Christ. And rightly so, for that
rock was Christ (1 Cor. x. 4). Precious are those clefts [to us], for
they establish the faith of the Resurrection and the Divinity of Christ.
My Lord and My God, said an Apostle (John xx. 28). Whence
came that assured conviction (praculum), if not from the clefts of the
Rock ? In these the sparrow hath found an house, and the turtle a
nest for herself where she may lay her young (Ps. lxxxiv. 3 ) ; in these
the dove finds safety, and regards without fear the hawk that flies
around. And therefore H e says, My dove that art in the clefts of the
rock. While the dove replies: He hath exalted me upon a rock
(Ps. xxvii. 5), and again, He hath set my feet upon a rock (Ps. xl. 2).
The man who is wise builds his house upon a rock, because
there he need fear neither the force of the winds, nor the beating
of the waves (Matt. vii. 24). What good does he not find upon
that rock? Raised upon it, I stand firmly, and am safe. I am
safe from the enemy; I am strong against accident; and all because
I am lifted above the earth; for everything that is earthly is uncertain and perishable. Our conversation is in heaven, whence we need
not fear ever to fall, nor ever to be cast down. Our rock, then, is in
heaven; in it is strength, and on it security. Is it not said that the
rock is a refuge for the conies (Ps. civ., 18)? And where, in truth,
is there a firm and safe refuge for us who are weak, except in the
Wounds of our Saviour ? There I dwell with safety so much the
greater, as H e is so powerful to save. The world rages around me,
the body weighs upon me, the devil lays snares for m e ; but I do not
fall, for I am founded upon a firm Rock. Perhaps I have committed
some great sin, my conscience is troubled, but I do not despair,
because I remember the Wounds of my Lord; for H e was wounded
for our iniquities (Is. liii. 5). What sin is there so deadly that it
may not be remitted through the Death of Christ ? If, then, I keep
in remembrance a remedy so powerful and efficacious, I cannot be
terrified by any disease, however virulent it be.
4. Thus it plainly appears how greatly that man erred who said,
My iniquity is greater than I can bear (Gen. iv. 13). Except that he
was not among the members of Christ, nor did the merits of Christ
pertain to him, so that he could have a dependence upon them, or
say, as a member asserting an interest in that which belongs to His

368

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Head, that they were His. 1 But as for me, that which is wanting in
myself I claim with undoubting confidence in the Heart of the Lord,
from which all mercy flows ; nor is it without clefts through which
that mercy flows forth. For [the soldiers] pierced His Hands, and
His Feet, and His Side they pierced with a lance ; and by these
openings it is permitted to me to suck honey from the rock, and oil
from the hardest crag ; that is to say, to taste and see how sweet the
Lord is. He was meditating thoughts of peace, and I knew it n o t ;
for who hath known the mind of the Lord ; or who hath been His
counsellor ? But the nails wherewith He was pierced have become
for me, as it were, master keys (clavis, clavus), to open for me the
treasury of the Lord's Will. How can I do otherwise than see with
clear vision through a cleft so broad ? The nails cry aloud, and the
wounds cry aloud, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself. The sword passed through His soul, and came near to His
Heart, that H e might so learn to have a fellow feeling with our infirmities. Through the clefts of His Body the secret of His Heart is
laid open, and that great mystery of goodness, the lovingkindness and
mercy of our God, in which the Dayspring from on high hath visited
us, is manifested to our thankful gaze. How can the Lord's wounds
do other than exhibit His lovingkindness ? and how has it ever shone
forth more wondrously, O Lord, sweet and gentle, and of great mercy,
than in the cruel wounds which Thou didst endure for our sake?
There is no greater proof of compassion and mercy than this, that
one should lay down his life for those who were destined and condemned to death.
5. The pitying mercy of the Lord is, then, all my merit. I am not
altogether destitute of merits, as long as He deigns to have compassion
upon me ; and they will be increased just in proportion to the greatness of His mercy. What if I feel myself guilty of many offences ?
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. v. 20).
And if the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
(Ps. ciii. 17), I also will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever
(Ps. lxxxix. 1). Shall it be my own righteousness that I celebrate?
Nay, O Lord; / will make mention of Thy righteousness, eve?i of
Thine only (Ps. lxxi. 16). For that is mine also, since Thou Thyself
hast become my Righteousness. Have I any reason to fear lest the
one righteousness should not suffice for both ? It is not like that
cloak of which the Prophet speaks, which was so narrow that it could
not cover two (Is. xxviii. 20). Thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness (Ps. cxix. 142). What is longer than eternity? And
Thy Righteousness is eternal; and so ample as amply to cover me
equally, with Thyself. In me, indeed, it shall cover a multitude of
1
This is the uniform reading of the old MSS. and the earlier editions. But
Hcrst reads wrongly, reum capitis membrum ; and Picard, vert capitis membrum.
Our reading is genuine and easy, if in the former half of the sentence you understand membrum and supply stiatu dicit, so that the sense will be, Sicut membrum
7'em capitis suam dicit.

369

THE FORTITUDE OF T H E MARTYRS

sins; but in Thee, O Lord, what does it cover but the treasures of
Thy lovingkindness, the riches of Thy goodness to us ? These are
the treasures which are laid up for me in the clefts of the rock. Of
what great variety of sweetness are these good things, hidden, indeed,
now, but only from those who perish ! For why is that which is holy
given unto dogs, or pearls cast before swine ? God has revealed them
to us by His Spirit, and has made us enter into His holy things by
these open clefts. How great an abundance of sweetness is found in
them, what fulness of grace, and what perfection of virtues !
6. I will enter into those storehouses so richly filled, and, according to the counsel of the Prophet, will leave the cities, and dwell in the
rock (Jer. xlviii. 28). I will be as it were a dove making her nest in
the deepest recess of the cleft, so that, being set with Moses in the
cleft of the rock, I may attain to see the Lord at least from behind
as H e passes by (Exod. xxxiii. 23). For who shall stand before
Him and look upon His Face, that is, behold His unchangeable
Glory, except he to whom it shall be vouchsafed, to be brought not
only into His holy place, but into the Holy of Holies ? Nor is that
sight of the Lord a small favour, nor to be lightly thought of. Let
Herod despise it if he will; as for me, I am far from thinking it a
small thing, and the farther, the more despisable it seems to Herod.
Even such a sight of the Lord has its own delights. Who knows
whether God will not turn, and forgive, and leave behind Him
a blessing ? A time shall come when He shall show to us the light
' of His Countenance, and we shall be saved. But in the meantime,
may He prevent us {prceveniat = go before) with the sweetness of
those blessings which He is wont to leave behind Him. Let Him
now display to us His condescension, as it were, by a view of Him
from behind, and reserve for another time the sight of His Countenance in its Glory. He is exalted high above all in His Kingdom,
but upon His Cross He is all sweetness. Let Him begin with me
by the latter vision, and in the other bestow upon me the fulness of
joy. Thou shall make me full of joy, it is said, with Thy Comitenance
(Acts ii. 28). Each vision is saving, and each is sweet; but the one
is in supreme exaltation, the other in humility; the one in Glory,
the other in mortal pallor.
7. For, as says the Psalmist of the dove : The hinder parts of her
back are covered-with the paleness of gold (Vs. lxviii. 14, Douay). H e
cannot be other than pale in death. But gold, though it be pale, is
of more value than yellow and shining brass; so also the foolishness
of God is wiser than men (1 Cor. i. 25). This gold is the WORD,
the wisdom of God. This gold has rendered its colour pale, hiding
the Form of God, and putting on the form of a servant. From the
Church also H e has taken her golden brightness, for she says : Look
not on me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me
<{i. 6). Her back, then, also has the paleness of gold; she cloes not
blush at the blackness of the Cross; she does not shudder at the
scorching brands of the Saviour's Passion, nor fly from the livid
24

37o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

marks of His wounds. She even takes delight in them, and desires
that her last end may be like these. It is on that account that the
words are spoken which she hears from the Bridegroom : My dove
that art in the clefts of the rock ; because she dedicates herself with
single-hearted devotion to the Wounds of Christ, and dwells in them
with continual meditation. Thence comes the endurance which does
not shrink from martyrdom ; thence the complete confidence which
she has in the Most High. The martyr can fear nothing who lifts
his eyes to that bloodless and livid Face, by whose very paleness he
is healed, and who nerves himself to show forth a glorious likeness
of his Master's Death, even in the paleness of gold. Why should he
fear to whom it is said by the Lord Himself: Let Me see thy countenance? (ii. 14). Why does H e say this? I think it is not so much
that H e desires to see her, as that H e desires to be seen by her.
For what is there that He does not see ? He has no need that anyone should show themselves to Him who sees all things, even though
they be hidden. What H e desires, then, is to be seen; the Leader
full of kindness and bounty desires that the countenance and the
eyes of His devoted soldier should be fixed upon His wounds, to
draw from them strength and encouragement, and to render him
stronger to endure his sufferings, through the power of His
Example.
8. In truth, while the martyr is gazing at the Wounds of his
Saviour, he will not feel his own. H e stands intrepid and triumphant,
though his whole body be a mass of wounds; and when the steel
gashes his sides, he beholds the sacred blood of martyrdom spout
forth from his body, not only bravely, but with gladness. Where,
then, is the soul of the martyr ? It is in a place of safety; in the
Rock, in the Bosom of Jesus, which it enters through the open portal
of His Wounds. If it were left to its own sensations only, assuredly
the stabbing sword would be seen and felt; the pain would be found
unendurable ; it would succumb, and deny its Lord. But as it is
abiding in the Rock, what wonder if it should endure as a rock
endures ? Nor if it is an exile from the body, is it wonderful that
the pains of the body it does not feel. This is not the consequence
of insensibility, but of the force of love. The senses are not lost,,
though they are controlled. The pain is felt, but the soul rises
above it and scorns it. It is then from that Rock comes the fortitude
of the martyr, and the power that is in him to drink of the cup of
the Lord (Matt. xx. 22, 23). And that cup, so exciting in its
passionate glow, how goodly is it ! (Ps. xxiii. 5). Goodly, indeed;
and that not less to the Leader who is keenly watching the struggle,
than to the brave soldier who fights and conquers, for our strength is the
joy of the Lord (Neh. viii. 10). How can it be otherwise than that
the voice of a martyr's testimony, bravely sustained unto the end,,
should be to Him a cause of joy, since, in fact, H e asks it so
earnestly, in the words before u s : Let Me hear thy voice. Nor will
H e delay, in His turn, to repay it according to His promise : Whoso-

THE FORTITUDE OF T H E MARTYRS

371

ever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before
My Father which is in Heaven (Matt. x. 32). But let me cut short
this sermon, for it cannot be finished at this time; and it would be
excessively long were I to complete all that remains to be said upon
this verse which I have begun to expound. Let me reserve it, therefore, to the beginning of the next sermon ; and may all that I say,
and the manner in which it is said, be a subject of satisfaction to
Him, who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST

Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

our

AMEN.

SERMON LXII.
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE ABIDING OF T H E FAITHFUL SOUL IN THE
CLEFTS OF THE ROCK, AND WHAT IN THE SECRET PLACES OF
THE STAIRS.
THAT IT IS NEEDFUL RATHER TO SEARCH WHAT
IS T H E WILL OF GOD THAN TO SEARCH INTO HIS MAJESTY, AND
THAT PURITY OF INTENTION IS NECESSARY TO T H E PREACHING
OF T H E T R U T H .

' My dove that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs."—
Cant. ii. 14.

I

T is not only in the clefts of the rock that the dove finds a safe
refuge; it is also in the secret places of the stairs. If, then, we
take ' the stairs' as signifying, not a mere heaped-up pile of
stones, but the assemblage of the Saints, may we not perhaps take the
secret places or hollows in it to refer to the places left, as it were,
empty in it by those Angels who, because of their pride, fell from
Heaven, since those places are to be filled by men, even as ruins are
built up with new and living stones ? Wherefore the Apostle Petei
says : To whom coming, as unto a living stone, ye also as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house (1 Pet. ii. 4, 5). Nor do I think that it
will be far from the fact if we understand by it the guardianship of
Angels, as in some sort acting as a wall (macerid) around the Lord's
vineyard, which is the Church of the predestinate, since St. Paul says:
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation ? (Heb. i. 14). And the Psalmist: The Angel
of the Lord campeth about the7n that fear Him, a?id delivereth them
(Ps. xxxiv. 7). And if that be adopted, the sense will be that two
things console the Church in the time and place of her pilgrimage—
one referring to the past, the memory of the Passion of Christ; the
other to the future, the thought and confident assurance of being
received into the blessedness of the Saints. She looks forward and
backward, and beholds each of these two with an earnest longing

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

which never fails ; each of them seems to her immeasurably sweet,
and each provides her with refuge and consolation against her griefs
and afflictions which she endures from evil men. The consolation
is complete, since the Church knows not only what she has to look
for, but also from whom she has to look for it. Her expectation is
full of j o y ; nor is it doubtful, for it is founded on the Death of
Christ. Why should she tremble at the greatness of the recompense,
when she considers the value (dignitatem) of the price paid for it ?
What happiness she experiences in reflecting upon those clefts through
which flowed that most sacred Blood, which was the price of her
salvation ! With what joy she traverses the hollows, the retreats,
the mansions, which are so many, and so diverse, in the House of
the Father, and in which He will place His children according to the
diversity of their merits ! And because she is not, for the present,
able to enter into the heavenly home in reality, she enters it in the
only manner which is possible to her, in spirit and by continual
remembrance of it. But the time will come when she shall fill up
those waste places ; shall dwell in those hollows in body as well as
in spirit ; when she shall make light with the presence of the vast
numbers of her children those heavenly habitations which their former
denizens have left void; and then in the heavenly wall there shall
appear no more empty hollows, but all shall rejoice in completeness
and perfection.
2. Or, if you prefer the interpretation, let us say that by studious
and pious souls these hollows are not found, but made. In what
manner, do you ask ? By the force of their thoughts and their desires.
For that spiritual wall yields to the pious desire of the soul, just as
soft stone yields to the edge of the mason's chisel ; it yields to pure
contemplation, to frequent prayer. For the prayer of the humble
pierceth the, clouds (Ecclus. xxxv. 17). Not, indeed, that it cleaves
the spacious heights of this material atmosphere, as a bird cleaves
them in its flight and by the beating of its wings \ or that it pierces,
as by the thrust of a sword, to the height of the dense firmament.
But there are heavens which are holy, living, reasonable, which declare
the glory of God; and these bend themselves, with a willing and
gracious acquiescence, to our prayers : these allow themselves to be
reached by our devout affections; these receive us into their bosom
as often as we knock at the door of them with a pure and worthy
intention. For to him that knocketh it shall be opened. It will,
then, be allowed to each of us, even during this period of our mortality,
to hollow out for himself caves of refuge, in whatsoever part he will,
of this heavenly wall; even now to visit the Patriarchs and to salute
the Prophets ; even now to mingle with the glorious company of the
Apostles and the noble army of Martyrs. It will be permitted to
each, according as the fervour of his devotion shall bear up his soul
as upon wings, to traverse in gladness and joy the dwelling-place and
the mansions of the blessed Virtues, from the least Angels to the
loftiest Cherubin and Seraphin. And if he shall pause and knock

ABIDING OF THE FAITHFUL SOUL IN THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK

373

perseveringly at the door of those to whom he is most strongly drawn,
according to the impulse of the Spirit, who quickeneth whom H e will,
it shall be speedily opened to him ; and making, as it were, a cave of
refuge in the mountains, or rather in those holy souls, who willingly
incline themselves to him in benignant kindness, he shall repose
among them for a little while. Of every soul that acts thus, both the
countenance and the voice are always acceptable to God : the countenance because of its purity ; the voice because of the praises it
renders to Him (Ps. 1. 23). And, in truth, the offering of thanks is
fair in His sight; wherefore, also, to such an one it is said : Let Me
see thy countenance ; let Me hear thy voice. The voice is adoration in
the mind that is occupied in contemplation ; the voice is giving of
thanks. God takes great delight in such hollows as these, from which
sounds forth the voice of thanksgiving to Him, the voice of adoration
and praise.
3. Happy is the soul whose study it has been frequently to hollow
out for itself caves of refuge on this wall, and still more happy if its
refuge be in the rock. For it is open to us to hew and hollow out
our refuge even in the Rock ; but for this is required a sharper edge,
as it were, of purity, a stronger force of will and pious intention, and,
furthermore, more prevailing merits of sanctity. 1 And who can be
thought qualified in these respects ? Surely he who said : In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God: the same was iii the beginning tvith God (John i. 1, 2).
Does it not seem to you that this man is one who has plunged, and,
as it were, whelmed himself in the abysses of the Word as in the
depths of a sea, and who, from the recesses of the Heart of Jesus,
has brought forth the very marrow of the deepest and most sacred
Wisdom ? What shall I say of him who was wont to speak wisdom
among them who were perfect, even the hidden wisdom, which none
of the princes of this world knew (1 Cor. ii. 6-8) ? Did not that pious
searcher, borne onward by a holy and religious, but penetrating,
curiosity, pass through the first and the second heaven, and enter
even into the third heaven in search of that wisdom ? And he has
not been silent about it to us, but has set it forth faithfully in such
faithful words as he could command. For he heard unspeakable
words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Cor. xii. 4), that
is to say, not to man ; and of these he would discourse to God only.
Imagine, then, that God is consoling Paul, whose charity causes him
to regret that he cannot make known this wisdom to his fellow-men,
and saying to him : ' Why are you troubled because men are not
capable of hearing and understanding the thoughts you have conceived ? Let Me hear thy voice'—that is to say, ' If it is not permitted
to you to reveal to mortal ears the thoughts you have in your mind,
yet be consoled, inasmuch as your voice is acceptable and welcome
to the Divine ears.5 Do you see how that holy soul at one time is
1
In most of the MSS. the word sanctitatis is wanting ; but all the printed
editions have it, even the earliest.

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

374

sober because of its charity towards us, and at another beside itself
to God, and in the power of its purity (2 Cor. v. 13) ? See also with
regard to holy David whether he was not himself that man of whom,
as if of another, he speaks with God : The thought of man shall give
praise to Thee, and the rest of the thought make festival in Thine
honour (Ps. lxxvi. 11). All, then, that the Prophet was able to make
publicly known, by his word or his example, of his prophetic consciousness, that he used to render public praise to God, and thanksgivings among the people of the Lord; while that which remained he
reserved for himself and for God, and together they made festival with
joy and gladness. This, then, is what he wished to make known to
us by the verse quoted : that is to say, whatever of the mystery of
wisdom he was able to arrive at by eager and attentive meditation,
he partly shared with the people, according to his ability, by the careful
preaching which he devoted to their salvation; and the remainder,
which the people were not capable of comprehending, he employed
in praises and thanksgivings to God. You see that nothing is. lost
of holy contemplation, since that which cannot be expended to the
edification of the peoples is put to good use for the praise of God,
and is acceptable and agreeable to Him.
4. That being the case, it is clear that there are two kinds of contemplation : one, upon the state, the happiness, and the glory of the
heavenly City, with which either in action or in repose a multitude of
its citizens are occupied; the other, upon the majesty, the eternity,
and the Divinity, of the King Himself. The one may be said to
have relation to the wall, the other to the rock. But the more difficult
it is to hollow out this wall, the sweeter and more satisfying is the
result attained when it is done. Do not fear that with which the
Scripture threatens those who are searchers into Majesty (Prov. xxv. 27).
Only bring to that search an eye which is pure and simple, then you
shall not be overwhelmed with glory, but shall be admitted [to behold
it]—that is, unless you seek not the glory of God, but your own.
Whosoever does this is indeed overwhelmed, but by [the looking for]
his own glory, not that of God; for in pursuit of that your heart is,
as it were, weighed down with desire of vainglory, and is unable to
lift itself up to the glory of God. But if that is driven out of our
soul we may then securely search 1 the Rock in which are hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3). If you are still
doubtful, hear what the Rock Himself says : They that work in Me
shall not do amiss (Ecclus. xxiv. 22). Oh, that I had wings like a
dove! for then would 1 fly away, and be at rest (Ps. lv. 6). There
the gentle and simple soul finds rest, where the fraudful, the arrogant,
the covetous of vainglory, is overwhelmed. The Church is as a dove,
and therefore finds rest. The Church is as a dove, because it is
innocent and mournful. As a dove, I say, because it receives with
meekness the ingrafted word And it rests in the Word, that is, in
the rock; for the Rock is the Word. The Church, then, abides in
1

Scrutemur.

Another reading isfodiamus.

ABIDING OF T H E FAITHFUL SOUL IN THE CLEFTS OF T H E ROCK

375

the clefts of the rock, through which she looks forth and beholds the
glory of her Spouse; and yet she is not overwhelmed by that glory,
because she does not arrogate it to herself. She is not overwhelmed
by it, because it is not the Divine Majesty, but the Divine Will, into
which it is her object to search. Sometimes, indeed, she ventures to
contemplate that which belongs to His Majesty, yet not to scrutinize,
but to adore. And if it is ever her lot to be transported into it by a
sudden ecstasy, that is the Finger of God, who deigns thus to lift up
man to Himself, not the temerity of man, presuming insolently to
intrude into the deep things of God. For when the Apostle relates
that he was caught up into Paradise, that he might excuse his venturing
to glory (2 Cor. xii. 1,2), what other mortal may presume by his own
unaided efforts to introduce himself into the terrible sanctuary of this
supreme Majesty, and to burst with eager gaze into the sight of its
awful mysteries ? I conclude that those who are here spoken of as
searchers into the Divine Majesty are those who burst upon it of their
own accord, not those to whom it is revealed in ecstasy. It is the
former, therefore, that are overwhelmed by its glory.
5. A search into the Divine Majesty is, then, full of danger to be
feared; but a search into the Divine Will [that we may obey it] is as
safe as it is dutiful and pious. Why, indeed, should I not employ
myself with all diligence in ascertaining what is the Will of Him to
whom I owe obedience in all things? Glory and sweetness also
come from the contemplation of His sweetness, from the beholding
of the riches of His goodness and tender mercies. Then, indeed,
we have beheld this glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father (John i. 14). That part of His glory which is here displayed
is full of goodness, and truly paternal. That glory does not overwhelm me, though I bend all my powers to contemplate it; on the
contrary, it impresses itself upon me. For when we with open face
behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
We are transformed in Him, when we are conformed to Him.
God forbid that the conformity of man to the Divine likeness should
be presumed to consist in the glory of His majesty, and not rather in
a modest and complete obedience to His Will. This is my glory, if
ever I shall be so happy as to hear it said of m e : ' I have found a
man after My own heart.' The Heart of the Bridegroom is the
Heart of His Father, and of what character is that ? Be ye therefore
merciful^ He says Himself, as your Father also is merciful (Luke vi. 36).
It is this form and expression of countenance that H e desires to see,
when H e says to the Church: Let Me see thy countenance: a form
and expression of kindness and of piety. Such a countenance [the
Church] lifts with all confidence towards the Rock, which it resembles.
They looked unto Him, says the Psalmist, and were lightened, and their
faces were not ashamed (Ps. xxxiv. 5). How, indeed, shall a humble
soul be confounded by One who is humble, a holy soul by the God
of holiness, a modest soul by Him who is modesty itself? The pure

376

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

countenance of the Bride will no more be abhorrent to the purity of
the Rock, than virtue is abhorrent to virtue, or light to light.
6. But as the Church is not able as a whole to draw near at present
to the piercing of the Rock, because it is not in the power of all who
are in the Church to penetrate the sacred mysteries of the Will of
God, or to apprehend by their own selves the deep things of His
counsels, therefore the Bridegroom declares that she dwells not only
in the clefts of the rock, but in the secret places of the wall. With respect,
then, to those of her members who are perfect, who by the purity of
their conscience and the quickness of their intelligence are emboldened
and enabled to search and to penetrate the secrets of wisdom, the
Church dwells in the clefts of the Rock. With respect to others, she
dwells in the secret places of the wall; that is to say, those who either
are not qualified to hollow out for themselves caves of refuge in the
Rock, or do not presume to do so, should be content to contemplate
in spirit the glory of the saints, and, as it were, to abide in the secret
places of the wall. If there is anyone to whom not even this is possible, let the Church set before him Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,
so that even he may abide, without any toil of his own, in the clefts
of the Rock at the hollowing out of which he has not laboured. The
Jews have laboured [to pierce them], and he, that he may be a
believer, shall enter into the labours of the unbelievers. Nor let him
fear to be repulsed, for he is called to enter in. Enter into the rock,
says the Prophet, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and
for the glory of His majesty (Is. ii. 10). To the soul that is feeble
and undecided, such as is described in that verse in the Gospel in
which one confesses of himself that he cannot dig, and to beg he
is ashamed (Luke xvi. 3), a hollow is shown where he may hide in
the earth until he gather strength and make spiritual progress, so that
then even he may hollow out for himself clefts in the Rock, and with
increased vigour and purity of mind may enter into the inner meanings of the Word.
7. And if we understand as referring to this hiding-place hollowed
in the earth that passage in which it is said, They have dug My Hands
and Feet (Ps. xxii. 17, Douay), it cannot be doubtful that the wounded
soul which shall abide in it shall speedily recover health. For what
is so efficacious to the healing of the wounds of conscience, as to the
purifying of the intention of the soul, as assiduous meditation upon
the Wounds of Christ ? But until it is perfectly purified and healed
I do not see how the words can be applied to it which are here
spoken, Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice. For how
can the soul which is bidden to hide itself venture to show its countenance or lift up its voice ? Hide thyself, it is said, in the dust.
Wherefore ? Because the countenance is not fair, nor worthy to be
seen. Nor shall it be worthy to be seen as long as it is not capable
of seeing. But when, by the sojourn made in the dust, it has made
such progress in the healing of the inward eye that it is able to contemplate the glory of God with open face, then at length the soul shall

ABIDING OF THE FAITHFUL SOUL IN THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK

377

recount with confidence what it has seen, and shall be, both in voice
and countenance, pleasing to the Lord. The countenance which is
able to view fixedly the glory of God is necessarily able to please.
For that it would not be able to do if it were not itself clear and pure,
and transformed into the image of the glory which it contemplates.
Otherwise it would recoil from that glory on account of mere unlikeness to it, as if stricken by a brilliance new and unbearable. Therefore, when a soul shall be pure and therefore able to behold unshrinkingly the pure truth, then it is that the Bridegroom will desire to
behold its countenance and to hear its voice.
8. For how greatly He is pleased by the preaching of the truth when
it is done with a pure intention is shown by the words which are
added : For sweet is thy voice. And that the voice would not be
pleasing to Him if the countenance were displeasing may be inferred
from the remainder of the sentence : And thy coimtenance is comely.
What is the beauty of the inward countenance except purity ? The
soul may please Him in very many respects without the voice of
preaching ; but without a pure intention it can please Him in none.
To the impure Truth does not show itself, nor does Wisdom entrust
itself to them. How, then, should they be able to speak of that which
they have not seen ? We speak that we do know, saith the Scripture,
a?id testify that we have seen (John iii. n ) . But you go and dare to
give testimony about that which you have not seen, and to speak of
that which you know not. Do you ask who it is that I say has not a
pure intention ? He who seeks for the praises of men ; he who makes
a traffic of the Gospel; he who preaches the Gospel as a means of
livelihood; to whom gain is godliness ; and who does not seek for
spiritual fruit provided he obtains a gift. Such as these are wanting
in pure intention; and though their mixture of motive hinders their
beholding the truth, it does not hinder their discoursing of it as if they
did behold it. Why do you act so hastily ? Why do you not wait
for light ? Why do you presume to undertake the work of light before
the light is with you ? It is in vain that you rise before the light
dawns upon you. The light, that is a pure intention, that is charity,
which seeketh not her own (i Cor. xiii. 5). Let this come first, that
you speak not unadvisedly with your tongue, as one who setteth his
foot at a venture. The truth is not discerned by the eye that is
proud, but is clear to him that is upright and sincere. There is no
truth which hides itself from the pure in heart, or that may not be
uttered by him who is so. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast
thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth (Ps. 1. 16) ? Many there are who, neglecting a pure
intention, have tried to speak before they have seen the truth; and
have either fallen into grave error, knowing neither what they say nor
of what they affirm, or have incurred derision and contempt, inasmuch
as they have taken upon them to teach others, while they have not
themselves been taught. Let us pray Him who is the Bridegroom of
the Church, JESUS CHRIST our LORD, to preserve us always from this
twofold evil. H e is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

378

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON L X I I I .
THAT A MAN WHO IS PIOUS AND WISE OUGHT TO CULTIVATE CAREFULLY HIS VINEYARD, THAT IS TO SAY, HIS LIFE, HIS SOUL,
AND HIS CONSCIENCE ; THAT T H E R E ARE TWO KINDS OF FOXES,
NAMELY, FLATTERERS AND DETRACTORS ; AND OF THE TEMPTATIONS OF MONKS IN THEIR NOVITIATE.

' Take us the foxes•, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender
grapes.*—Cant. ii. 15.

I

T is clear that it was not without real need that attention was
called to the vineyards, since foxes are found among the vines,
who are despoiling them. That is the literal sense of the words.
But what of the spiritual ? In the first place, we reject the common
and familiar explanation altogether as absurd, insipid, and altogether
unworthy to be received as the sense of a Scripture so sacred and
authentic. Unless anyone is so dull of mind and devoid of reason
as to imagine it a great thing to be taught here, after the fashion of
the children of this world, to have a care for earthly possessions; to
guard and defend the vines against the wild animals which attack
them, for fear of possibly losing the fruit of the vine, in which is
excess and riot, and of so losing at once their labour and their outlay.
Assuredly great would be the loss if we should read and study the
holy Book with so much care and deep veneration, only to be taught
in it to protect our vines from foxes, lest if we should be negligent in
our care of them, our cultivation should end in our purses being left
empty. You are not so unskilled, nor so wanting in spiritual graces,
as to understand the Scripture in so carnal a manner. Let us, then,
seek the sense of them in the spirit. We shall, indeed, find, but in
a sense more reasonable and more worthy of Scripture, the vines
which have tender grapes, and the foxes which spoil them, and upon
whom we may expend our labour in driving them away or capturing
them, at once more honourably and to better purpose. Can you
possibly doubt that it is needful to employ much more watchfulness
to keep souls in safety than a crop of grapes, and that it needs much
more vigilant care to avoid the snares of spiritual wickedness on account
of the one than to capture marauding foxes on account of the other ?
2. But now I must point out what these vines denote in a spiritual
sense, and what these foxes. It will be your care, my dear sons, to
apply, each to himself and to his own vineyard, whatever I may say in
the course of this inquiry, that he may learn in what respect, and of
what dangers, he has most necessity to take heed. To a wise man,
then, this vineyard signifies his life, his soul, his conscience. For he
who is wise ought to leave nothing in himself uncared for or desert.
With the foolish man it is quite otherwise. You will find that with

THE PIOUS AND WISE MAN OUGHT TO CULTIVATE HIS VINEYARD

379

him all things are lying neglected, dirty, and in disorder. Indeed,
the foolish can hardly be said to have a vineyard at all, for how can
there be a vineyard where nothing appears to be planted, nothing to
be cultivated anywhere ? The whole life of the foolish bristles, as
it were, with thorns and briars growing wild ; and is that a vineyard ?
Even though it was once one, it is so no longer, for it has gone back
to the condition of desert. Where is the vine of virtue ? Where are
the grapes of good works ? Where the wine of spiritual joy ? I went,
says the wise man, by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of
the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with
thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall
thereof was broken doum (Prov. xxiv. 30, 31). You see how the wise
man ridicules the foolish, because he has left to perish by neglect the
good endowments of nature and the gifts of grace, which he had
perhaps received by the laver of Regeneration ; which was, as it were,
his original vineyard, planted by God and not by man ; so that it is
no longer a vineyard. And assuredly there can be no vine where
there is no life. For I should regard the life of one who is void of
understanding as rather death than life. How can there be life where
there is barrenness ? The tree that is dry and barren, is it not
regarded as dead ? Faggots and brushwood also are but dead wood.
He destroyed their vines with hail, says the Psalmist (Ps. lxxviii. 47),
showing that vines condemned to perpetual sterility are, in fact,
deprived of life. So the man void of understanding, inasmuch as his
life is useless, is dead while he liveth.
3. It is, then, the wise man alone of whom it can properly be said
that he has a vineyard, or, rather, that he himself is one, that has life.
He is a tree in the House of God which bears fruit, and is therefore
living. For that very wisdom itself, by which a man becomes, and is
called, wise, is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her (Prov.
iii. 18). How can he that takes hold upon her fail to have life? He
truly lives, but by faith. For it is the just who is wTise, and the just
lives by faith (Heb. x. 38). And if the soul of the just be, as it is,
the seat of wisdom, then he is truly wise who is just. He, then,
whether you call him the wise or the just, because he never ceases to
live, will never cease to have (or, rather, to be) a vineyard. For the
vineyard and the life are in him the same thing. And the vineyard
of the just is good, or, rather, the just is a good vineyard, since in
him virtue is as the vine, his [good] actions the branches and shoots,
the testimony of his conscience the wine produced, and his tongue,
as it were, the wine-press. Our rejoicing is this, says the Apostle,
the testimony of our co?iscience (2 Cor. i. 12). Do you perceive how in
the wise nothing is without its use ? His discourse, his reflections,
his manner of life, and all the rest of his conduct, what are they but
entirely God's husbandry, God's building, and in one word, the vine
of the Lord of Hosts ? And since, as we are assured, even its leaves
shall not fall withered to the ground (Ps. i. 3), what can perish which
belongs to it ?

38o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

4. But yet to such a vine as this there will never be wanting persecutions from without, nor snares from within. For when goods increase,
they are increased that eat them (Eccles. v. n ) . The wise man will be
no less careful to keep his vine in safety than to cultivate i t ; nor will
he suffer it to be devoured by foxes. Among the worst of these is
the secret detractor, but the fawning flatterer is not less evil. Of
both he who is wise will beware. He will direct his efforts, as far as
in him lies, to ' take' those who practise such arts, but to take them
by kindnesses and courtesies, by salutary admonitions, and prayers
to God on their behalf. He will not cease to heap such coals of fire
upon the head of the abusive person (Rom. xii. 20) and also of the
flatterer; until he shall succeed, if possible, in drawing the envy from
the heart of the one, and the dissimulation from that of the other,
and thus fulfil the command of the Bridegroom : Take us the foxes,
the little foxes, that spoil the vines. Does it not appear to you that a
person is, as it were,' taken,' whose countenance is covered with confusion, who blushes for his own judgment, and is himself the witness
of the shame and regret that he feels, whether for having regarded
with hatred a man most worthy of love, or for having loved with only
a pretended and wordy affection him by whom, as he has at length
(though late) experienced, he was loved in deed and in truth ? He
is evidently taken, and taken for the Lord, according to His own
express command : Take [for] us. Would that I might be able thus
to ' take' all those who oppose me without a cause, that I might gain
them for Christ, or restore them to Him ! That thus those who seek
my life may be dismayed and confounded, that those who wish me
evil may be turned backward and put to confusion, so that I for my
part may be found obedient to the Bridegroom, and may take these
foxes for Him, 1 and not for myself, is my earnest desire. But let
us return to our text at the beginning, that our explanation may
proceed in due order.
5. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the grapes. This
passage relates to morals ; and, regarding it in a moral sense, we have
already shown that these vines, spiritually understood, are nothing
else than spiritual men, whose inward nature and faculties are all
cultivated; which germinate, bear fruit, and bring forth a spirit of
salvation, so that we are able to say of these vines of the Lord of
Hosts what is said of the Kingdom of God, that it is within us
(Luke xvii. 21). For we read in the Gospel that the Kingdom of
God shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof
(Matt. xxi. 43). These are they which St. Paul enumerates, saying :
The fruit of the Spirit is love) joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal. v. 22, 23). These fruits, then,
are our progress in virtue. These are accepted by the Bridegroom,
because He has a care of us. Do you think that it is of mere plants
of earth that God has care ? It is for men, not for trees, that the
1
This is the reading of three MSS. ; but two others, and the printed editions,
read : non modo in capiendo vulpes, sed et in capiendo ipsi.

THE PIOUS AND WISE MAN OUGHT TO CULTIVATE HIS VINEYARD 3 8 I

God Man has affection, and H e regards our progress in holiness as
His fruits. H e observes diligently the season of these; H e smiles
to see them appear, and takes care and shows solicitude that, when
they have appeared, they should not perish for us, or rather that they
should not perish for H i m ; for H e regards Himself as having the
same interest in them as we. Therefore H e commends, in His wise
Providence, that the little foxes which lurk around them should be
taken, lest they should ravage the fruits while still immature. And
as if anyone should object, ' your fear is premature, for the time of
fruit has not yet come.' He adds : 'That is not the case, for our
vines have tender grapes? After the flowers1 the fruits do not delay ;
the former are no sooner fallen than the latter burst forth and
begin to appear.
6. That is a parable which applies to the time which is approaching. Do you see [that these signify] those Novices ? They have
only lately come, they have only just been converted. We cannot
say of them that our vine has been in flower, for it is flowering now.
That which in the meantime you see appear in them is the flower,
but the time of fruit has not yet come. The flower is their new and
altered manner of life, their recently adopted rule, and stricter method
of conduct. They have put on a mortified countenance, and a well
regulated demeanour of their whole body. That which appears in
them is, I confess, pleasing, for their outward man shows less care for
dress and appearance, their speech is more sparing, their countenance
more cheerful, their glances more modest, their movements more
quiet and measured. But since they have practised these rules of
life but a very little while, this very newness obliges us to regard
them, so to speak, as flowers, and their actions as the hope of fruit,
rather than as fruit themselves. I do not so much fear for you, my
young sons, from the cunning of the foxes, since it is well known that
their hostility is directed rather against fruits than flowers. Your
danger comes from another direction. For you I fear the blasting of
your flowers by the frost, rather than their being torn away by violence. It is the chilling north wind that I suspect, and the morning
frosts, which are wont to cut off the early and untimely flowers and
the fruits in their germ. Therefore it is from the direction of the
north wind that you are threatened; for who can stand before Bis
cold ? (Ps. cxlvii. 17). If this freezing cold has once pervaded the
soul (as happens but too often to it when the spirit is in a condition
of relaxation and torpor), then, if there is no one (which may God
avert) to hinder its further progress, it enters into the secret places of
the heart, and into the inmost part of the soul; it stuns and paralyzes good dispositions, it closes up the avenues by which good
advice and help might come, it troubles the light of the judgment, it
fetters the impulses of the spirit; then, as it happens also to those
who are suffering under a fever of the body, the soul undergoes
sudden and vehement chills, its vigour is relaxed, a languor creeps
1

The Vulgate reading is vinea nostra floruit.—ED.

382

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

over its powers, a horror of austerity is continually intensified, the fear
of poverty troubles it more and more, the soul contracts, as it were,
upon itself, grace ebbs away from it, life becomes wearisome, the
reason is stupefied, the courage stifled, the recent fervour of the man
rapidly grows cold, a fastidious and dainty lukewarmness gains
ground in the soul, brotherly charity grows cold, pleasure begins to
have attractions, the man falls into a false security, and the habitude
of vice resumes its former prevalence. What shall I say more ? The
law is evaded, righteousness is rejected, 1 obligation proscribed, the
fear of the Lord abandoned altogether. Finally, such a person yields..
himself to the last degree of shamelessness, he makes that leap which
is rashness itself, that fall most disgraceful, shameful, and full of confusion and ignominy, from the sky into the abyss, from the pavement
of a palace into a dunghill, from a throne into the gutter, from heaven
into a swamp of mire, from the cloister into the outer world—yea,
from paradise into hell. 2 It is not now the time to point out the
origin and beginning of this downfall, or to show by what means it
may be avoided, or by what strength it may be surmounted. That
shall be the task of another day. At present let us proceed with
what we have begun.
7. Our discourse must be brought back to those who are more
advanced in virtue, and more stedfast in i t ; to the vine which has
already flowered, whose flowers have nothing more to fear from the cold,
though its fruits are not yet secure from despoiling foxes. It has yet
to be explained at greater length what is to be understood spiritually
by these foxes ; why they are called ' little'; why the command is
not that they are to be driven away, or to be slain, but that they are
to be ' taken'; and how the different kinds of these are to be distinguished, so that my hearers may learn to know them, and to be more
on their guard against them. But wre must not enter upon this subject in the present sermon that we may not weary you, and that our
devotion may not cease to be marked by willingness and zeal, through
the grace and to the glory of Him who is the great Bridegroom of
the Church, our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who is above all, God blessed
for ever. AMEN.
1

Abdicatur. Another reading is abjudicatur.
A striking picture, indeed, of the fall of monks when in their novitiate.
may be compared with St. Bernard's ' Letters,' 107, 108, 395.
2

It

THE TEMPTATIONS OF MORE MATURE MONKS

383

SERMON LXIV.
OF T H E TEMPTATIONS OF MORE MATURE M O N K S ; BY WHAT FOXES
THEY ARE INFESTED, THAT IS, BY WHAT TEMPTATIONS THEY
ARE MOST TRIED.
ALSO OF THE TAKING OF HERETICS, WHO
ARE T H E FOXES OF T H E CHURCH.

' Take tis the foxes', the little foxes•, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender
grapes.'—Cant. ii. 15.

I

AM now prepared to fulfil the promise I made. The foxes signify temptations. It is unavoidable that temptations should
come. For who shall be crowned except he strive lawfully ?
(2 Tim. ii. 5). And what occasion is there for striving if there be no
enemy to oppose? When, then, you enter into the service of God,
endure constantly in fear, and prepare thy heart for temptation
(Ecclus. ii. 1, 2), being assured that all who will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. iii. 12). Now, temptations are
diverse according to the diversity of times. At the beginning of our
spiritual course, when we are as tender and newly-planted flowers, it
is evident that we are attacked, as it were, by the violence of cold.
Of this I have spoken in a former sermon (No. L X I I L , n. 6), and
shown how we are to guard against this danger. As to those who
are more advanced in holy things, the powerful enemies of good do
not venture openly to oppose them, but are wont to lay wait for them
in secret, like foxes full of cunning, and, though vices in reality, to
put on the appearance of virtues. How many, for example, have I
myself known who, when they had entered upon the ways of life,
when they had even attained a high degree of perfectness, when they
were going on well and safely, and making progress in the ways of
righteousness, were, by the devices of these foxes, overthrown with
shame and disgrace, and have lamented too late over the fruits of
virtues which were blighted in them !
2. I have seen a man running well on his course, and lo, a sudden
hesitation and scruple arises in him. Was not that due to one of
these 'little foxes'? ' T o how many,' he says, 'of my brethren
and relations, of my friends and acquaintances, should I be able, if I
were living in my own country and neighbourhood, to communicate
of that good which I enjoy here alone ? They love me, and would
easily follow my advice. Why is this waste made ? I will go thither,
and in saving many of them I shall equally save myself. There is
nothing to be feared in a mere change of place. What matters it
where I am as long as I am doing a good work ? And, in fact, I am
without doubt the better placed where I am living a more useful and
fruitful life.' Why repeat more of his reasoning? H e goes whither
he desires, and, unhappy man, he perishes : rather as a dog returned

3^4

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to his vomit than as an exile who returns to his own land. H e both
comes to a miserable end himself and he fails to save any of his own
people. Surely this was a 'little fox'; I mean the deceptive hope
which he nourished of gaining over his friends. You are able to find
out for yourself other and similar ideas to this in your own mind if
you examine it closely.
3. Do you wish, nevertheless, that I should point out to you one
more ? I will do s o ; and even a third and a fourth, if I shall find
that it renders you watchful to take those that you may perhaps discover in your own vineyard. It happens sometimes that a man who
is making good progress in virtue, and who feels that God has poured
upon him an abundance of heavenly grace, conceives a desire to
preach, not indeed to his relatives and connections, according to that
saying, ' Immediately 1 conferred not with flesh and blood'' (Gal. i. 16),
but as if with a purer impulse, and with a design to be more powerful
and more fruitful, to preach to strangers, and indeed to all. But still
with great prudence. He fears to incur that malediction of the
prophet upon him who shall withhold corn from the people (Prov.
xi. 26), and to act against the precept of the Gospel if he should not
preach to all, and, as it were, upon the housetops, what he has heard
in the ear (Matt. x. 27). Now this is the temptation, so to speak, of
a fox, and of one who is so much the more dangerous than the former,
as he knows how to present himself secretly. But I will take him for
you. First, Moses says : Thou shalt do 710 work with the firstling of
thy bullock (Deut. xv. 19). And this is St. Paul's interpretation : Not
a novice, lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of
the devil (1 Tim. iii. 6 ) ; and again : No man taketh this honour unto
himself but he that is called of God, as was Aaron (Heb. v. 4 ) ; and
still again : How shall they preach except they be sent 2 (Rom. x. 15).
And we know that the function of a monk is not to teach, but to
mourn for sin (St. Jerome, Contr. Vigil.). Out of these and similar
reasons I weave my net; I take my fox, that he may not spoil the
vine. From these considerations it is certain and clear that to preach
in public is not expedient for a monk, is not becoming to a novice,
nor, unless he be sent, even lawful. What destruction, then, to the
conscience to violate at once all three of these rules ! Therefore,
whatever of this nature is suggested to the mind, whether it be by
your own thoughts or by the prompting of an evil angel, recognise it
always as the temptation of a wily fox presenting evil under the guise
of good.
4. Look at another case. How many are there who, being fervent
in spirit, have left their monasteries and taken upon them a solitary
life, and who in the event have fallen back into lukewarmness, and
by a careless, if not by an abandoned, way of living, have violated
the law of the solitary ? It is plain that this was the work of a fox
where so extensive a devastation of the vineyard was m a d e ; that is,
so deplorable an injury to the life and conscience of the man. H e
supposed that in a solitary life he should gather spiritual fruits with

THE TEMPTATIONS OF MORE MATURE MONKS

385

much greater abundance than if he were in a community in which he
obtained only the ordinary gifts of grace. And that imagination of
his seemed good to him; but the issue of it showed that it was due
to a fox, who was as usual spoiling the vine.
5. VVhat shall I say of that excessive and superstitious abstinence
as practised by some among ourselves, who disturb us so often, and
render themselves so troublesome to themselves and to all ? All the
divisions which those singularities produce, do they not break up and
lay waste the conscience of those who practise them, and destroy, as
far as is in their power, that great vine which the Hand of God has
planted, in destroying the unanimity which ought to exist among you
all? Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh ! (Matt, xviii. 7).
Whosoever, says the Saviour, shall offend one of these little ones (Mark
ix. 42)—severe are the words which follow, but how much more
severe a sentence does the person deserve who gives scandal to a
community so great and so holy ! Assuredly, whosoever he is, a
very severe judgment shall be passed upon him. But more of this
another time.
6. Let us now consider what is said by the Bridegroom with regard
to those small but cunning foxes which spoil the vines. * Little,' not
because they have little malice, but because of their subtlety. This
kind of creature is by nature astute, and quick to inflict injury in
secret. For this reason it seems to me well suited to be the type of
certain very subtle vices, which are cloaked with an appearance of
virtue, such as those of which 1 have already given some few examples.
For they have, in fact, no other power to injure than that which they
derive from passing themselves off as virtues, and thus deceiving by
a kind of likeness which they have to the latter. They are either the
vain imaginations of men, or the suggestions of evil angels, the angels
of Satan, who transform themselves into the Angels of light (2 Cor.
xi. 14), who prepare their arrows within the quiver (that is, in concealment) that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart (Ps. xi. 2).
This is why, as I think, they are called ' little,' because, while other
vices are, as it were, bulky, and show themselves openly, these are
slender, subtle, and hard to be recognised, except by those who are
perfect, experienced, and clear sighted, having their eyes enlightened
to discern between good and evil, and especially by those advanced
in the spiritual life, who are able to say with the Apostle, l We are not
ignorant of the devices [of Satan]' (2 Cor. ii. n ) . Perhaps, too, this
is the reason why the command of the Bridegroom is, not that they
.should be exterminated, or driven away, or slain, but that they should
be taken ; namely, because such little spiritual beasts (bestiolas) as
these are full of craftiness, and require to be watched with the utmost
vigilance and care, so that they may be taken (that is, caught in the
trap of) their own craftiness. Therefore when their device is discovered, their fraud laid bare, their falseness demonstrated, then with
the utmost fitness is it said that there is taken the little fox which
spoiled the vine. It is thus, in fact, that we speak of a man being
25

386

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

taken in his discourse, as we read in the Gospel that the Pharisees
took counsel that they might entangle Jesus in His talk (Matt. xxii. 15).
7. Thus, then, the Bridegroom orders the little foxes, which spoil
the grapes, to be taken—that is, to be surprised, discovered, and convicted. This kind of pest alone has it for a distinct mark that if
known and recognised it has no power to harm, so that for it to be
discovered is to be vanquished. For who, except a person void of
understanding, would step knowingly and wilfully into a trap that is.
discovered to him ? It is sufficient, then, for temptations of that kind
to be ' taken'—that is, to be uncovered and brought into the light -y
to those who have become aware of them they are harmless. It is
not thus with other vices. For their attack is openly made, and their
powers of injury are manifest; they take captive even those who are
aware of them, they overcome the reluctant, but by open force, and
not by guile. Therefore against those (as it were) ferocious brutes,
what is needed is not to seek them out, but to overcome and render
them powerless. Against these ' little foxes' (who, because they are
unable to hurt if discovered, have extraordinary powers of concealing
themselves) it suffices that they be brought out into the light, for they
have hiding-places, and taken in their own craftiness. For such
reasons those foxes are described as 'little,' and ordered to be taken.
Or again, they may be named thus to show that vices should be
diligently observed in their earlier stages, that they may be taken
while they are still young and small, and not allowed to grow greater,
when they will both do more injury, and be with greater difficulty
mastered.
8. If we understand these words in an allegorical sense, so as to
take the vines as signifying Churches, and the foxes as heresies, or
rather as the heretics themselves, the simple and natural sense is that
heretics should be * taken' rather than merely driven away. They
should be taken, I say, not by force of arms, but by force of arguments, by which their errors are refuted, and they themselves, if
possible, brought back to the true faith, and reconciled to the Catholic
Church. 1 For this is the will of Him who desires all men to be
saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. ii. 4). H e
shows here, in fact, that H e desires this, since He says, not simply
Take the foxes, but Take us the foxes. He desires, then, that they
should be taken for Him, and for His Bride—that is, the Church
Catholic, since H e says : ' Take them for us.' Therefore the Churchman, who is skilled and learned, if he undertakes to argue with a
heretic, ought to direct his endeavours to convince him that he has
erred, and to convert him, bearing in mind that saying of the Apostle
James : He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall
save a soulfrom death, and shall hide a multitude of sins (James v. 20).
If he is unwilling to be brought back, and is not convinced after a
first and a second admonition, because he is entirely perverted, then,
according to St. Paul, he is to be rejected (Titus iii. 10). In this.
1

Compare Serm. in Cantic. L X V I . , n. 1 2 ; and E p . C C C L X V .

T H E TEMPTATIONS OF MORE MATURE MONKS

387

case it would be preferable, as I consider, that he should be driven
away, or even a restraint put upon his liberty, than that he should
be allowed to spoil the vines.
9. Let it not, therefore, be supposed that a man has done a small
or unimportant thing who has vanquished and refuted a heretic, who
has disproved his heresy, who has distinguished clearly and plainly
his fair-seeming theories from the truth, who has shown by obvious
and irrefragable reasoning the faultiness and erroneous nature of his
dogmas; and, in short, has subjugated that haughty and perverted
intellect which set itself up against the knowledge revealed by God.
H e who has brought about such results as these has ' taken ' the fox
nevertheless, though not to his conversion and saving; he has taken
him equally for the Bridegroom and the Bride, though after another
manner. For the Church is strengthened in the faith, though that
heretic be not raised up out of the mire of his errors ; while the Bridegroom, without doubt, rejoices in the spiritual progress of His Bride,
and the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. viii. 10). H e who is
so condescending as to associate Himself with us, regards our advantage as a matter in which He has an interest, and, therefore, bids
the foxes be taken, not for Himself, but for us with Himself. Note
the phrase, * Take for us'—what can be more companionable and
friendly ? Does it not seem to you that He says this, as it were, like
some father of a family, who possesses nothing separately for himself
and his own advantage, but shares all things with wife and children
and domestics ? And H e who thus speaks is God ; yet H e does not
say this at all as God, but as the Bridegroom.
10. Take MS the foxes. Do you see in how social and equable a
manner He says this, He who has no companion or equal ? H e
might have said, 'Take for me,' but He delights to associate others
with Himself, and, therefore, preferred to say, 'Take for us'
O
sweetness, O grace, O power of love ! Is it possible that the
Sovereign of all has become one of the mass of beings ? Who has
done this ? It is Love; which is regardless of dignity, rich in condescension, powerful in affection, efficacious in persuasion. What
more forceful than love ? It prevails even with God. And yet,
since it is Love, is there anything that is more gentle ? What
strength is that, I ask, which is so forceful for victory, so gentle in
the face of violence? For the Lord emptied Himself (Phil. ii. 7),
so that you might know it to be the effect of His great love, that His
Fulness was poured forth and expended, that His loftiness was
brought down to the level of others, and His unique position associated
with them. With whom is it, O admirable Bridegroom, that you
have so close and intimate an alliance? ' T a k e for us,' you say,
'the foxes.' For whom 'with you ?' Is it for the Church gathered
out of the Gentiles? That is composed of mortal and sinful beings.
What she is, we know; but Thou, what art Thou, to be the devoted
and eager spouse of this Ethiopian woman? (Num. xii. 1) Not
another Moses, assuredly, but a greater than Moses. For Thou art

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H e who is fairer than the children of men (Ps. xlv. 2). But in
saying this I have said too little : Thou art the brightness of the
Eternal Life, the Splendour and express Image of the Person of God
{Heb. i. 3 ) ; and finally, Thou art above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN.
NOTICE.

It seems to us opportune to introduce in this place the following letter,
written to St. Bernard by Eberwin, Provost of Steinfeld, near Cologne, on
the subject of the heretics of that time, which was the occasion of the two
following sermons. I had thought with Horst and others that in these
Bernard was treating of the Henricians, against whom he wrote his
Letter 240. But the subjoined letter of Eberwin shows that those heretics,
whose errors are refuted in the two following sermons, were others than
the Henricians, since, while the latter infested Aquitaine chiefly, the
former were found in Cologne and the neighbouring districts. However,
it must be allowed that each class agreed in the same errors, and perhaps
they were derived from the same source. I have spoken at greater length
of these men in the General Preface, n. 6. I have no doubt that this
Eberwin is the same as Eberwin, or Herwin, Abbot of Steinfeld, who is
praised in Book vi. of the ' Miracles of St. Bernard,' ?in. 22 and 26. He
was unquestionably of the Order of Premontre, which has still an abbey
at Steinfeld.1

LETTER OF EBERWIN, PROVOST OF STEINFELD, TO
ABBOT BERNARD,
RESPECTING T H E HERETICS OF HIS TIME.

To the Reverend lord and father BERNARD, Abbot of Clairvaux:
EBERWIN, hwnble minister of the Abbey of Steinfeld, wishes that
he may be made strong in the Lord, and may strengthen the Church
of Christ.

I

R E J O I C E , as one that findeth great spoils, over your eloquent
utterances, in which you are wont both by tongue and pen to
bring to our mind the sweet and abundant graces of God ; and
especially in the Canticle of the love of the Bridegroom and the
Bride, that is, of Christ and the Church, so that we are able to say
truly to the same Bridegroom : Thou hast kept the good wine until
now (John ii. 10). He has set thee among us as a cupbearer of this
precious wine; do not cease to pour it forth, and do not hesitate, for
it is not possible to exhaust the urns. Do not allow your bodily
weakness, O holy father, to be an excuse, for in the discharge of that
duty piety counts for more than bodily strength. Do not say that
you are full of occupation ; I know not anything that ought to be
preferred to a work so necessary as this to the common good. From
1

I.e., when Mabillon wrote, circa 1690.

LETTER OF EBERWIN TO ABBOT BERNARD

389

that urn what an abundant stream you have, most holy father,
already poured forth to us ! From the first you have drawn to the
satisfaction of all, and it has rendered those who have partaken of it
wise and strong against the teaching and the force of the Scribes and
Pharisees; the second has strengthened them against the arguments
and the cruelties of the Gentiles; the third, against the subtle
deceptions of heretics ; the fourth, against false Christians ; the fifth,
against the heretics who shall appear towards the time of the end of
the world, and of whom the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of an Apostle,
speaks manifestly in these words : In the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils :
speaking lies in hypocrisy . . . forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving (i Tim. iv. 1-3). From the sixth the faithful shall
receive exaltation and joy of spirit (inebriabuntur), and be strengthened
against him who in this departure from the faith shall be revealed ;
I mean that son of sin, the man of perdition, who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ;
whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
(2 Thess. ii. 3-To). After this, since the sons of men will be exalted
in spirit with the abundance of God's House, and the river of the
pleasures which H e bestows, a seventh will not be needful. You
have in the meantime, O good father, poured forth sufficiently to all,
from the fourth urn, for their correction, their edification, and their
perfecting; to all, I say, whether they be beginners, those who are
making progress, or who are going on unto perfection ; and to the very
end of the world it will be to their benefit against the coldness and the
perversity which is in false brethren. Now is the time that you
should draw from the fifth, and bring forth to us the wine from
thence, against the new heretics who are now stirring almost everywhere, and casting forth the mud of the abyss throughout all the
Churches, as if their chief was already beginning to be threatened
with dissolution, and the day of the Lord was drawing nigh. And
in the marriage song of Christ and of His Church that passage which
you, my father, as you have yourself informed me, are now about to
treat upon, namely, Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the
vines, bears perfectly upon this subject, and conducts you naturally
to this fifth urn. I entreat you, then, father, to distinguish between
all the parts of the heresy of those persons, which have come to your
knowledge, and by opposing to them the authorities and reasons of
our holy faith, to destroy them.
2. There have been lately discovered among us in the neighbourhood of Cologne certain heretics, of whom some have made amends
for their fault (cum satisfadione) and returned, to the Church. Two
among them, namely, he who was called their bishop, and his companion, have withstood us in an open assembly of clerics and laymen,
in which the lord Archbishop himself was present, and some noble-

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men of high rank, and defended their heresy by the words of Christ
and His Apostle. But when they saw that they could make no progress, they requested that a day might be assigned to them on which
they might bring forward men of their community who were well
skilled in their faith. They professed that, if they saw that their
teachers were unable to reply satisfactorily to the objections made to
them, they were willing to submit to the Church ; but that otherwise,
they had rather die than give up their opinions. To these propositions reply was made by admonitions, continued during three days
consecutively; but they were unwilling to yield or to come to a
better mind. They were then seized and carried off by the people,
who were transported by an excessive zeal; but quite against our will;
and being cast into the fire by them, were consumed ; and, which is
a fact still more to be wondered at, they entered into and endured
that torment of fire, not only with patience, but with joy. Here,
holy father, I should wish, if I were present with you, to have your
explanation, whence it is that those members of the devil have fortitude so great in their heresy as is scarcely equalled by those most
sincerely attached to the faith of Christ.
3. This is their heresy: They say that the Church exists among
them only, since they alone follow closely in the footsteps of Christ,
and remain the true followers of the manner of life observed by the
Apostles, inasmuch as they possess neither houses, nor fields, nor
property of any kind. They declare that, as Christ did not possess
any of these Himself, so H e did not permit His disciples to possess
them. ' But you,' they say to us, * add house to house, and field to
field, and seek the things of this world. So completely is this the
case, that even those among you who are considered most perfect,
such as the monks and regular canons, possess these things, if not
as their private property, yet as belonging to their community.' Of
themselves they say : ' We are the poor of Christ; we have no settled
dwelling-place : we flee from city to city, as sheep in the midst of
wolves ; we endure persecution, as did the Apostles and the martyrs ;
yet we lead a holy and austere life in fasting and abstinence, continuing day and night in labours and prayers, and seeking from these
only what is necessary to sustain life. We endure all this,' they say,
* because we are not of this world ; but as for you, who are lovers of
this world, you have peace with the world because you are, in fact,
of it. False Apostles, adulterating the word of Christ, and seeking
their own interests, have caused you and your fathers to wander far
out of the right path ; but we and our fathers are the descendants of
the Apostles, we have remained in the grace of Christ, and shall remain
until the end of the world. The distinction between us and you is
to be found in those words which Christ spake: By their fruits ye
shall know them (Matt. vii. 16). Our fruits are the following in the
footsteps of Christ.' In respect of food, they forbid every kind of
milk, that which is made of milk, and whatsoever is the product of
that function. It is in this particular that their manner of living

LETTER OF EBERWIN TO ABBOT BERNARD

391

is opposed to ours. In the reception of their Sacraments they
cover the head with a veil, yet they have openly avowed to us that
daily at their table when they eat they, according to the usage of the
Apostles, consecrate, by saying the Lord's Prayer, their food and
drink into the Body and Blood of Christ, so that by it they may be
nourished as the members and body of Christ. They say that we do
not hold the truth as to the Sacraments, but only a certain shadow of
it, and tradition of men. They confess also plainly that besides the
baptism with water, they give and receive a baptism with the Spirit
and with fire, and are therewith baptized, adducing that testimony of
John the Baptist, who, himself baptizing with water, said of Christ :
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 7vithfire (Matt. iii. n ) ,
and in another place : / baptize with water, but there standeth One
among you whom ye know not (John i. 26); as if he had thus wished
to say, * He shall baptize you with another Baptism beyond that of
water/ And that such a Baptism ought to be bestowed by imposition
of hands, they have endeavoured to show by the testimony of St.
Luke, who, describing in the Acts of the Apostles the baptism of
Saul (Pauli), which he received from Ananias at the direction of
Christ, makes no mention of water, but only of the laying on of
hands (Acts ix. 17, 18); and they pretend that whatever is found in
the Acts, or in the Epistles of St. Paul, respecting the laying on of
hands has reference to this baptism. Whosoever among them has
received this baptism is called by them Elect; he has the power to
baptize others, who shall be found worthy of receiving that baptism,
and of consecrating at his table the Body and Blood of Christ.
They previously receive him by the laying on of hands, from the
number of those whom they call Hearers, into the ranks of the
Believers; and thus he will gain the right to be present at their
prayers, until, after sufficient proof of fitness, he shall be made one
of the Elect. Of our Baptism they take no account. Marriage they
condemn, but for what reason I have not been able to ascertain—
either because they have no reason to give, or because they do not
dare to avow it.
4. There are also in our country certain other heretics who differ
in all respects from the former; indeed, it is by their mutual discord
and contention that each kind of them is discovered to us. These
latter deny that the Body of Christ is ever present {fieri) upon the
Altar, because [they say that] the priests of the Church are none of
them validly ordained (consecrati). According to them the Apostolic
dignity has been corrupted by mixing itself with the affairs of this
world, and as he who sits in the chair of Peter is not engaged in
warfare for God, as was Peter, he has deprived himself of the power
of consecrating and ordaining which was bestowed upon Peter.
That power, therefore, which it does not itself possess, the Archbishops and Bishops, who live in the Church after the manner of the
world, cannot receive from it, or derive the power of ordaining anyone. This they profess to derive from the words of Christ: The

392

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses'' seat; all, therefore, whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do (Matt, xxiii. 2, 3 ) ; as if in these
words H e had said that to those who resemble the Scribes and Pharisees is accorded the power of preaching and government, but nothing
more. Thus they make null the Priesthood of the Church, and condemn the Sacraments, except Baptism alone. Baptism they administer to adults only, and these they say are baptized by Christ,
whosoever may be the minister of the Sacrament. They have no
belief in the Baptism of little children, or [in any] except that of
which it is said in the Gospel, He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved (Mark xvi. 16). They call every marriage fornication, except
that contracted between two virgins, a man and a woman; and they
support their belief by those words of the Lord, in which he replied
to the Pharisees, What God hath joined together let not man put
asunder; as if those [only] were joined together by God who were
wedded according to the condition and mutual relation of our first
parents; and they support this by that reply also which He made to
the same opponents on the subject of a billet of divorcement: From
the beginning it was not so ; and also that which follows in the same
place : Whoso 7?iarrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery
(Matt. xix. 6-9). Further, they quote that saying of the Apostle :
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled (Heb. xiii. 4).
5. In the intercessions of the Saints they put no trust. They
maintain that fasts and other mortifications of the flesh which are
undergone for sins are not necessary for the just, nor even for sinners,
because in the very day that a sinner has mourned over, and lamented,
his sins, they are all remitted unto him ; and other observances in the
Church, which wrere established neither by Christ nor by His Apostles
after Him, they call superstitions. They do not allow that there is
any purgatorial fire after death, but hold that souls pass immediately
on their going forth from the body either into eternal rest or eternal
punishment, because of those words of Solomon : If the tree fall
toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree fallethy
there it shall be (Eccles. xi. 3). And thus they regard as useless the
prayers and oblations of the faithful for the dead.
6. Against all these forms of evil, so many and so varied, I entreat
you, holy father, to let your solicitude be on the watch, and to direct
the point of your sharp arrow upon these beasts of prey. Do not
reply to us that that tower of David to which we fly for refuge is
sufficiently strengthened with ramparts and bulwarks, that on it hang
a thousand bucklers, and that it has a complete garrison of brave
men. We wish, father, that this garrison should be, on account of
our inexperience and backwardness, drawn together and combined by
your care and zeal, that it may be more successful in finding out, and
more effectual in resisting, this host of monsters. You should know
also, my lord, that those who have returned to the Church have told
us that they have a very great multitude of adherents scattered almost
everywhere throughout the countries, and that among these they count

LETTER OF EBERWIN TO ABBOT BERNARD

393

very many of our clerks and monks. Those who were burned said
to us in their defence that this heresy has had a secret existence from
the times of the martyrs even to our own day, and that it still remains
in Greece and in some other countries. Such are those heretics who
call themselves apostles, and have a pope of their own. Others there
are who, though they do not acknowledge our Pope, yet allow that
they have no other. Those emissaries {apostolici) of Satan have also
among them (as they say) women vowed to continence, widows, and
virgins ; they have also their wives, some among the elect, others
among the believers, as if to follow the example of the Apostles, to
whom was conceded the power of taking about their wives with
them. Farewell in the Lord.

SERMON LXV.
OF SECRET HERETICS, WHOSE PERVERSE DOCTRINES AND STUDIED CARE
TO HIDE THEIR MYSTERIES ST. BERNARD SEVERELY CENSURES ;
ALSO OF THEIR SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOUR.

I

H A V E already delivered to you two sermons upon one verse ; I
propose to deliver a third, if it will not weary you to listen. And
I think it even necessary to do s o ; for though, as far as relates
to our domestic vine, which is no other than yourselves, my brethren,
I have, I think, sufficiently forearmed you, in the two preceding
sermons, against the crafty advances of three kinds of foxes ; namely,
flatterers, calumniators, and certain seducing spirits who are skilled
and experienced in presenting evil under the guise of good; yet that
is not the case with the dominical, that is, the Lord's vine. I speak
of that vine which has filled the earth, and of which we also are a
part; a vine great and spreading, planted by the Hand of the Lord,
redeemed by His Blood, watered by His Word, propagated by His
grace, and rendered fruitful by His Spirit. The more carefully I have
dealt with that which was of private and personal concern, the less
valuable were my remarks with regard to that wThich was common
and public. But it troubles me greatly, on behalf of that vine, to
behold the multitude of its assailants, the fewness of its defenders,
and the difficulty of the defence. The hidden and furtive character
of the attack is the cause of this difficulty. For from the beginning
the Church has had foxes ; but they have been soon found out and
taken. An heretic combated openly (indeed, that was the principal
reason why the name was given, because the desire of the heretic wTas
to gain an open victory), and was manifestly overcome. Those foxes,
therefore, were easily taken. But what if a heretic, when the truth
was set clear in the light before him, remained in the shadow of his
obstinacy, and, bound (as it were) hand and foot in the outer darkness,

394

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

withered away in solitude ? Even then the fox was deemed to be
* taken' when his impiety was condemned, and the impious one cast
out, thenceforth to live in a mere show of life without fruitfulness.
From this to such an one, according to the Prophet, comes a sterile
womb and dry breasts (Hos. ix. 14): because an error, publicly confuted, does not soon shoot up again, and an evident falsehood does
not take root.
2. What shall we do to take those foxes, the most malignant and
dangerous of all, who prefer the inflicting of severe injury to the
enjoyment of open victory, and who crawl to, and steal upon, their
purpose in order not to be seen? With all heretics the one intention
has always been to obtain praise for themselves by the remarkable
extent of their knowledge. But there is a heresy which alone is more
malignant and more artful than others, since it feeds upon the losses
of others, and neglects its own glory. It is instructed, I believe, by
the examples of those ancient heresies which, when betrayed, were by
no means suffered to escape, but were forthwith captured ; and so is
careful to actuate secretly, by a new method of mischief, this mystery
of iniquity, and that with the greater freedom the less it is suspected.
Furthermore, its promoters have met together, as it is said, at places
appointed in secret, and concerted together their nefarious discourses,
4
Take oaths, if needful; take them even falsely,' they say the one to
the other, ' rather than betray the secret.' But at another time they
do not consider it right by any means to swear, not even in the smallest
degree, because of those words in the Gospel: Swear not at all; neither
by heaven . . . nor by the earth (Matt. v. 34, 35), etc. O foolish and
hard of heart, filled with the spirit of the Pharisees, ye, too, strain out
a gnat and swallow a camel (Matt, xxiii. 24). To swear is not permitted, but to swear falsely, that is permissible, as if the allowance to
do the latter did not carry with it the former also ! In what passage
of the Gospel, of which you do not, as you falsely boast, pass over
one iota, do you find that exception ? It is clear that you, both by
superstition, forbid the taking of an oath, and, at the same time,
wickedly presume to authorize a perjury. O strange perversity ! That
which is given only as a counsel of perfection—namely, Swear not-—
that they observe as rigidly and contentiously as if it were a positive
command; while that which is laid down as an unchangeable law—
namely, never to be guilty of perjury—they dispense with at their own
will as a thing indifferent. No, say they; but let us not make known
our secret. As if it were not to the glory of God to make known
teaching [that is to edification] (Dan. ii. 28, 29)! Do they envy the
glory of God ? But I rather believe that they are ashamed to have
their secret known, being conscious that it does not redound to their
glory; for they are said to practise in secret things obscene and
abominable, even as the hinder parts of foxes are offensive.
3. But I do not wish to speak of that which they deny; let them
answer only to those which are known and manifest. Are they
careful, according to the Gospel precept, not to give that which is

SECRET HERETICS

395

holy unto the dogs, or to cast pearls before swine? (Matt. vii. 6).
But do not they who regard all who belong to the Church as dogs
and swine, plainly confess that they are not of the Church themselves ?
For they consider that their secret, whatever it is, should be kept
wholly from the knowledge of all, without exception, who are not of
their sect. What their doctrine is they do not avow, and they adopt
every means to avoid its becoming known ; but yet they do not succeed. Reply to me, O man, who art wise above that which is meet,
and yet more foolish than can be expressed in words. Is the secret
which you are concealing of God, or is it not ? If it is, why do you
not make it known to His glory ? For it is to the glory of God to
reveal that which comes from Him. But if it is not, why do you put
faith in that which is not of God, unless because you are a heretic ?
Either, then, let them proclaim the secret as coming from God to the
glory of God, or let them confess that the secret is not of God, and
thereby allow that they are heretics; or, at least, let them allow that
they are manifestly enemies of the glory of God, since they are unwilling to make manifest a thing which would be conducive to that
glory. For it is stated with preciseness in Scripture : It is the glory
of kings to conceal a matter, but it is the glory of God to reveal
discourse. 1 Are you not willing to reveal it? Then you do not
desire to glorify God. But perhaps you do not receive this Scripture.
Doubtless this is the case, for [sectaries] profess that they are followers
of the Gospel, and the only ones. Let them, then, reply to the Gospel.
What I tell you in darkness, saith the Lord, that speak ye in light: and
what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops (Matt,
x. 27). Now, it is not permitted to you to be silent. How long is
that kept under the veil of secrecy which God declares is to be made
known ? How long is your Gospel to be hidden ? I suspect that
your Gospel is not that of St. Paul, for he declares that his Gospel is
not hidden, or rather he says this : If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost (2 Cor. iv. 3). Does not this apply to you who
have among you a Gospel that is hidden ? What is more plain than
that you are in the way of being lost ? Or perhaps you do not
receive even the Epistles of St. Paul. I have heard that it is so with
certain persons among you. For, although you all agree in differing
from us, you do not all agree in all respects among yourselves.
4. But, at all events, you all receive, without exception, if I do not
mistake, the words, the writings, and the traditions of those who
were personally with the Saviour, as of equal authority with the
Gospel. Now, did they keep their Gospel secret ? Did they hide
the weakness of the flesh in the Divine Son, the terrible circum1
Thus St. Bernard quotes Prov. xxv. 2, and St. Gregory the Great (' Horn, in
Ezech.,' Bk. i., n. 6) quotes it in the same sense. But the Hebrew, the Septuagint,
the Vulgate, and after them the English A.V. and other versions, have the precisely opposite sense : * It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,' etc. Perhaps
our Saint may have taken the quotation from St. Gregory. It does not seem to
occur elsewhere in this form, but see a similar passage in Tobit xii. 7.—ED.

39^

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

stances of His Death, or the ignominy of His Cross? Did not their
words, indeed, go forth into the whole world? (Ps. xix. 4). Where,
then, is there in you that following of the Apostolic life and conduct
of which you boast ? They cry aloud, you whisper in secret; they
teach in public, you in a corner; theyjly as a cloud (Is. lx. 8), while
as for you, you conceal yourselves in the darkness and in the cellars
of your houses. What likeness to them do you display ? Is it in
that you do not indeed take women as travelling companions, but as
inmates ? Who could suspect those who raised the dead to life of
anything unbecoming? Do you do likewise, and whatever be the
circumstances in which you are found, I will be far from suspecting
you. Otherwise you are rashly usurping to yourself the privilege of
those whose sanctity you do not possess. To expose yourselves
always to temptation and never to fall by it, is not that a greater
miracle than to raise the dead ? You are not able to do that which
is less, and do you wish me to believe that you do that which is
greater ? You wish to be thought irreproachable. Let it be granted
that you are s o ; yet suspicion is not wanting. You are to me a subject of scandal; take away the occasion of the scandal, that you may
show yourself what it is your boast to be, a true follower of the
Gospel. Does not the Gospel condemn that man who offends (scandatizaverit) even one member of the Church ? iVnd you are a scandal
to the whole Church. You are a fox that spoils the vines. Help me,
my friends, to take him, or rather do ye, O holy Angels, take him
for us. He is crafty in the extreme ; he is enveloped in his iniquity
and impiety. Evidently he is so small and so subtle that he may
easily elude the notice of men. But shall he elude yours also ? It
is to you, therefore, as the companions of the Bridegroom, that those
words are addressed : Take us the littlefoxes. Do, then, that which you
are commanded : take for us this little fox so skilled in dissimulation
that we have so long been in pursuit of him in vain. Teach us and
suggest to us in what manner his guile may be discovered. For this
is to take the fox, because as a pretended Catholic he does much
more injury than when made manifest as really a heretic. 1 For it is
not in the power of man to discover what is in the heart of another
man, unless indeed he is either enlightened to this end by the Spirit
of God, or instructed by the care of the Angels. What sign will you
give to make open and manifest to all this pernicious heresy which
knows so well how to disguise itself, not only by words, but also by
actions ?
5. And, indeed, the recent spoiling of a vine shows clearly that the
fox has been there. But I know not by what art that most crafty
animal so conceals his footsteps, that it is by no means easy to be
discovered where either his ingress or his egress was made. Though
the mischief done is evident, the doer of it is not visible, and he
hides his presence by the very destruction he has done. In fact, if you
1
Some MSS. read quam vents heretiats.
read as above.

But others, and also the first editions,

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HERETICS

397

interrogate him as to his faith, nothing is more Christianlike ; or as
to his conduct, nothing more unblamable; and he seems to justify
his discourse by his actions. Such a man is seen, in order to give
testimony of his faith, to frequent the Church, to honour the clergy
(presbyteros), to offer his gifts, to make confession, to participate in
the Sacraments. What can be more orthodox? Then as relates to
character and conduct, he deceives no one, he exalts himself over no
one, nor does violence to any. Furthermore, his cheeks are pale
with fasts; nor does he eat the bread of idleness, but labours with
his hands for his maintenance. Where, then, is the fox ? We held
him fast just now. How has he escaped from our hands ? In what
manner has he so suddenly disappeared ? Let us pursue him, let us
seek him ; we shall recognise him by his fruits. Assuredly the
spoiling of the vines is a proof that the fox has been there. Women
have quitted their husbands, men have deserted their wives, to join
themselves to these people. Clerks and priests, as well young as old
(jnionsi et barbati)^ often abandon their flocks and their churches, and
are found in the throng, among weavers male and female. Is not that
a terrible spoiling indeed ? Are not these the doings of foxes ?
6. But perhaps they do not all perform actions so unmistakable,
and if they do there is no proof of the fact. How, then, shall we
take these ? Let us return to the former accusation, for there is no
one among them but is involved in that. I ask, then, of some one of
those people : * My good man, who is that woman with you, and what
is her relation to you? Is she your wife?' ' N o , ' he replies; ' I
have taken a vow which does not allow me to marry.? * Is she your
daughter?' ' N o . ' ' What, then, is she your sister, or your niece, or,
at least, a relation or family connection of yours ?' ' No, she is not
related to me in any way.' ' How, then, can you live safely thus ?
It is not permitted to you to act in this way. If you are not aware
of it, let me remind you that the Church forbids it.1 If you do not
wish to give scandal to the Church, obey the command. If you do
not do so, then, from that one fact, others will be, without doubt,
inferred as probable, though they be not open and manifest.7
7. ' But' (he says to me) ' in what place of the Gospel do you
find any proof that this is forbidden ?' Very well, you have appealed
to the Gospel; to the Gospel you shall go. If, then, you obey the
Gospel, you will not give occasion for scandal, for this is a thing
which the Gospel plainly forbids. And this scandal is just what you
do give, in not conforming to the regulation of the Church. You
had been previously under suspicion of despising the Gospel, and
being an enemy of the Church, but now you are manifestly convicted
of it. What think you of it, my brethren ? If he remains obstinate,
and will neither obey the Gospel, nor show any respect unto the
Church, what room is there for hesitation ? Does it not seem to you
that the fraud is discovered, that the fox is taken ? If he suffers a
scandal to remain which he has it in his power to put an end to, he
1

Can. in., dist. 37, de Cohabit. Clericor., Synod. Nicaen.

398

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

is convicted of disobedience to the Gospel. What ought the Church
to do but to expel a person who is unwilling to take away scandal, so
that she may not share his disobedience ? For she has a commandment in the Gospel as to this, and it bids her not spare her own eye,
or hand, or foot, if it be a cause of scandal, but to pluck out the one
and cut off the other, and cast it away. If he neglect to hear the
Church, it is said, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican
(Matt, xviii. 6-9, 17).
8. Have we reached any result ? I think we have ; we have taken
the fox, since we have discovered his deception. Those pretended
Catholics who were really destroyers of the Church have been made
manifest. Even while you were taking with me sweet [and heavenly]
food, I mean the Body and Blood of Christ, while we walked in the
House of God as friends, a place for persuasion, or, rather, an opportunity for perversion, was found, according to the saying of Scripture:
An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour (Prov. xi. 9).
But now I easily, according to the wise admonition of S. Paul, avoid
a man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, knowing
that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself
(Titus iii. 10, 11), and that it behoves me to be on my guard, lest he
cause my subversion also. It is, then, something gained, according
to the word of the Wise, that transgressors should be taken in their
own naughtiness (Prov. xi. 6), and especially those transgressors the
weapons of whose warfare are deceit and snares. Open attack and
defence they do not venture upon, for they are a despicable and rustic
race, devoid of education, and wholly destitute of generous courage.
In short, they are foxes, and little foxes. Even their errors are not
defensible, not clever and able, nor even plausible, except only to
country women and ignorant persons, such as are all those of their
sect whom I have as yet seen. For I do not recall, among all their
assertions which I have heard (and they are many), anything novel or
extraordinary, but only commonplaces long since broached among
the heretics of old, and by our divines confuted and crushed. Yet
it ought to be shown, and I will endeavour to show, what absurdities 1
these are, being partly such as they have fallen into through incautiously taking one side or the other in questions disputed between
Catholics, partly such as they have exposed themselves to by their
dissensions with each other, and partly such as some of them who
have returned to the Church have discovered to us, and this I will
do, not that I may reply to them all (for that is unnecessary), but in
order that they may be known. But that will be a task for another
sermon, to the praise and glory of the Name of Him who is the
Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above
all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.
1
Ineptice. St. Bernard uses the same term, in the same sense, in the following sermon, n. 4 ; and see his Letter 190.

T H E ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE

399

SERMON LXVI.
CONCERNING THE ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE,
TO THE BAPTISM OF INFANTS, TO PURGATORY, TO PRAYERS FOR
T H E DEAD, AND TO T H E INVOCATION OF T H E SAINTS.
* Take us the foxes, the little foxes,

W

that spoil the vines*—Cant.

ii. 15.

I T H these foxes I am still busied. They are those who
wander out of the path and lay waste the vineyard. They
are not content with quitting the road [of right], but turn
the vineyard into a desert by their wicked falsehoods. It is not
enough for them to be heretics ; they must, as if to fill up the measure
of their wrongdoing, be hypocrites also. These are they who come
in sheep's clothing to strip the sheep and despoil the rams. Does it
not seem to you that this is what they have done when, on the one
hand, they rob the people of their faith, and, on the other, deprive the
priests of their people ? Who are these robbers ? They are sheep in
appearance, but foxes in cunning, and in their actions have the cruelty
of wolves. They are men who desire to seem good, but are not;
who desire not to seem evil, but are so. Evil they are, yet they wish
to be thought good, lest they should be left alone in their evil; and
they fear to appear evil, lest they should not thus have sufficient
power for evil. For open malice has always been less dangerous ;
nor is a person who is good ever deceived, except by a pretence of
goodness. They study, then, to appear good in order to do injury to
the good, and shrink from appearing evil that they may thus give their
evil designs fuller scope. For they do not care to cultivate virtues,
but only to colour their vices with a delusive tinge of virtues. Under
the veil of religion they conceal an impious superstition ; they regard
the mere refraining from doing wrong openly as innocence, and thus
take for themselves an outward appearance of goodness only. For a
cloak to their infamy they make a vow of continence. They think
that infamy consists only in having wives, whereas it is marriage alone
that is pure. Coarse they are, and stupid, and altogether contemptible ; but, I assure you, not on that account to be disregarded;
for they succeed in doing much evil, and their word eateth as doth a
cancer (2 Tim. ii. 16, 17).
2. Nor has the Holy Spirit overlooked such as these, since He has
plainly prophesied of them long since by the mouth of the Apostle:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a
hot iron ; forbiddi?ig to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
^ which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving(1 Tim. iv. 1-3).
It was evidently of those people that H e spake. They forbid mar-

400

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

riage, they abstain from the food which God created; of which latter
subject I will presently speak. But now see if all these things are
not rather an illusion of demons than a mere mistake of men, according to that which had been foretold by the Holy Spirit. Ask of them
who is the author of their sect; they will name no one. Yet what
heresy has not had from among men its own leader (hceresiarcham) ?
The Manicheans had Manes for chief and for master; the Sabellians,
Sabellius ; the Arians, Arius ; the Eunomians, Eunomius; the Nestorians, Nestorius. So is it with all the other plagues of this kind ;
each of them has some man for its master, from whom it has drawn
at once its origin and its name. But what name or what title will you
consider should be bestowed upon these people ? Truly, none at all 1 ;
for their heresy is not of man, nor have they received it by man.
God forbid that we should say that they had it by the revelation of
Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 12), but, rather, and without doubt, as the Holy
Spirit foretold, by the suggestions and artifices of seducing spirits,
speaking lies in hypocrisy, and forbidding marriage.
3. They talk also with hypocrisy, and with a vulpine cunning pretend that they speak from mere love of chastity, whereas they have no
other purpose than to foment and multiply impurity. It is so evident
that this is their intention that I wonder how any Christian man
could ever be persuaded that it was otherwise, unless, indeed, he were
so wanting in insight as not to perceive that he who condemns
marriage loosens the reins to every kind of uncleanness ; or so full of
wickedness, and absorbed in diabolical malignity, as to shut his eyes
to what he cannot but perceive, and rejoice at the destruction of
men. If you take away from the Church marriage, which is honourable and undefiled (Heb. xiii. 4), will you not fill the Church with
persons guilty of every kind of uncleanness ? Choose, then, wThich
alternative you prefer; either that all these monsters of wickedness
are saved, or that the number of the saved is reduced to the few who
have kept continence unbroken; in the one case you include too few,
in the other case too many. Neither of these alternatives is suited to
the Saviour. What! shall infamy be crowned ? Nothing is less
suitable to the source of purity. Or, on the other hand, shall men
be universally condemned, with the sole exception of the very few
who have preserved their continence ? That is not to be a Saviour.
Continence is rare upon the earth; and if it were not for a very few
persons that fulness of grace would have expired altogether. And
how have we all received of that fulness (John i. 16) if a share of it
is vouchsafed to those only who are continent ? There is no reply
that can be made to that argument, nor yet, I think, to the other
1
I do not know how St. Bernard could have spoken thus, if these heretics of
Cologne had been Henricians, and the name of their master Henry. It is true
that the doctrines of these people and those of the Henricians were similar, as
appears from his Letters 240, 241. Among these heretics of Cologne Eberwin
distinguishes two classes, which distinction St. Bernard just touches upon at the
end of Sermon LXV.

THE ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE

40I

alternative. If there is for purity only a place in heaven, if there is
no companionship between purity and impurity, just as there is no
fellowship of light with darkness, then it is certain that no one who
is unclean has any place in the land of salvation. If anyone thinks
otherwise, an Apostolic voice shall convict him of error, asserting
expressly : They ivhich do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God (Gal. v. 21). From what cavern shall this artful fox now creep
forth ? I think that he is taken in his burrow, in which he has made
for himself two holes, one to enter by, the other to give him egress.
This it is his custom to do. See now by what means each of these is
closed to him. If he maintains that only the continent have a place
in heaven, he denies salvation to the vast majority of people ; if, on
the contrary, he holds that those guilty of every kind of defilement
have a place there equally with the continent, he causes purity to
perish. But it is more accurate to say that he perishes himself, being
unable to escape in either direction; and, thus shut up for ever,
remains a prisoner in the pit which he has digged.
4. Certain persons among them, differing from the rest, declare
that marriage is permitted, but only to those who are virgins. But I
do not perceive on what ground of reason they make this distinction,
except it be that they contend with each other to tear and rend
asunder, each at his own pleasure, as it were with the teeth of
serpents, the Sacraments of the Church, which are, so to speak, the
bowels of their mother. For as to what they allege, that our first
parents were virgins when their marriage took place: what is there
in that fact, I ask, to prejudice the liberty of marriage, so that it may
not be entered into between those who are not virgin ? But I know
not what declaration they whisper that they have found in the Gospel,
which they wrongly imagine favours their absurd folly. I believe
that it is the word which Our Lord spake after He had recalled that
testimony in the book of Genesis : God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him: male and female created He
them ; He then added: What therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder (Gen. i. 2 7 ; Matt. xix. 6). These, they say,
were both virgins whom God joined together, and it was then not
lawful to separate them; but no union of those who are otherwise
[than virgin] shall be presumed to be from God. But who has told
you that God joined those two together, because they were virgins ?
This the Scripture does not assert. But were they not virgins ?
replies the objector. They were; but it is not the same thing to
unite those who were virgins, and to unite them because they were
virgins. Again, although they were virgins, you will not find the fact
even expressly stated [much less given as the reason for their union].
Their diversity of sex is expressly stated, not their virginity, since it
is declared : Male and fefnale created He them. And rightly so, for
the marriage relation requires, not necessarily virginity of body, but
difference of sex in the two persons who enter into it. With entire
fitness, then, did the Holy Spirit, in the record of the institution of
26

402

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

marriage, make mention of sex, but preserve silence as to virginity,
so as not to give occasion to those guileful foxes to misapply the
text, which unquestionably they would have done with great willingness, but in vain. For what if the Holy Spirit had said that ' God
created them virgins ?' Would you not have forthwith inferred that
it was permitted to virgins alone to be joined in marriage ? How
you would have assumed airs of triumph upon the strength of this
single statement! How scornfully you would have rejected second
and third marriages ! How you would have insulted the Church
Catholic, inasmuch as she willingly joins together even persons who
have fallen and become infamous, because she regards this as assuredly
the means for enabling them to pass from a state of shame to a state
of honour ! Perhaps you would even blame God for having commanded one of His prophets to take to wife a woman of that class
(Hosea i. 2 ) ; but now the entire ground is wanting for your doing
all this, and it pleases you to be a heretic of your own accord. For
the statement that you have unjustly adduced to support your error
is found, on the contrary, to destroy it; it does nothing in your
favour, but much against you.
5. But now listen to another Scripture which ought to confound
you entirely, or correct you, and which, at all events, crushes and
pulverizes your heresy. The wife is bound by the law as long as her
husband liveth ; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be
married to whom she will: only in the Lord (1 Cor. vii. 39). It is
St. Paul who allows to a widow to marry whom she will, and you, on
the contrary, prescribe that none but a virgin shall marry; nor may
she marry whom she will, but only a man who is likewise virgin.
Why do you restrain the Hand of God ? Why do you restrict the
abundant benediction bestowed on marriage, and narrow to the
virgin alone that which is vouchsafed to all her sex ? St. Paul would
not permit this unless it were lawful. But it is too little to say that
he permits i t ; he also desires it to be done. / will therefore, he says,
that the younger women marry (1 Tim. v. 14), and there is no doubt
that he speaks of widows. What can be plainer than this ? That
therefore which he permits, because it is lawful, he also desires,
because it is expedient. That, then, which is permitted, and is expedient, shall a heretic presume to forbid? He will convince men
of nothing by this prohibition, except that he is a heretic.
6. It remains that we should correct those people a little on the
other points included in the Apostolic prophecy. For they abstain,
as is there predicted, from various kinds of food which God has
created to be received with thanksgiving, and thus prove themselves
to be heretics, not simply because they abstain, but because they
abstain in an heretical spirit. For I, too, sometimes abstain from
food; but my abstinence is a satisfaction for sins, and not due to
superstition and impiety. Shall we blame St. Paul when he kept
under his body, and brought it into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27)? I
will abstain from wine, because in it is excess (Eph. v. 18); or, if I

T H E ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE

403

am weak, will use a little, according to the counsel of St. Paul
(1 Tim. v. 23). I will abstain from eating flesh, lest it should too
much pamper my flesh, and with it the lusts of the flesh. I will
study to take even bread by measure that I may not, through fulness
of stomach, stand wearily and reluctantly to pray to God, and that I
may not be open to the reproach of the Prophet that I have eaten
my bread in fulness (Ezek. xvi. 49). I will not accustom myself to
drink immoderately even of pure water, lest it may excite in me feelings
corrupt, J t is quite otherwise with the heretic. He turns from milk,
and all that is made of it; in fact, from everything which is the result
of that function. That would be acting rightly and Christianly, if
it were done, not because it was the result of that function, but from
a motive of prudence.
7. But how does it come about that everything thus resulting is
avoided in this manner ? That minute scrutiny of kinds of food, so
significantly expressed, is to me a cause for suspicion. If you bring
forward this as a medical rule, I do not blame this care for the
physical health, provided it be not excessive; for no one ever hated
his own flesh. If as a part of the discipline of abstinence, that is,
of the school of spiritual medicine, I even approve it as a virtue, by
which you bring the flesh under due rule, and restrain its desires.
But if, by the madness of the Manichean, you set bounds to the
beneficence of God, so that the food which H e has created and given
to men to be partaken of with thanksgiving you, as a rash and ungrateful critic, pronounce unclean, and abstain from it as from an
evil thing, then, far from praising your abstinence, I hold in execration your blasphemy, I hold you to be yourself impure, in considering
that anything is impure in itself. To the pure all things are pure, says
an excellent judge of things; and nothing is impure except to him
who regards it as such ; but unto them that are defileda?id unbelieving,
he adds, is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled
(Titus i. 15). Woe to you who reject food which God has created,
judging it impure and unworthy to pass into your bodies; wherefore
the Body of Christ, which is the Church, has rejected you yourselves
as defiled and impure.
8. I am not unmindful that they boast that they, and they alone,,
are the Body of Christ; but that is not astonishing, since they persuade themselves also that they have the power to consecrate 1 daily
at their tables the Body and Blood of Christ, to nourish them to
become His members and His Body. For they boast that they are
successors of the Apostles, and call themselves Apostolicals, though
they are not able to show any sign of their apostolate. How long
shall the lantern remain under a bushel ? Ye are the light of the
world, was said to the Apostles, and therefore are they set upon a
candlestick, that they may enlighten the whole world. Let these
successors of the Apostles be ashamed to be the light, not of the
world, but of a bushel, and to the world to be but darkness. Let us
1

See the Letter of Eberwin, p. 3.

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

404

say to them, Ye are the darkness of the world, and pass on to other
things. They say that they are the Church, but they contradict Him
who said, A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid (Matt. v. 14). Do
you believe that the stone, which wras cut out without hands, and
then became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth (Dan. ii.
34> 35)> i s s n u t U P m y ° u r caverns ? Nor ought we to stop even
here. Their opinion is content with whispering in private, and
avoids being known openly. Christ has, and will always have, His
entire inheritance, and the ends of the earth are His possession.
Those who attempt to withdraw from Him this great inheritance
rather cease to form a part of it themselves.
9. See now those detractors, those dogs. They make it a cause of
ridicule against us that we baptize children, that we pray for the
dead, that we entreat the suffrages of the Saints. They hasten to
proscribe Christ in people at every age and of either sex ; in children
and in adults, in the living and in the dead; forbidding [the new
Birth in Him through Baptism] to infants because of the weakness of
their age, and to adults also because of the difficulty of continence.
They deprive the dead of the succour of the living, and the living of
the suffrages of the Saints who have died. But God forbid that it
should be so. The Lord will not give up His people, who are as the
sand of the sea; nor will He who redeemed all be contented with a
small number, and those, heretics. For His Redemption is not small,
but great and abounding. What is the pettiness of their number to
the greatness of the price H e paid ? Those who attempt to empty it
[of its efficacy], deprive themselves of it. Of what importance is it
that an infant is not able to speak for himself, while the voice of the
Blood of his Brother, and of a Brother so great and prevailing, cries
to God from the ground for him ? The Church, which is his Mother,
arises and lifts up her voice on his behalf also. And what of the
child himself? Does it not seem to you that in his inarticulate infantine cries he opens his mouth, gasping, if I may so speak, for the
Saviour's fountains of grace, and crying out to God in his plaints,
Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me (Is. xxxviii. 14). It demands
eagerly the help of grace, because it suffers violence from nature. 1 It
cries because it is innocent and unhappy, because it is ignorant and
small, because it is weak and doomed to suffer. All these things
thus cry out together : the Blood of a Brother, the faithfulness of a
Mother, the abandoned condition of the unhappy child, and the
misery of it as abandoned ; and these cries rise up to the Father;
and He, because H e is the Father, is not able to deny Himself.
10. Let no one object to me that a child has not faith, for its
Mother [that is, the Church] communicates to it her own, wraps it
in this faith, so to speak, as in a cloak, in the Sacrament of Baptism,
which she bestows upon i t ; so that it becomes worthy to receive and
to develop that faith in its purity, if not by its own active powers, yet
with its passive assent. Is it not a short and narrow cloak which
1

A rtatura.

Other readings are : ab origine and a peccato.

T H E ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE

405

cannot cover two ? The faith of the Church is great. Surely it is
not less than the faith of the Canaanitish woman, which we know was
sufficient both for her daughter and herself. Therefore she had the
happiness to hear: O woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even
as thou wilt (Matt. xv. 28). Nor is it less than the faith of those
who let down the paralytic through the roof before Jesus, and obtained for him the saving both of soul and of body. For we read :
Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of
good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee; and a little after : Arise, take
up thy bed, and go unto thine house (Matt. ix. 2-6). H e who believes
these things will be easily persuaded that the Church may presume
with good reason, not only of the salvation of those little children who
are baptized in her faith, .but also of the crown of martyrdom for
those infants who were slain for Christ. And as this is the case, those
who are regenerate will not suffer prejudice from that which is said in
another Scripture, Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6);
since they who have received the grace of Baptism for a testimony of
faith are not without faith. Neither will they be hurt by that other
declaration: He that believeth not shall be damned (Mark xvi. 16).
For what is it to believe but to have faith ? Therefore, also, a woman
shall be saved in child-bearing, ' if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness, with sobriety' 1 (i Tim. ii. 15); and children shall be
succoured by the Regeneration of Baptism. Adult persons also,
who are not able to contain, redeem themselves by the thirtyfold
(Matt. xiii. 8) fruit of marriage. The dead also, who shall have need
of the prayers and sacrifices of the living, and shall be worthy of
them, shall receive them by the good offices of the Angels ; and from
those who have already attained, comforts and consolations shall in
no wise be wanting to the living, because of the affection which they
have in God, who is everywhere, and the charitable care they feel
for those who are absent; for to this end Christ both died and rose
and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living
(Rom. xiv. 9). To this end, also, He was born as an Infant, and
passed through all degrees of age, till H e became a perfect Man, that
H e might be wanting to no age.
n . They do not believe that there remains a purgatorial fire after
death ; but that the soul, when released from the body, passes at once
either to rest or to damnation. Let them, then, ask of Him, who
declared of a certain sin that it should not be forgiven, 'neither in
this world, nor in the world to c o m e ' (Matt. xii. 32), why H e said
this, if there were no forgiveness at all in the world to come. But it
is not wonderful that those who do not acknowledge the Church
should make light of the Orders of the Church ; that they should not
receive her Institutions ; that they should despise her Sacraments,
1
The readings vary here. In the Jumieges MS. it is, with the Vulgate, l in
fide et dilectione, cum sandificatione et sobrietate'''; in the Colbertine, l in fide cum
sobrietate'; in that of St. Germain, and in the earliest editions, ' in fide cum lenitaieS (Mabillon prefers the last.)

4©6

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

and refuse to obey her commands. ' The successors of the Apostles/
they say, l are all sinners, Archbishops, Bishops, and Presbyters,
and therefore are not fit either to administer Sacraments or receive
them.' Are, then, these two things, to be a Bishop and to be a
sinner, so incompatible as that they can never be found in the same
person ? That is not the case. Caiaphas was a Bishop ; and how
great a sinner was he, who pronounced sentence of death upon the
Lord ? If you deny that he was a Bishop, the testimony of St, John,
who declares that he was High Priest for that year, and prophesied
(John xi. 51), shall convict you of error. Judas was an Apostle, and
even chosen by the Lord ; yet he was covetous, and a man accursed.
Do you hesitate to allow that he had the apostolate whom the Lord
Himself chose ? He Himself said : Have I not chosen you hvelve,
and one of you is a devil? (John vi. 70). You hear that the same man
was a chosen Apostle, and showed himself a devil; and do you deny
that a man who is a sinner can possibly be a Bishop ? The Scribes
and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat; and those who did not obey them
(as obedience is in like manner due to Bishops) were guilty, in fact, of
disobedience to the Lord Himself, who gives these commands, and
says : Whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do (Matt,
xxiii. 2, 3). It is clear, then, that although they were Scribes, although
they were Pharisees, although they were even the greatest of sinners,
yet for the sake of the chair [of authority] of Moses which they occupy
that saying, nevertheless, applies to them : He that hearethyou, heareth
Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me (Luke x. 16).
12. There are many other erroneous and evil opinions which are
urged upon this foolish and undiscerning people by those spirits of
evil, who speak lies in hypocrisy; but it is not needful to make reply
to all. For who is acquainted with all these errors ? Besides, the
labour of doing so would be unending; nor is it in the least necessary. For as for those people, neither are they convinced by reasons,
because they do not understand them, nor corrected by the weight of
authorities, for they do not receive them ; nor are they influenced by
persuasions, because they are entirely perverted. It has been shown
by experience that they prefer to die rather than be converted. Of
these men the end is destruction ; at the last the fire awaits them.
Long ago the type of them was shown forth in the foxes to whose
tails Samson applied the fire (Judg. xv. 4, 5). Often the faithful
have laid hands on some of them, and brought them into public
notice. When they have been questioned upon those points of their
belief on which they were suspected, they, according to their custom,
refused entirely to give any answer ; and when examined by the judgment of w-ater,1 they have been found liars. But when they have
been discovered, and were not able to make denial, nor received the
1
The ancients did not reject the proof by water, as is shown in a singular letter
from Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, to Hildegar of Meaux. The method of
performing this purgation is described in the Analecta, Bk. i., where it is said to
have been instituted by Pope Eugenius II.

THE ERRORS OF HERETICS WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE

407

water at all; then taking, as the saying is, the bit in their teeth, they
were so unhappy as to profess openly their impiety, to maintain it as
the true faith, and to declare that they were prepared to suffer death
on its behalf. Nor were those who were present less prepared to
inflict it. Therefore the people, rushing in upon them, made of them
new martyrs to their unbelief. Their zeal we approve, but we do not
advise the imitation of their action, because faith is to be produced
by persuasion, not imposed by force. Although it would, without
doubt, be better that they should be coerced by the sword of him
' who beareth not the sword in vain,' than that they should be allowed
to draw away many other persons into their error. 1
13. Some persons are astonished that they go to their death, not
only patiently, but, as it seems, even with joy; but such persons do
not consider how great is the power of the devil, not only over the
bodies, but also over the hearts of those whom, when once permitted,
he has taken possession of. Is it not more astonishing still that a
man should lay violent hands upon himself than that he should endure
violence willingly from another person ? But we know by experience
that the devil has frequently exerted that power, namely, over many
whom he has caused to drown or to hang themselves. Thus Judas
hanged himself (Matt, xxvii. 5) doubtless by the instigation of the
devil. Yet I find it still more strange, and a greater cause for wonder,
that he should have been able to put it into the heart of Judas to
betray his Lord (John xiii. 2) than that he should have caused him
to hang himself. There is nothing resembling the constancy of the
martyrs in the obstinacy of these men, because in the former it is
piety, in the latter hardness of heart, that causes a contempt of death. 2
Also the Psalmist has said, perhaps with the voice of a martyr: Their
heart is curdled like milk ; but I have meditated on Thy law (Ps. cxix. 70,
Douay), to show that although the suffering seemed the same, yet the
intention was very different; for whilst the one was hardening his
heart against the Lord, the other was meditating on His holy law.
14. This being the case, there is no need, as I have said, to say
much against men who are foolish and obstinate in the extreme; it
suffices to take note of them that they may be avoided. Wherefore,
that they may be discovered, they must be obliged either to send
away the women, by retaining whom in their houses they give scandal
to the Church, or to leave the Church. It is much to be lamented
that not only secular princes, but also, as it is said, certain of the
clergy, and even of the order of Bishops, whose special duty it is to
seek them out, support them for the sake of gain, and for the presents
1
St. Bernard does not in any way contradict here what he had said in Sermon
LXIV., n. 8, that heretics 'should be taken not by arms, but by arguments'; that
is to say, if they remain quiet, and do not attempt to subvert others.
2
St. Augustine expresses the same opinion in his Opus Imperfectum contr. secund.
Juliani responsion. Bk. i. ; and in Lib. de Patientia, cap. 17. It is following this
Father that the Second Council of Orange, in its Can. 17, says : ' It is worldly
cupidity that produces the constancy of the Gentiles ; but the love of God produces
the constancy of Christians.5

408

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

which they receive from them. ' How,' say they, ' shall we condemn
men who do not confess error, nor are convicted of it ?' That reason,
or rather pretext, is frivolous. By this means alone, if there were no
other, you will easily discover t h e m ; if, as I have said, you separate
•the one from the other, obliging the women to live with those of their
own sex who have taken the same vow as themselves, and the men
to do likewise. In this way you will have consulted both the interest
of their vow, and their reputation, in giving them both witnesses and
guardians of their good behaviour. If they do not submit to this,
they will most justly be expelled from the Church to which they give
scandal. Let this suffice, then, for the discovery of the wiles of those
foxes that they may be known and guarded against by the Church,
which is the beloved and glorious Bride of our Lord JESUS CHRIST,
who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXVIT.
OF THE WONDERFUL EXPRESSION OF THE LOVE OF T H E BRIDE,
WHICH IS CALLED FORTH BY T H E AFFECTION OF HER BRIDEGROOM CHRIST.
4

H

My Beloved is mine, and I am His.'—Cant.

ii. 16.

I T H E R T O we have had the words of the Bridegroom. May
H e now be present with us, and aid us worthily to expound
the words of His bride, to His glory and to our salvation.
For they are such as cannot be considered and discussed by us in a
manner that is worthy of the subject unless H e Himself shall be the
guide of our words. For as they are sweet in the grace which they
contain, so they are fruitful in senses and deep in mysteries. To
what shall I liken them ? They are as food which surpasses all other
by a threefold excellence; delicious in taste, solid in nutriment, and
efficacious as a remedy. It is thus with each word of the Bride. By
the sweetness of its sound it charms the feelings; by its richness
in teaching it nourishes and fertilizes the mind; and by the depth of
the mysteries it contains it exercises and awes the spirit, and at the
same time remedies in a wonderful manner the pride and inflation
caused by knowledge. For if any one of those who perhaps seem to
themselves learned, wishing to penetrate into these things with too
curious a scrutiny, finds the powers of his intellect overpowered and
baffled, and brought, as it were, into captivity, will he not be humbled
and obliged to take these words for his own : Such knoivledge is too
wonderful for me : it is high, I cannot attain unto it 2 (Ps. cxxxix. 6).
And without going any farther, with what a marvel of sweetness is the
beginning of this sentence filled! For see what a declaration the
Bride makes as a commencement: My Beloved, she says, is mine, and

T H E WONDERFUL EXPRESSION OF THE LOVE OF THE BRIDE

409

/ am His. Simple words they are, but how sweetly they sound !
And this we shall treat of farther in the sequel.
2. She commences by love, and goes on to speak of Her Beloved,
showing thus that she knows no other than He. It is clear of whom
she speaks; not so clear to whom she is speaking. For it is not
permitted to us to suppose that H e is present, or that she is conversing with Him. This appears plainly from her calling to Him immediately afterwards, as if H e were at a distance, to return to her :
Turn, my Beloved. From this we are drawn to believe that, after
having brought to a close what He had been saying to her, H e had
again, according to His custom, absented Himself from her, and
that she continues, nevertheless, speaking of Him, who is never
absent from her mind. Thus, in fact it i s ; and He continues to be
upon her lips who did not depart, and never does depart, from her
heart. That which is upon her lips comes forth from her heart, for
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Luke vi. 45).
Therefore she speaks of her Beloved as one truly loved and truly
deserving to be loved, inasmuch as she loves much. We know, then,
of whom she speaks, but with whom we know not; nor can I conjecture, unless it be with her maidens, who cannot be absent from
their mother when the Bridegroom has departed. But we shall better
suppose, as I think, that she is speaking to herself, not to any other
person ; especially as her words seem abrupt and unconnected with
what has been spoken before; plainly insufficient to be intelligible
to an auditor, which in a conversation is the object intended. My
Beloved, she says, is mine, and I am His. Nothing more ? Then
the discourse hangs suspended; or, rather, it is not suspended, but
falls. Anyone who listens is held in suspense; he is not instructed,
but is waiting to be so.
3. What, then, is the signification of her words : My Beloved is
mine, and I am His ? We do not comprehend what she says,
because we do not feel what she feels. O holy soul, what is thy
Beloved to thee, and what art thou to Him ? What is, I pray thee,
that mysterious gift which is reciprocally made each to the other, by
Him and by thee, with so much kindness and familiarity ? For thee
is He, and for Him thou art. But is He to thee that which thou art
to Him, or does He stand in some other relation to thee ? If thou
speakest for us, and for our understanding, speak forth clearly thy
thought. How long dost thou hold our minds in suspense ? Or is
thy secret to be, according to the saying of the Prophet, for thyself?
(Is. xxiv. 16). It is thus: the affection has spoken, not the understanding, and therefore what is said is scarcely understood. For
what end, then, is this spoken ? For no end at all, except it be that
the Bride, having been vehemently affected, and filled with extreme
joy and delight, by the long desired interview with her Beloved, when
it has come to an end she is neither able to refrain altogether from
speaking, nor yet, when she speaks, to express her feelings fully. Nor
did she speak thus by way of expressing them, but in order not to be

4io

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

altogether silent. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh, but not in proportion to its abundance. The affections
have their own language, in which they express themselves, even
against their will. For instance, fear has its timid words, grief its
mournful, and love its joyful ones. Are the lamentations of those
who are in trouble, the sobs and sighs of mourners, the sudden and
ungovernable screams and cries of those who are frightened or
stricken, or even the yawns of the satisfied and sleepy, are these either
caused by habit, aroused by reason, ordered by reflection, or shaped
by premeditation ? It is certain that all such expressions of feeling
are not the products of a deliberate purpose, but are caused by
sudden and unforeseen impulse. Thus burning and vehement love,
especially that towards God, not being able to restrain itself, takes
no heed of the order nor connection of the words it employs, nor
even of their fewness, provided that it suffers no diminution of its
vigour. Sometimes it does not seek for words, not even for articulate
language at all, but is content with the wordless aspirations of the
spirit alone. Thus it is that the Bride, burning inconceivably with
holy love, seeks some relief and solace in the ardour which she
endures, and in seeking it takes no heed of how she speaks, but,
urged on by her love, bursts forth wTith the first words which come
into her mouth. And what should she speak, except that with which
her heart is so filled ?
4. Recall to your mind the wording of this marriage song, from its
beginning to this point, and see if, in the interviews and conversations
of the Bridegroom with the Bride, H e has ever addressed her with
the same indulgent kindness as here, or ever held so many or so
cheering discourses with her. What wonder, then, when her wishes
have been satisfied to the full, that a burst of joy should come from
her, rather than words ? Or if she makes use of wTords, that they
should burst forth without premeditation or studied completeness ?
For the Bride judges it not robbery to apply to herself the words of
the Psalmist: My heart hath uttered a good word (Ps. xlv. 1), since
it is with the same Spirit that she is filled. My Beloved is mine, and
I am His. There is no prayer in the saying, and there is no conclusion drawn from it. What then ? it is an outburst of feeling. In
such an utterance what connection of sentiments, what solemnity of
phrases do you seek ? What laws or rules do you impose upon your
own ? It does not admit of your control, it does not wait for your
careful and exact expression, it does not submit to your time, nor
consult your convenience at all. It bursts forth of its own accord
from within, without your will and even without your knowledge,
forcibly rather than by choice. And it yields sometimes a good
odour, sometimes a bad, according to the different qualities of the
natures whence it arises. For a good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things; and an evil man evil things
(Matt. xii. 35). The Bride of my Lord is a vase of good treasure,
and sweet is the odour which comes from her.

THE WONDERFUL EXPRESSION OF THE LOVE OF THE BRIDE

4II

5. I give thanks to Thee, O Lord Jesus, that Thou hast deigned
to admit me at least to perceive that odour so sweet. Yea, Lord, so
let me be admitted, even as the dogs, though of such small account,
are allowed to eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table
(Matt. xv. 27). This utterance of the feelings of Thy beloved is to
me, I confess it, very agreeable ; and of her fulness I receive, however little it be, with gratitude. The memorial of Thy abounding
sweetness arises in me, and I am suffused with I know not what
ineffable perfume of Thy love and condescension, so to speak, in
those few words of hers : My Beloved is mine, and I am His. Let
her, as it is fitting, eat and drink in Thy Presence, and rejoice exceedingly at the sight of Thee ; yea, let her be transported out of
herself for Thy sake, that for our sakes she may have full selfpossession. Let her, then, be abundantly satisfied with the good
things of Thy house, and let her drink of the river of Thy pleasures ;
but let there be for me, Thy poor servant, I entreat, at least a slight
odour of those good things, breathed forth from the bosom of her
fulness. The thought of Moses was uttered to my benefit, and from
his words I gather the sweetness and greatness of the idea of creative
power: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
(Gen. i. 1). Isaiah also exhales the most sweet odour of mercy and
redemption when he thus speaks : He hath poured out His Soul unto
death, and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare
the sin of many', and made intercession for the transgressors (Is. liii. 12),
that they should not perish. And what odour equals in sweetness
that of mercy ? Good also is the utterance from the mouth of
Jeremiah; and from that of David, when he said : My heart is
inditing a good matter (Ps. xlv. 1). They were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and by their utterance replenished all things with His
goodness. Do you ask for the utterance of Jeremiah ? I have not
forgotten it, I was preparing to give it to you. It is good that a man
should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord
(Lam. iii. 26). That is his, I do not mistake ; inhale its sweetness,
the fragrance it brings of Him who recompenses righteousness, which
excels the most exquisite perfume. H e wills me, if I suffer for
righteousness' sake, to await a recompense hereafter, and that I
should not receive one at present, because the salutary wages of
righteousness is from the Lord, not from the world. If it tarry, says
the Prophet, wait for it (Hab. ii. 3). Therefore I will do what he
exhorts m e ; I will wait for the Lord my Saviour.
6. But I am a sinner, and a long road still is before me to traverse,
because salvation is far from sinners. Yet I will not murmur, and in
the meantime I shall be consoled by the fragrance1 of it. The
righteous shall rejoice in the Lord, having tasted and known that of
which I perceive the fragrance afar off. That which the righteous
has in full view, he who is a sinner expects and waits for, and it is
1
Odore. Horst adds vel dolore; but this is wanting in the MSS. and earliest
editions.

412

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

that expectation which I call the fragrance of it. For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God (Rom. viii. 19). To behold, is to taste and see how sweet the
Lord is. Or is it rather the righteous who expects this, and the
blessed who possesses it ? For the hope of the righteous shall be gladness (Prov. x. 28). But the sinner has nothing to hope for. And,
therefore, the sinner, not only because he is attached to the good
things of the present time, but also because he is content with them,
hopes for nothing from the future, and is deaf to that precept of the
Lord: Expect Me in the day of My Resurrection that is to come
(Zeph. iii. 8, Douay). Simeon was righteous because he waited for
and already presaged Christ in the spirit, when as yet he did not as
yet adore Him in the flesh. And in his expectation he wTas blessed,
because through the odour of expectation he attained to taste, that is, to
the beholding Him. For he says : Mine eyes have beheld Thy salvation
(Luke ii. 25). Righteous also was Abraham, who desired and expected
to see the day of the Lord ; nor was he confounded in this hope, for
he saw it, and was glad (John viii. 56). The Apostles, too, were
righteous, for to them it was said: Ye yourselves [are] like u?ito men
that wait for their Lord (Luke xii. 36).
7. Was not David righteous also when he said : L waited patiently
for the Lord? (Ps. xl. 1). H e is the fourth of those of whom I have
said that they had longed for the Lord with all their heart (Ps.
cxix. 131), wrhom I had almost passed over; but it is not advisable
so to do. H e opened his mouth and panted; then, when filled [with
the consolations of the Lord], he not only poured out his heart in
thankfulness, but sang for joy. O good Lord Jesus, how great is the
fragrance and the sweetness which he has caused me to feel and
experience in those utterances and songs, filled with that oil of gladness with which God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee above Thy
fellows, from that myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces
wherewith Thy garments are fragrant, because the daughters of kings
have perfumed them in Thy honour and for Thy delight! (Ps. xlv.
8-10). O that Thou wouldest honour me so far as that I might meet
that great prophet, Thy friend, in that day of solemn gladness, when
he shall come forth from Thy chamber, singing his sacred marriagehymn with the psaltery and joyful harp, overwhelmed with delights,
steeped in perfumes of a sweetness beyond words, and diffusing them
on every side! In that day, I have said, but rather in that hour;
and perhaps it is not even an hour, but in that half-hour, according
to that saying of the Scripture : There was silence in Heaven about the
space of half an hour (Rev. viii. 1); therefore in that hour my mouth
will be filled with gladness and my tongue writh joy, when I shall feel
the fragrance, I do not say of each Psalm, but of each verse of every
Psalm, a fragrance far exceeding that of the most precious perfumes.
What can be more fragrant than the utterances of St. John, who
brings to me the solemn sweetness of the Eternal Generation and
Divinity of the Word ? What can I say of those of St. Paul, which.

THE WONDERFUL EXPRESSION OF THE LOVE OF THE BRIDE

413

have filled the world with the odour of their great sweetness ? In
truth, the sweet savour of the knowledge of Christ was made manifest
by them in every place (2 Cor. ii. 14, 15). And although the unspeakable words which he had heard he does not offer for me to
listen to, he offers them for me to desire ; and it is permitted to discern their fragrance, though to utter them is not lawful (2 Cor. xii. 4).
I know not how it is, that those which are the most deeply hidden
have the greatest charm, and that we sigh most eagerly for those which
are denied to us. But now notice a similar fact with regard to the
Bride, namely, how in the passage before us she, like St. Paul, does
not wholly reveal her secret, and yet does not pass it over wholly unmentioned, as if she wishes to gratify us with somewhat of the fragrance of that treasure which she judges it not advisable as yet to lay
open to our touch and taste, whether on account of our unworthiness,
or on account of our incapacity.
8. My Beloved is mine, and I am His, There can be no doubt
that in this passage is apparent the flame of an ardent and reciprocal
love of two persons, one for the other; while in this love appears also
the supreme felicity of the one and the marvellous condescension of
the other. For it is not an attachment and union between two persons who are of equal condition. Now, who could venture to lay
claim to the full knowledge of what [the Church] glories in having
received in this prerogative of love, and in having repaid it in turn
by an affection so great, if not she, who by her eminent purity and holiness of body and of mind, has been found worthy to have experience
in her own self of a fortune so exalted ? It is in the sphere of the
affections that this takes place, nor is it attained to by the reason, but
by conformity of spirit. But how few there are who are enabled to
say : We all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18).
9. But that what we read here may be brought in some degree
under the grasp of the intellect I leave to the Bride her unique
secret, to which it is not permitted to us to draw near, especially
while we are so imperfect; and I propose to you something at once
more easily understood, and of a more ordinary character, so that
those who are as children in understanding may be able to grasp the
sense and the relation of the words used by the Bride. To me, then,
it seems that it will suffice for our dense and, as it were, popular
apprehension if in saying My Beloved is mine we understand ' gives
His thought and attention,' so that the sense will be : ' My Beloved
gives His thought and attention to me, and I to Him.' Nor am I
the first or the only one to suggest this sense, for the Psalmist has
said before me : 1waitedpatiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto
me and heard my cry (Ps. xl. 1). You see here that the Lord gave
attention to the Psalmist; you see also the patient waiting of the
Psalmist for the Lord. For he who waits gives attention to him for
whom he waits. The sense, then, of the Psalmist's words is the same

414

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

as of those of the Bride, nor are the words far different, only in the
former they are used in another order; for he sets first that which she
sets last, and conversely.
10. But in this the Bride has spoken more accurately, inasmuch as
she does not put forward any merit of her own, but begins with the
benefit she has received, and thus acknowledges that she has been
prevented by the grace of her Beloved. She has well done in expressing herself thus. For who hath first given to Him and it shall
be recompensed unto him again? (Rom. xi. 35). Hear also what
St. John thought on this subject. Herein is love, he says in his
Epistle, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (1 John iv. 10).
Though the Psalmist has not spoken of preventing grace, he has not
denied, or been silent upon, following grace. But listen to his declaration upon that point in plainer terms in another place : Thy
mercy (he was speaking to the Lord) will follow me all the days of 7?iy
life (Ps. xxiii. 6, Douay). Hear also his declaration as to preventing
grace ; it is no less plain and unmistakable : My God, His mercy shall
prevent me (Ps. lix. 10, Douay); and again to the Lord: Let Thy
te?ider mercies speedily prevent us, for we are brought very low (Ps.
lxxix. 8). It is with much beauty that the Bride a little farther on
(if I do not mistake) uses again the same words, but not placing them
in the same order; for she follows the order of the Psalmist, and
speaks thus : I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine (Cant. vi. 3).
Why does she express herself thus ? It is to show that she is more full
of graces when she attributes all to grace, and ascribes to the Lord
the beginning and the end of them all. Otherwise, how could she
be full of grace if there were in her anything which was not of grace ?
There is no room for grace to enter where merit has already taken its
place. 1 That full acknowledgment, then, of grace is itself a mark of
the fulness of grace in her who makes it. For if there were in her
anything which came from the soul as from itself, to whatever extent
that existed, it must of necessity take the place of grace. Whatsoever
you impute to merit you take away from grace. I will not have
merit, because it excludes grace. I shrink from all that is of me that
I may be my own : unless, perhaps, that is especially mine which
makes me to be my own. Grace restores me to myself freely justified, and thus delivered from the slavery of sin. For where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. iii. 17).
11. O Synagogue, Bride insensate, which, despising the righteousness of God—that is, the grace of thy Bridegroom—and desiring to
set up a righteousness of thy own, hast not submitted thyself to the
righteousness of God! For this reason that unhappy one was
repudiated, and is now no longer the Bride; which title belongs to
the Church, to whom it is said: / will betroth thee unto Me in
1
St. Bernard refers here to merit which does not come from grace, but which
takes place above it and excludes it. Compare Sermon LXVIII., n. 6, and in
S. Augustine, Ep. 105 ; 'Of Grace and Free Will,' cc. 6-8 ; 'Confessions,' Bk. ix,,
c. 13 ; Enchiridion, c. 107, etc.

THE WONDERFUL EXPRESSION OF T H E LOVE OF T H E BRIDE

415

righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and i?i mercies ;
I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness (Hos. ii. 19, 20). Nor
hast thou chosen Me, but I have chosen thee ; nor have I found
merits in thee for the reason of My choice, but have foreseen thy
merits. It is, then, in faith that I have betrothed thee, not in the
works of the Law ; in faith, and in the righteousness which is by
faith, not by the law. It remains that thou shouldest form a right
judgment between Me and thee, the judgment in which I have
betrothed thee ; and recognise that I have done this, not because of
thy merits, but purely of My goodness. This, then, is the judgment,
that thou shouldest not extol thy own merits, nor prefer the works of
the Law, nor boast that thou hast borne the burden and heat of the
day; knowing that thou hast been betrothed in faith and the righteousness which is of faith : in mercies and in lovingkindness.
12. She, then, who is truly the Bride recognises these things, and
confesses that she has received each kind of grace ; that which is first,
and is preventing grace; and that also which comes afterwards, to
follow and to render perfect. Therefore she says now, My Beloved
is mine, and I am His, attributing the beginning of the work of grace
to her Beloved. But afterwards she says also : / am my Beloved's,
and my Beloved is mine ; and thus attributes to Him the ending and
consummation of it also.
Let us now see, then, what is the meaning of those words she
speaks, My Beloved is ?nine. If we are to understand with them
* gives attention to,' as I have already suggested, and as the Psalmist
says, / zvaited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, I find
that the words contain somewhat of no small interest and importance.
But it is a subject worthy of our closest attention, and not to be
entered upon to wearied ears and minds. If you please, it shall be
deferred for a little while, and the sermon of to-morrow shall be commenced with it. Only let me ask you to pray, in the meantime, that
I may be preserved from the encroachments of pressing cares, by the
grace and mercy of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS
CHRIST our LORD, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXVIII.
HOW CHRIST THE BRIDEGROOM INCLINES UNTO AND GIVES ATTENTION
TO HIS BRIDE, WHICH IS THE CHURCH ; AND HOW SHE LIKEWISE
INCLINES UNTO HIM. OF T H E CARE WHICH GOD HAS FOR HIS
ELECT.
ALSO OF T H E MERIT AND T H E CONFIDENCE OF T H E
CHURCH.

H

EAR now what I reserved from yesterday to say to you; hear
the great joy which I have felt. And this joy is yours;
hear it, therefore, and rejoice. I have felt it in one word
of the Bride, and, after having been, as it were, perfumed with it, I

416

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

have laid it by with care to share it with you to-day ; and that so much
the more gladly as the time seems appropriate for so doing. The
Bride, then, has spoken, and* has said that the Bridegroom inclines
unto her. Who, then, is the Bride, and who is the Bridegroom ?
The Bridegroom is our God; and, if I venture to say so, it is we who
are the Bride, with the rest of that multitude of captives whom He
knows. Let us rejoice, for this is our glory 1 ; we are among those to
whom God gives attention. Yet how great is the disparity between
Him and us ! What are the children of men, the earth-born, before
Him ? According to the Prophet, All nations before Him are as
nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity
(Is. xl. 17). W7hat object, then, can there be in a comparison between
persons so unequal ? Either the one glorifies herself without measure,
or the other loves without measure. Is it not a wonderful thing that
she should thus claim as her own the attention and interest of her
Bridegroom, and say, My Beloved is mine ? Nor is she content even
with this ; she goes on to glorify herself still farther; she replies to
Him as equal to equal, and gives assurance to Him in her turn. For
she goes on to say, And I am His. An unexampled speech indeed :
/ am His. Nor is the other assertion less unexampled : My Beloved
is mine. But the association of the two is still more wonderful than
either of them separately.
2. What does not a pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith unfeigned, venture ? ' To me,' she says, ' He gives attention.' Is it
possible that a Majesty so great, upon which rests the government
and administration of the universe, deigns to give attention to her,
and that the Eternal God occupies Himself with the affairs, or,
rather, the repose, of the affection and the aspirations of the Bride
alone ? It is evidently so. For she is the Church of the elect, of
whom the Apostle says : 1endure altthings for the elect"s sakes (2 Tim.
ii. 10 ; see also 1 Cor. hi. 21). And who can doubt; that 'the grace
and mercy of God is with His Saints, and that H e hath respect unto
His chosen ' (Wisd. iv. 15) ? We do not, then, deny the providence
of God over His other creatures; but the Bride claims for herself His
especial care and regard. Doth God take care for oxen ? (1 Cor. ix. 9).
And there is no doubt that the same question may be asked with
respect to horses, and to camels, to elephants, and to all the beasts of
the earth : and similarly to the fishes of the sea, and the winged
denizens of the air; in short, to everything that is upon the earth,
with the sole exception of those beings about whom that declaration
was made : Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you
(1 Pet. v. 10). Does it not seem to you that this is as if the Apostle
had said : ' Give attention unto Him, for He attends to you, and has
an interest in you ' ? And notice that the Apostle Peter (for it is he
who speaks) observes in his words the same order as does the Bride.
For he does not say, Casting all your care upon Him, ' in order that
1
Thus all the MSS. Horst adds : ' testimonium conscientia nostra^ words
which do not harmonize with the rest of the passage.

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417

H e may care for you,' but ' because H e careth for you '; and thereby
he plainly shows that the Church of the Saints is not only beloved by
God, but was beloved by Him before it had any love for Him at all.
3. It is quite evident that what the Apostle has said with regard to
oxen has no reference whatever to the Church, since H e who loved
her, and gave Himself for her, cannot be said to be without care for
her. Is not she that lost sheep in the parable, of which the care took
precedence of even that for His flock in heaven ? For the Pastor left
those other sheep in the wilderness, and came down to earth to care
for her; he sought for her diligently, nor when she was found did he
even lead her back, but bore her back upon His shoulders; then
there was instituted in Heaven a new festival of rejoicings with her
and for her, and the peoples of the Angels were invited to the
solemnity (Luke xv. 4-7, 10). What then? shall it be said that H e
has no care for her whom He deigned to carry back upon His own
shoulders ? She is not, then, deceived when she says: The Lord
thinketh upon me (Ps. xl. 17); nor does she mistake when she says
also : The Lord will repay for me (Ps. cxxxviii. 8, Douay), and makes
any other assertion which marks the care which the Lord has for her.
It is for that reason that she calls the Lord of Sabaoth her Beloved,
and boasts that H e who judges all things with tranquillity (Wisd.
xii. 18, Vulg.) gives attention to her. Why should she not boast of
this, since she has heard Him saying unto her: Can a woman forget
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? yea, they may forget, yet will L not forget thee (Is. xlix. 15).
Again, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (Ps. xxxiv. 15);
and what is the Bride, but the assembly of the righteous ? What is
she, but the generation of them that seek the Lord, who desire to
behold the Face of the Bridegroom ? For H e does not give attention
unto her without her rendering, in her turn, attention and devotion
unto Him. Wherefore she expresses each of these truths, when she
says : My Beloved is mine, and I am His. He is mine, because He is
good and merciful; / am His, because I am not ungrateful. H e
bestows upon me grace from grace, and I render unto Him thanks
(gratiam) for His grace; H e has care for my deliverance, and I for
His honour; H e for my salvation, and I for obedience to His will.
H e has care for me and for no other, because I am His one dove,
His undefiled, and I have care for Him and for no other; nor do I
give ear to the voice of strangers, nor listen to those who say: Lo,
here is Christ; or, lo, He is there (Mark xiii. 21). It is the Church
that speaks thus.
4. But what shall we say of each of us individually ? Are we to
think that there is anyone among us to whom what is said by the
Bride is capable of being applied ? Anyone, do I say, among us ?
I should think that there is no one at all among the faithful members
of the Church with respect to whom it may not justly be inquired
whether the Bride's mystical saying is not realized in some degree in
bim. But between a single soul and the mass of souls there is a
27

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difference of method. It was not on account of one soul alone that
God [the Son] has done and suffered so many things when H e performed and accomplished upon the earth the work of our salvation,
but on account of a great number of souls which He would unite into
one Church, and which would form one only Bride. Each to the
other is the dearest of all; she clings to no other Spouse, nor does
H e give Himself to any other Bride. What may she not expect from
a lover who took upon Him an enterprise so great ? What may she
not hope for from Him who descended from heaven to seek her?
Nor has H e only sought her, but has found and made her His own
with a great price, that is to say, the Blood of the purchaser.
Besides, she relies so much the more upon the favour shown to her,
inasmuch as, looking onward to the future, she is not ignorant that
the Lord hath need of her. To what end do you inquire ? It is,
says the Psalmist, ' to see the good of His chosen, to rejoice in the
gladness of His nation, to glory with His inheritance' (Ps. cvi. 5).
You will not think that this is a matter of small importance; nay, I
say to you that all His works will remain imperfect, if this fail of
being attained. Does not the end of all things depend on the state
and consummation of the Church ? If you take away this, it is in
vain that the lower creation awaits the manifestation of the sons of
God. If you take away this neither the Patriarchs nor the Prophets
will reach their state of perfection, since St. Paul asserts that God
has so provided for us that they without us should not be made perfect
(Heb. xi. 40). If you take away this, the glory of even the holy
Angels will be imperfect by the incompleteness of their number, nor
will the City of God rejoice in the integrity of all its parts.
5. Whence, then, shall the design of God be fulfilled, and that
great mystery of His mercy be accomplished ? Whence shall be
given to me those babes and sucklings, out of whose mouth God's
praise is perfected? (Ps. viii. 2). Not Heaven, but the Church, has
those babes in Christ, to whom the Apostle says, I have fed you with
milk, and not with meat (1 Cor. iii. 2). And these are invited by the
Psalmist to fill up, as it were, the praises of the Lord, saying,
Praise the Lord, ye children (Ps. cxiii. 1, Douay). Do you think that
our God will receive all the praise which is due to His glory, until
the coming of those who shall sing on their own behalf in the presence of the Angels, We have rejoiced for the days in which Thou
hast humbled us, for the years in which we have seen evils (Ps. xc. 15,
Douay) ? This kind of rejoicing the heavens have not known, except
through the children of the Church. No one who has never known
what it is not to rejoice ever rejoices after this fashion. Great is joy
when it succeeds to sorrow, welcome is quiet after labour, the safe
harbour after the shipwreck. Security is pleasing to everyone, but
most of all to him who has been in fear of danger. Light is agreeable
to all, but of especial sweetness to him who is escaping from the
power of darkness. To have passed from death unto life doubles
the charm of life. This it is that shall be the peculiar zest to me in

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419

the banquet of heaven, and it will be distinct from that of the
heavenly spirits themselves. I venture to assert that the blessed life
of heaven itself is without this special blessedness which is mine,
unless those whose is that blessed life deign to say that they enjoy it
by their charity in me and through me. It seems, in truth, that
something is added to the perfection of their joy from me, nor is this
addition a small one ; for the Angels rejoice at the repentance of a
sinner. And if my tears of penitence are to the Angels a source of
joy, what must my perfect happiness be to them ? Every work of
theirs has for its object the praise of God ; but there is something
wanting to His praise, if there is no one to say, We went through fire
arid through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place
(Ps. lxvi. 12).
6. The whole state of the Church, then, is happy and blessed, and
the thanksgiving and glory which she renders to God is altogether
below that which she owes to Him, not only for those benefits which
she has already received from His goodness, but for those also which
she has still to receive from it. For why should she be anxious with
respect to her merits, to whom a stronger and more secure reason for
glorying is supplied, in the purpose of God respecting her? God
cannot deny Himself, nor does He undo that which He has done;
as it is written, Who declares . . . from ancient times the things that
are not yet done (Is. xlvi. 10). He will do them, without doubt;
He will do them, nor will He be wanting to His purpose. Thus you
ought not now to inquire on what merits we rest the hope of good
things, especially when you bear in mind the words of the Prophet :
Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes . . . but for
Mine Holy Name s sake (Ezek. xxxvi. 22). For merit, it suffices to
know that our merits are not sufficient; but as it is enough for merit
not to presume on merits of one's own, so it is enough for condemnation to be wholly without merits. Even infants, when regenerated
in Baptism, are not wholly wanting in merits, but have the merits of
Christ, of which, nevertheless, they render themselves unworthy, if,
not through inability, but through neglect, they join to them no
merits of their own ; and this is, indeed, the peril of those who have
reached the age of discretion. Make it, then, your care to have
merits, but, having them, know that they have been given to you :
hope for the fruit of them from the mercy of God, and you will escape
every danger, whether of poverty, of ingratitude, or of presumption.
A total want of merits is an injurious poverty, but a mistaken belief
in one's wealth of merits is spiritual presumption. And therefore a
wise man saith : Give me neither poverty nor riches (Prov. xxx. 8).
Happy is the Church to whom neither merits are wanting without
presuming, nor presumption without merits. She has ground for
presumption, but not upon her merits; and she has merits, but for
deserving, not for presuming ; and, indeed, not to presume upon anything in herself, is not that very thing to deserve to presume upon
her faith? Therefore she presumes the more securely [upon the

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merits of Christ] that she does not presume [upon her o w n ] ; and
she has no cause to fear being confounded in that on which she
glories, since she has so much ground for glorying; for the mercies
of the Lord are many, and His truth endureth for ever.
7. Why should not [the Church] securely glory, since mercy and
truth are met together (Ps. Ixxxv. 11) for a testimony of her glory?
Whether, therefore, she says, My Beloved is mine; or, / waited
patiently jor the Lord, and He i?icli?ied unto me; or, The Lord
thinketh upon me (Ps. xl. 1, 17); or uses other words of a similar
kind which appear to express a degree of affection and singular
favour with which she is regarded by God, she is enabled to claim
all this without fear, since it is the Lord Himself who has given to
her the ground for her confident assurance, especially as she sees no
other Bride, no other Church, in whom those [prophecies], which
must necessarily be fulfilled, can find their fulfilment. It is, then,
clear that the Church need have no fear to appropriate to herself all
these promises. But it is inquired whether it be permissible, also,
for an individual soul, however holy and spiritual it be, to venture to
attribute them in the same way to itself; for one single soul, however
eminent in sanctity it may be, cannot be thought competent to
attribute to itself all the prerogatives of that great multitude, faithful
and Catholic, on whose account they were instituted. And therefore
it would be the more difficult, as I consider, to find a soul (if, indeed,
one such could be found) to whom this could be permitted. We
will, however, essay this task, but in another discourse; because we
do not wish to enter upon the paths of a discussion so intricate, and
of which the issue is at present doubtful to us, before we have, in
order to obtain the knowledge of that hidden word, lifted up our
heart in prayer to Him who ' openeth and no man shutteth'
(Rev. iii. 7), to Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS
C H R I S T our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN.

SERMON LXIX.
•ALL THAT LIFTS ITSELF UP AGAINST T H E KNOWLEDGE AND SERVICE
OF GOD IS TO BE ABASED. IN WHAT W7AY T H E FATHER AND
THE WORD COME INTO A SOUL THAT LOVES, AND TAKE UP
THEIR ABODE IN IT ; AND OF T H E CLOSE RELATION THAT IS
THUS ENTERED INTO BETWEEN GOD AND T H E SOUL.
1

I

My Beloved is Mine, and I am His.'—Cant. ii. 16.

N the preceding sermon these words were said to be an utterance of the Church universal, occasioned by the promises made
to her by God, as well for the life which now is as for that
which is to come. The question proposed is whether a single soul
can appropriate to itself, in a certain manner, those promises which

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421

are made to the whole community of souls. If it may not do so,
then it behoves us to refer these words to the Church in such a way
that they may not apply to the individual; and not these only, but
all utterances of a similar kind in which great truths are expressed;
as, for example, / waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto
me (Ps. xl. i), and any others touched upon in the former sermon.
If, on the contrary, anyone thinks that the individual soul is permitted to claim these promises, I do not contest that opinion ; but
it is needful to ascertain to whom that claim is permitted, for it is
manifestly not open to ail-indiscriminately to do so. The Church of
God has, without doubt, her spiritual men who serve God within her
pale, not only faithfully, but also with confidence, who speak with
God as with a friend, and whose conscience renders to them an
approving testimony. But who are these ? That is known only to
God. Do you, nevertheless, hear what manner of men you ought to
be if you wish to be of that number. Though I say this, I do so not
as having had experience of this, but as one who desires to have it.
Give me a soul which loves God, and Him only, and which deserves
to be loved for His sake, to which to live is Christ, and not only so,
but with which this has long been the case; which, whether in action
or in repose, has God always before its eyes, and desires, with
anxious care, to walk with Him at all times, to be of one mind with
Him, and which is enabled so to b e ; give me, I say, a soul like this,
and I do not deny that it is worthy of the care of the Bridegroom, of
the regard of His Majesty, of the favour of the Sovereign, of the
attention of the Ruler of all the earth, and if it desires to glorify
itself it can do so without folly, provided it is mindful that ' whosoever glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.' In this manner one
individual soul may venture to appropriate that which belongs only
to many, but for a distinct reason.
2. For the causes which we have enumerated above give confidence
to a holy and believing multitude, but there are two principal ones
which give it to a holy soul separately. In the first place, the
Divinity of the Bridegroom, being by nature wholly simple, is able to
regard many persons as one, and one person as if many, without
being divided by their diversity in the one case, or restricted by the
singularity in the other; it is neither agitated by cares, nor troubled
by disquietudes. Thus, though it be wholly occupied by one object,
it is not absorbed by that object; nor, if occupied by many, is it
spread over them. Secondly, which it is as sweet as it is remarkable
to have experience of, so great is the condescension of the Word, so
great is the benevolence of the Father and of the Word towards the
soul well affected and well regulated (which is indeed the gift of the
Father and the work of the Son) that they deign to honour it with
their presence, and in such a measure that they not only come to it,
but make their abode with it (John xiv. 23). For it is not enough
that they come to it, unless they also bestow upon it their fulness.
WThat is it for the WORD to come to the soul? It is to instruct it in

42 2

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wisdom. And what for the Father to come ? It is to touch it with
the love of wisdom, so that it may be able to say : I was a lover of
her beauty (VVisd. viii. 2). To love is of the Father, and therefore the
coming of the Father is declared by the infusion of love. What
would be the effect of knowledge without love ? It would produce
pride. And what of love without knowledge ? It would be- the
cause of error. In fact, they were in error of whom St. Paul said :
I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge (Rom. x. 2). It is not becoming for the Bride of the Word
to be ignorant, and, on the other hand, the Father does not suffer
her to be proud. For the Father loves the Son, and is always swift
to cast down and destroy that which exalts itself against the knowledge of the Word, whether by moderating or by sharpening zeal,
whereof the one is the effect of mercy, the other of justice. May H e
cast down, or, rather, destroy and reduce to nothingness, every rising
of pride in m e ; and may He do this not by the fire of His anger,
but by the gentle flowing of His love ! May I be enabled to learn
not to indulge in pride, yet to learn this not by the lessons of vengeance, but by the unction of grace ! O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine
anger, as [Thou didst rebuke] the Angel who exalted himself in
Heaven, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure (Ps. vi. 1) as Thou
didst man who offended in Paradise. Both of these meditated
iniquity in seeking to exalt themselves, the one by power, the other
by knowledge. For the woman foolishly believed the voice of the
tempter when he promised : Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil (Gen. hi. 5). He had at an earlier period seduced himself, when
he had persuaded himself that he should become like unto the Most
High.
For he who thinks himself to be something when he is
nothing deceives himself (Gal. vi. 3).
3. But both one and the other of these eminences was cast down;
but more gently in the case of man, according to the just judgment
of Him who doeth all things in weight and in measure. For it was
in fierce anger that the Angels were punished, or, rather, were condemned ; but it was only a milder degree of displeasure that was felt
by man. For in the midst of His wrath God remembered mercy.
Wherefore the children of men are called to this day 'children of
wrath,' but not 'of fierce anger.' If I were not born in the former
state, I should not need a New Birth through Baptism ; but if I were
born in the latter state, either a New Birth would be unattainable to
me or wrould profit me nothing if attained. Would you behold a
child of fierce anger? If you have seen ' Satan as lightning fall from
heaven,' that is to say, precipitated thence by the vehemence of the
fierce anger of God, then you have learned what that anger is.
Then He is not mindful of His mercy, for in His wrath He will
indeed remember mercy ; but it is not so when His fierce wrath
burns as fire. Woe to the children of unbelief! to those, I mean,
who, being descendants of Adam, have been born children of wrath,
and have changed that wrath into fierce anger against themselves by

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423

their diabolic obstinacy; the rod into a club, yea, rather into the
hammer of destruction. For they treasure up unto themselves wrath
against the day of wrath (Rom. ii. 5). Wrath treasured up, what is it
but fierce anger? They have committed the sin of the devil, and are
stricken with the same judgment as he. Woe also, though in a less
terrible degree, to those who, having been born children of wrath,
have not awaited the obtaining of the New Birth by grace. For
having died in the same state in which they were born, children of
wrath they shall remain. I say 'of wrath,' not 'of fierce anger/
because it is most piously believed, and the hopes and sympathies of
humanity lead us to expect, that their penalties are of a far milder
kind, since the infection of nature in them comes wholly from others. 1
4. Therefore the devil has been judged in the fierce anger of God,
because his iniquity was found hateful; while that of man has been
judged but in anger, and in anger is corrected. Thus every kind of
exaltation is repressed, as is also that which makes proud and leads
to a headlong fall; for the Father is animated by zeal on behalf of
the Son. For in both the one case and the other there is an injury
to the Son, or rather there is [either] a usurpation of power against
the Might of God, which is Himself, or a presumption of knowledge
against the Wisdom of God, which also is no other than God Himself.
O Lord, who is like unto Thee; who, except the Brightness of Thy
Essential Being, the express Image of Thy Person ? He alone is in
Thy Likeness; He alone being Son of the Most High, and Himself
Most High, thought it not robbery to be equal unto Thee (Phil. ii. 6).
How can H e be otherwise than equal to Thee, since Thou and He
are one ? His seat is on Thy Right Hand, not under Thy Feet.
How can anyone be found so daring and so rash as to attempt to
usurp the place of Thy Only Begotten Son ? Let him be cast down.
H e sets a seat for himself on high; let the noxious chair of evil be
overturned. Who is it that teacheth man knowledge? Is it not
Thou, O Key of David, who openest and shuttest to whom Thou
wilt ? How, then, could the attempt be made without the Key to
enter, or rather to gain access by violence to the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge ? For he who entereth not by the door, the same is
a thief and a robber (John x. 1). Peter, then, will enter, who has
received the keys ; nor will he enter alone, for he shall admit me if
he will; and if he will, shall shut out some other person, according
to the knowledge and the power which has been conferred upon him.
5. And what are these keys ? They signify the power of opening
and shutting, and of distinguishing between those who should be admitted and those who should be excluded. These treasures are not
in the serpent, but in Christ. And therefore the serpent was not able
1
This is also the teaching of St. Augustine, who writes that * children who die
without baptism shall be in a state of condemnation which is the mildest of all.'
—De Peccatorum Meritis, c. 16; also in Contra Julianum, Bk. v., c. 12; also
Fulgentius de Veritate Prcedestinationis, Bk. i., c. 14; and De Incarnatione,
c. 30.

424

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to bestow the knowledge which he did not possess, but H e who did
possess it bestowed it. Nor could he have a power which he had not
received, but he had it who had received it. Jesus Christ bestowed
it (Matt. xvi. 19); Peter received it. H e was not rendered proud by
his knowledge, nor is he therefore to be cast down from the power
he has received. Wherefore ? Because he in neither of these ways
exalted himself against the knowledge of God, who laid claim to none
of these powers beyond the knowledge of God, as did he who flattered
himself in his own sight until his iniquity was found to be hateful
(Ps. xxxvi. 2). How, indeed, should he have desired anything beyond
the knowledge of God, who described himself as an Apostle of Jesus
Christ, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father? (1 Peter
i. 1, 2). And these things were said in respect of the zeal of God
directed against the evil-doers, whether angel or man (for in both he
finds perverseness), insomuch that H e has destroyed in His wrath
and fierce anger everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God.
6. It is now needful to return to the zeal of mercy, that is, the zeal
which is not inflamed against us, but is sent forth towards u s ; for the
flame of zeal is, as we have already said, that of judgment, and has
given us sufficient cause for fear in the examples which have been
adduced of those so terribly punished. It is for that reason that I
shall retire to a place of refuge from the face of the fierce anger of
the Lord, namely, to that zeal of kindness which burns with sweet
and efficacious expiation. Does not charity atone for sins ? It does,
and with power. I have read that it covers the multitude of sins
(1 Peter iv. 8). But I ask : Is it not suitable also and sufficient to
cast down and humble every exaltation of the eyes and of the heart ?
Assuredly, for it vaunteth not itself, and is not puffed up. If, then,
the Lord Jesus deigns to come to me, or rather in me, not in the zeal
of His fierce anger, nor even in wrath, but in love and in a spirit of
gentle kindness, striving with me with a godly jealousy : since what is
there that is so emphatically of God as charity ? For that is indeed
God. If, I say, H e comes thus, then I know by that sign that H e is
not alone, but that with Him has come His Father also. For what is
so Fatherly as this ? And it is for this very reason that H e is called,
not only the Father of the Word, but also the Father of mercies
(2 Cor. i. 3), because to Him it belongeth always to have pity-and to
spare. If I have ever felt that H e has opened my understanding
that I might understand the Scriptures (Luke xxiv. 45), either that I
might be able to pour forth in preaching, as it were, from my inmost
heart the wisdom which is from above, or that a deeper insight into
Divine mysteries might be given me through an influx of light from
heaven, or that the heavens themselves seemed to be spread over my
soul and to let fall upon it the fruitful showers of meditation, then at
such times it is not doubtful to me that the Bridegroom is present with
me. For these rich gifts come to us from the Word, and of His
fulness do we all receive these precious things. If, again, I am per-

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425

vaded by a feeling of devotion humble and devout, but zealous and
inspiring, if love of the truth, penetrating to my inmost being, produces in me a scorn and hatred of vanity, so that neither the increase
of knowledge renders me proud nor the frequency of [the Divine]
visitations exalts me, then I straightway feel that this is the effect of
Paternal tenderness, and I do not doubt that the Father is with me.
But if I shall have continued to persevere, as far as in me is, in sentiments and actions worthy of so great a Divine condescension, and
the grace of God which was in me was not in vain, then I am assured
that the FATHER and the WORD have taken up their abode in me ;
the One to nourish my soul, the Other to instruct it.
7. What a close and intimate relation this grace produces between
the Divine Word and the soul, and what confidence follows from that
intimacy, you may well imagine. I believe that a soul in such a
condition may say without fear : My Beloved is mine; inasmuch as it
is conscious that it loves God with a true and even a vehement affection, and therefore concludes that it is beloved in no less a degree by
Him ; and by the singular devotion, the care, the labour, the diligence,
the earnestness wherewith it is animated in the incessant and ardent
effort to find means to please God, which it readily, and without
question, recognises in itself, it recalls the Lord's promise : With
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again (Matt. vii. 2).
It is true that the Bride is prudent, and prefers to take for her part a
deep thankfulness for grace bestowed, because she knows that her
Beloved has prevented her in the bestowal of affection. It is for that
she sets His Name first: My Beloved is mine, and I am His. From
the attributes, then, which belong to God, she justly and confidently
infers that by Him whom she loves, she is herself beloved. This is,
in fact, the case. The love of God for the soul produces the love of
the soul for God; the direction of the Divine thought upon a soul
causes that soul to direct itself towards God, and His care and solicitude for it produces a similar care and solicitude in it towards Him.
For, I know not by what affinity of nature it takes place, that when
a soul has once attained to behold, with unveiled face, the glory of
the Lord, it is speedily, as if by a necessary law, conformed to it, and
transformed into the same image. God will then appear towards you,
such as you shall have appeared towards Him. With an upright man
(says the Psalmist) He will show Himself upright; with the pure H e
will show Himself pure (Ps. xviii. 25, 26). Why not, then, also loving
with one who loves Him, attentive with the attentive, careful with the
careful, and at leisure with the leisurely ?
8. Lastly, He says : I love them that love Me: and those that seek
Me early shall find Me (Prov. viii. 17). You see how He assures you,
not only of His love, if you love Him, but also of the care and thought
which He employs on your behalf, if He feels that you are careful in
that which relates to Him. Are you keeping vigil? H e will keep
vigil too. Though you arise in the night itself, before the beginning
of the morning watches, though you hasten as much as you are able

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to ' prevent the night watches,' you will find Him there; you will not
anticipate Him. You will act rashly if,* in such a matter as this, you
attribute any precedence in time, or any greater degree, to yourself
rather than to Him ; for His love is greater than yours, and it is
before yours. If a soul is deeply assured of these glorious truths,
can you wonder that it takes pride and pleasure, even for the very
reason that it is assured of them, in the thought that this Majesty
which is so great gives attention to it alone, as if H e had no care for
the rest of His creatures; nay, seems to set all other cares aside, and
to guard it with an undivided devotion ?
It is time that I should bring this sermon to an end. I will add
only one thing, which seems marvellous, but is true, and is specially
addressed to those spiritually minded who are among you: that a
soul which beholds God beholds Him no otherwise than as if it alone
were beheld by Him. It is, then, in this confidence that it declares
that He gives attention to it, and that it gives attention to Him, and
that it beholds nothing else but itself and Him. How good art Thou,
O Lord, to the soul that seeks Thee ! Thou comest to it; Thou dost
embrace it; Thou showest Thyself to be its Bridegroom, its Spouse;
Thou who art its Lord, yea, who art above all, God blessed for ever.
AMEN.

SERMON LXX.
WHY T H E BRIDEGROOM IS CALLED BELOVED J AND OF THE TRUTH,
THE GENTLENESS, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THE OTHER VIRTUES,
WHICH ARE CALLED LILIES,
AND AMONG WHICH HE IS SAID TO
FEED.
' My Beloved is mine, and I am His : He feedeth among the UliesS—Cant.

ii. 16.

T T J H O can now impute to the Bride presumption or insolence,
V/V/
because she declares that she has been admitted into
* *
fellowship with Him who feedeth among the lilies ? Even
if it were said, ' He feedeth among the stars,' I know not wThether in
consideration of that phrase, ' H e feedeth,' it would seem to be a
great thing thus to have with Him friendship or familiarity. For the
phrase seems to have in it somewhat humble and unrefined. And
wThen she says that He feedeth among the lilies, she seems by this
note of humiliation to repel and remove from herself any charge of
temerity. For what are lilies ? According to the Word of the Lord
they are the grass of the field which to-day is, and to-mori'ow is cast
into the oven (Matt. vi. 28-30). What, then, is H e who feedeth upon
the grass, as a lamb or a calf ? Evidently a lamb or a fatted calf. But
you have, perhaps, carefully noticed that the lilies are referred to here,
not as food, but as the place of His sojourn ; nor is it said that He

W H Y THE BRIDEGROOM IS CALLED BELOVED

427

feedeth on the lilies, but among the lilies. So let it be. He does not
feed on the grass as an ox; but what greatness can there be in one
who is found among the grass, and lies down upon it to rest, like one
of the crowd which surrounds Him ; and what glory can there be to
the Bride in having for her Beloved, one who acts thus? According
to the literal sense, then, the modesty of the Bride, and the discretion
with which she speaks, are sufficiently apparent, and it is clear that
she rules her speech with judgment, and expresses her high fortunes
in unassuming words.
2. But, nevertheless, she is not unmindful that He wrho feedeth is
the same as H e who giveth food to others ; that He, though He
abides among the lilies, yet reigns above the stars. But she makes
mention the more willingly of the humble actions of her Beloved,
because, as I have said, of His humility; but also because He began
to be her Beloved from the time when H e began to feed among the
lilies. Nor was it only from that time that He did so, but from that
fact. For He who in the heights is the Lord, in the depths is the
Beloved ; above the stars He reigns ; among the lilies H e loves.
Yet even above the stars He loved, because at no time and in no
place, being Himself the Essential Love, could H e cease to love ;
but until H e descended to be among the lilies, and was found to feed
among them, He was not the object of love, nor did H e become the
Beloved. What! you reply; was He not loved by the Patriarchs
and by the Prophets ? Assuredly; but not before He was seen by
them also, feeding among the lilies. They cannot be said not to have
seen Him whom they foresaw, unless anyone is so entirely without
discernment as to suppose that a person who sees in the spirit really
sees nothing. Whence, then, were they Seers, for so the Prophets
were called (i Sam. ix. 9) aforetime, if they saw nothing? It was
because they desired to see Him whom as yet they saw not. And
they would not have been able to form the desire to see Him in the
body if they had not seen Him in the spirit. But, I say, were they
all prophets ? Either they all wished to see, or faith was granted to
all. As to all those who had the gift of spiritual vision, either they
were Prophets, or they were acquiescent and in alliance with the
Prophets. W7hile as to those who had faith, to have believed, is to
have seen. For it seems to me not a mistake to say that it is possible
to behold a thing in spirit and by faith, and not only by the spirit of
prophecy.
3. He, therefore, who giveth food to all flesh, in deigning thus to
come down and to feed among the lilies, made Himself loved, because
H e could not be loved before He was known. Accordingly, when
the Bride makes mention of her Beloved, she appropriately refers to
this fact as the cause of His being known and loved. This feeding
among the lilies is to be spiritually understood; to take it in a literal
sense would be ridiculous. We will show, as far as we are able, what
these spiritual lilies are. I think that it will behove us first to examine
on what the Beloved ' feedeth among the lilies' : whether upon the

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lilies themselves, or upon other plants and flowers hidden among
them. That which appears to me the more difficult is that He is
not said to give food to others, but Himself to feed. For that He
gives food to others is not doubtful, nor is it unworthy of Him ; but
to say that He Himself feeds has a sound of indigence, and seems
not capable of being attributed to Him, even spiritually, without doing
some injury to His sovereign Majesty. I do not remember to have
remarked in any part of this Canticle that He is said to feed ; while
you will remember with me that in one place H e is said to make His
flocks to feed. For the Bride there asks Him to show to her where
H e makes His flocks to feed and to rest at noon (i. 6). And now
she says that H e Himself ' feedeth,' which she has not asserted before;
nor does she ask to have the place where H e is pointed out to her,
but herself names it expressly, ' among the lilies? The one fact she
knew, the other she did not know ; because it is not possible for her
to be equally well acquainted with that which is lofty and in the
heaven, and that which is lowly and on the earth. Lofty is the task,
lofty also is the place; nor has access to it been granted as yet even
to the Bride herself.
4. And therefore it was that He who giveth food to all men, and
is their Pastor, emptied Himself of His glory even to the point of
receiving food. He was found among the lilies; He was beheld in
His state of poverty by the Church, which was poor, and was beloved
for the very reason of their similarity in this respect. Nor was it for
this cause alone, but also because of His truth, His gentleness, and
His righteousness ; because promises were fulfilled through Him ;
because iniquities were forgiven ; because the demons and their chief
were judged and condemned in their pride. Such, then, was He
when H e appeared, that He was deserving of being loved ; for, while
by His own Nature He was the purest Truth, to men H e was gentle
and kind, and on their behalf He was righteous. O Bridegroom truly
to be loved, and to be embraced with every fibre of the heart's affection ! Why should the Church hesitate or delay to commit herself
with an entire devotion to one so faithful to His promises, so kind to
forgive, and so strong and righteous to protect ? The Psalmist had
foretold of Him long before : In Thy glory and Thy majesty ride prosperously. What kind of flower has glory and beauty ? The lily, I
think ; there is nothing more beautiful than that. So the Bridegroom
is fairer than all. What, then, are these lilies from which He draws
a beauty so rare? Ride prosperously, continues the Psalmist, because
of truth, and meekness, and righteousness (Ps. xlv. 3, 4). These are the
lilies ; the lilies, I say, growing out of the earth, and blooming brightly
upon i t ; surpassing other flowers in beauty, and fragrant above all
perfumes. Among these lilies is the Bridegroom, and from them is
He surpassingly fair and beautiful. For otherwise, and regarding
only the infirmity of the flesh, in Him there is no form nor comeliness
(Is. liii. 2).
5. An exquisite lily, most fair in hue and marvellous in fragrance,

W H Y THE BRIDEGROOM IS CALLED BELOVED

429

is Truth; for its brightness is that of the Eternal Light, the unspotted
mirror of the Power of God, and the image of His goodness (Wisd,
vii. 26). It is assuredly a lily which our earth has.produced by a new
benediction, and prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to
lighten the Gentiles (Luke ii. 31, 32). As long as the earth was under
a curse it brought forth thorns and thistles. But now, by the blessing of the Lord, Truth hath sprung out of the earth (Ps. lxxxv. 11),
the beautiful Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys. Recognise
it as a lily by the whiteness and brilliancy wherewith it shone by night
upon the eyes of the shepherds, as soon as it had begun to flower ;
for the Gospel declares that the Angel of the Lord came upon the?n, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them (Luke ii. 9). It is well
said, the glory of the Lord, for it was not the brightness of an Angel,
but of this Lily, which surrounded those who were at Bethlehem.
Recognise it as a Lily from the fragrance also, which reached even
the Magi, who were at so great a distance. A Star indeed appeared
to them, but those Wise Men would not have followed it had they
not been inwardly drawn by the persuasive fragrance of this Lily.
Assuredly Truth is a lily, of which the perfume animates faith and
the brightness enlightens the understanding. Lift up now your eyes
to the Person of the Lord Himself, who, speaking in the Gospel, says,
I am the Truth (John xiv. 6). And see with how much reason Truth
is compared to a lily. Notice, if you have never done so, how from
the midst of this flower come forth five little rods of gold, beautifully
arranged in the form of a crown, and surrounded by the white petals
of the flower ; and recognise in this a figure of the golden crown of
Divinity in Christ, with the inviolable purity of His Human Nature;
that is to say, Christ bearing the diadem wherewith His mother
crowned Him (Cant. iii. n ) . For that which His Father set upon
His Head abides in the region of Light unapproachable, nor are you
able, as yet, to behold Him wearing that. But of this we will speak
at another time.
6. Truth, then, is a lily ; so also is Gentleness ; it has the whiteness
of innocence, the fragrance of hope. ' Remnants there are,' it is
said, 'for the peaceable m a n ' (Ps. xxxvii. 37, Douay). The gentle
and kindly is a man of good hope [for the future life], nor is he in
the present life less an example of clemency and friendship. Does
not the lily, which shines with the duties of charity, diffuse also the
fragrance of hope? Add to this that just as truth has sprung out of
the earth, so also has gentleness. Unless anyone doubts that the
Lamb, the Ruler of the earth (Is. xvi. 1), that Lamb who was led to
the slaughter, and opened not His Mouth (Is. liii. 7), was sprung
from the earth. Not only Gentleness and Truth have sprung out of
the earth, but also Righteousness ; as says the Prophet: Drop down,
ye Heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness:
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let Righteousness spring up together (Is. xlv. 8). That Righteousness is a lily,
the Scripture teaches us, saying that the righteous shall grozv as the

43°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

lily, and shall flourish for ever before the Lord (Hos. xiv. 5).3 It is
not, then, the case with this lily, that to-day it is, and to-morrow it is
cast into the oven, since it shall flourish for ever; and that before
the Lord, for the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance, and
shall not be afraid of evil tidings (Ps. cxii. 6, 7); that is to say, he
shall not fear to have to listen to that terrible sentence by which
sinners are bidden to go away into everlasting fire. To whom is the
brightness of this lily not visible, except the person to whom it is
unpleasing ? It is a sun ; but not that sun which rises upon the evil
and upon the good. For those who shall say : c The Sun of Righteousness hath not risen upon u s ' (Wisd. v. 6) have never even beheld
His light. Far otherwise is it writh them to whom it has been said :
Unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise
with healing in His wings (Mai. iv. 2). The whiteness of this lily,
then, is among the just; its fragrance, indeed, extends even unto
sinners, although in them it is not for good. For we have heard the
voice of the righteous saying : We are unto God a sweet savour of
Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we
are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life
unto life (2 Cor. ii. 15, 16). Who, though he be the most abandoned
of men, does not approve of the sentiments of a righteous man,
although he does not love his actions ? Happy is he who does not
condemn himself in that which he approves. For it is a self-condemnation to approve that which is good, and yet not to love i t ; so
that a person is not happy, but miserable, who is thus condemned by
his own judgment. What can be more miserable than the condition
of a person to whom the savour of life is a messenger, not of life, but
of death ? Or, rather, I should call it, not a messenger of death, but
a deathstroke.
7. There are still many other lilies besides these which the Prophet
has indicated to us in the character of the Bridegroom; I mean
besides truth, and gentleness, and righteousness; nor will it be
difficult for each of us to find for himself similar ones in the garden,
so full of delights, of the Bridegroom. It abounds and superabounds in such ; who can enumerate them ? since there are as
many lilies as virtues; and of virtues in the Lord of virtues there is
no end. For in Christ there is the fulness of virtues, and, therefore,
also the abundance of lilies. Therefore, perhaps, it is that H e is
Himself spoken of as the Lily, because H e is wholly surrounded with
lilies, and all events in His Life are, so to speak, lilies : His conception, His Birth, His manner of life, the words H e spake, the
miracles H e did ; His Sacraments, His Passion, His Death, His
Resurrection, His Ascension. Which of all these events is there
that has not a pure splendour and a sweet fragrance ? Thus, for
instance, in His Conception is apparent the brightness of heavenly
1
This is not the reading of the Vulgate, which has, ' shall cast forth his root as
Lebanon'; and the other versions agree in this. The quotation was probably
made from memory.—ED.

WHY THE BRIDEGROOM IS CALLED BELOVED

431

light, from the abundance of the overshadowing Spirit; so that not
even the holy Virgin would have been able to endure it, if it had not
been tempered to her by the power of the Most High. His Birth
was rendered full of light and beauty by the pure virginity of His
Mother; His Life, by the sinlessness of His character ; His words,
by their truth unsullied ; His miracles, by the purity of His Heart;
His Sacraments, by the hidden power of His goodness and kindness ;
His Passion, by His willingness to suffer ; His Death, by the freedom that He had not to die ; His Resurrection, by the fortitude
with which it has inspired His Martyrs ; His Ascension, by the
accomplishment in it of His promises. How exquisite also is the
fragrance of faith in each of these mysteries, of the faith, I mean,
which is ours, and fills our hearts and minds, though we have not
beheld the brightness of that glory ! For blessed are they that have
not seen, and yet have believed (John xx. 29). May my part in these
lilies be the odour of life which proceeds from them. It is faith
which fills with that fragrance the nostrils (so to speak) of my soul,
and fills it with so much greater abundance, because the multitude
of the lilies is so great. It is that heavenly fragrance which softens
the rigour of my exile, and renews in my heart without ceasing a
desire and longing for my true country above.
8. Some of the companions of the Bridegroom also have their
lilies, but not in great number. For though all have received the
Holy Spirit, it is by measure, and by measure also have they received
gifts and graces. It is He alone who possesses them without measure
(John iii. 34), because He possesses all. It is one thing to have
some lilies, and another thing to have lilies only. Whom can you
show me, from among the sons of the captivity, who is so holy and
entirely without guile, as to be able to cover all the land that is his
with flowers like these ? Not the infant of a day old is pure upon
the earth (Job xiv. 4, 5, according to the LXX.). Great and successful
is he who is able to train up in the plot of ground committed to him
even three or four of these lilies, in the midst of such a thicket of
thorns and thistles, which are the inveterate seeds of the ancient curse.
As for me, who am poor, I shall think myself happy if I am enabled
by diligent weeding to clear my little plot of land from that evil crop
of iniquities and vices, and by careful cultivation to ensure the growth
of even one lily, so that He who feedeth among the lilies may deign
sometimes to find His place for so doing in my soul.
9. I have said * even one lily,' but this is too little, and it was out
of the poverty of my heart that my mouth spake. For one will not
suffice ; at least two are absolutely necessary. I refer to continence
and to innocence, whereof the one without the other will not save.
It will be in vain that I invite the Bridegroom to come to either one
of these, for He is represented, not as feeding upon a lily, but among
the lilies. My care, then, shall be to have lilies, so that He who
feedeth among the lilies may not, because I have only a single one,
turn away from His servant in displeasure. I set, therefore, inno-

432

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

cence first of all, and if I am able to join continence to it, I shall
think myself rich in the possession of lilies. I am even, as it were, a
king, if I am able to add to these, as a third lily, patience. And,
indeed, the two former would suffice; but because they may be found
wanting in the time of temptations, and the life of man upon the
earth is marked by temptation (Job vii. i), there is much need on
that account of patience, which is, so to speak, the protector 1 and
guardian of both. I think that if H e who is the lover of lilies shall
come, and shall find us in that condition, He will not, then, disdain
with us to feed, with us to eat the Passover, since H e will find great
sweetness in the two former virtues, and great security shall be in the
third. We shall see later on how He, who feeds and gives nourishment to all flesh, is here said Himself to feed. But now one thing is
clear: that the Bridegroom not only appears among the lilies, but is to
be found only among them, since every part of His character is a lily,
that is, a virtue; and He Himself is the Lily, the Bridegroom of the
Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for
ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXI.
OF

SPIRITUAL LILIES, THAT IS, GOOD WORKS, OF WHICH T H E
FRAGRANCE IS A RIGHT INTENTION, AND THE COLOUR A GOOD
REPUTATION ; AND HOW T H E BRIDEGROOM BOTH NOURISHES
THESE, AND IS NOURISHED BY THEM. ALSO OF T H E UNITY
OF GOD THE FATHER WITH THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SOUL
WITH GOD.

T

H E conclusion of the last sermon shall form the commencement of this. The Bridegroom, then, is a Lily, but not a
lily among thorns, because He did not commit sin, and
thorns signify sin. It is the Bride of whom H e has borne His testimony that she is a lily among thorns (Cant. ii. 2), and therefore if
she should say that she had no thorns, she would deceive herself, and
the truth would not be in her. As for Him, He has declared that
H e is the Rose, indeed, and the Lily, yet not among thorns. Instead
of this, He says : / am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys.
H e makes no mention of thorns, because H e alone among men has
no need to say : I am turned in my anguish, while the thorn is fastened
(Ps. xxxii. 4, Douay). Therefore H e is never without lilies, because
H e is always without faults, because H e is wholly and always white
and glistering, fairer than the children of men (Ps. xlv. 3). Do you,
then, who listen to, or who read these words, take heed that you have
in your soul, and in your life, lilies that grow and flourish, if you wish
to have Him who dwelleth among the lilies dwelling in you. Let
Tutrix ; another reading is, nutrix.

SPIRITUAL LILIES, THAT IS, GOOD WORKS

433

the blameless whiteness of your character and actions, let the fragrance
they exhale, bear testimony that all your occupations, all your impulses, all your desires, are lilies. For characters have, as it were,
their colour and their odour; nor are colour and odour the same
thing in spirit any more than in bodies. Colour has regard to the
right intention, fragrance to the good reputation of actions. Ye have
made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of
his servants (Exod. v. 21), said the Israelites, speaking of opinion.
The intention of the heart, and the judgment of the conscience of
the doer, give to an action its colour. Vices are black, and virtue
white, and the conscience when consulted distinguishes between the
one and the other. The Lord's declaration respecting the single eye
and the eye that is evil (Matt. vi. 22, 23) holds good, because there
are certain lines of division between whiteness and blackness, as.
between light and darkness. That which comes forth from a pure
heart and a good conscience is therefore white, and is virtue; and if,
furthermore, good reputation follows it, it is a lily, since neither whiteness nor fragrance is wanting to it.
2. And although good reputation does not render virtue more
great, it, nevertheless, renders it fairer and more illustrious. If there
be any spot upon the intention, it will not fail to appear also upon
that which that intention has produced; for the fault of the root
reappears in the branches. And on this account, whatsoever it be
that a corrupted root shall produce from itself, not without communication of its own corruption, for example, discourses, actions,,
or prayers, even though they seem to enjoy public esteem, it is not
entitled to be called a lily, because, though it has an appearance of
fragrant odour, it is wanting in colour. For how can that be a lily
which has upon it a spot of discoloration ? Nor will reputation avail
to make that a virtue which the consciousness of bad intention convicts of being a vice. Virtue, indeed, will be content with a good
conscience, where good report cannot possibly follow; but the
fragrance of reputation will not suffice to excuse the fault of a conscience that is stained. Yet a man of virtue will, as far as he is able,
provide things honourable, not only before God, but also in the sight
of men (Rom. xii. 17), that he may truly be a lily.
3. But there is a whiteness of the soul which comes of the forgiving mercy of God, as H e declares Himself by the mouth of the
Prophet: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Is. i. 18).
There is still another kind of whiteness with which a person clothes
himself, who showeth mercy with cheerfulness. And if you consider the man charitable and gracious, who is described by the
Psalmist, who showeth favour and lendeth (Ps. cxii. 5), will it not
seem to you that this joy is, as it were, a whiteness and glory of kindness with which he is clad, and which appears as well upon his
countenance as upon his work? On the contrary, when anyone
gives with sadness and, as it were, by necessity, his brow and his
28

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

434

hands are so far from being white, that they gather blackness from
the feelings' of his heart. And therefore God loveth a cheerful giver
(2 Cor. ix. 7). Does He love one who gives reluctantly and sadly?
H e who looked favourably upon Abel because of the willing heart
which was expressed by the brightness of his countenance turned
His Face from Cain, whose countenance fell, doubtless with sadness
and jealousy (Gen. iv. 4, 5). Consider, then, of what a nature must
be the colour of sadness and jealousy for God to turn away His Face
from it. A poet has expressed aptly and elegantly that white
brilliance of gladness which colours a deed of kindness, when he says
in its praise :
. . . ' Super omnia vultus
Accessere bom.' . . ,1

Nor is it only the cheerful giver, but he also who giveth with simplicity (Rom. xii. 8), who is loved by G o d ; for simplicity shows the
whiteness of the soul. This I prove from the consideration of the
contrary, for duplicity is a spot; nay, it is a stain. For what is
duplicity but deceit and fraud ? And he who acts deceitfully in the
sight of God, his iniquity is found to be hateful (Ps. xxxvi. 2).
Therefore it is that the man is called blessed unto whom the Lord
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile
(Ps. xxxii. 2). The Lord has well expressed in few words these two
spots upon the soul, a feigned sadness, and deceit: Be not as the
hypocrites, of a sad countenance (Matt. vi. 16). The Bridegroom,
being virtue, takes pleasure in virtues; being a lily, H e abides
willingly among the lilies ; and being Himself of a pure whiteness,
delights in those whose souls are white and pure.
4. Perhaps, also, this is the signification of ' feedeth among the
lilies,' namely, that H e delighteth in the whiteness and fragrance of
virtues. Formerly, when H e was in the Body, H e was nourished
with food in the house of Martha and Mary; he reclined, even in
the body, among the lilies (I speak of them, for they were lilies), and
at the same time was refreshed in spirit by the devotion and virtues
of women. If, then, in that hour a Prophet, or an Angel, or some
spiritual man, who was not unaware of the greatness of Him who
there reclined, had entered, would he not have been lost in wonder
at the condescension and familiar kindness shown by Him to those
beings of pure mind and of modest, though earthly, body and
of the weaker sex ? and would he not have been able to bear
true testimony, * I have seen Him not only abiding, but also feeding,
among the lilies ?' It is thus that the Bridegroom is found to feed
among the lilies in a twofold manner, namely, in flesh and in spirit.
I think, also, that H e fed them in turn, but that was in spirit. But
how did H e nourish them spiritually by whom H e was physically
nourished ? Did H e not strengthen the timidity of those pious
women, cheer their humility, enrich and render fruitful their devotion ? But if you have seen that to Him to be nourished is to
1

Ovid, 'Metamor.J Bk. viii., vv. 6yj, 67$.

SPIRITUAL LILIES, THAT IS, GOOD WORKS

435

nourish, now notice also that, conversely, to nourish others is to be
nourished Himself. What did the holy Patriarch, Jacob, say : God,
which fed me all my life long unto this day ? (Gen. xlviii. 15). He is
a good master of a household who takes care for those of his house,
and more especially in troublous days, who gives food to their
hunger, yea, feeds them with the bread of knowledge and of life, and
thus nourishes them for life eternal. But thus feeding others, H e is,
as I think, Himself nourished, and that with the food which is most
agreeable to Him, I mean, with our progress in goodness; for it is a
joy to the Lord to see us strong and courageous in good.
5. Thus, then, it is that, when H e feeds others, H e is Himself
fed; and when He is fed H e feeds others : at once refreshing us with
His spiritual joy, and being Himself rejoiced with our spiritual advancement. To Him my penitence, my salvation, indeed, I myself,
are, as it were, nourishment. Does H e not, according to the phrase
of the Psalmist, eat ashes as it were bread ? (Ps. cii. 9). I am that
ashes, for I am a sinner, and He, spiritually speaking, feeds upon
m e ; H e feeds upon me when H e reproves and convicts me of my
sin; I am swallowed when I am taught and trained.; I am cooked
when changed, and digested when transformed; finally, I am made
one with Him when I am conformed unto His likeness. Do not
wonder at this : it is that we may be more closely united to Him
that He both feeds on us and is our food. Otherwise, our union
with Him would not be perfect; for if I feed upon Him, but He not
upon me, it will appear that, though He is in me, I am not yet in
Him. If, on the contrary, H e feeds upon me, but I do not upon
Him, it will appear that, though I am in Him, yet H e is not also in
m e ; and in either of the two cases there is not a perfect union
between us. But if H e so feeds upon me that I may be in Him, and
I in turn upon Him that He may be in me, how complete and strong
is the bond 1 between us, since I am in Him, and H e will, nevertheless, be in me.
6. Shall I make clearer what has been said by a comparison ?
Lift your eyes, then, to a truth of the highest order, which has much
similarity, nevertheless, to that before us. If the Bridegroom Himself were in the Father in such wise that the Father were not in Him,
or if the Father were so in Him that He was not in the Father, I
venture to say that the union between them, if union it were, would
stop short of being perfect. But now, as H e is in the Father and
the Father in Him, there is no defect in their union, but He and the
Father are truly and Perfectly One. So, also, the soul, for which it
is good to adhere to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28), does not regard itself as
perfectly united to Him, until both H e abides in it, and it in Him.
Not that even then it may be said to be one with God, in the same
manner as the Father and the Son are one, although he that is joined
unto the Lord is one spirit (\ Cor. vi. 17). This I have read, but that I
1
Connexio; so read the earliest editions and many MSS.
perinde firma connexio et complexio integra.

Others have : Erit

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

have not read. I do not speak of myself, I who am a person of very
small importance {nihil), but assuredly there is no one in his senses,
no one, I say, on earth or in heaven, who would arrogate to himself
that saying of the Only Begotten Son of God : / and the Father are
One (John x. 30). And yet I, though I am but dust and ashes, do
not hesitate to say, in reliance upon the authority of Scripture, that
I am one spirit with God, if, that is to say, I have ever been convinced by certain experience, that I am joined to the Lord, after the
likeness of one of those who abide in charity, and by this abide in
God, and God in them, feeding upon God, 1 and He upon them.
For it is of such a union that, as I think, the words are said : He
that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
What then? The Son
says: I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: and We are One
(John x. 30, 38), while, as for the man, he says : ' I am in God, and
God in me, and we are one spirit'
7. But is it the case that as the Father and the Son, that They
may be the One in the Other, and so be One, reciprocally feed
upon each other, so God and man mutually penetrate each other by
a kind of reciprocal manducation, and thus exist, if not as one being,
yet as one spirit ? By no means. For in the one case and in the
other the indwelling is not after the same manner, and the unity
of each is different. [[In fact,2 the difference of unity, and the
nature of that difference is indicated by the two words, unus and
unum (that is, ' o n e ' and ' the same substance'). For the former
does not apply to the union between the Father and the Son, nor
the latter to that between God and man. You, if you are already
instructed in this mystery, will, if you make use of this opportunity,
become so still more fully; and you should remark prudently, that
by unum is denoted the unity of Substance or of Nature, while by
' unus ' is indeed denoted a unity, but one of a kind very different,
because the Essence and Nature of God is far other than that of
man, while it is evident that the Essence of the Father and of the
Son is One. You see that this union between God and man is not
in the fullest sense a unity, at least, not if it be compared with that
other unique and sovereign Unity. For how can there be complete
unity where there is plurality of nature and difference of substance ?
And yet a soul that is joined unto the Lord is said to be one spirit
with Him, and is so in fact; nor is the plurality of substances any
bar to this unity, since it is brought about, not by a confusion of
natures, but by an agreement of wills. It is in this sense that many
1
One MS. adds ' after a certain manner '; but the words are wanting in others,
and, indeed, in the earliest editions.
2
The parenthesis that we have here is wanting in the MSS. of Citeaux, of
St. Germain, and of Jumieges ; but it is found in others, and in the earliest editions.
As for the second and much longer one, which follows a little later on, and
extends from the middle of n. 8 to the middle of n. 10, it is, on the contrary,
wanting in those earlier MSS. but is found in the later ones. Both the one and
the other are superfluous. This diversity is caused by St. Bernard having retouched
the passage, so that the first parenthesis of the former edition seems to be the
second of the later one. We leave the reader to judge.

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437

hearts are said to be one, and many souls one, as it is written: The
multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul (Acts
iv. 32). This, then, as regards unity.
8. But what is that unity which does not come into being by the
act of uniting, but which is from all eternity? Nor is it, like the
other, produced by an act of mutual manducation, because it is
not produced at all, but simply exists. It does not admit of
conjunction, nor composition, nor any such thing, which is inconsistent with a perfect unity. To the Father and the Son, Nature,
Essence, and Will, are not only one, but the same. For Nature,
Essence, and Will, are Their Being and Substance. It must not, then,
be said that the Unity, in which the Father and the Son are One,
is a consequence following from their Natures, their Substances, or
their Wills; it can in no sense be said to be caused or to come into
existence, but it simply exists; in a word, it is not factitious, but
original.]] The Father and the Son are the One in the Other. They
are, in a manner which is not only ineffable, but also incomprehensible, capable of containing and being contained, but if They are
capable of containing Each Other it is without Their being divisible;
and if They are capable of being contained, it is without participation.
For, as the Church sings in a hymn : ' In the FATHER the SON is
wholly, and in the WORD is the FATHER wholly.' 1 The Father is in
the Son, in whom H e is always well pleased ; and the Son is in the
Father, of whom H e is always the Begotten, and from whom H e is
never separated. Now it is by charity that man is in God and God
in man, as says S. John : He that dwelleth hi love dwelleth in God,
and God in him (i John iv. 16). It is by this consent and oneness
of will that they are two in one spirit, or, rather, are one spirit. Do
you perceive the distinction ? It is not the same thing to be consubstantial, that is, of the same substance, and consenting, that is, concurring in the same will. Although, if you notice carefully, that
difference in their unity is sufficiently indicated to you by the words
unus and unum, since the former does not apply to the union of the
Father and the Son, nor the latter to that between God and man.
The Father and the Son cannot be said to be one [only], since the
One is Father, and the Other is Son ; yet They are declared to be,
and are, one and the same Substance, because it is common to Both,
nor has Each His singular Substance. On the contrary, God and
man have not the same substance or nature, and, therefore, cannot
be said to be unum. And yet, if they are attached to each other by
the tie of love, they may, with perfect truth, be said to be one spirit.
But that unity is brought about rather by the concurrence of wills
than by the union of essences.
9. There is now made sufficiently clear (if I do not mistake) not
only the diversity, but also the disparity, of these unities, the one existing in the same essence, and the other in diverse essences. What can
differ more between themselves than the unity which exists between
1

Hymn. p?v Feria Secund. ad Matutin.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

things of different kinds and between those of the same kind ? The
words unus and unum, as I have already said, mark the difference
between the two kinds of unities, since by the word unum the essential unity between the Father and the Son is designated, and by unus,
not this, but a mutual consent of affections and of will between God
and man is so referred to. Nevertheless, it may very well be said
that the Father and the Son are ' o n e ' {unus), with the addition of some
defining word; as, for example, one God, one Lord; and generally, with
regard to all that relates equally to Each and not to One in particular.
For Their Godhead or Their Majesty is no more diverse in Each
than is Their Substance or Essential Nature; and all these, if you
consider piously the matter, are not diverse in Them or divided, but
are one. I have said too little : they are one and the same with
Them. What shall we say of that unity in which, as we read, many
hearts and many souls are one ? I think that it does not merit the
name of unity when compared with this, since it does not unite many
things, but marks them singly as being one. Therefore that Unity,
which is not brought about by any unifying act, but which exists
from all eternity, is unique and supreme. Nor is it the effect of that
spiritual manducation of which mention was made before, because it
is not brought about, but it exists. Much less is it to be considered
as due to any conjunction whatsoever of Essences or consent of Wills,
for there is in it neither plurality of the one nor of the other. In
Them, as has been said, there is one Essence and one Will; and
where these are one there cannot be consent, nor composition, nor
conjunction, nor any such thing. There must be at least two wills
to unite in a common consent, and similarly there must be two
essential existences for that consent to produce union. There is
nothing like this in the Father and the Son, since there is in Them
neither two Essences nor two [divergent] wills. These two things
are in them but one, or, as I remember that I said before, these two
things make but one in Them and with T h e m ; and inasmuch as
They abide Each in the Other, in a manner unchangeable 1 as it is
incomprehensible, they are truly and uniquely One. Yet if anyone
wishes to say that between the Father and the Son there is consent,
I do not contest this, provided it be understood, not of a union of
Wills, but of a unity of Will.
10. And yet we think that God and man abide each mutually in
the other, but in a manner far different from that just referred to,
because their substances and their Wills are distinct, and they abide
each in the other in a manner far different; that is, they are not
blended as to substances, but consentaneous as to wills. And this
union is to them a communion of wills and a conformity in charity.
Happy is this union if you have had experience of it, even though,
compared with that more perfect union just referred to, it seem to be
nothing at all. It was the saying of one who had experienced this :
It is good foi' me to draw near to God (Ps. Ixxiii. 28). It is indeed a
1

Incommutabiliter.

Another reading is incomparabiliter.

SPIRITUAL LILIES, THAT IS, GOOD WORKS

439

great good if you hold fast wholly to Him. Who, then, is it who
perfectly does this except the person who, abiding in God as being
loved by God, nevertheless draws God into himself by a reciprocal
affection ? Therefore, when God and man are mutually and perfectly
attached (which is the case when they are mutually incorporate by
close affection), I may without doubt say that by this God is in man
and man in God. But man is indeed in God from all eternity, since
he is beloved by God from all eternity, if, that is to say, he is of those
who assert that He hath loved and accepted us in His dear Son
before the foundation of the world (Eph. i. 4-6). But God is in man
from the time that H e is beloved by man. And, if this be the case,
man indeed is in God even when God is not in m a n ; but God is not
in the man who is not in God. For although perhaps he loves for a
time, he is not able to remain in the love of God if he is not loved
of God ; nor even, though loved, is he yet able to love Him. Otherwise, how shall that saying stand good: He first loved us? (1 John
iv. 19). But when he who was loved before begins also to love, then
man is in God and God in man. But he who never loves has plainly
never been loved, and it is thus certain that he is not in God, nor is
God in him. All this has been said to show the difference between
that bond by which the Father and the Son are One, and that by
which a soul which attaches itself to God is one spirit with Him, lest
perhaps, when we read of the man who abides in love, that he abides
in God and God in him, and also of the Son, that He is in the Father
and the Father in Him, it should be thought that an adopted son of
God enjoys the same prerogative as the Only Begotten.
11. These truths, then, having been made clear, let us return to
Him who feedeth among the lilies, for it was from that point that we
started to make this digression; whether it has been of interest and
value it is for you to judge. I have already, as it seems to me, given
_two explanations of this passage. I have said that the Bridegroom,
who is Himself the virtue and Brightness [of His Father], finds
nourishment in the virtues of those upon whom He has shed the
brightness of sanctity; and also that he receives sinners to penitence
in His Body, which is the Church ; and that it was to unite them
with Himself that He was Himself made sin, who did no sin, that the
body of sin might be destroyed in which sinners had once been incorporated, and that they might become righteousness in Him, being
justified freely by His grace.
12. A third explanation which occurs to me I proceed to lay before
you, and I think that it will suffice, not only for the explanation of
the passage, but for the ending of this sermon. The Word of God is
truth, and this is the Bridegroom. This you know ; listen, then, to
what remains. When a person hears this [Truth] and does not obey
it, it remains empty and, so to speak, barren ; it is sorrowful, and
complains that it has been brought forward to no good purpose. But
if the hearer has obeyed it, will it not seem to you that the Word has
grown and taken to itself a body, because action is joined to word,

44o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

inasmuch as it is strengthened and reinforced by the fruits of obedience and the harvest of righteousness ? Thence it is that He says in
the Apocalypse : Behold, I stand at the door and knock ; if any man
hear My Voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup
with him, and he with Me (Rev. iii. 20). It seems that the Lord
gives approval to this explanation where H e says in a prophet that
His word shall not return unto Him void, but shall prosper, and accomplish that whereto He has sent it (Is. lv. 12). / / shall not return,
He says, unto Me void or barren, but as succeeding in all things; it
shall be filled with the good actions of those who shall obey it in love.
For, according to the usual manner of speaking, a word is said to be
fulfilled when it has produced the effect intended by i t ; while, until
it has done this, it is called empty and meagre and, so to speak,
famishing.
13. But hear with what food the WORD Himself declares that He
is nourished. My meat, H e says, is to do the will of Him that sent
Me, and to finish His work (John iv. 34). This is the utterance of
the WORD Himself, and declares plainly that every good work is His
nourishment; and, furthermore, that He finds it among the lilies,
that is, among the virtues. That which is to be found, if it be so,
beyond those limits, H e who feedeth among the lilies will not touch,
even though it seem to be, so far, good of its kind. For example,
He will not accept alms from the hand of a robber or a usurer; nor,
again, from the hand of a hypocrite who, when he bestows alms, causes
a trumpet to be sounded before him that he may obtain the praise of
men. H e will by no means accept the prayer of him who loves to
pray at the corners of the streets that he may be seen of men (Matt,
vi. 2, 5). For the prayer of the ungodly will be abominable to Him
(Prov. xxviii. 9). Without avail, also, will it be for one to offer his
gift before the altar who is conscious that his brother has some cause
of complaint against him (Matt. v. 23, 24). H e had not respect untothe offerings of Cain, for the very reason that he was not well inclined
towards his brother (Gen. iv. 5). As is testified by a holy prophet,
H e delighted not in the sabbaths and new moons and sacrifices of
the Jews, so that He protested openly that they were abhorrent to
Him, and asked : When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required
this at your hand? (Is. i. 12). I believe that those hands had not the
fragrance of lilies, and for that reason H e who was wont to feed, not
among thorns, but among lilies, disdained the gifts they proffered.
Were not those hands filled with thorns of which H e said : Your hands
are full of blood ? The hands of Esau were bristly, as if they had been
covered with thorns, and therefore they were not admitted to minister
to one who was holy.
14. I fear that there may be some among us also whose gifts the
Bridegroom does not accept, because they have not the fragrance of
the lilies. For if my own self-will is found, for instance, in the fasts
which I make, the Bridegroom will not accept such fasting as that,
because it savours not of the lily of obedience, but of the sin of my
own self-will. The same thing is to be said, not only of fasting, but

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441

of silence, of vigils, of prayer, of reading, of manual labour, and, in
short, of every observance of the monastic life, where there is found
in it, not obedience to a superior, but the prompting of our own selfwill. I should consider that those observances, although good in
themselves, are not to be numbered among lilies, that is, among
virtues ; but that the man whose services are of such a kind would
hear from the Prophet the question : c Is it such a service as this that
I have chosen? saith the Lord' (Is. lviii. 3-5); and he adds: ' In the
day of your fast ye find pleasure.' Self-will is a great evil, since it
causes your good works not to be good for you. Such works need to
[be altered, and] become lilies ; for H e who feedeth among the lilies
will not taste of anything which is defiled with self-will. Wisdom is
everywhere; she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of
her pureness, nor can any defiled thing fall into her (Wisd. vii. 24, 25).
So, then, the Bridegroom loves to feed among the lilies, that is, in
pure and clear hearts. But how long shall this be ? Until the day
break and the shadows flee away. This passage is full of shadows
and of difficulties ; let us not enter into the thick wood of this profound mystery, except in the full light of day. But now, as my sermon
has been unusually prolonged, the day has drawn to a close, and we
are obliged unwillingly to withdraw from these lilies. I have not
hesitated to expatiate at greater length than usual, because the
fragrance of these flowers prevents anyone from being wearied or
annoyed. There seems but little remaining of the verse before us ;
but of that little the meaning is deeply hidden, as is the case with all
other parts of this poem. But He who reveals mysteries will come
to our help, as I trust, when we shall have begun to knock [at the
door]; nor will H e shut the mouths of them that speak of Him.
Rather is H e wont to open those that are closed. H e is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God
blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXXIL
THE MEANING OF T H E WORDS ' T H E DAY BREAKS AND T H E SHADOWS
FLEE AWAY.' T H E VARIOUS DAYS IN T H E LIVES OF MEN EXPOUNDED.
THAT T H E RIGHTEOUS LIVE IN LIGHT, AND THAT A
BRIGHTER DAY AWAITS THEM ; BUT THAT T H E WICKED, WHO
ARE DEVOTED TO WORKS OF DARKNESS, CAN LOOK FORWARD
ONLY TO ETERNAL NIGHT.

* My Beloved is Mine, and I am His: He feedeth among the lilies: until the day
break and the shadows flee away.''—Cant. ii. 16, 17.

T

H E last part only of these clauses remains to be treated, and I
am in doubt, in entering upon it, to which of the two preceding
ones it ought to be joined, for I may connect it indifferently
with either. For whether you say, My Beloved is mine, and I am His,

442

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

until the day break and the shadows flee away, interposing only, He
feedeth among the lilies, or following the literal order, He feedeth among
the lilies, until the day break and the shadows flee away, you have in
either case a sense perfectly good. There is only this difference, that
if you join the ' until' to the former sentence, the day is included in
the sense; but if to the latter, the day is excluded from it. Are we
to suppose that, in intimating that the Bridegroom will cease to feed
among the lilies when the day shall have dawned, it is intended to
declare that He will also cease to belong to the Bride and she to
Him ? By no means. Their relation shall endure for ever, with the
sole difference that it shall then be as much happier as it shall be
stronger, and as much stronger as it is freer and less impeded. It is
necessary, then, to understand this word ' until' in the same way as
that passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew where it is said that Joseph
knew not Mary until she had brought forth her firstborn Son (Matt,
i. 25). For he knew her not afterwards. Or, as in that verse of a
Psalm : Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have
mercy upo?i us (Ps. cxxiii. 2) ; but not that they should be turned
away from Him when He has begun to have mercy. Or, again, as
that saying of our Lord to His Apostles : Lo, I am with you alway,
even unto1 the end of the world, for H e will not cease to be with them
after that event has taken place. But now see how this word until is
to be understood if you connect it with the words, My Beloved is mine,
and I am His. For if you refer it to He feedeth among the lilies,
another sense must be put upon it. Now, there will be a good deal
of difficulty in showing in what manner the Beloved ceases to feed
among the lilies when the day begins to break. Is the day spoken of
that of the Resurrection? But, then, why should it not please Him
much more to pasture among the lilies, seeing that there is then a
much greater abundance of them ? So much as relates to the connection of the clauses.
2. Consider, now, with me, how, although (after the consummation
of all things), the Bridegroom is in the midst of a Kingdom which is
glorious with lilies, in which H e takes the greatest joy and delight,
yet it is not said that He.feeds [among] them, as H e had been accustomed to do up to that time. For where, then, are those sinners
whom Christ makes one with Himself, having, so to speak, ground
and masticated them with the teeth of an austere discipline, that is to
say, with affliction of the flesh and heartfelt contrition? NOT, again,
will the Bridegroom, who is the Word, any longer require for Himself
the food of various works or actions of obedience, where the only
action will be to enjoy repose, and the occupation [of the blessed] to
contemplate God and be fully satisfied in Him. His food is, indeed,
to do the will of His Father; but this refers to the present state, not
to the future: for how can H e be engaged in doing that which is
fully done? And it is clear that then it will be complete and perfected. It is in that state that all the saints will know clearly what
1

£W£, until; Matt, xxviii. 20.

1

THE DAY BREAKS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY '

44.3

is that Will of God which is good, and acceptable, and perfect (Rom.
xii. 2). And assuredly nothing remains to be done of that which is
fully perfected. The occupation that is left is to find enjoyment in
it, not to bring it about; to experience it, not to carry it into effect;
to live in that Divine Will, not to exercise one's self in accomplishing
it. Is it not of that very Will that we are taught of the Lord to pray
earnestly that it may be done, as in heaven, so in earth (Matt. vi. 10),
so that the carrying it out may not be a labour to us, but the fruits of
it be then a delight ? So, then, the Bridegroom, the Word, will no
longer require the food of good works, because there every work will
necessarily cease where all are filled with the abundance of wisdom.
For they who are less in action shall receive wisdom (Ecclus. xxxviii. 25).
3. But let us now see if what we say is capable of standing with
that sense of the words ' H e feedeth among the lilies ' in which some
interpret them; namely, that He rejoices in the excellence, and, so
to speak, in the whiteness of virtues. For we, too, have not passed
over that sense among others. Shall we say, then, either that there
are no virtues, or that the Bridegroom does not take pleasure in
them ? Either alternative is altogether extravagant. But see whether
He does not take delight in them in any other manner ; and if, instead
of their being food to Him, they do not perhaps, and so to speak,
serve Him as drink. During this life, and in this mortal body, there
is no virtue of ours which is so purified from mortal frailty, and rendered so pure and sweet as to serve for the use of the Word in this
way. But H e who wills that all men shall be saved overlooks many
things, and devotes His efforts, as it were, with pains and skill, to
extract from that which cannot be used as a beverage somewhat
agreeable and worthy to be food. A time shall come when virtue
shall be capable of being pure and clear, so that instead of being
masticated with labour and fatigue, or, rather, instead of wearying the
eater, it shall give to him delight without weariness, but it is no longer
as food that is eaten, but as a draught that is swallowed. It is that
which the Lord promises in the Gospel: / will not drink henceforth
of this fruit of the vine imtil that day when I drink it new with you in
My Father's Kingdom (Matt. xxvi. 29). And H e makes no mention
of food. We read also in a Psalm : Like a mighty man that shouteth
by reason of wine (Ps. lxxviii. 65); but here also food is not mentioned. The Bride is, then, conscious of this mystery when, having
found and declared that her Beloved feedeth among the lilies, she
names a time until which H e deigns to do this, or, rather, has recognised and stated the time already fixed, saying, until the day breaks
and the shadows flee away. For she knew that after, H e would rather
drink (so to speak) of virtues than feed upon them. That, it may be
said, agrees with the usual custom, that drink should follow food. He,
then, who takes food here on earth shall taste of drink in heaven, and
with as much greater sweetness as security ; inasmuch as then H e
shall drink with ease, while now H e partakes of them with labour,
and, as it were, eats of them but in morsels.

444

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

4. Let us now set ourselves to consider what is that day and what
are those shadows of which the Bride speaks : in what manner the
one breaks, that is, appears, and by what power the others flee away.
The expression here used is significant and singular, for it is only in
this passage, I believe, that you will find the day spoken of as breathing} For the winds are said to breathe, not the times. Man breathes,
other animals breathe ; and it is the air continually breathed which
enables them to live. And what is this but wind ? The Holy Spirit
also breathes, and hence His Name. In what way, then, is the day,
which is not a spirit, nor a wind, nor, indeed, a living creature at all,
said to breathe ? Although it is not, indeed, said to breathe, but,
which is still more remarkable, to aspire [spirans ; aspirans]. Nor is
it less extraordinary that it is said, and the shadows flee away, since, at
the rising of this visible and material light the shadows do not flee
away, but are dissipated. The explanation of these things is to be
sought outside the sphere of things corporeal. If we shall be able to
find a spiritual day and spiritual shadows, then what is meant by the
aspiration of one and the fleeing away of the other will become clearer.
If it be considered that the day of which the Psalmist says : A day in
Thy courts is better than a thousand (Ps. lxxxiv. 10), is a literal one, I
know not what ought not to be understood in a literal sense. There
is a day also which is taken in an evil sense, and which is named with
malediction by the Prophets (Job iii. 3 and Jer. xx. 14). But let us
by no means think that it is one of those visible days which the Lord
has made. It is a day in a spiritual sense.
5. Who can doubt also that the shadow which rested upon Mary
when she conceived (Luke i. 35) was a spiritual one? And so was
it with that which is thus mentioned in the Prophet: Under His
shadow we shall live among the heathen (Lam. iv. 20). But I think,
nevertheless, that in this place by ' shadows' is meant those hostile
powers which are called not ' shadows' only, but ' darkness ' by an
Apostle, where he speaks of the rulers of the darkness of this world
(Eph. vi. 12); and that they designate also those of our race who are
attached to these; who are children of the night, not of light, nor of
the day. For when the day shall appear, these shadows shall not be
entirely destroyed, while we see that material shadows not only disappear from the presence of the light of this world, but perish altogether. They shall not, then, be entirely destroyed, but shall be
more miserable than if they were. They shall exist, but in a state
degraded and subdued. Thus the Psalmist saith (and no doubt he
refers to the prince of these shadows) ' he will crouch and fall when
he shall have power over the p o o r ' (Ps. ix. 10, Douay). His nature
shall not, then, be annihilated, but his power taken away ; his substance shall not perish, but the hour of darkness and its power shall
pass. They are cast down that they may not see the glory of God ;
they are not blotted out of existence, that they may dwell for ever in
the flame. Shall not the shadows be laid prostrate when the mighty
1

Aspiret) Vulgate.

' THE DAY BREAKS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY '

445

are cast down from their seat, and have been made a footstool ?
Speedily shall that come to pass. It is the last time : the night is far
spent, the day is at hand. The day shall wax, the night wane 1 (Rom.
xiii. 12). The night signifies the devil, the angel of Satan, though he
transform himself into an angel of light. The night is Antichrist,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His Mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. ii. 8). And
is not the Lord the day ? Evidently H e is the Day, which breathes
and brightens, which puts to flight the shadows by the Breath of His
Mouth, and destroys the phantoms [of the night] by the brightness
of His coming. Or if you prefer to take the phrase 4 flee away ' in
the sense of ' to be extinguished,' I do not oppose this. We see that
the dark sayings and figures of Scripture are shadows ; so also are
those ambiguous modes of speaking, those subtle phrases, and involved
arguments, which obscure the light of truth rather than discover it.
For in part we know, and in part we prophesy. But when the day
breaks the shadows shall flee away; for when the fulness of light is
occupying every place, there is no spot left where shadows may linger.
For when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shallbe done away (1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10).
6. That would suffice, if the Scripture said simply that the day
'breathes,' and not that it 'aspires.' 2 But now I think it needful to
add a few words to explain the reason of this small addition, and of
the distinction which it indicates. For I, to speak truly, have long
been persuaded that in the sacred and precious text of the Scripture
not the smallest particle is without meaning and importance. Now,
we are accustomed to make use of this word, to express the seeking
something with eager desire, as, for example, when we say that such
and such a person ' aspires' to this honour, or that dignity. There
is denoted, then, by this word a marvellous abundance and power of
the Holy Spirit to be manifested hereafter in that day when not only
our souls, but even our bodies shall become spiritual, according to
their manner, and when those who shall be found worthy shall be
inebriated with the fulness of the House of the Lord, and shall drink
to the full of the river of His pleasures.
7. There is still another way in which this passage may be taken.
The sanctified day has already shone upon the holy Angels, breathing
upon them, like a mighty wind, the sweetly flowing secrets of the
eternal Divinity. For the Psalmist says : The river of the flood thereof
maketh glad the City of God (Ps. xlvi. 4 ) ; but he refers to that City,
to which it is said: Like as the habitation of all that rejoice is in
thee (Ps. lxxxvii. 7). But when that day shall have breathed upon
us also who dwell on the earth, it shall be not only a day of breathing,
but also a day of aspiring, because it shall, as it were, open its bosom
and admit us also. Or rather (that we may go farther back and
treat of the course of events more at length) after the Creator had
1
2

Aspirabit, exspirabit.
Spiralis, aspirans. The play upon words is untranslatable.—ED.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

made man of the dust of the earth, He, as the truthful history narrates,
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. ii. 7). That then
became for him a day of inspiration. But, lo, an envious night, pretending to be light, dashed against this day, for in promising to man
a light of knowledge far more brilliant than he had, it enveloped our
first parents, by the perfidious counsel given to them, with sudden
darkness, with a deep and terrible obscurity. Woe ! woe to them!
they have not known nor understood; they walk on ignorantly in
obscurity, taking darkness for light, and light for darkness. For the
woman ate of the tree which the serpent had suggested (dederat) to
her, which God had forbidden, and gave of it to her husband, and a
new day, as it were, began to shine for them. For then the eyes of
them both were opened, and that day became for them a day of conspiring, which destroyed the day of inspiration, and substituted for it
an expiring day. Assuredly the subtlety of the serpent, the blandishments of the woman, and the weakness of the man, conspired and
assembled together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Wherefore also the Lord and His Christ spake together: Behold, the man is
become as one of us (Gen. iii. 22), because he had assented to the
enticements of sinners, to the injury of each.
8. In this day we all are born. We all bear, in fact, impressed
upon us as by cautery, the brand of that ancient conspiracy : Eve still
lives in our flesh, and the serpent strives without ceasing, through the
concupiscence which we derive from birth, to make us consenting
parties to his rebellion. It is for that reason, as I have said, that the
saints of the ancient law cursed that day, wishing that it might be
short, and speedily turned to night, because it is a day of contention
and contradiction, in which the flesh does not cease to revolt against
the spirit, and during which the contrary law which abides in our
members is in continual and unwearied contradiction to the law of
our spirit. That is why it has become an expiring day. For then
and thenceforth, what man is there who shall live and never see death ?
(Ps. lxxxix. 48). Let anyone say that pleases, that this is an effect
of the wrath of God ; I should nevertheless say that it is the effect of
His mercy ; so that the elect, on account of whom all things are done,
should not so long be tormented by a contradiction full of trouble
by which they also are led captive by the law of sin, which is in their
members. For they abhor and endure with great reluctance that
shameful captivity, that melancholy contradiction.
9. Let us hasten, then, to respire free from that old and injurious
conspiration, because the days of man are few and brief (Job xiv. 1).
Let the day of free respiration receive us and enlighten us, before a
night of deep horror (suspirans) swallow us up, wrapping around us
the thick glooms of the outer and everlasting darkness. Do you ask
to what does this phrase (of respiration) refer, and in whom is it
found ? It consists in this, that the spirit begins in turn to mortify
the deeds of the flesh. If you feel repugnance to these, you are
breathing; if you are mortifying them by the spirit; if you crucify

' T H E DAY BREAKS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY'

447

the flesh with its affections and lusts, you have breathed. / keep
under my body, says St. Paul, and bring it into subjection, lest that by
any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Cor. ix. 27). That is the utterance of a man who is breathing the free breath of the spirit; yea, rather who had already done
so. Go thou, and do likewise (Luke x. 37), that you may show that
you have breathed this inspiring air, and know that this day of inspiration has shone upon you. The night of death shall not prevail
against this day of revival; it shines in the darkness, and the darkness
comprehendeth it not. This light of life shall not fail even when life
departs, and I think that to no one more fitly, than to him who dies
thus, can these words be assigned : Even the night shall be light about
me (Ps. cxxxix. 11). Why should he not see more clearly, being
delivered from the shadow, or rather from the corruption of the body ?
When freed from corporeal bonds, he will doubtless be as free among
the dead, and as one who sees among the blind. For like as once
in former times, when throughout Egypt none could see clearly, the
people of Israel alone had light amid the universal gloom, and beheld
[the great wrork of] God; for the Scripture says : All the children of
Israel had light in their dwellings (Exod. x. 23), so the righteous shall
shine among the sons of darkness, and in the midst of the thick
shadow of death, and shall have so much the clearer power of vision,
as they are delivered from the shadows of the body. But as for those
who have not previously breathed that inspiring air, nor sought for
the light of that day, and on whom, therefore, the Sun of Righteousness has not risen; they shall pass from these shadows into deeper
shadows still, so that those who are in darkness shall be in darkness
still; while those who see, shall see more and more.
10. To this may be applied, not unfitly, the words spoken by Our
Lord, that who'soever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
more abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be takeit away
even that he hath (Matt. xiii. 12). Thus it is also in death : for new
light, is added to those who already see, while from those who do not
see is taken away the little which they seemed to have. For in proportion as the one class see less and less, so do the other see more
and more clearly, until the night of sighs receives the one, and the
day of light and aspiration the other ; and these are the two extremes ; that is, total blindness, and perfect sight. Then there will be
nothing more to be taken away from those who have already been
emptied of all, nor anything to be added to those who are filled;
unless, indeed, the latter may expect to receive something more even
beyond fulness, according to the promise made to them by the
Saviour : Good measure, pressed down, and shake?i together, and
running over, shall men give into your bosom (Luke vi. 38). Does it
not appear to you that the vessel which runs over must be something
more than full? But you will hear calmly of this fulness superabounding, when you remember that you have read : [The Lord shall
reign] for ever and beyond (Exod. xv. 18). He then shall be the

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increase and crown of the day of aspiration. That day shall add, I
say, to the measure of the fulness inspired, as to the abundance of the
day inspiring; working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory, so that the superabounding addition of honour should redound upon bodies also. For this cause it is, and to signify this,
that the Holy Spirit has said, not ' spirans,' but ' aspirans,1 adding
the proposition ' ad,' because those whom that day enlightens inwardly, it also adorns outwardly, and clothes them with a robe of
glory.
n . I believe that will be sufficient by way of giving a reason for
the word ' aspiring.' And if you wish to know, the day of aspiration
is the Saviour Himself, for whom we wait; who shall change the
body of our humility, that it may be fashioned like unto the Body of
His glory (Phil. iii. 20, 21). H e is also the day of inspiratiori, and
by His operation makes us to respire previously in the light which
H e inspires, so that we also may be in Him a day of respiration, inasmuch as our inward man is renewed from day to day, and is renewed in the spirit of its mind according to the likeness of Him who
created it, becoming day from the day and light from the light. There
are, then, two days, one succeeding the other, in us : the day of inspiration, which is for the life of the body, and that of respiration, which
is the sanctification by grace; and there remains a third, which shall
be in the glory of the resurrection : it is manifest that the great
mystery of the Divine goodness, which has been accomplished in the
Head, shall be accomplished also sometime in the members of His
Body, and the testimony of the prophet shall be fulfilled, who says :
After two days will He revive us ; in the third day He will raise us
up, and we shall live in His sight; then shall we know, if we follow
on to know the Lord (Hosea vi. 2, 3). It is H e whom the Angels
desire to contemplate, the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST

our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXIII.
HOW CHRIST SHALL COME TO JUDGE IN HUMAN FORM, THAT HE
MAY APPEAR DELIGHTFUL TO T H E ELECT ; AND HOW H E IS LESS
THAN T H E ANGELS, YET LOFTIER THAN THEY.

* Return, my Beloved, and be Thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether?—Cant. iii. 17.

7 H A T ? H e is but just now gone, and you call Him back ?
What sudden need has arisen in so short a time ? Have
you forgotten anything ? Yea, truly, the Bride has forgotten everything which is not He, even her own self. And though
she is not devoid of reason, yet sometimes she seems for the moment
'

HOW CHRIST SHALL COME TO JUDGE IN HUMAN FORM

449

to be deprived of it. Nor does it even appear that she retains in her
feelings that modest self-restraint, which is always apparent in her
actions. It is the violence; of her love which occasions this. It is
the same which in its triumph puts to silence every feeling of
timidity, every consideration of fitness, or of deliberation ; it causes
her even to neglect times and seasons. For, as you see, the Bridegroom has scarcely left her side, than she calls upon Him eagerly to
return. She entreats him even to hasten, to run with all the speed of
the swiftest animals, such as the roe or the young hart. This is the
literal meaning of the words, and this is the portion of the Jews.
2. But I will, as far as I have received from the Lord, seek out the
spirit and the life in the deep and mysterious meaning of the sacred
text; this is the portion which belongs to me, as a believer in Jesus
Christ. Why should I not extract the sweet and salutary nourishment of the Spirit from the barren and tasteless mass of the letter, as
I separate grain from chaff, the kernel from its shell, or marrow from
the bone ? With this mere letter, which, when tasted, savours only
of the flesh, and when swallowed, brings death, I do not desire to
have anything to do, but only with that teaching from the Holy
Ghost which is hidden in it. For as the Apostle declares, The Spirit
speaketh in a mystery (i Cor. xiv. 2 ) ; but Israel, in place of the
mystery, which is veiled, takes the veil which covers the mystery.
Why is this, except that a veil is still upon their heart ? Thus the
literal meaning of the text is theirs, but its inner signification is mine;
and thus there is to them a ministration of death in the letter, but
to me life in the Spirit. For it is the Spirit which quickeneth
(John vi. 64), inasmuch as it gives understanding; and is not understanding life ? Give me understanding and I shall live, is the
Psalmist's prayer to the Lord. Understanding does not remain on
the surface of things, it is not superficial, it does not handle the outside with uncertain touch, like a blind man; but it penetrates to
their depths, and often brings up from thence treasures of truth with
eager grasp, as did the Psalmist when he said unto the Lord: /
rejoice at Thy word as one that findeth great spoil (Ps. cxix. 144, 162).
It is thus that the kingdom of truth suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force (Matt. xi. 12). But that elder brother in the
Gospel (Luke xv. 25-30) who returned from the field is the type of
that ancient and earthly-minded people which has learned to labour
for an earthly heritage only, and groans with careworn and furrowed
brow under the heavy yoke of the Law, which it bears throughout
the burden and heat of the day. This people, I say, because it has
no understanding, stands without even to the present time, and will
not, even when invited by the Father, enter into the house of
banqueting, thus depriving himself hitherto of any share in the music,
and the dancing, and the fatted calf. Unhappy that he is, he refuses to make experience how good and joyful it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity. All this has been said to show the distinction between the portion of the Church and that of the synagogue;
29

45°

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

that the blindness of the one and the prudence of the other might be
made more evident; and the happiness of the one be made more
plain by contrast with the pitiable folly of the other.
3. Let us now examine the words of the Bride, and endeavour so
to expound the chaste sentiments of her sacred love, that there may
appear nothing that is contrary to reason in the sacred text, nor anything importunate or unbecoming. And if we bear in mind that
hour when the Lord Jesus (for H e is the Bridegroom) passed from
this world unto the Father (John xiii. 1), and at the same time the
state of mind in which the Church, His newly-wedded Bride, necessarily was when she saw herself deserted and left as a desolate
wddow, deprived of her only hope (I refer to the Apostles who had
left all and followed Him, and had continued with Him in His
temptations); if, I say, we consider these things, it: will appear to
us, I think, that it is not unreasonable nor unaccountable that the
Bride should be so inconsolable for His departure, nor so urgent
for His return, when she is left so solitary and in such distress.
The affection that she feels for Him, and the need that she has for
Him, forms, then, a twofold reason for thus appealing to Him ; that
since H e cannot but ascend up where Fie was before, H e will at
least hasten His promised return. For that she desires and entreats
that He would be like unto certain animals, and those the animals
which are of greatest speed, is an indication of the eagerness of her
desire, for which no return would be sufficiently prompt. Does
she not ask for this daily when she prays, Thy kingdom come
(Matt. vi. 10)?
4. Yet I think that she desires to point not less significantly to
weakness as well as to speed, and that as well of sex in the roe as of
age in the young hart. She desires, then, as it seems to me, that
when returning to judgment He should appear, not in the Form of
God, but in that Human Form in which He was not only born, but
born as a little Child, and born only from that female sex which is
the weaker of the two. Why is this ? It is in order that from both
the one and the other there may be a reminder to be gentle towards
the weak even in the day of His wrath, and in the time of judgment
to exalt mercy above judgment. For if H e shall be strict to search
out offences, who even of the elect shall stand in His presence
{Ps. cxxx. 2) ? The stars are not pure in His sight, and in His
Angels H e finds pravity (Job iv. 18 ; xxv. 5). Listen, then, to him
who is elect and holy; hear what he says to God : Thou forgavest
.the iniquity of my sin. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto
Thee, in a time ivhen Thou may est be found (Ps. xxxii. 5, 6). Even
the saints, therefore, need to entreat pardon for their sins, that they
may be saved by the mercy of God, and must not trust in their own
righteousness; for all have sinned, and all need mercy. In order,
then, that when H e is angry H e may remember mercy, the Bride
entreats of Him to appear in the garb of mercy, that is, in the Form of
which the Apostle says: Being found in fashion as a man (Phil. ii. 7).

HOW CHRIST SHALL COME TO JUDGE IN HUMAN FORM

451

5. And, indeed, it is very necessary for us that it should be thus; for
if, even with this moderating influence, so great is His equity in judgment, so awful the severity of the Judge, so lofty His majesty, and
so changed the very appearance of all things, that, according to the
Prophet, the day of His Coming does not bear to be thought upon
(Mai. iii. 2, Douay), what would it be, do you imagine, if H e who is
a consuming fire (I mean the Almighty God) should come in all that
immensity, and power, and purity of His Godhead, to put forth His
power against a leaf (so to speak) which the wind driveth away, and
to pursue the dry stubble (Job xiii. 25)? H e is Man also, and who,
says the Prophet, shall behold Him ? Who shall stand when He
appeareth ? (Mai. iii. 2). How much less, then, could any among
men endure the sight if H e should manifest Himself to us without
His Humanity: as God, unapproachable in His Glory, unattainable
in His loftiness, incomprehensible in the greatness of His Majesty ?
But now, when His wrath is kindled but a little (Ps. ii. 12), how
welcome and sweet towards the children of grace shall appear a
glimpse of His Humanity ! How it shall be to them a confirmation
of faith, a strength to their hope, an increase in their confidence,
because His grace and mercy is with His saints, and H e hath respect
unto His chosen (Wisd. iv. 15) ! In fact, God the Father Himself
hath given the power of judgment unto His Son; and not because
H e is His Son, but because H e is the Son of Man (John v. 27). O
truly H e is the Father of mercies ! H e wills that men should be
judged by a Man, in order that amid fear and apprehension of evils
so great confidence might be given to the elect by the resemblance
of nature. Holy David had predicted this formerly, in words which
were equally a prayer and a prophecy : Give the King Thy judgments,
O Lord: a?id Thy righteousness unto the Kings son (Ps. lxxii. 1). To
the same effect is the promise made by the Angels to the Apostles
when, after Jesus had been taken up into heaven, they spake to the
latter thus : This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven
(Acts i. 11) ; that is to say, in that very form and substance of body.
6. It is very clear, from all these things, that the Bride had a
certain access to the Divine plan, and that she was not ignorant of
the mystery of God's supreme Will, which [hath chosen] the weak
and harmless things of the world (1 Cor. i. 27); inasmuch as she
indicates, in the spirit of prophecy, and in the words of one who
utters prayer, that the nature which is weaker, or rather that which is
lower (for then it shall no longer be weak), shall be set on high to
judge; insomuch that H e who shall shake heaven and earth by His
power, while girded with power against the sinful and impenitent,
shall yet show Himself gentle and kind, and, as it were, harmless,
towards the elect. To this it may be added that, in order to discern
the one from the other, He will need not only, as it were, the agility
of the roe, but the piercing sight of the hart, so as to be able to discern, in so vast a multitude, and at the moment of so great a change

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

of condition, whom to fix upon, and whom to pass over, that H e
may not crush the righteous instead of the wicked, when H e shall
tread down the peoples in His wrath. For as to the wicked, it is
necessary that the prophecy of David, or rather the word of the Lord
speaking by his mouth, should be fulfilled ; that / will beat them
small as the dust before the wind: I will cast them out as the clay in the
streets (Ps. xviii. 42, Vulg.); and also that another word, which He
had spoken before by another prophet, should be accomplished,
when, returning towards the Angels, H e shall say [of the wicked] : /
have trampled on them in My indignation^ and have trodden them down
in My wrath (Is. lxiii. 3, Vulg.).
7. But if anyone thinks that it would be preferable to understand
the words of the Bride in this sense, that our fawn should pass over
the wicked, and choose out the good in His bounds, I do not contest
this, provided that discrimination is understood to be thus made
between the evil and the good. For, if I remember rightly, such was
also the sense which I put upon the words when I was expounding
this verse in a former discourse (Sermon LIV.). But there that One
is said to leap as a fawn upon some, and to pass over others, according
to the dispensation of grace, and by the secret, though just, judgment
of God; while here it is according to the final and varying recompense
of merits. And perhaps the last words of the verse, which I had,
indeed, almost forgotten, may seem to support that sense; for after
having said, Be Thou, my Beloved, like a roe or a young hart, she adds,
upon the 7nountains of Bethel. Now, in ' t h e House of the Lord'
(which is the meaning of the word Bethel 1 ) there are no mountains
which are evil. Therefore the Bridegroom, leaping as a fawn upon
them, does not crush and trample them, but causes them to rejoice,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says : The mountains and
the hills shall break out before God into singing.2 There are, indeed,
mountains which, according to the Gospel, faith, though it be as a
grain of mustard seed, is able to remove (Matt. xvii. 20), but these
are not the mountains of Bethel: and whichsoever these latter are,
faith does not at all remove them, but renders them fruitful.
8. If by the mountains of Bethel be meant the Principalities and
Powers, and all other bands of the blessed Spirits, as it is of them
that we are to understand what is said, Her foundations are upon the
holy mowitains (Ps. lxxxvii. 1), this One, who appears as a fawn upon
mountains so excelling in dignity, is assuredly not of small account
or to be despised, being made so much better than the Angels, as He
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they (Heb. i. 4).
For what if we do read in a Psalm that He is made a little lower than
the Angels (Ps. viii. 5) ? That H e is in a lower place does not con1
The word in the verse commented upon is not Bethel, i House of God,' but
Bether, ' House of division, or separation'; but most commentators treat them as
identical. The latter word is not found elsewhere in Scripture. See the discussion
in Corn, a Lapide, in loc.—ED.
2
Is. lv. 12. The reading is, before you.

HOW CHRIST SHALL COME TO JUDGE IN HUMAN FORM

453

flict at all with His being better than they ; nor have the Apostle and
the Psalmist spoken in opposite senses, since they were animated by
the same Spirit. For it was by His condescension, and not by any
necessity, that He was made lower than the Angels; and far from
that rendering His goodness less, it, on the contrary, renders it
greater. Nor does the Psalmist say that H e is less than the Angels,
but that He is rendered lower than they; he extols the grace of His
goodness without depreciating His greatness. For His Nature does
not permit that H e should be less than the Angels : and the cause of
His being set below them explains and excuses that descent. H e was,
in fact, set below them by His own will, and on account of our necessity.
Thus that abasement is but the effect of the compassion which H e
felt for us. What loss, then, is there by this humiliation ? For His
clemency and goodness has gained whatsoever His dignity may seem
to have lost. Nor has the Apostle passed over in silence this great
mystery of such extreme goodness, but says : We see Jesus, who was
made a little loiver than the Angels for the suffering of deaths crowned
with glory and honour (Heb. ii. 9).
9. Let this suffice in explanation of the comparison which the
Bride makes of the Bridegroom to a fawn, and to show that she does
thereby no injury to His dignity. Why do I say without injury to
His dignity, when not even His weakness has remained without
honour ? He is [called] a fawn, H e was a little Child. H e is spoken
of as like unto a roe, inasmuch as H e was made of a woman: and
yet H e is upon the mountains of Bethel, yet H e is made higher than
the heavens (Heb. vii. 26). He does not say, ' who i s ' or * who
exists n in the Heavens, but he says, made higher than the heavens,
that it might not be thought that this was spoken of that Nature in
which He is that which He is. But where he represents Him as
preferred to the Angels, he does not say that H e l remains' or
' exists/ but that He is made better than they. From which it
appears that not only according to that which H e is from all
eternity, but also according to that which He is in time, H e is exalted
far above all Principalities and Powers, and being the Firstborn of
every creature, H e is above every created being. Therefore the
foolishness of God is wiser than 7nen : and the weakness of God is
stronger than men (1 Cor. i. 25). That the Apostle indeed asserts;
but it seems to me that it would not be wrong to extend the assertion
to the strength and the wisdom of the Angels. So, then, the present
passage may conveniently be applied to the universal Church.
10. Now, as far as relates to the individual soul (for even one soul,
if it love God dearly, wisely, and with passion, is the Bride), whosoever is spiritual may notice in himself what his own experience teaches
upon this subject. As for me, I do not fear to make known to you
1
In all the MSS. and in the earliest editions the reading here is ens ; but
Horst and others have manens. Thus you have ens in Sermon LXXV., n. 11, for
which the editors have inserted sedens. Yet here (Sermon LXXIII. 9) is read a
little farther on in the MSS., manens vel existens.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the experience of this kind which God has deigned to bestow upon
me. For although it may perhaps appear trifling and worthless when
heard, that does not affect me at all, because he who is spiritual will
not despise me, while he who is not so will not understand me. But
let me reserve this subject to another sermon, and perhaps there will
not be wanting some who will be edified by that which the Lord, in
answer to prayers, shall deign to inspire me with. For H e is the
Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above
all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXXIV.
OF T H E VISITATIONS OF THE BRIDEGROOM, THE WORD, TO T H E
HOLY SOUL, AND THE SECRECY WITH WHICH THEY ARE MADE.
ST. BERNARD STATES HIS OWN EXPERIENCE OF THIS, WITH
GREAT HUMILITY AND MODESTY, FOR THE EDIFICATION OF HIS
HEARERS.

' Return, my Beloved'—Cant. ii. 17.

S

H E says, Return.
It is manifest that He, whom she thus
recalls, is not present; and yet that He had been present,
not long before, since she seems to call Him back, in the
moment of His departure. A recall which appears so untimely is a
sign of the great love of the one, and of the great charm of the other.
Who are they who are such followers after charity, whose affection
is so devoted and so untiring, that it allows neither intermission nor
rest in the pursuit of it ? I remember that I promised to apply this
verse to the Word and to the soul; but I confess that I have great
need of the help of the WORD Himself in order that this may be done
with ever so little an approach to a worthy treatment of the subject.
Certainly this task would have befitted one who had more experience
and a fuller knowledge of the secrets of Divine love than I ; but I
cannot allow myself to be wanting in what my office requires of me,
nor do I wish to refuse your earnest requests. I see the danger
before m e ; but you oblige me, so that I cannot avoid it. You oblige
me (to use the words of the Psalmist) to exercise myself in great
matters, and in things too high for me (Ps. cxxxi. 1). Alas ! I fear
that it may be said to m e : * Wherefore dost thou relate My delights,
and take My mysteries into thy mouth ?' Yet listen to me, for
though I tremble to speak, I am unable to be silent. Perhaps my
apprehension itself will be an excuse for my boldness, especially if it
tend to your edification : and perhaps God will have regard to these
tears also. Retur?i, says the Bride. It is well. H e departed; H e is
recalled. Who shall discover to me the mystery of this mutability ?
Who shall explain to me worthily the going and the returning of the

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455

Word ? Surely there cannot be inconstancy in the Bridegroom ?
Whither can He go, or whence return, He who fills all things ? Or
what movement locally in space can there be for Him who is Spirit ?
Or what movement of any kind whatsoever can be attributed to Him
who is God ? For H e is absolutely immutable.
2. Let him comprehend these things who is capable of so doing.
But let us in the exposition of this sacred and mystical discourse
proceed carefully and with simplicity of purpose, and follow the
example of the Scripture itself, which declares the hidden wisdom in
our human words, indeed, but in a mystery; and which, in order to
make God known to our powers of apprehension, makes use of
figurative language, and imparts to human minds those precious
truths, the unknown and invisible things of God, by means of
similitudes drawn from things apparent to the senses, and, so to
speak, proffers the draught of truth in cups formed of a material of
little value. Let us, then, follow the example of this discourse; let
us say that the WORD of God, who is God, and the Bridegroom of
the soul, comes and goes to and from the soul as it pleases Him,
provided only that we bear in mind that these events take place by
the inward sense of the soul, not by the movements of the Word.
For example, when the soul feels the influence of grace, it recognises
that the Word is present; and when it does not feel this influence,
it complains of His absence, and asks Him to return again, saying
with the Psalmist: My heart said unto Thee, Thy Face, Lord, will I
seek (Ps. xxvii. 8). And how should the soul do otherwise than seek
Him, inasmuch as when that Spouse so dearly loved by her is withdrawn, it is not possible for her, I do not say to wish for, but even
to think of, any other. Nothing then remains to her but to seek
Him earnestly when H e is absent, to recall Him when H e departs.
Thus, then, the Word is recalled; namely, by the earnest longing of
the soul; that is to say, of the soul which has once had the happiness
to taste how sweet is His goodness. Is not an earnest desire a
voice? It is indeed, and a powerful one. For the Lord, says the
Psalmist, has heard the desire of the humble (Ps. x. 17). When, then,
the WORD departs, the one and constant cry of the soul, its single
desire, its one and continual demand, is as it were a constantly
repeated Return, until He come.
3. Show me now a soul that the Bridegroom-Word is wont frequently to visit, to whom intimate knowledge of Him has given boldness, in whom tasting has caused hunger, and contempt for all things
repose, and I shall instantly assign to it the voice and the name of
Bride, and apply to it the words that we are here considering. Such
is, in fact, she who is here introduced as speaking. For she gives
sufficient proof, in recalling the Bridegroom, that she has merited His
presence, although not the full abundance of His graces. For otherwise it would be a call, not a recall, that she would give. That it is
here a recall is marked by the word Return, and perhaps He withdrew Himself for that very reason, that H e might be recalled with the

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greater eagerness, and clasped the more firmly. For when H e sometimes makes it appear that H e would depart to a greater distance, it
is not that He desires to do so, but to hear : Lord, abide with us, for
it is towards evening, and the day is far spent (Luke xxiv. 28, 29).
And, again, on another occasion, when He was walking on the sea,
and the Apostles were in a boat and toiling hard in rowing, H e made
as though H e would have passed by them, though H e did not indeed
desire to do so, but rather to prove their faith and draw forth their
prayer. For as the Evangelist declares : They were troubled, and cried
out, supposing that it had been a spirit (Mark vi. 49, 50). That pious
simulation, or rather that salutary dispensation, which the Word, then
in the body, sometimes made use of, the same Word, who is Spirit,
does not cease to employ, but in a spiritual manner, with a soul that is
devoted to Him. When H e would pass away, H e desires to be detained, and, when absent, to be recalled; for He, who is the Word of
God, is not irrevocable. H e goes and returns according to His good
pleasure, H e visits a soul at the breaking of the day, and suddenly
puts it to proof by withdrawing Himself. If H e come into a soul, it
is the effect of His free and spontaneous grace ; if H e retire from it,
it is similarly according to His will; but both the one and the other
depend upon His judgment, and of this He alone knows the ground
and reason.
4. It is, then, quite evident that changes take place in the soul by
the going and returning of the Word. For H e says : I go away, a?id
come again to you (John xiv. 28); and again : A little while and ye shall
not see Me, and again a little while and ye shall see Me (John xvi. 16).
O truly a little while I but how long a little while may be ! O kind
and loving Lord, how canst Thou call the time in which I do not
behold Thee * a little while'? Saving the deference due to my Lord's
word, it seems to me a long time, and even excessively long. Yet
each of these estimates is true, for it is short if our merits be con
sidered, but long if measured by our desires and prayers. You have
each of these senses in that saying of the Prophet: Though He tarry,
wait for Him, because He shall surely come, He shall not tarry (Hab.
ii. 3). How can it be that H e shall not tarry, and yet shall make
delay, except that though He come with sufficient quickness, if our
deservings be considered, He does not come quickly enough for our
desires ? Now, the soul that loves the Lord is carried away by the
fervour of its prayers, is led on by its eager longing, forgets altogether
the smallness of its merits, shuts its eyes to the majesty of the Bridegroom, and opens them only to the happiness which it hopes to
enjoy; regards only His saving grace, and acts confidingly in that.
Finally, without fear and without shame, it recalls the Word, and confidently asks for its former delights, calling Him with its habitual
freedom, not Lord, but Beloved. Return, she says, my Beloved; and
adds : Be Thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of
Bether. But of this more hereafter.
5. But now bear with my foolishness for a little. I wish to tell

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457

you, as I have promised, how such events have taken place in me.
It is indeed a matter of no importance. But I put myself forward
only that I may be of service to you, and if you derive any benefit I
am consoled for my egotism ; if not, I shall have displayed my foolishness. I confess, then, though I say it in my foolishness, that the
WORD has visited me, and even very often. But although H e has
frequently entered into my soul, I have never at any time been sensible of the precise moment of His coming. I have felt that H e was
present. I remember that H e has been with m e ; I have sometimes
been able even to have a presentiment that H e would come; but
never to feel His coming, nor His departure. For whence He came
to enter my soul, or whither H e went on quitting it, by what means
He has made entrance or departure, I confess that I know not even
to this day; according to that which is said: Thou canst not tell whence
it cometh and whither it goeth (John iii. 8). Nor is this strange,
because it is to Him that the Psalmist has said in another place :
Thy footsteps are not knoivn (Ps. lxxvii. 19). It is not by the eyes
that H e enters, for H e is without form or colour that they can discern ; nor by the ears, for His coming is without sound; nor by the
nostrils, for it is not with the air but with the mind that He is blended ;
nor has H e merely acted upon the air, but produced it (infecit, fecit) ;
nor, again, does it enter by the mouth, not being of a nature to be
eaten or drunk; nor, lastly, is it capable of being traced by the touch,
for it is intangible. By what avenue, then, has H e entered ? Or perhaps the fact may be that He has not entered at all, nor indeed come
at all from outside. For not one of these things belongs to outside.
Yet it has not come from within me, for it is good, and I know that
in me dwelleth no good thing (Rom. vii. 18). I have ascended
higher than myself, and lo ! I have found the Word above me still.
My curiosity has led me to descend below myself also, and yet I have
found Him still at a lower depth. If I have looked without myself,
I have found that He is beyond that which is outside of me ; and if
within, H e was at an inner depth still. And thus I have learned the
truth of the words I had read : In Him we live and move and have
our being (Acts xvii. 28); but blessed is the man in whom H e is,
who lives for Him, and is moved by Him.
6. You will ask, then, how, since the ways of His access are thus
incapable of being traced, I could know that H e was present ? But
He is living and full of energy, and as soon as H e has entered into
me H e has quickened my sleeping soul, has aroused and softened
and goaded my heart, which was in a state of torpor, and hard as a
stone. H e has begun to pluck up and destroy, to plant and to build,
to water the dry places, to illuminate the gloomy spots, to throw open
those which were shut close, to inflame with warmth those which were
cold, as also to straighten its crooked paths and make its rough places
smooth, so that my soul might bless the Lord, and all that is within
me praise His Holy Name. Thus, then, the Bridegroom-Word,
though H e has several times entered into me, has never made His

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coming apparent to my sight, hearing, or touch. It was not by His
motions that H e was recognised by me, nor could I tell by any of my
senses that H e had penetrated to the depths of my being. It was, as
I have already said, only by the revived activity of my heart that I
was enabled to recognise His Presence; and to know the power of His
sacred Presence by the sudden departure of vices and the strong
restraint put upon all carnal affections. From the discovery and
conviction of my secret faults I have had good reason to admire the
depth of His wisdom ; His goodness and kindness have become
known in the amendment, whatever it may amount to, of my life ;
while in the reformation and renewal of the spirit of my mind, that
is, of my inward man, I have perceived, in a certain degree, the excellency of the Divine beauty, and have been rapt in wonder and amazement at His greatness and majesty, as I meditated upon all these
things.
7. But when the WORD withdrew Himself, all these spiritual powers
and faculties began to droop and languish, as if the fire had been
withdrawn from a bubbling p o t ; and this is to me the sign of His
departure. Then my soul is necessarily sad and depressed until H e
shall return and my heart grow warm within me, as it is wont, which
indeed is the indication to me that H e has come back again. After
having, then, such an experience of the happiness derived from the
indwelling WORD, what wonder that I should adopt for my own the
language of the Bride, who recalls Him when H e has departed, since
I am influenced by a desire, not indeed as powerful, but at least
similar to hers? As long as I live that utterance shall be in my
mind, and I will employ, for the recalling of the WORD, that word of
recall, which I find here in the word Return.
And as often as H e
shall leave me, so often shall H e be called back by my voice; nor
will I cease to send my cries, as it were, after Him as H e departs,
expressing my ardent desire that H e should return, that H e should
restore to me the joy of His salvation, the life-giving Presence of
Himself. I confess to you, my children, that I take pleasure in
nothing else in the meantime, until H e is present who is alone
pleasing to me. And this I pray, that H e will not return empty,
but full of grace and truth (John i. 14) as it is His wont to do, and
as H e did yesterday and the day before it. In which it seems to me
that H e will be like unto a roe or a young hart, for His truth has the
piercing eyes of the one, and His grace the joy and lightsomeness of
the other.
8. Each of these is necessary to m e : truth, that I may not be able
to hide myself before Him ; and grace, that I may not desire to do so.
If the one be not accompanied by the other, then either His severity
is burdensome without His gladsomeness, or that may seem unmeasured without the gravity of the former, and thus the visitation
of the WORD will be imperfect. For truth is bitter, if it be not
seasoned with grace; and the fervour of devotion is sometimes unmeasured and tends to lightness, if it be not restrained by the bond

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459

of truth. How many are there whom it has not profited to have
received grace, because they have not accepted at the same time the
regulating and restraining power of truth? They have taken too
much pleasure in the enjoyment of grace; they have not sufficiently
regarded the claims of truth; they have not imitated the gravity (as
it were) of the roe, but have given themselves wholly to the lightsomeness of the young hart. Thence it has come about that they
have been deprived of the grace which they had desired to enjoy by
itself, and it has been possible to say to them, but too late: Go ye
and learn what that meaneth, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice
with trembling (Vs. ii. u ) . For the holy soul which had said in its
day of prosperity, L shall never be moved (Ps. xxx. 6), when it suddenly
feels the Face of the WORD turned away from it, is not only moved,
but grievously troubled, and thus learns by its affliction that with the
gift of piety and devotion, it has need also of the steadying weight of
truth. Therefore the fulness of grace consists not in grace alone,
but also not in truth alone. What does it profit you to know what
you ought to do, if there is not bestowed upon you also the will to
do it ? What does it profit you even to have the will, if you have
not the ability ? How many have I known to whom the knowledge
of the truth was a cause of added sorrow, because, as they knew what
the Truth required of them, they could not find an excuse in their
ignorance when they did not do it ?
9. This being the case, neither gift is sufficient without the other.
Nor is this all, for it is not even an advantage to receive one without
the other. How do we know this ? We learn it from the Scripture :
To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin
(James iv. 17); and, again: That servant, ivhich knew his Lord's
Will . . . and did not according to His Will, shall be beaten with
many stripes (Luke xii. 47). That is, as regards truth. Now, as
regards grace, it is written : After the sop Satan entered into him
(John xiii. 27). This speaks of Judas, who, after he had received a
gift of grace, because he did not walk in truth and sincerity with the
Master of truth, gave place in himself to the devil. Listen, again :
He fed them with the finest of the tvheat, and with honey out of the
rock He satisfied them.' Whom ? ' The enemies of the Lord have lied
unto Him* (Ps. lxxxi. 16, 15). Those whom H e had nourished with
honey and with wheat lied unto Him and became His enemies,
because they did not join truth to grace. Of whom it is said in
another place : The children that are strangers have lied to me,
strange children have faded away, and have halted in their path
(Ps. xviii. 45, Douay). How could they do otherwise than halt,
seeing that they were content to support themselves on one foot, that
of grace, and not to use the other, that is, of truth ? Therefore their
time [of punishment] shall endure for ever (Ps. lxxxi. 15) with that
of their prince, who also himself abode not in the truth, but was a
liar from the beginning (John viii. 44), and therefore it was said to
him : Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy beauty (Ezek.

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xxviii. 17). I am unwilling to allow beauty in one who deprives me
of wisdom.
10. Do you inquire what is that beauty so dangerous and so hurtful ? It is the beauty which is thine. Perhaps you do not understand
me when I say this, and I will put it in plainer language. It is the
beauty which is of a personal and individual kind. We do not blame
the gift of God, but the use which is made of it. For if you notice,
it is not said that Lucifer lost wisdom by reason of beauty, but of
his beauty. And if I do not mistake, the beauty of an angel is the
same as that of a soul, that is, it is wisdom. For what is either the
one or the other without wisdom, but a shapeless heap of unorganized
matter ? But with wisdom, either is not only formed and organized,
but is full of beauty. But when it is appropriated in a selfish manner,
it is forthwith lost, so that when it is said that he has lost wisdom by
reason of his beauty, it is meant that he lost wisdom by his own
wisdom. For when it is thus appropriated it is instantly lost. Because
he was wise in his own eyes, because he did not give the glory to
God, because he did not render back grace for grace, because he did
not walk in grace and use it according to truth, but abused it according to his own will; that is the reason why he lost it, or rather that
constitutes the loss of it. For to appropriate it thus is, in fact, to
lose it. If Abraham, says the Apostle, ivere justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory, but not before God (Rom. iv. 2). And thus it
is with me. I am not in safety, because I have lost whatever I do
not possess in God. What can there be, in fact, so completely lost
as that which does not rest in God as its security? What is death,
but the deprivation of life ? And in the same way everlasting loss
(perditio) is nothing else than alienation from God. Woe unto you
who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight!
(Is. v. 21); of you it is said : I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. i. 19).
They have lost wisdom, because their wisdom has caused them to be
lost. How could they help losing all who were themselves lost?
And how could those be otherwise than lost whom God knows not
[as His own] ?
11. Assuredly the foolish virgins, which are not, as I think, otherwise foolish, than as, believing themselves to be wise, they became
foolish, these, I say, are doomed to hear from God, I know you not
(Matt. xxv. 12). And also those who assumed glory to themselves
because of the grace [to work] miracles which had been bestowed
upon them, shall, notwithstanding these wonderful works, hear the
same declaration, / never knew you (Matt. vii. 23). So that it is
plainly evident, from all that has been said, that grace does not profit
the individual when it is not accompanied by truth and sincerity of
intention, but is rather a hindrance to him. Each of these is assuredly
found in the Bridegroom. Grace and truth, says John the Baptist,
came by Jesus Christ (John i. 17). If, then, the Lord Jesus Christ
(who is the Word of God, the Bridegroom of the soul) knocks at the

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461

door of my soul with only one of these two qualities, H e will enter,
not as Bridegroom, but as Judge. May God grant that this may
never be the case with me ! May He not enter into judgment with
His servant! May He enter with peace, with joy and gladness ; yet
may He enter with aspect grave and serious, so as by the severe
gravity of His look to repress any forwardness in me, and to purify
the joy which I feel. May He enter with the agility of the roe and
the piercing sight of the hart, so, as it were, to leap over my offences
and to view them only with pity and forgiveness. May He enter as
if descending from the mountains of Bethel, full of glory and of joy;
as if coming forth from the Father, sweet, and full of goodness, so
that H e does not disdain to become and to be called the Bridegroom
of the soul which seeks for Him : He who is above all, God blessed
for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXV.
GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER.
THAT
NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME, IN WHICH ANYONE MAY FIND
GOD FOR HIMSELF BY GOOD WORKS, AND MAY WORK OUT HIS
SALVATION.
4

By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth*—Cant. iii. 1.

T

H E Bridegroom has not returned at the voice and according
to the prayer of her who is recalling Him. Wherefore ? It
is that the yearning for Him may increase, that the affection
may be proved, that the faculty of love may be exercised. It is not
indignation, then, that actuates Him, but a concealment of love.
But since, when called, H e has not come, it remains that H e should
be sought, if, haply, H e may be found. According to the words of
the Lord, He that seeketh findeth (Matt. vii. 8). The words used to
recall Him were, as you remember, such as these : Return, my Beloved,
and be Thou like a roe or a young hart. When the WORD did not
return at this call, for the reasons above given, the loving Bride
became still more desirous of His presence, and set herself with
increased earnestness to the task of seeking Him. First, she seeks
Him on her bed, but finds Him not. Then she rises, makes a circuit
of the city, goes and comes through the streets and squares, but she
neither meets Him nor beholds Him at a distance. She questions
those whom she meets, but learns no assured tidings of Him. It is
not through one street only, or during one night, that she continues
this search, and experiences this failure; for she says, ' I sought Him
by night (per nodes)' What desire, and what ardour must she feel,
that she does not blush to rise and appear in the night, to traverse
the city, to interrogate openly and repeatedly all those she meets

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about her Beloved, not to be turned by any reason from following
His footsteps, nor daunted by any difficulty; not to be held back by
the love of ease and repose, by the sensitive modesty of a bride, nor
by the terrors of the night! And, notwithstanding all this, the object
of her wishes has not as yet been attained. Why is this ? What can
be the cause of a withdrawal so obstinate and so prolonged, which
nourishes weariness, causes suspicions, is as a torch to enkindle impatience, as a stepmother to love, but a mother to desperation ? If
it is still a concealment of love on the part of the Bridegroom, that
concealment is but too painful.
2. Granted that such concealment was useful and even kind in the
meantime, until the Bride had set herself seriously to call upon Him,
or to recall. But now, when she is thus seeking Him and calling for
Him, what can be the object of any longer concealment ? If the
question here were of carnal spouses and of dishonourable loves, as
the literal sense of the text seems at first to suggest, and such incidents should occur in them, I leave such matters to those whom they
concern, for they do not concern me. But if it is my duty to respond
to, and to satisfy, as far as my poor powers extend, the wishes and
the needs of souls that seek the Lord, I ought to draw from the Holy
Scripture, in which they trust that they have the word of life, something spiritual and life-giving, that they who are the poor of Christ
may eat and may be satisfied, and that their hearts may find life.
And what is the life of human hearts but my Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom one who lived in Him said : When Christ, who is our Life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory (Col. iii. 4) ? Let
Him come, then, into the midst of us, so that it may be possible to
say truly to us also : There standeth One among you whom ye know
not (John i. 26). Though I do not know how the Bridegroom, who
is Spirit, can fail to be recognised by spiritual men, who have made
such progress in the life of the spirit, as to be able to say with the
Prophet, The Anointed of the Lord is a Spirit before our face (Lam.
iv. 20); and with the Apostle, Though we have known Christ after
the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more (2 Cor. v. 16). Is
it not He whom the Bride was seeking? H e is, in truth, the Bridegroom, both loving and lovable. H e is, I say, the Bridegroom, as
His Flesh is meat indeed, and His Blood drink indeed (John vi. 56);
and all that H e is H e is in truth, for H e is Himself no other than the
Truth.
3. But why is it that this Bridegroom is not found when H e is
sought, especially when sought with so great and unwearied care, now
on the couch, now in the city, or even in the streets and open places?
Does not H e Himself say, Seek, and ye shall find; and, He who seeketh
findeth (Matt. vii. 7, 8) ? To Him also speaks a Prophet: The Lord
is good . . . to the soul that seeketh Hi?n (Lam. iii. 25) ; and also holy
Isaiah saith, Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found (Is. Iv. 6). How,
then, shall the Scriptures be accomplished ? For she who here seeks
the Lord is not of those to whom H e says : Ye shall seek Me, and

GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER

463

shall not find Me (John vii. 34). But take note of three causes which
occur to me, wherefore seekers are wont to be hindered in finding
Him, namely, that they seek Him either not at the fitting time, or
not in the fitting manner, or not in the fitting place. For if every
time" is proper to seek Him, why does the Prophet say : Seek ye the
Lord, while He may be found ? There will, then, without doubt, be
a time when He may not be found, and therefore he adds, Call upon
Him zvhile He is near, because it will come to pass that He will not
be near. By whom will H e not be sought then ? Unto Me, H e
saith, every knee shall bow (Is. xlv. 24). And yet He shall not be
found by the wicked, whom the avenging Angels shall hinder from
finding Him, and shall take them away, that they may not behold the
glory of God. The foolish virgins shall complain, but to no purpose ;
for the door is shut, and H e shall not go forth to them (Matt. xxv. 10).
Let them take for themselves that which is said: Ye shall seek Me,
and shall not find Me.
4. But now is the acceptable (acceptabile) time, now is the day of
salvation (2 Cor. vi. 2 ) ; it is the time of seeking, and of calling upon,
the Lord ; for oftentimes, even before H e is called, H e is felt to be
near. Hear, in fact, what He promises. Befoi'e they call, He says,
/ will answer (Is. lxv. 24). Nor does the Psalmist speak less
decisively as to the acceptableness of the time present, for he says :
Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare
their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear (Ps. x. 17). If God
is being sought by good works, then, wThile we have time, let us do
good unto all men (Gal. vi. 10), especially since the Lord plainly
warns us that the night cometh, when no man can work (John ix. 4).
Do you expect to find in the ages to come some other time to seek
God, some other opportunity to do that which is right, besides that
which God has appointed for you, and in which He will be mindful
of you ? And, therefore, this is the day of salvation, because it is in
it that God, who is our King before all the ages, has worked salvation
in the midst of the earth (Ps. lxxxiv. 12).
5. Go, then, and await in the midst of hell the salvation which is
already worked in the midst of the earth. 1 What profit will be to
you those dreams of pardon, among the everlasting fires, when the
season for pity shall have passed ? There is no victim left to atone for
your sins, when you shall be dead in sins. The Son of God is not
crucified a second time: once H e died, and now H e dieth no more
(Rom. vi. 9). His Blood, which was poured out upon the earth,
does not descend into hell. All the sinners of the earth have drunk
of i t ; there is none left for the demons to claim, that the flames
which prey upon them may be quenched; nor for men who are the
companions of demons. The Soul of the Saviour once descended
into that place, but not His Blood; and this was the portion of
1
Origen seems to be referred to, or at least the error ascribed to him, in this
passage ; just as St. Bernard notes other errors of the same writer in Sermon
XXXIV., De Diversis, and Sermon LIV., n. 3, in Cantica,

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

those spirits who were in prison (1 Peter iii. 19). That was His one
visitation to them, which was made then by the presence of His
Soul, while His Body hung lifeless upon the Cross, on the earth.
His Blood watered the earth, steeped it and made it glad; His
Blood re-established peace on the earth, and also in the heavens ;
but hell had no part in that reconciliation. The Soul of the Saviour,
as I have said, descended there once, and there worked redemption
in part; so that it was not even that brief time without works of
charity, 1 but to that H e will add nothing. It is now, then, a fit and
acceptable time to seek Him, in which he who seeks shall evidently
find H i m ; if, that is to say, he seeks in the fitting manner, and
place. For this is one cause which hinders those who seek the
Bridegroom from finding H i m ; namely, that they do not seek at a
fitting time. But this does not hinder the Bride, since she seeks
Him and calls upon Him at the time which is fit. She seeks Him
also neither with lukewarmness nor negligence, nor in a perfunctory
manner, for she seeks Him with ardent and untiring earnestness, as
she evidently ought to do.
6. There remains, then, the third obstacle, namely, that H e is
sought for in an unsuitable place. On my little bed (lectulo) / sought
Him whom my soul loveth. But perhaps H e for whom the whole
world is too narrow should not be sought upon a ' little' bed, but
upon a bed ? Nevertheless, the little bed does not displease me, for
I know that the Saviour was made a little Child. Cry out and shout,
thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the
midst of thee (Is. xii. 6). But the same Lord, who is great in Zion,
is found among us little, and weak ; H e has need to lie down, and
even upon a bed that is little. Is not His tomb a little bed ? or His
cradle ? or the womb of His Virgin-Mother ? For the Bosom of His
Father, who is so great, is not little, but great; and of it H e speaks
to the Son : From the womb, before the Daystar, I begot Thee
(Ps. ex. 3, Douay). Though perhaps it may be thought more
worthily that this womb is not a bed, and for rest, but a throne, and
for rule. For abiding in the Father, H e rules all things with the
Father. Finally, faith undoubted teaches us that H e does not
recline, but sits, at the Right Hand of the Father; that Heaven is
His throne, not His couch (Is. lxvi. 1), so that you may learn that
among his own, that is, among the dwellers in heaven, H e has the
ensigns of power, not the solaces of weakness.
7. Rightly, then, does the Bride, when speaking of a little bed,
call it hers ; for it is manifest that whatever of weakness may appear
in God [our Saviour] is not proper and natural to Him, but comes
from us. H e has taken from us all that He has suffered on our
behalf: to be born, to be nourished with milk, to die, to be buried.
The mortality of His Birth comes from me, the weakness of His
Childhood comes from me, the pains of His Crucifixion, and His
1
Thus the MSS. and earliest editions, except that some MSS. have pietatis for
charitatis.

GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER

465

sleep in death come all from me. The former things have passed
away, and behold ! all things have become new. By night on my bed
I sought Him whom my soul loveth. What ! did you seek Him in
that which is yours, who had already been received again into that
which is His own ? Had you not seen the Son of Man ascending up
where H e was before ? In exchange for the stable, in exchange for
the Tomb, H e has taken possession of Heaven ; and you seek Him
still in your little bed ? H e is Risen ; He is not here. Why do you
seek in a bed Him who is strong, in a little bed Him who is great,
in a stable Him who is pure and spotless ? H e has entered into
[the exercise of] the powers of the Lord; H e is clothed with beauty
and with strength : and, behold, He who once lay under the stone of
a sepulchre, now is enthroned above the Cherubim. He no longer
reclines, H e is sitting; and are you preparing for Him the comforts,
as it were, of one who lies prone ? To speak quite accurately, H e is
either seated to judge, or standing to help us.
8. For whom, then, I pray you, O holy women, do ye keep vigil ?
For whom do ye buy perfumes and make provision of fragrant oils ?
If ye knew how great H e is, how free among the dead is that dead
Man whom ye are going to anoint, you would perhaps petition that
He should rather drop perfumes upon you. Is it not H e whom His
God hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows ? (Ps.
xlv. 7). Blessed shall ye be if, when returning, you are able to make
your boast, and say : Of His fulness have all we received (John i. 16).
For it was in fact thus; and those holy women who had gone to anoint
Him returned anointed themselves. How could they be otherwise
than, as it were, anointed by the joyful and fragrant news of His
Resurrection ? How beautiful are the feet of theni that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things ! (Rom. x. 15).
When sent by the Angel, they do the work of an Evangelist: they
are made apostles to the Apostles themselves, and while hastening in
the early morning to announce the mercy of the Lord, they say: ' We
run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes.' From that time and thenceforth it was in vain that the Bridegroom was sought in that little bed,'
because, although the Church had known Him according to the flesh,
that is, according to the weakness of the flesh, yet henceforth it knows
Him [thus] no more. It is true that H e was sought in this manner
by Peter and John at the sepulchre, but they found Him not. Do
you see with what singular fitness and suitableness each of them would
be able to say : In my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth: I
sought Him, but I found Him not. For the Flesh of the Son of God,
which was not of the Father, before going to the Father, put off,
through the glory of the Resurrection, every trace of weakness; it
was girded about with power, it was clad with light as it were with a
garment, and adorned with all the glory and beauty which was befitting it, to present itself before the Father.
9. With great beauty also does the Bride say, not ' Him whom I
love/ but * Him whom my soul loveth/ because that affection belongs
30

466

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

truly and properly to the soul alone, with which anything spiritual is
loved: as, for example, God, or an Angel, or a soul similar to itself.
Of the same kind also is the love of righteousness, truth, piety,
wisdom, and other virtues. For when a soul loves, or rather desires,
somewhat according to the flesh, for example, food, clothing, property, or other things corporeal or earthly of that kind, that love
should be considered as belonging rather to the flesh than to the soul.
I say this to explain what the Bride says, in a manner somewhat
unusual, though none the less appropriate, that, her soul loves the
Bridegroom, indicating clearly by this that H e is a spirit, and is loved
by her with an affection not carnal, but spiritual. So, also, it is well
said that she has sought Him each night. For if, according to the
Apostle, they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are
drunken in the night (i Thess. v. 7), so it may, as I think, be not
unfitly said that those who are ignorant of the truth are so in the
night, and, in consequence, those who seek it seek it in the night.
For who seeks that of which he has possession openly ? Now, the
day makes manifest that which the night conceals, so that in the day
you may find what in the night you had sought. It is, then, night
for the soul as long as the Bridegroom is being sought, for if it were
day He would be plainly seen in the midst, and would not be sought
at all. And that is sufficient on this subject, except for the observation that though the Bride says she seeks Him not ' by night/ but
1
by nights,' nothing is signified by the mere number.,
10. It seems to me, however, if you have no better cause to suggest, that the reason may be something of this kind. That world has
its nights, and they are many. What do I say ? Not only has it
nights, but it is itself almost an entire night, and is enveloped wholly in
shadows. The unbelief of the Jews is a night; the ignorance of the
Heathen, the obstinate error of heretics, even the carnal and animal
mode of living of Catholics, each of these is a night. Is it not a darkness as of night when the things which are of the Spirit of God are not
even perceived ? So, also, as many sects as there are of heretics and
schismatics, so many nights are there. To no purpose do you seek
the Sun of Righteousness and the light of Truth, that is, the Bridegroom, through the gloom of these nights, for light hath no fellowship
. with darkness. But someone objects that the Bride is not so blind,
nor so foolish, as to seek light in the darkness, or to expect to find
her Beloved among those who know Him not nor love Him. What
she says is, not that she is seeking Him now, but that she has sought
Him ; not ' I am seeking,' but By night I sought Him whom my soul
loveth. And the meaning of these words is that when she was young
she had but the thoughts and sentiments proportioned, to the weakness of her age ; that she sought the truth where it was not, wandering and not finding it, according as it is said in a Psalm : I have gone
astray like a lost sheep (Ps. cxix. 176). In fact, she states that she
was still, as it were, in a little bed, because she was of immature age
and undeveloped intelligence.

GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER 4 6 7

11. But if that sense of the words be accepted, then the phrase
* on my b e d ' must be understood as if it were said ' being or reclining,'
not, that is to say, ' I have sought on my bed,' but ' being on my bed
I have sought'; that is, 'While I was still weak and incompetent,
altogether unfitted to follow the Lamb whithersoever H e should go,
or to pursue the steep and arduous paths by which H e ascended to
the height of glory, I fell among many persons who, knowing my
earnest desire, said to me : Zo, here is Christ, or Lo, He is there
(Mark xiii. 21), and H e was neither in the one place nor the other.
Nevertheless, I do not regret to have fallen among them. For the
more nearly I approached them and the more diligently I examined
them, the more assured I became that the truth was not in them.
For I sought it and did not find it, and what they falsely called day
proved to be in truth but night.
12. Then I said in myself: I will rise now and go about the city:
in the streets and in the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul
loveth. ' Now, you will observe that she must be reclining who says,
/ will rise. And this is said with much fitness, for how can she do
otherwise than rise when she has heard of the Resurrection of her
Beloved ? But if thou, O blessed one, art risen with Christ, it
behoves thee to seek those things which are above, and not to seek
Christ here below, but to seek Him on high, where H e sitteth at the
Right Hand of the Father (Col. iii. 1). But she says : I will go
about the city. To what purpose ? For it is the wicked who do that.
Leave that to the Jews, of whom their own Psalmist predicted: They
shall suffer hunger like dogs, and shall go round about the city (Ps. lix. 7,
Douay). If you shall enter into the city, then, according to another
prophet, behold them that are sick with famine (Jer. xiv. 18), which
doubtless would not have been the case if there had been in them the
bread of life. H e has arisen from the heart of the earth, but He has
not remained upon the earth, for He has ascended up where H e was
before. For H e who descended is the same who also ascended, the
Living Bread who came down from heaven, the Bridegroom of the
Chu*ch, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for
ever.

AMEN.

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LXXVI.
OF T H E GLORY OF THE BRIDEGROOM, IN WHICH H E SITS AT THE
RIGHT HAND OF HIS FATHER, AND IS COEQUAL WITH HIM.
HOW CAREFUL, WATCHFUL, AND DISCREET GOOD PASTORS OUGHT
TO BE IN FEEDING THE SOULS GIVEN INTO T H E I R CHARGE.

' In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul lovethS—
Cant. iii. 2,

S

H E thinks still as a child. I believe that she has supposed that
immediately H e came forth from the tomb, He presented
Himself in public to teach the people as H e was wont, and
heal the sick, and thus to show forth His glory in Israel, to see if they
would receive Him rising from the dead, who promised that they would
receive Him if H e would come down from the Cross. But He had
finished the work which the Father had given Him to do : which she
ought to have understood, indeed, from the words which H e had
spoken when hanging on the Cross, and about to give up His spirit
(John xix. 30): It is finished. It was not for Him to show Himself
anew to the masses of the people, who would not perhaps even thus
have believed in Him. And H e hastened to His Father, who would
say to Him : Sit Thou at My Right Hand, u?itil I make Thine enemies
Thy footstool (Ps. ex. 1). For when H e should have been lifted up
from the earth, H e would draw all things unto Him more powerfully
as well as more Divinely. But she, in thinking that H e was to be
sought in the streets and open spaces, was influenced by an eager
desire to enjoy His presence, and did not know that mystery; therefore, when having again failed, she repeats: / sought Him, but I found
Him not (iii. 2), that the word might be fulfilled which H e spake :
Ye shall not see Me . . . because I go to the Father (John xvi. 16).
2. But perhaps the'sense of her words is this : ' How shall they
believe in Him whom they will not behold ?' As if faith cometh from
sight, and not rather by hearing! What marvel is it that you should
believe that which you have seen ? and what praise does it deserve
not to disbelieve one's own eyes ? But if we hope for that which we
see not, we wait for it with patience; and patience is a merit. Blessed
are they who have not seen, and yet have believed (John xx. 29). So,
then, that H e may not deprive her of the merit of faith, He withdraws
Himself from sight, affording place for this virtue. Besides this, it is
time now that H e should betake Himself to His own place. You ask,
What is His own place ? It is the Right Hand of the Father. For
as He is in the Form of God, H e will think it not robbery to be equal
with God (Phil. ii. 6). The place, then, of the Only Begotten is
one in which H e is out of the reach of every kind of outrage. There,
indeed, let Him sit, not below the Father, but beside Him, that all
may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. In this shall

T H E GLORY OF T H E BRIDEGROOM

469

appear His equality of dignity, if He is considered neither inferior nor
posterior, to the Father. But the Bride has, in the meantime, regard
to none of these things; she is, as it were, inebriated by her affection ;
she runs hither and thither, and seeks with her eyes for Him who is
not now discernible by the eyes, but by faith. She does not think
that Christ ought otherwise to enter into His glory than as having
previously manifested the glory of His Resurrection openly to all the
world, that impiety may be thereby confuted, the faithful made to
rejoice, the disciples to glory, the peoples to be converted; so that
after His Presence and His Resurrection shall have shown clearly the
truth of His predictions, H e shall at length be glorified by all. But
you deceive yourself, O Bride. All these things must needs be fulfilled, indeed ; but in their due time.
3. But now, In the meantime, see if it be not more in agreement
with the supreme Righteousness, and more worthy of it, not to give
that which is holy to dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine; if, according
to the Scripture, the wicked should rather be taken away, and not
behold the glory of God (Is. xxvi. 10); if faith should be not deprived
of its merit, since that is assuredly more displayed and approved in
believing that which is not seen ; if thus that which is hidden from
the unworthy is reserved for those who are worthy of it; if those who
are filthy are filthy still, and those who are righteous become still
more so (Rev. xxii. n ) if they do not sleep through weariness. Let
the heavens and the heavens of heavens pass away and be confounded
in their expectation rather than that the Almighty Father should be
longer hindered from attaining the desire of His Heart, or the Only
Begotten Son delayed longer (which would be a consummation in the
highest degree unworthy) from entering into His glory. What is all
the glory of mortals, thinkest thou, however great it may be, to be
able to detain Him, for ever so small a time, from that glory which
has been prepared by His Father from all eternity ? Add to this that
it is not fitting that the petition of the Son Himself should wait longer
for its fulfilment. Do you ask, What was that petition ? It was that
in which He said : Father\ glorify Thy Son (John xvii. 1). And yet
I feel that H e asked this, not as a suppliant, but as prescient of that
which was to be. That is freely asked which it is in the power of
Him who asks to receive. Therefore the request of the Son was the
effect of providence, not of necessity, since He, with the Father, gives
that which He from the Father receives.
4. It is proper here to remark that not only does the Father glorify
the Son, but also the Son glorifies the Father : so that no one should
say that the Son is less th
'—*
dory from the
Father, inasmuch as H e aL
. ... r o r He Himself
says: Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.
But perhaps you still think that the Son should be considered inferior
to the Father, because H e seems, as if less glorious, to receive the
glory of the Father, which He renders to the Father again. But hear
that it is not so, for H e says : O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine

47o

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

own Self with the glory which I had ivith Thee before the world was
(John xvii. 5). If, then, the glory of the Son is not later than that of
the Father, since it exists from eternity, it is plain that the Father and
the Son are equally glorified. This being so, where is the Primacy
of the Father ? There is evidently Equality where there is Coeternity.
And the Equality is to such a degree that the glory of Both is but one
glory, as They Themselves are One. On that account, as it seems to
me, it was that He says again : Father, glorify Thy Name ; and in so
doing requests, in fact, nothing else than to be glorified Himself, since
it is, beyond doubt, in Him, and through Him, that the Name of the
Father would be glorified; and He received a reply from the Father :
I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John xii. 28). And
this reply of the Father is in itself no small glorifying of the Son.
But H e was glorified more highly and more amply still at the stream
of Jordan, both by the testimony of John the. Baptist, the pointing
Him out by the Dove, and by the Voice of the Father, who said :
This is My Beloved Son (Matt. iii. 14, 16, 17). And, most of all, H e
was glorified and exalted on Mount Tabor before the three disciples,
both by that same Voice which was heard from Heaven, and also by
the wonderful and unexampled transfiguration of His Body, and the
witness that was borne to Him by the two Prophets who appeared in
the same place talking with Him (Matt. xvii. 2-5).
5. It remains, then, that, according to the promise of the Father,
He should be glorified yet once again, and that with the fulness of
glory to which nothing more can be added. But where shall that
glory be bestowed? It will not be, as the Bride supposed, in the
streets and open places, unless, perhaps, in those of whom it is said :
The streets [of Jerusalem] shall be paved with white and clean stones :
and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets (Tobit xiii. 22, Douay). For
it is in those that the Son has received from the Father a glory so
great that its equal cannot be found, even among the dwellers in
heaven. For to which of the Angels said He at any time, Sit on My
Right Handl (Heb. i. 13). Not only among the Angels, but also in
the loftiest orders of the Blessed, none is found fit to receive this
glory which superexcels all things. To not one of them has that
announcement of singular and exceptional glory been made, to not
one of them has it been given to see it realized in himself. The
Thrones, the Dominations, the Principalities, the Powers, desire,
without doubt, to contemplate it in H i m ; but to compare themselves
with Him they do not presume. It is, then, to my Lord only that it
has been spoken, and upon Him only that it has been conferred by
the Lord, that H e should sit upon the Right Hand of His Glory as
being coequal with Him in glory, Consubstantial in Essence, Like
unto Him by Generation, not unequal in Majesty or in Eternity. It
is there, it is there that he who seeks Him shall find, and shall behold
His Glory : not glory as of one among others, but assuredly the glory
as of the Only Begotten of the Father (John i. 14).
6. What doest thou, then, O Bride ? Dost thou think that thou

THE GLORY OF THE

BRIDEGROOM

471

art able to follow Him thither ? Hast thou the ability or the boldness to introduce thyself into a secret so sacred, into a sanctuary so
secret, as to contemplate the Son in the Father and the Father in the
Son ? Assuredly not. Where He is thou canst not follow Him
now, but thou shalt follow Him hereafter. Yet do not cease to strive;
seek Him, follow Him ; let not that supreme glory, that unapproachable elevation, deter thee from seeking, nor make thee despair of
finding Him. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth (Mark ix. 22). The word is nigh thee, it is said, in thy
mouth, and in thy heart (Rom. x. 8). Believe, and thou hast found
[Him]. Those who are faithful know that Christ dwells in their
hearts by faith (Eph. hi. 17), and what is nearer than this? Seek,
then, with confidence, seek with zeal. The Lord is good to the soul
that seeketh Him (Lam. iii. 25). Seek Him by your prayers, seek
Him by your actions, find Him by your faith. What is there that
faith does not find ? It attains that which was not reached, it discovers
what is hidden, it comprehends what is unlimited, it apprehends the
farthest depths : it even contains, after a certain manner, in its comprehensive bosom, eternity itself. I say with confidence that the
blessed and eternal Trinity, which I do not understand, I believe in,
and thus hold by faith that which I do not grasp with the understanding.
7. But someone says: ' H o w shall she believe, without someone
to instruct, since faith cometh by hearing, and hearing through the
word of exhortation (Rom. x. 14, 17)?' For this God will provide.
And see how they are already at hand .who present themselves to
instruct that new Bride, that soul who is to be united to a heavenly
Bridegroom, in the truths that she needs to know ; to deliver to her
the faith, to teach her the form of piety and of true religion. For
listen to what she goes on to say : The watchmen that go about the city
found me. Who are these watchmen ? They are those whom the
Saviour pronounces blessed if He, when He shall come, shall find
them watching (Luke xii. 37). How good are the sentinels who
watch while we sleep, as if to give an account of our souls 1 How
good the guardians who are wakeful in spirit, and pass the night in
prayer; who seek out wisely the devices of the enemies, forestall the
designs of the evil-disposed, lay bare their snares, escape their entanglements, shatter their nets, frustrate their plots ! These are lovers
of the brethren and of the people of Christ, who pray much for the
people and for all the Holy City. These are they who, being careful
and anxious for the sheep entrusted to them by the Lord, bear them
on their heart at their waking, when the day breaks, to the Lord who
made them, and offer intercession for them in the presence of the
Most High. And though they thus watch and thus intercede, they
do it, as knowing their own insufficiency to keep the city safe, and
being conscious that unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh
but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1).
8. In fact, when the Lord thus instructs us, Watch ye and pray,

472

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

lest ye enter into temptation (Markxiv. 38), it is plain that without this
twofold exercise [of vigilance and prayer] by the faithful, and of sympathetic care on the part of the watchers, the city cannot be kept in
safety, nor the Bride, nor the sheep. Do you inquire what is the
difference between these ? They are but one and the same; a city
because it is an assembly of the faithful, a Bride because beloved, and
a flock of sheep because of the kindness and care shown to it. Why
is this Bride said to be a city ? / saw (it is said) the Holy City, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a Bride
adorned for her husband (Rev. xxi. 2). It will plainly appear to you
that the Bride is similarly called a flock, if you remember how
earnestly the Saviour warned that first pastor (I mean St. Peter) to
tend it with love when the sheep of it were for the first time committed to his charge. This that wise bestower of the trust {creditor)
would not have done with such great care if H e had not felt, from
the witness of His own inmost heart, that this was the Bride of which
H e wras the Bridegroom. Take good heed of this, O friends of the
Bridegroom, if you are in truth His friends. But I have said too
little in calling you simply friends.
For it behoves those upon whom
is bestowed the privilege of such familiar intimacy to be the very
closest and dearest of friends to Him. It was not without a significant
purpose that, when confiding the care of His sheep to St. Peter, H e
repeated so frequently, Lovest thou Me ? (John xxi. 15-17). And I
think that the significance of it was as if Jesus had said: ' If your
conscience does not bear you witness that you love Me, that you love
Me perfectly and entirely, that is to say, more than your own interests,
more than your relatives, more even than your own self, so that the
number of this threefold repetition of Mine may be fulfilled, then by
no means do thou take upon thee this charge, nor in any wise presume to concern thyself with My sheep, for whom My Blood was
poured forth.' An address which is indeed terrible, and capable of
shaking the hearts of tyrants, however hardened.
9. Wherefore be ye watchful, whosoever of you have been chosen
and called to the work of this ministry ; take watchful heed, I say, to
yourselves, and to the precious deposit which has been entrusted to
you. It is a city ; watch, then, to maintain it in safety and concord.
It is a Bride; study to present her to the Lord decked with the
precious jewels of abundant virtues. It is a flock ; study diligently to
give it needful pasture. And perhaps we may not unfitly explain by
these three elements of pastoral duty the threefold question which
the Lord addressed to St. Peter. Now, that the watch and ward over
the city may be effective, it must be of three kinds : against the
violence of tyrants, against the deception from heretics, and against
the temptations of evil spirits. Again, the ornaments of the Bride
ought to be of three kinds : of good works, of a saintly character, of
high and noble principles. And the needful nourishment of the
sheep is ordinarily indeed in the good pastures of the Holy Scriptures
as being the heritage of the Lord ; but there is a distinction in these.

THE GLORY OF THE BRIDEGROOM

473

For there are commandments which are imposed upon hard and
carnal hearts, as a discipline and for the law of life ; and there are miscellaneous masses 1 of dispensations, which are appointed on account
of pity to those that are weak and of little courage; and there are
counsels strong and solid, which are proposed from the inmost recesses
of wisdom to those who have health and strength, and senses trained
to discern good from evil. For to those who are as children, or, so
to speak, as little lambs, is given the milk of exhortation and encouragement, not strong meat. To this end, good and careful pastors
do not cease to feed their flock to fatness with salutary and encouraging examples, and preferably with their own rather than with those of
others. For if they offer only those of other people, and not their
own, this is to their shame, and, also, their flock do not profit. For
if, to give an instance, I, who appear to bear the charge of pastor
among you, should set before you the meekness of Moses, the patience
of Job, the mercy of Samuel, the holiness of David, and other similar
examples of various virtues, and be myself impatient and severe, unmerciful, and in no way holy, my discourse would, I fear, be void of
all force and unction, nor would you care to listen to it. But this I
leave to the Divine goodness, that it may supply what is wanting and
correct what is amiss in my conduct towards you. The good pastor
will also take care to have in himself that salt of which the Gospel
speaks (Mark ix. 49), knowing that a discourse seasoned with salt is
agreeable and also salutary. This is what I have for the present to
say regarding the safe keeping of the city, the adorning of the Bride,
and the nourishment of the flock.
10. Yet I wish to set forth the same truths somewhat more in
detail, and with respect to those who, while they thirst for honours
with excessive desire, and engage rashly to bear the burden of duties
to which they are unequal, expose themselves thereby to very great
peril, so that they may know what they are entering upon, according
to the question that is asked in the Scripture : Friend^ wherefore art
thou comet (Matt. xxvi. 50). If I do not mistake, for the safe keeping of the city only, it is absolutely necessary that a man should be
strong, faithful, and spiritually minded. H e must be strong to repulse
the assaults of its enemies, spiritually minded that he may discover
their crafty devices, and faithful that he may not seek to advance his
own interests. In the next place, for the elevation and training of
souls (for this is what is signified and referred to in the adorning of
the Bride), who does not at once perceive that a firm bond of discipline, as well as a sedulous diligence, is required ? On that account
everyone who is engaged in this ministry needs to burn with fervent
zeal. It was with this that Apostle was fired who was so jealous for
the glory of the Bride of the Lord, for he said : I am jealous over you
with godly jealousy', for I have espoused you to one husband that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. xi. 2). And, lastly,
fa pastor must not be ignorant], for how can one who is so conduct
1

Olera.

The word implies a certain disdain and disapproval.—ED.

474

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the Lord's flocks to the sweet pastures of the Divine oracles ? But
if he be a learned man, indeed, but not a good man, then it is to be
feared that he will not so much nourish his flock by the abundance
of his doctrine, as he will starve them by the barrenness of his life.
Without having knowledge, then, and at the same time a good and
praiseworthy life, it is mere rashness for anyone to take upon him
the burden of this office. But see, I am obliged to come to an end,
though I have not finished what T have to say upon this subject.
We are called to another matter, to which it is an unworthy thing
that this should give way.1 I am pressed on all sides, and I know
not which I ought to suffer the more impatiently, to be dragged in
one direction, and repressed on another, though to endure the two
together is worse than either separately. O servitude ! O necessity !
not what I desire, but what 1 hate, that I do. Notice, however,
where we leave off, so that as soon as it shall be free to us to return
to the subject, we may take it up from this point; in the Name of
Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord,

who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXVII.
CONCERNING T H E BAD PASTORS OF THE CHURCH, ALSO HOW T H E
BLESSED IN HEAVEN, AND THE ANGELS, COME TO THE AID OF
THE ELECT, WHO ARE STILL PILGRIMS UPON THE EARTH.

W

E are ready for a new departure. I described in the sermon
of yesterday the leaders whom we should desire to have
while we journey through this world, but I did not describe
those whom we, in fact, have. And we find these latter to be wholly
unlike the former. Not all of those whom you see at the present
day surrounding the Bride on all sides, and who appear to take up
the post at her right hand (to use a common phrase) as their own,2
are the friends of the Bridegroom. Very few indeed are there among
them who do not seek their own interests. They have a love for
gifts, but they have not an equal love for Christ, because they have
joined hands with mammon. See how they go about adorned and
trim, clad in many and bright colours, like unto a bride coming out
of her chamber. If you suddenly beheld such a person coming from
afar, would you not take it to be the Bride herself rather than one of
her guardians? From whence, do you suppose, comes this great
1
These words indicate that the sermon was interrupted by necessity, and that
some signal for the ending of it was made —either the signal for the common meal,
or for some other occupation, which St. Bernard thought of inferior importance to
his subject.
2
Addexirare, a Low Latin word, and rare. It is not in Forcellini, and Du Cange
gives but a few instances of its use. It is properly written addexterare.—ED.

CONCERNING THE BAD PASTORS OF THE CHURCH

475

abundance of all things to them, this magnificence in dress, this
luxury at their tables, these masses of gold and silver vases, but from
the property of the Bride ? Thence it is that [the Church] is left
poor and naked and in want, uncared for, wasted, pale and bloodless
with famine. Assuredly this is not to adorn the Bride, but to despoil
her; not to take care of her, but to destroy; not to defend her, but
to expose her to danger; not to train her in good, but to abandon
her to evil (instituere, prostituere); it is not to feed the flock, but to
slaughter and devour it, and to such the Lord says : Who eat up My
people as they eat bread (Ps. xiv. 4, and liii. 4 ) ; and in another Psalm :
They have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling-place (lxxix. 7);
and in a prophet: They eat up the sin of My people (Hosea iv. 8), as
if H e said : ' They exact the price of sins for their own profit, but for
the sinners they do not take the care which is due.' Whom will you
find among those who are set over the government of the Church
who is not far more intent upon emptying the purses of those under
his authority than of rooting up their sins ? Or where will you find
one who by his prayers turns away the Divine anger, and proclaims
the acceptable year of the Lord ? But let us speak of lighter evils :
a heavier judgment awaits graver offences.
2. But yet it is in vain that we even remonstrate with them, for
they do not listen to us. And if what I say is set down in writing,
they disdain to read i t ; or, if they happen to read it, they inveigh
against me, although they would with much more justice inveigh
against themselves. Let us, then, leave those people, who are not
finders of the Bride, but sellers, and let us rather inquire who are
those by whom the Bride is found, as she herself states. Those of
the present day, though they have indeed inherited the ministry in
their place, have not inherited their zeal. All desire to be successors
[of the Apostles], few to be imitators of them. Would that they were
as watchful in the discharge of the functions of their offices as they
are eager in soliciting some dignified appointment. Then they would
carefully and watchfully keep her [the Church] who was found by
them and entrusted to their charge; or rather they would be watchful
for their own sakes, nor suffer it to be said of them : My lovers and
my friends stand aloof'from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off
(Ps. xxxviii. n ) . A complaint which is wholly just, and which applies
to no period more justly than to our own. It is too little for our watchmen not to watch over u s ; they cause us positive and great harm. For
they are plunged in a deep slumber, and do not awake even at the
thunders of the Divine threatening, nor are stricken with fear even
for their own peril. Thence it is that, having no concern for themselves, they have no concern for those under their charge; they allow
them to perish, and perish with them.
3. But who are those watchmen by whom, as the Bride declares,
she was found ? They are the Apostles and Apostolic men. These
are they who in truth guard the city, that is, the Church in which
they are found, and that with so much the greater vigilance as they

476

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

see her struggling in these times against very grave perils of a
domestic and internal kind, as it is written: A maris enemies are the
men of his own house (Micah vii. 6). For they do not abandon her,
on whose behalf they have resisted even unto blood, or leave her
deprived of their help, but protect and guard her by day and night,
that is, in their life and even in their death. And if precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His Saints (Ps. cxvi. 15), I entertain no
doubt that in death they do that with so much the greater ability,
as in it their dignity and authority are so greatly strengthened.
4. * You assert these things/ objects someone, * as if you had seen
them with your eyes, but they are altogether beyond the reach of
human sight.' To which I reply : If you confide in the witness of
your own eyes as faithful, the witness of God is greater. And H e
says: / have set watchmen on thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall
never hold their peace day nor night (Is. lxii. 6). But it is of the
Angels, you rejoin, that this is spoken. I do not deny this ; they are
all ministering spirits (Heb. i. 14). But who forbids me to think the
same of those who in power are not unequal to the Angels themselves,
while they are perhaps as much more favourable to us by their sympathy and kindness as they are more nearly allied to us by nature ?
Add to this that they have endured the same sufferings and miseries
in which we are now for a time involved. Will there not, then, be a
profound compassion and interest for us aroused in those holy souls,
since they doubtless remember that they themselves have passed
through similar trials ? Is not that saying theirs in the Psalms : We
went through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a
wealthy place (Ps. lxvi. 12). What ? Will they, having passed through,
leave us, their sons and their successors, in the midst of the fires and
of the floods, nor even deign to stretch out a helping hand to us as we
are struggling with dangers ? Not so. It is well with thee, O holy
Church, our Mother, it is well with thee even in this place of thy
pilgrimage, for help comes to thee both from heaven and from earth.
Those who keep thee neither slumber nor sleep. Thy guardians are
the holy Angels; thy watchmen, the spirits and souls of the righteous.
They do not mistake who think that thou art found by each of these
orders of spirits, and that by each thou art equally guarded. And to
each order there is a special reason for this their care of thee: to the
one, that without thee they shall not be made perfect; to the other,
that the fulness of their number will not be made up except from thee.
For who does not know that when Satan and his accomplices fell from
heaven, the number of the dwellers in heaven was diminished in no
small degree ? From thee, then, all these await their consummation :
the one order that of their number; the other, that of their desires.
Understand, then, that the words of the Psalmist apply to thee : The
just ivait for me until Thou reward me (Ps. cxlii. 8, Douay).
5. Notice, also, that it is not said that she has found them, but
rather that they have found her ; and that is, as I think, because that
is the task to which they are called. For how shall they preach unless

CONCERNING T H E BAD PASTORS OF THE

CHURCH

477

they be sent ? Now, in the Gospels we read that the Lord Himself
said to the Apostles : Behold, I send you forth (Luke x. 3); and again:
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark
xvi. 15). Thus it was. She sought the Bridegroom, and to Him that
was not unknown; for it was H e who aroused in her mind the desire
to seek Him, who bestowed upon her the desire to accomplish the
precepts of the law, which is for a training unto life, provided that
there was someone to instruct her and to teach her the way of wisdom.
And H e sent before her coming those who should plant and should
water, that is to say, for her instruction and strengthening in every
certitude of truth, and that they should bring her certain news of her
Beloved, because H e whom her soul truly loves, and whom she is
seeking, is the Truth. And, in fact, who is the faithful and true love
of the soul but He, in and through whom the soul is made to love
the truth ? I am gifted with reason, I am capable of truth; but it
will avail me nothing if I am destitute of love for what is true. Of
all these branches, of which the root is in me, H e is the fruit. I am
not in safety from the severing axe if I am found without Him. It is
in Him, without doubt, that I am formed in the image and likeness
of God, and am in this more excellent than all other living creatures.
Thence it is that my soul ventures to aspire to the sweet and pure
embrace of truth, and thus to rest in the love of Him with the most
complete security and perfect sweetness, if only it may find grace in
the eyes of a Bridegroom so august, and be found worthy to attain to
this great glory, or rather if He will present her to Himself not
having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. To how great a judgment,
think you, will a man render himself liable, and of how great a
punishment will he be worthy, who shall show himself regardless of
so precious a gift of God ? But of this let us speak at another time.
6. But now the Bride does not find Him whom she sought, and
she herself has been found by those whom she sought not. Let
those who do not fear to enter upon the ways of life without teacher
or guide listen to this. They consider themselves to be equally disciples, and their own masters, in the spiritual art. Nor is even this
enough for them; blind leaders of the blind, they heap together disciples to themselves. How many have been found to have been thus
most perilously drawn aside from the right path ! For as they were
ignorant of the snares and devices of Satan, it has followed that those
who had begun in the Spirit have finished their course in the flesh,
and, being led away, have fallen into shameful and inexcusable excesses. Let such take care to walk needfully; let them take an
example from the Bride, who was unable to attain unto Him whom
she longed for until she was met by those whose ministry she availed
herself of to gain knowledge of her Beloved ; that is to say, to learn
the fear of the Lord. H e who hesitates to give his hand to his
legitimate teacher gives it to a seducer. And he who sends away
his sheep to their pastures without a guardian is a shepherd, not of
the sheep, but of wolves.

478

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

7. But now let us see in what sense the Bride declares herself to
have been ' found.' For it seems to me that the word is employed
in an unusual meaning, and that she speaks as if the Church had
come only from one place; while, according to the word of the
Lord, it came from the east and from the west (Matt. viii. 11), and
from all the ends of the world. But neither has the Church been
ever assembled unto one place where it might be found by the
Apostles or by the Angels, to be directed or conducted unto Him,
whom the soul of the Bride loveth. Could it have been found before
it was collected? Evidently not, because it did not as yet exist.
Wherefore if she had said that it was collected, or congregated, or
(to use a term more applicable to the Church) gathered together by
the preachers [of the Gospel], I should have simply passed that over
without making any remark upon it. For they are the co-workers of
God, whom also they heard speaking thus : He that gathereth not with
Me, scattereth abroad (Matt. xii. 30). Nor would it have seemed
strange to me if one should say that it was founded or built up by
them. For they have done this in union with Him who says, as we
read in the Gospels: Upon this rock I will build My Church
(Matt. xvi. 18); and, It was founded upon a rock (Matt. vii. 25). But
now she says none of these things, but, speaking in an unusual manner,
says that she has been found, which makes us delay a little, and suspect
that there is here some hidden meaning, which we ought to examine
with greater care.
8. I wished, I own, to pass it over, and not to engage in an inquiry
to which I feel myself not to be equal. But when I remember in
how many obscure and difficult passages I have felt myself to be
aided, even beyond my hope, when you lifted up your hearts in
prayer on my behalf, I am ashamed of my want of faith; and
blaming my fear, I undertake, though by no means with confidence,
that which I timidly shrunk from. The accustomed help from the
Lord will, I trust, not be wanting to me ; and, in any case, the kindliness of my hearers will prevent what I have to say from being
altogether without value. But with this the next sermon shall begin ;
for the present it is time to conclude. May H e who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, grant unto you not
only to bear in mind the things which you have heard, but to love
them ardently, and effectually to fulfil them in your actions. H e is
above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

THE CHURCH OF THE ELECT

SERMON

479

LXXVIII.

THAT T H E BRIDE, THAT IS TO SAY, THE CHURCH OF T H E ELECT,
WAS PREDESTINATED BY GOD BEFORE ALL AGES, AND PREVENTED BY HIS GRACE THAT SHE SHOULD SEEK HIM AND BE
CONVERTED.

W

E made a pause, if I remember rightly, at the word found,
hearing with a kind of scruple the statement of the Bride
that she was found by her preachers. We have stated the
causes of our doubt and hesitation, and it seemed to us that here
some hidden meaning was to be sought for; but this could not be
done at the conclusion of a sermon, which point we had then reached.
What remains, then, for us to do, but to fulfil now the promise which
we made ? In the exposition of this great mystery, which the Apostle
of the Gentiles has interpreted as the holy and chaste union betwixt
Christ and His Church (Eph. v. 32), and which is the very work of
our salvation, three elements co-operate [and are to be taken into
consideration]; God, the angelic race, and man. Why, indeed,
should not God bring about, and take care for, these sacred nuptials
of His Beloved Son ? H e does so in truth, and with entire willingness. He would assuredly be sufficient to accomplish it by Himself,
and without the least help from these ; nor could they, without Him,
effect anything. That He, therefore, has associated them in the work
of this ministry, is not for the sake of assistance to Himself, but
for good to them. For He has placed merit in works, as regards
men, according to that saying: The labourer is worthy of his hire
(Luke x. 7 ) ; and, Every man shall receive his own reward according
to his own labour (1 Cor. iii. 8), whether he who plants in faith, or he
who waters that which has been already planted. Now, if God
employs the ministry of Angels to conduce to the salvation of men,
does He not do it that Angels may be loved by men? For, that
Angels love men is plain, especially from this, that Angels are not
unaware of the fact that it is by men the ancient losses of their state
are to be repaired and made good. And assuredly it was becoming
that the realm of charity should not be ruled by other laws than
those of mutual love between those who together are to reign, and by
the pure affections of each, both to each other and to God.
2. But there is considerable difference in the manner in which
these three causes act, according to the nobleness and dignity of
each worker. For GocLdoeth that which He wills, by His volition
only; without stir, without motion, without alteration of place or
time, of cause, or person. For H e is the Lord of Sabaoth, who
orders all things with peaceful and unquestioned power. H e is also
Wisdom, who sweetly doth order all things (Wisd. xii. 18, and viii. 3).
An Angel acts without stir or agitation, but not without change of

480

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS
1

time and place. But a man cannot act without stir and eagerness
of mind, nor is free, in acting, from movement of body and mind.
For he is bidden to work out his salvation with fear and trembling
(Phil. ii. 12), and to eat bread in the sweat of his face (Gen. iii. 19).
3. These things being explained, consider now with me that, in the
glorious work of our salvation, there are three things which God, who
is the Author of them, reserves unto Himself, and in which He anticipates all those who are helpers and co-workers with Him ; these are
predestination, creation, inspiration. Of which predestination had its
beginning, I do not say from the founding of the Church, or even from
this time or that time, for it is before all time. Creation, again, is
coeval with time; while inspiration takes place in time, when and
where God wills. According to predestination, then, there never has
been any time when there was not a Church of the elect before the
consciousness of God. If the unbeliever wonders at this, let him
hear something at which he will wonder still more : that it has always
been acceptable to God, and has always been loved by Him. Why
should I not speak out boldly that hidden wisdom which has been
made known to me from the Heart of God by that revealer of His
high designs ? I mean St. Paul, who has not hesitated to make
known this secret which he had drawn, as he had so many others,
from the riches of the Divine goodness. He says : Who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places i?i Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before Him in love ; and he adds :
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ,
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved
(Eph. i. 3-6). And there is no doubt that these words are spoken
with the voice and in the name of all the elect; and these are the
Church. Who, then, even among the blessed spirits, could ever have
been able to discover that Church in the deep bosom of the abyss of
eternity, before the work of its creation was brought forth into the light
of day, unless God, to whom is eternity itself, had chosen to reveal it?
4. But even when, at the command of its Creator, it had appeared,
and was seen, under created forms and visible appearances, it was not
at once recognised, either by men or Angels, because it was unfamiliar
to them, being shadowed by the earthly likeness of man, and covered
with the darkness of death. And not one of the sons of men hath
entered into this life without this veil of universal confusion, One only
excepted, H e who enters it without stain of sin. H e is Emmanuel,
who, although He has taken from us, and put on for our sakes, the
likeness of our sinful flesh, has not taken the reality of our sin. For
the Apostle declares that He who appeared in the likeness of sinful
1
In the MS. of St. Germain the reading is * of body' (quam corporali). But I
prefer temporalis as in the MS. of Citeaux, so as to answer more nearly to the
preceding sentence, where it is said that God acts without alteration of place or
time (Mabillon's Note).

THE CHURCH OF THE ELECT

481

fleshy and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. viii. 3). All the
remainder, whether elect or reprobate, have entered this life in the
same manner, for there is no distinction ; all have sinned, and all bear
the livery1 of the shame of sin. Because of this, therefore, although
the Church was already called into being, and existed among created
things, yet it could not be found or recognised by any creature, being
marvellously hidden, for the time, both within the bosom of a blessed
predestination, and within the mass of a miserable condemnation.
5. But [the Church] which Wisdom predestining had hidden from
all eternity, and Creative Power had not produced when the world
began, 2 the Divine Grace, which visits the earth, has in its due time
revealed, according to the operation of that which I have named
above, inspiration, because it consists of an inbreathing of the Spirit
of the Bridegroom into human spirits for a preparation of the Gospel
of peace, that is, to prepare a way for the Lord, and for the glory of
His Gospel, into the hearts of all those who were predestined unto
life, as many as they might be. It would have been in vain that the
watchmen had toiled in preaching the Word, if this grace had not
gone before. But now, seeing that the Word of God ' runneth very
swiftly,' that the people of the nations are with ease turned unto the
Lord, that their various tribes and languages concur in the unity of
the faith, and that the ends of the earth are collected into the bosom
of that one Church, Catholic and apostolic, which is the mother of us
all, they have recognised the riches of that grace which was hidden
from ages and from generations in the secret of an eternal predestination, and have rejoiced to have found her whom before all ages the
Lord had chosen for Himself as His Bride.
6. Thus, then, as I think, it appears plainly not to have been
without significance that the Bride declares that she was found by
them ; namely, as signifying that [the Church] was collected together,
not [self] elected, and found before converted. For the conversion
of each of the faithful ought to be attributed to Him, to whom it is
necessary for all to say, as in the Psalm : Co?ivert us, O God of our
salvation (Ps. lxxxv. 4, Douay, partly). But I cannot, perhaps, apply
the term of finding with such propriety to every soul, as the term of
conversion. Or, rather, this is the state of the facts : The Lord cannot
be said to finds, soul, because He prevents (that is to say, is beforehand with) it; and prevention excludes finding (inventionem).
What
is there for Him to find to whom nothing is at any time unknown ?
The Lord knoweth them that are His, saith one (2 Tim. ii. 19); and
what does H e say Himself? I know whom I have chosen? Plainly
H e refers to her whom from eternity H e had foreknown : whom H e
chose, and loved, and formed; and therefore she could not be said
to be found by Him. Yet I might safely say that she has been pre1

Capntiiim ; another reading is pileum*—ED.
In the MS. of St. Germain, the reading is nee creans Potentia satis in manifesto eduxerat. The sense is the same.
3
John xiii. 18. St. Bernard adds a principio, which is not in the Vulgate.—ED.
31
2

482

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

pared by Him that she might be found. For he that saw bare record,
and we know that his record is true (John xix. 35). This is what he
says : / John saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev.
xxi. 2 ) ; and he was one of the watchmen who guard the city. And
hear Him who is the Author and Preparer [of the Church] Himself,
[and see Him] pointing her out, as it were, with His Finger to the
watchmen, but under another metaphor. Lift up your eyes, H e said,
and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest (John iv. 35).
On this account the Lord of the Harvest invites His labourers to the
work, when He has seen that all things were prepared, so that without
much labour on their part they may be able to pride themselves on
being labourers together ivith God (1 Cor. iii. 9). For what have they
to do ? They have to seek the Bride, and, when they have found
her, to tell her of her Beloved. For they, because they are the friends
of the Bridegroom, do not seek their own glory, but His. And they
will not have to labour hard with regard to her, since she is already
present, and is seeking Him with the devotion of her whole heart,
inasmuch as her will has been prepared by the Lord.
7. Now, even while those watchmen have as yet said nothing to
her, she anticipates her preachers, having been herself anticipated,
and inquires of them : Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth ? (iii. 3).
Rightly, then, has she stated that she was found by those who guard
the city, since she knows that she is already foreknown and anticipated
by the Lord of the city, and that they find her such as she is, and do
not make her so. Cornelius was thus found by Peter, and Paul by
Ananias ; but each of them had been previously found and prepared
by the Lord. What preparation could be more complete than that of
Saul, who had cried with submission, both of heart and voice : Lord,
what wilt Thou have me to do? (Acts ix. 6). Nor was that of Cornelius
less, since, by his alms and prayers which the Lord had inspired him
to make, he had merited to attain unto the faith (Acts x. 4). Philip
also found Nathanael; but the Lord, who saw him when he was under
the fig-tree, had first found him. What was that seeing of him by
the Lord but a preparation ? And in the same way it is related that
Andrew found his brother Simon; but that he was both foreseen and
it was foreknown by the Lord that he should be called Cephas, which
signifies * Strong in faith' (John i. 41, 42, 45, 48).
8. We read of Mary, too, that she was found when she had conceived by the Holy Ghost (Matt. i. 18). I believe that the Bride of
the Lord resembles in some degree His Mother in this respect. For
unless she also had been found filled with the Holy Ghost, she would
not have questioned with such confidence those who found her,
respecting Him, whose is the Spirit. She would not have endured
that they should have declared to her to what end they had come,
but she spake to them herself, and, indeed, out of the fulness of her
heart: Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth ? She knew that the eyes
which had seen Him were blessed, and in her admiration for those

THE CHURCH OF T H E . ELECT

483

who had had that blessing, she said: ' Are you not they to whom it has
been given to see Him, whom so many prophets and kings desired
to see, and have not seen ? Are you not they who have merited to
behold Wisdom in the flesh, the Truth in bodily form, God in Man ?
Many there are who say, Lo, He is here, and Lo, H e is there; but
I think it safer for me to give credence to you, who have eaten and
drank with Him, after H e rose from the dead.' I believe what has
been said will suffice respecting the inquiry made by the Bride, of
the watchmen, but if not, it shall be supplied in another sermon. But
even now, and from this, it has been made abundantly clear, that
[the Church] has been prevented by the Holy Spirit, and found by
them who guard the city, because it is she whom God has foreseen
and predestined before all ages, and prepared to be an everlasting
joy, throughout eternal ages, to His dear Son, that she may be holy
and immaculate in His sight, growing as a lily, and flourishing for
ever before the Lord and Father of my Lord JESUS CHRIST, the
Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for evermore.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXIX.
OF THE STRONG AND INDISSOLUBLE LOVE WHEREWITH T H E SOUL
HOLDS TO ITS L O R D ; ALSO OF THE RETURN OF THE BRIDEGROOM AT T H E ENDING OF T H E AGE, TO SAVE THE SYNAGOGUE
OF THE JEWS.
' Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth P—Cant.

O

iii. 3.

LOVE, violent, vehement, burning, impetuous, which dost
not suffer anything else to be thought of, but, despising all
things in comparison, art content with thyself! Thou confoundest ranks, takest no count of custom, ignorest all measure ; thou
dost triumph in thy own self over all the rules of opportuneness, of
reason, of reticence, of prudence, or of judgment, and bringest them
under control. Every thought and word of hers is full of thee, has
regard to thee and to nothing else, so entirely hast thou taken possession of her, both in heart and tongue. She says : Saw ye Him
whom my soul loveth ? As if they knew what was the subject of her
thoughts. ' Dost thou ask for news of Him whom thy soul loveth,
and has H e not a name ? Who art thou ; and He, who is He ?' I
speak thus, because of the strangeness of this address, and the singular disregard of names, in which this passage appears very different to
other Scriptures. Whence, in this epithalamium, the words are not
so much to be considered as the feelings which underlie and prompt
them, because the sacred affection which is plainly the entire subject
of this whole canticle is thus to be estimated, that is, not by word
only, or by language, but in deed and in truth. Love speaks in it

484

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everywhere, and if anyone desires to obtain a knowledge of those things
which are read in it, a spirit of love is necessary to him that he may
do so. In vain will one who is without love attempt: to listen to or
read this Song of Love ; the cold heart cannot comprehend or appreciate its language, full of feeling and fire. Just as one wTho is unacquainted with Greek or with Latin cannot understand a person who
speaks in either of those languages, and so with other things, so is it
with the language of love; it is strange and barbarous to one who
does not love, and to him will be but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal (i Cor. xiii. i). But as they (I mean the watchmen)
have received from the Spirit the ability to love, they understand what
the Spirit speaks, and are able to respond on the spot to the words
of love addressed to them ; and even to respond in the same language,
that is, in feelings of affection and acts of kindness.
2. They do, indeed, instruct her so well concerning Him about
whom she inquires, and that in a brief time, that she says : It was but
a little that 1 passed from them^ but I found Him whom my soul loveth.
She says well a little^ because their reply to her was brief and comprehensive ; that is, they delivered to her the Creed, which is a
concise statement of the Faith. And what follows is in similar terms.
It was expedient indeed that the Bride should pass by them, through
whom she should learn the truth, but also that she should pass
beyond them. And if she had not passed beyond them she would
not have found Him whom she sought. And you may be assured
that they themselves urged this very thing upon her. For they did
not preach themselves, but Christ Jesus their Lord, and H e is
assuredly both beyond them and above. Wherefore also H e says:
Come unto Me, all ye that be desirous of Me (Ecclus. xxiv. 19). Nor
was it enough to pass to Him, but she is taught to pass through to
Him. Because H e whom she was seeking had also passed through.
For not only did H e pass from death unto life, but H e passed through
death unto glory. It wTas indispensable, then, that the Bride should
likewise pass through unto Him, otherwise she could not succeed
in reaching Him, not having followed His footsteps whithersoever
H e went.
3. And to explain more clearly what I say: if my Lord Jesus had
risen indeed from the dead, but had not ascended into heaven, it
could not be said of Him that He had passed through, but only that
H e had passed away; and consequently the Bride in seeking Him
must pass away from others, but need not pass beyond them. But
as, in ascending into heaven, He has passed beyond Resurrection, the
Bride says with accuracy, not simply that she has passed, but that
she has passed beyond, inasmuch as by faith and devotion she has
followed Him even unto the heavens. Therefore to believe the
Resurrection is a passing, but to believe the Ascension is a passing
beyond. And perhaps she knew the one and did not know the other
(which I remember that I said one day when I was treating the
subject 1 ). Therefore, having been instructed by them in that which
1

Sermon I., in Festo Paschce.

THE RETURN OF T H E BRIDEGROOM

485

was wanting to her, namely, that H e who had risen from the dead
had also ascended into heaven, she also has thither ascended, that
is, has passed beyond [this sphere of outward things], and has found
Him (Heb. iv. 14, and compare Collect for Ascension Day in the
Common Prayer Book of Church of England). How could she fail
to do so, when arising in heart and mind 1 unto the place where H e
is in body ? 7/ was but a little that I passed from them. Rightly
does she say from them ; for our Head has preceded and transcended
in two respects both His apostles, and all other His members who
are upon the earth ; that is to say, by His Resurrection (as I have
already mentioned) and by His Ascension. And yet in each case
Christ is the first-fruits. He has gone before, and our faith has gone
before also. Where has it not followed Him ? If He has ascended
into heaven, it is there; if He has gone down into hell, it is there
also; and if H e has taken wings with the morning, and dwelt in the
utmost parts of the sea, even there, it declares to Him, shall Thy
Hand lead me, and Thy Right Hand shall hold me (Ps. cxxxix. 8-10).
And, finally, is it not according to this faith that He, the Father of
the Bridegroom, He, who is supremely Powerful and supremely good,
has raised us up, and made us to sit at His Right H a n d ? 2 So far
to explain what the Church has said : I passed beyond them : because
she has passed beyond her own self in abiding, by her faith, in regions
whither she has not as yet attained in fact. I think that it is now
clear why she has said, ' I have passed beyond,' rather than said simply
' I have passed.' Let us now go on to the words which follow.
4. / held Him, a?id would not let Him go, until I had brought Him
into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Thus it is that from that time and thenceforward, the people of Christ
have never been without either faith upon the earth or charity within
the Church. Floods have come, and winds have raged, and beat
upon it, and it has not fallen, for it was founded upon a rock (Matt,
vii. 25). That Rock is CHRIST. Therefore neither the wordy diatribes
of philosophers, nor the cavils of heretics, nor the swords of persecutors, have ever been able, nor shall they ever be able, to separate
it from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. viii. 39), so
strongly does the Church hold to Him whom her soul loveth, so
firmly convinced is she that it is good to hold fast to God. ' Good
it is/ says the prophet Isaiah, 'for the soldering.' 3 What is more
tenacious than this solder, which is not dissolved by water, nor parted
by winds, nor even severed by sword strokes ? For many waters,
we are told, cannot quench love (Cant. viii. 7). I held Him, and
would not let Him go. And the holy Patriarch also said : I will not
let Thee go, unless Thou bless me (Gen. xxxii. 26). She also will not
let Him go, and perhaps her attachment is stronger than that of the
Patriarch, for not even for the sake of a benediction can she consent
1
2
3

Another reading \sfide.
In some copies it is added in cceleslibus. See Eph. ii. 6.
Is. xli. 7, not used in a literal sense.

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

to part with Him. ' I desire,' she says, ' not even Thy benediction,
but Thee.' Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none
upon earth that I desire beside Thee (Ps. lxxiii. 25). I will not let
Thee go, even if Thou hast given me Thy blessing.
5. I held Him, and would not let Him go- Nor does He, perhaps,
desire less to be held, for He says: My delights were with the sons of
men (Prov. viii. 31), and in the Gospel H e gives the promise: Lo, J
am with you alway, even tinto the end of the world (Matt, xxviii. 20).
What bond of union is stronger than that which is compacted by the
perfect and earnest willingness of the two who are parties to it ? I
held Him, she declares. But, nevertheless, she is held fast in return
by Him whom she holds, as in another place she says to Him : Thou
hast holden me by my right hand (Ps. lxxiii. 24). And she who holds
and is holden, how can she possibly fall ? She holds to the Lord by
the firmness of her faith, by the fervency of her devotion. But yet
she could not long hold fast to Him, were she not also held by Him.
It is the power and the mercy of the Lord by which she is held. /
held Him, and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him into my
mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Great is
the charity of the Church, inasmuch as she does not grudge her
choicest delights even to her rival, which is the Synagogue. What
goodness can be greater than to be prepared to communicate even to
her enemy, Him whom her soul loves ? And yet it is not wonderful,
inasmuch as salvation is of the Jews (John iv. 22). To the place
whence H e came forth, let the Saviour return, that the remnant of
Israel may be saved (Rom. ix. 27). Let not the branches be ungrateful to the root, nor the children to their mother. Let not the branches
grudge to the root the sap which they themselves have derived from
it, nor the children grudge to their mother the milk which they have
drawn from her bosom. Let the Church hold firmly the salvation
which Judaea has lost; let her hold it fast, until the fulness of the
Gentiles become in, and so all Israel shall be saved (Rom. xi. 25, 26).
She would wish to come in common to the common salvation, which
is partaken by all, in such a manner, that no part is taken away from
any. This she does, and more. What more ? She chooses the name
and the grace of His Bride. This is over and above the gift of
salvation.
6. This degree of charity would be incredible, were it not that the
words of the Bride, here recorded, compel us to believe it. For she
has said, if you have noticed, that she wishes to bring Him to whom
she holds so closely, not only into the house, but into the chamber,
of her mother, which is the sign of a singular prerogative. It would
be sufficient for salvation that H e should enter the house ; but that
He enters into the secret of the chamber is a sign of special grace.
This day, saith the Lord, is salvation come unto this house (Luke xix. 9).
When the Saviour had entered the house, how could it be otherwise
than that those of the house should be saved ? But she that merits
to receive Him in the chamber has for her part His secret gift.

THE RETURN OF T H E BRIDEGROOM

487

Salvation is for the whole house, but the higher and sweeter gifts are
reserved for those, for whom they are prepared by the Father. Until
I had brought Him into my mother s house, she says. Of what house
does she speak, but of that of which the Lord had foretold to the Jews :
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate ? (Luke xiii. 35). H e has
done what He had said, according to His declaration made by a prophet : I haveforsaken Mine house, I have left Mine heritage (Jer. xii. 7);
and now the Bride promises to bring Him back to it, and to restore
to her mother's house its lost salvation. And as if even this were a
little thing, hear what a promise of good she adds thereto : And into
the chamber of her that conceived me. H e who enters into the marriage
chamber is the Bridegroom. Great is the power of love ! The
Saviour had gone, forth from His home and from His heritage with
indignation and wrath; and now H e is so far turned from the fierceness of His anger, so won to forgiveness and grace, as to return not
only as a Saviour, but as a Bridegroom. O daughter [of this house],
blessed art thou from the Lord, who dost quench the indignation,
and restore the heritage. Blessed art thou of thy mother, for it is by
thy good deed that the wrath of the Lord is turned away, that salvation is brought back to her; that H e is brought back who says to
her : I am thy Salvation (Ps. xxxv. 3). Nor is even this enough, for
He adds : / will betroth thee unto Me for ever: yea, I will betroth
thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness,
and in mercies (Hos. ii. 19). But remember that she who wins these
kindnesses for her mother is the Bride. How can she be willing to
yield her Bridegroom, and such a Bridegroom, to another; nay,
desire to do so ? But it is not to be understood thus. It is as a
good daughter that she desires this great good for her mother, yet not
to give it up, but to communicate it. It is sufficient for both ; and,
indeed, they are not two, but one in Christ. For H e is our Peace,
who has made both o n e ; that there may be one Bride, and one
Bridegroom, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed
for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXXX.
AN ACUTE AND PROFOUND ARGUMENT RESPECTING T H E IMAGE OR
WORD OF GOD, AND T H E SOUL, WHICH IS CREATED IN THAT
IMAGE : AND CONCERNING T H E ERROR OF GILBERT, BISHOP OF
POICTIERS. 1

S

OME of you, as I have learned, find a reason for discontent,
because, while I have for some days past taken pleasure in
—
occupying you with the profound and wonderful mysteries
contained in the words of the Bride, the discourses which I have
delivered to you have been too little seasoned with moral reflections,

1
This sermon was preached after the Council, held at Rheims in the year 1148,
in which Gilbert was condemned.

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

or even altogether without them. That is indeed different from my
usual custom. But permit me to return again to those subjects which
I have already expounded. For I cannot proceed without taking a
brief retrospect of these. Tell me, then, if you remember, from what
part of the Scripture it was that I began to deprive you of this satisfaction that you desire, that so I may commence afresh from that point.
It is my task to repair your loss, or, rather, I trust to the Lord,
in dependence upon whom I do all things, that H e will do so. From
what point, then, shall I begin again ? From this verse, if I do not
mistake : On my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth. From that
verse and henceforward my one endeavour was to disperse the dense
cloud of mystery in which these allegories were enveloped, and to
bring forth into the light of knowledge the sacred and mysterious
joys of Christ and His Church. But now let us go back and seek
out the moral senses of these words. That which may be for your
benefit cannot be disagreeable to me. And this will be done with
considerable fitness, if we apply what has been said of Christ and the
Church in a similar way to the WORD of God and the soul.
2. But someone will say to m e : 'Why do you join these two
together ? What relation is there between the WORD and the soul ?'
Much in every way. In the first place, there is so close an affinity
between the nature of the One and that of the other, that the One is
the Image and Likeness of God, the other made after that image.
In the second place, the resemblance that is between them is a
witness of that affinity. For the soul has been created, not only
after the image, but in the likeness of it. Do you ask, In what
respects is it like ? Listen first, and hear in what respects it is in the
Image of the Word. The WORD is truth, and wisdom, and righteousness, and these constitute the image. Of what is it the image ? Of
[Him who is] Truth, and Wisdom, and Righteousness. H e who is
the Image is, then, Righteousness of Righteousness, Wisdom of
Wisdom, Truth of Truth, yea, Light of Light, and in a word, God of
God. None of these can be predicated of the soul, because it is not
[at the present] the Image of God. But it is capable of these
excellences, and desirous of them, and, therefore, perhaps is shown
to be in the image of the WORD. It is of creatures the loftiest, since
it is capable of that greatness, and the desire it feels for that is a mark
of its uprightness. For we read that God made man upright
(Eccles. vii. 29) ; and as for his greatness, his capacity, as has been
said, is a conclusive proof of it. For it is of necessity that he who
is in a certain image should be in conformity with that image, and
not merely share in the empty name of the image ; inasmuch as the
archetypal Being Himself bears not His Name simply for the name's
sake, but because it is expressive of His attributes. But you are told
of Him who is the Image of that archetypal Being, that H e was in the
Form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God
(Phil. ii. 6). You see that His uprightness is shown by His being in
the Form of God, and His greatness by His equality with H i m ; so

T H E IMAGE OR WORD OF GOD

489

that uprightness being compared with uprightness, and greatness with
greatness, it becomes manifest that the Image, and that which is
made in that image [i.e., the soul], correspond in one of these
respects ; while the Image, and that Being of whom H e is the Image,
correspond in both. For it is H e of whom you have heard holy
David sing in a Psalm : Great is our Lord, and of great power
(Ps. cxlvii. 5) ; and again, The Lord is upright . . . and there is no
unrighteousness in Him (Ps. xcii. 15). Of that great and righteous
God He is the Image, so that He is great, and H e is righteous ; and
it is from Him that the soul, that is made in His image, has its
likeness.
3. But I inquire : Has H e who is the Image of God nothing more
than the soul which is made in His likeness, for we ascribe to it also
to be great and to be righteous ? Assuredly, there is a very great
difference. The one has received those qualities in a measure : the
other has them according to His equality [with the Father]. Is there
not still another difference ? There is this : Upon the one either
creation or condescending goodness has conferred them : but they
belong to the other by His generation. And there is no doubt that
this is a sign of far higher dignity. No one can fail to see that the
one receives these qualities only by the bounty of God ; but the Other
has from God His very Nature and Substance, which is a condition
far more exalted. For the Image of God is consubstantial with Him;
and all that H e appears to communicate to the same Image of Him
is Essential to Both, not accidental. Notice also still another particular in which H e who is the Image of God is immeasurably
superior. To be great and to be righteous ; who does not know that
those two qualities are distinct in their nature ? Yet in Him they
are but one. And even more : they are one with Him. Not only is
it with Him the same thing to be righteous and to be great, but His
greatness and His righteousness are no other than His Being. It is
not thus with the soul. Its greatness and its righteousness are both
distinct from itself and distinct from each other. For if, as I have
said above, the soul is great because it is capable of things eternal,
and righteous because it yearns for the goodness everlasting, then the
soul which does not desire nor seek for the things which are above,
but those which are upon the earth, is not upright, but is bent downwards, and so ceases to be always great, though it remains always
capable of eternal existence. For even if the soul should never receive
it, it will always retain this capability; and thus the saying of the
Scripture is realized, Surely man passeth as an image (Ps. xxxviii. 7,
Douay), yet only in part, so that the immeasurable superiority of the
WORD, as possessing these qualities in their completeness, may clearly
appear. For how is it possible that the WORD should fall from being
righteous and great, since H e is Himself greatness and righteousness?
Man, on the contrary, possesses these qualities in part, lest if he were
wholly deprived of them, no hope of salvation should remain to him.
For if [the soul] should cease to be great, it would cease also to be

49°

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

capable of salvation, inasmuch as it is from this capacity, as I have
said, that its greatness is derived. How, then, could it possibly hope
for that which it was not capable of receiving ?
4. It is, then, by the greatness which it still retains, even after
having lost its righteousness, that man passes through this world in
the image [of the WORD] ; only he limps (so to speak) on one foot as
he walks, and he has become an alienated son. For of such it was,
I think, that these words were spoken : The children that are strangers
have lied unto me, strange children have faded away, and have halted
from their paths (Ps. xviii. 46, Douay). With great fitness are they
styled strange children ; for they are children, because they have re
tained that which made them great; and yet they are strange, because
of the loss of their original righteousness. Nor would he have said
have halted, but ' have fallen/ or something like that, if they had
divested themselves entirely of the image in which men were made.
So then, now, man passes through the world in the image of the
WORD SO far as relates to greatness; but as relates to righteousness,
he, so to speak, halts; he is troubled and despoiled of that image ;
and the Scripture speaks thus of him : Every man walketh in a vain
shew; surely they are disquieted in vain. Altogether in vain, for it
goes on to say : He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather
them (Ps. xxxix. 6). And why is he ignorant, except that he bends
down towards things low and earthly, and treasures up for himself
nothing but earth ? H e does not know in the least for whom he is
gathering those things which he confides to the earth, whether for the
moths to devour, or for thieves to break through and steal, for robbers
to pillage, or for fire to destroy. And therefore it is in the person of
that unhappy man who contorts himself towards the ground, and
broods over none but earthly things, that the melancholy declaration
is made in the Psalms : I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly ; I
go mourning all the day long (Ps. xxxviii. 6). H e has experience in
himself of the truth in that saying of the Wise Man : God hath made
man upright; but they have sought out many inventions (Eccles. vii. 29).
And at once the voice of ridicule is addressed to him : Bow down,
that we may go over (Is. li. 23).
5. But how have we arrived at this point ? Was it not thus, that
we wished to show that greatness and righteousness (which are the
two excellences that we had determined to be in the Image of God)
are not one in the soul and with the soul, as we have shown it to be
of faith that they are one in the WORD and with the WORD. And as
to righteousness, it is quite plain from what has been said, that it is
distinct both from the soul itself and from the greatness of the soul,
since even when it no longer exists, the soul endures, and is still
great. But in what way shall it be shown that the greatness of the
soul is distinct from the soul itself? For this cannot be done in the
same manner in which the distinction between the soul and its
righteousness was demonstrated ; the soul cannot be deprived of its
greatness as it may be of its righteousness. Yet the greatness of the

T H E IMAGE OR WORD OF GOD

491

soul is not the soul itself; for although the soul is not found without
its greatness, yet the greatness itself is found also without {extra,
beyond) the soul. Do you ask where? In the Angels. For the
Angels are great in the same manner as the soul, namely, by the
capacity they have for things eternal. It has been shown clearly that
the soul is distinct from its righteousness, because it may be deprived
of that righteousness; why, then, should it not be distinct from its
greatness, which it cannot claim to be exclusively its own ? If, then,
the one of these qualities is not in every soul, and the other is not
found in the soul alone, it is plain that both the one and the other is
distinct from the soul. Also, no form is that of which it is the form.
Now, the greatness of the soul is its form. For it cannot be said not
to be the form of the soul because it is inseparable from it. All
differences of substance are of this nature, not only those which are
so proper to one thing that they cannot belong to any other, but also
certain others which are common to many natures. The soul, then,
is not [the same as] its greatness, even as the blackness of a crow is
not the crow, nor the whiteness of snow the snow, nor the faculty of
reason or of risibility is the man who possesses them • and yet you
will never find a crow without blackness, snow without whiteness,
nor a man without the faculty of reason or of risibility. Thus also
the soul and the greatness of the soul, although inseparable, are distinct from each other. How can they be otherwise than distinct, when
the one is in the subject [in which it inheres], and the other is the
subject and the substance ? The only Nature which is supreme and
uncreate, that is, God the Holy Trinity, possesses for Itself alone this
pure and unique simplicity of Essence, that there is not found in it
one thing and another thing, here and there, one time and another
time. For it abides in its own Self, It is all that It has, and what It
is ; It exists always, and in a manner unchanging and unchanged. All
that in other natures is separated or different, is in it united and
rendered alike, so that in It, number does not cause plurality, nor
diversity change. It contains all places, and not being contained in
any, sets in due order all things, each in its place. Beneath it pass
all times ; it is not subject to them. The future it does not await; it
does not hold anything in remembrance as past, nor experience any
as being present.
6. Let us withdraw ourselves, beloved, let us withdraw ourselves
from those teachers of novelties, not dialecticians, but heretics, who,
in their extreme impiety, argue that the greatness in which God is
great, the goodness in which H e is good, the wisdom in which H e is
wise, and the righteousness in which H e is righteous, and lastly, the
Divinity in which He is God, is not God. ' H e is God,' they say,
' by His Divinity, but the Divinity is not God. Perhaps it does not
condescend to be God, because it is so great that it makes God to be
what H e is.' But if It is not God, what is It? For either It is God,
or something which is not God, or It is nothing at all. Now, you do
not allow that It is God ; you do not pretend, I suppose, that It is

492

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

nothing; then you confess that It is so necessary to God, that without It He could not be God, but that by It He is [that which He is].
If, then, there be something which is not God, either it will be less
than He, or greater than He, or equal. But how can it be less than
He, seeing that it is by it H e is God ? It remains, then, that you
should allow it to be either greater than He, or equal. But if it be
greater, then It and not God is the Supreme Good ; while if it be
equal, there are two, each of which is the Supreme Crood; and either
conclusion is contrary to the Catholic Faith. We are of the same
opinion respecting the greatness, the goodness, the righteousness, the
wisdom of God, as respecting His Divinity, and I hold that they are
all one in God and with God. For H e is good from no other source
or reason than that which makes Him great; nor is H e otherwise
righteous and wise than H e is great and good; nor, in fact, is there
any other source or reason for any of His attributes than there is for
His Divinity. H e is in His own Self the Source of all.
7. But the heretic says : ' What? Do you deny that H e is God
by His Divinity ?' N o ; but I maintain that the same Divinity by
which H e is God is God Himself, that I may not be obliged to allow
that there is anything more excellent than God. For I say also that
H e is great by greatness, but is Himself that greatness, that I may
not rank anything as greater than God. And I confess that H e is
good by goodness, but that this goodness is no other than Himself,
that I may not seem to recognise anything as better than H e ; and so
with all other attributes. It is with gladness and confidence that I
am going onward in the path of truth, that I adopt the conclusion of
him who said : ' God is great with no other greatness than that which
H e Himself is ; for otherwise that greatness would be greater than
God.' This was Augustine, the strongest hammer who has ever
crushed heretics. 1 If, then, any such thing may be properly said of
God, it may more fitly and correctly be asserted that God is greatness,
goodness, righteousness, wisdom, than to say God is great, good,
righteous, or wise.
8. For this reason it was that in the Council lately held at Rheims
by Pope Eugenius, that exposition made by Gilbert, Bishop of Poictiers, in his comment upon the words of Boethius' De Trinitate,
which are themselves perfectly sound and orthodox, was deservedly
adjudged by the Pope and the other Bishops to be perverse and altogether suspicious. For the Bishop commented upon them thus :
' The Father is Truth, that is, H e is true ; the Son is Truth, that is,
H e is true; the Holy Ghost is Truth, that is, He is true. And these
Three together are not three truths, but one T r u t h ; that is to say,
One Being who is true.' O explanation obscure and perverse ! How
much more appropriate and true it would be to say, on the contrary:
' The Father is true, that is, H e is T r u t h ; the Son is true, that is, H e
is Truth ; the Holy Ghost is true, that is, H e is Truth. And these
Three are One Being who is true, that is, They are One Truth.'
1

De TrinitaUt Bk. V., c. 10, n. 11.

THE IMAGE OR WORD OF GOD

493

Which, indeed, he would have done had he deigned to imitate holy
Fulgentius, who says : ' One only Truth of One God, or rather one
Truth which is One God, does not allow the service and the worship
which is due to the Creator to be rendered to a creature' {Lib. de
Fide Orthod. ad Donat., cap. 5). H e was a good defender of the
faith who spoke so truly of the Truth, who had opinions so pious and
Catholic respecting the true and pure simplicity of the Divine Substance, in which there can be nothing which is not Itself, and Itself
is God. That book of the Bishop beforenamed contained other passages which differed from the rectitude of the faith, one of which I
will quote as an example. For where his author (Boethius) says :
* When it is said, God, God, God, this refers to the Substance,' our
commentator adds: ' Not what the Substance is, but by what It is.'
But God forbid that the Church Catholic should assent to that proposition that there is any substance or anything at all by which God
is, and which is not God.
9. But it is not against him personally that I say these things,
since he, in the same Council, acquiescing humbly in the opinion of
the other Bishops, has condemned with his own mouth both these
and other statements which were found worthy of blame; but on
account of those persons who are said to be still perusing and transcribing that book, against the apostolical prohibition promulgated at
the same place, and who persist obstinately in following that Bishop
in opinions which he has himself abandoned, preferring to have him
for a master in his error, rather than in the correction of it. And we
have spoken not only for them, but on your account I have thought it
desirable to make this digression, taking occasion from our having to
consider the difference between the Image [of the Word] and the
soul which has been made in that Image, so that those who perhaps
may at some time have drunk of those stolen waters, and have
thought them pleasant (Prov. ix. 17), may reject them by the taking
of this antidote, and, being purged in the stomach of their soul, may
listen to that which remains to be said, according to my promise, of
the resemblance of the soul to the WORD. Thus they shall draw with
joy from purer fountains ; not mine, but those of the Saviour, the
Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above
all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

494

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LXXXI.
OF T H E SIMILARITY AND LIKENESS OF T H E SOUL TO T H E WORD, IN
RESPECT OF ITS IDENTITY OF ESSENCE, ITS IMMORTALITY OF
EXISTENCE, AND ITS FREEDOM OF WILL.

I

T was not without good reason that the inquiry was made in the
last discourse, what affinity there was between the human soul
and the WORD. For what can there be in common between a
Majesty so great and a poverty so extreme, that a greatness which is
so exalted and a lowliness so humble should be said to be associated,
as if upon an equality, in the manner and with the love of a pair who
are espoused to each other ? For if we assert this with truth, then
great is the reason for rejoicing and confidence; but if falsely, then
ours is an audacity to be greatly punished. And therefore it was
necessary to inquire what was the affinity between these two, which,
indeed, we have already ascertained in many respects, but not altogether. For who is so undiscerning as not to see the correspondence
between the image and that which is formed after the pattern of that
image ? We have shown in the sermon of yesterday, if you remember, both that the WORD is the Image of God and that the soul is
made in that image. And we have proved in that also the close relation between the soul and that Image of God, since not only is it
made in that image, but also after the likeness of it. But we have
not yet declared in every particular that in which this likeness principally consists. Let us now address ourselves to this task, so that
the soul, recognising more fully what its origin is, may be filled with
a noble shame to degenerate from it by an unworthy manner of
living, or, rather, that it may study with earnest care what it shall
recognise as being corrupted in itself by sin, and thus ruling itself by
the help of God in a manner worthy of its origin, may be enabled to
draw near with modest confidence to communion with the WORD.
2. Let it recognise, then, that from this original Divine likeness it
draws a natural simplicity of substance, by which to be is to it the
same as to live, although not always to live well or happily; and in
this it has a likeness to the Image of the WORD, though not an equality
with It. This is a degree of relationship, but only a degree. That
to live should be synonymous with living in perfect goodness and
happiness is the supreme height of moral greatness, and to this height
it does not attain. If, then, the WORD, because of His greatness, has
this unique prerogative, and the soul, because of its likeness to the
WORD, has the attribute that for it to exist is to have life, though it
does not attain to the lofty perfectness of the WORD, yet the affinity
of natures, and the privilege of the soul, are manifest herein. To
express this more clearly: It is in God alone that * to live' is the same
as ' to live in perfect goodness and happiness,' and H e is the Essence

THE SIMILARITY AND LIKENESS OF THE SOUL TO T H E WORD 4 9 5

absolutely pure and absolutely Eternal. The second degree is that
in which ' t o exist is to have'life'; this is the condition of the soul,
and this is to be like unto God. From that degree, though a lower
one, it is possible to ascend, not only to the life of goodness, but also
to that of happiness; not that, even for the soul that has attained to
it, existence and goodness are one and the same, because, although
the WORD glorifies it by His likeness, the disparity that ever exists
between Him and it obliges it to say: Lord, who is like unto Thee ?
(Ps. xxxv. 10). Yet it is for the soul a promotion of extreme value,
because from it, and from it alone, is it possible to ascend unto the
life of blessedness.
3. There are two classes of beings which have life : those who are
conscious of it, and those who are not conscious. The former rank
above the latter, and above both the one and the other are those in
whom life and thought are the same. Life, and that which lives, are
not in the same degree ; much less are life, and those which live not.
Life is, indeed, the soul which is living; but it lives not other whence
than from itself, and on this account we speak of it with propriety,
not so much as living as being itself life. Thus it follows that the
soul, when infused into a body, gives life to it; but that body does
not, by the presence of life in it, become itself life, but living. From
whence it clearly appears that it is not the same thing even to a living
body to exist and to live, since it may exist and yet not live. Much
less shall those things which are without life rise into this rank. It
does not even follow that everything which is said to have life, or
which has it in fact, will be able forthwith to attain to this point.
There is a life of the lower animals, and a life of trees ; the former
has consciousness, the latter is without it. Yet in neither is it the
same thing to exist and to live, since, according to the opinion of
many persons, 1 their life has been in the elements before it was in the
limbs of the one class, or the branches of the other. And, according
to this view, when their life ceases to animate them, they cease to
live, but they do not cease to exist. They are equally unloosed and
dissolved, as if they were not merely bound together, but intertwined. 2
For the life of these things is not simple in its nature, but compounded
out of many elements. And therefore it is not reduced to nothingness, but separated into parts, of which each returns to that whence
it had its origin; for example, that which is of an airy nature to the
air, that of a fiery nature to the fire, and the rest in like manner. To
this kind of life, then, it is by no means the same thing to exist and
to live, since when it does not live, it still exists.
4. Now, none of these things in which that is the case, can ever
progress or rise into that higher life of goodness and blessedness,
since they have not been able to attain even that grade which is below
it. The soul of man alone can reach that higher life, inasmuch as it
1

Query, the followers of Empedocles.
Solvuntur et dissolvuntur: alligatcc, colligates. The meaning of the sentence
is not quite clear.—ED.
2

49<5

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

is seen to have been constituted as life by Him who is the Life, simple
[in its nature], by Him who is simple in His Essence, as H e is Infinite,
and immortal by Him who is Immortal; so that it is not far from the
supreme degree in which existence is identical with perfect happiness,
in which H e dwells for ever who alone is infinitely Blessed and infinitely Powerful, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. The soul,
then, has received, by the condition in which it is, the power of attaining blessedness, though it is not now blessed ; and to that supreme
grade it is advancing as much as it is able to do, yet without reaching
it. For, as we have already said, even when it shall attain blessedness,
yet that blessedness will not be to it the same thing as its life. We
allow to it a resemblance ; we deny to it equality. For example, God
is Life; the soul also is life; it is, then, like unto God, but it is not
equal to Him. It is like unto Him, because it is life ; and its life is
in itself, because it is not only living, but also lifegiving (vivens, vivificans\ as also He is Himself all these things. But yet to Him it is
unequal, inasmuch as a creature is unequal to its Creator. It is wholly
unequal, inasmuch as neither would it have existed if it had not been
created by Him, nor would it live unless He bestowed life upon it.
It would not live, I say; that is, in the spiritual life, not the natural.
For it lives immortally in the natural life, and that necessarily, even
though spiritually it does not live. But of what kind is that life, in
which it would be better not to have been born, than not to have the
power to die ? It is rather death than life, and that a death the more
cruel, as it is the effect of sin, not of nature. For the death of the
wicked is very evil (Ps. xxxiv. 22, Douay). The soul, then, which
lives according to the flesh is dead while it lives, since it were good
for it not to live at all rather than to live in such a manner. And,
indeed, from that living death it can have no resurrection ever, except
through the word of life; or, rather, through Him who is the WORD,
who is the Life, and bestows life.
5. But, farther, the soul is immortal; and in this respect also it is
like unto the WORD, but not equal to Him. For the immortality of
the Divine Nature is so far above, and surpassing every other, that
the Apostle says of God: Who only hath immortality (1 Tim. vi. 16).
Which is spoken of Him, as I think, because H e alone is unchangeable in and by His Nature who says : I am the Lord; I change not
(Mai. iii. 6). For the immortality which is true and perfect is no
more susceptible of change than it is of ending, since every change
is a likeness of death, and an anticipation of it. Everything which
changes, in passing from one state to another, necessarily dies, so to
speak, to that which it is, in order to begin to be that which it is not.
If, then, there are as many deaths as there are changes, where is the
immortality ? And to this vanity everything created is made subject,
not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same
in hope (Rom. viii. 20). And yet the soul is immortal, because
its life is in itself, and as it cannot fall awTay from itself, so it cannot
fall away from its life. But since it is plain that in thoughts and

T H E SIMILARITY AND LIKENESS OF T H E SOUL TO T H E WORD

497

feelings it is subject to change, while it recognises in its immortality
its likeness to God, it ought also to recognise how far, indeed, it falls
short in comparison with Him to whom alone complete and perfect
immortality belongs, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning (James i. 17). Yet the present discussion has shown that the
dignity of the soul is by no means small, since it appears to draw
near to the nature of the WORD in two respects : in the simplicity of
its essence, and the endlessness of its life.
6. But there is still another resemblance which occurs to me, and
which I will by no means pass over, for it contributes no less than the
other particulars to the greatness of the soul, and perhaps renders it
even more like unto the WORD. This is Freedom of the Will, a
quality plainly Divine, and which shines forth in the soul like a jewel
set in gold. It is by this that there is in the soul the power of distinguishing and the freedom of choosing between good and evil, that
is, between life and death, between light and darkness, and other
things similarly opposed, which present themselves before the consciousness of the soul. That eye of the soul is a close discerner and
authoritative judge between opposed alternatives : as a clear-sighted
observer it discerns, as a free and independent judge it decides. On
this account its decision is said to be free, because it is open to be
influenced by the determination of the will, and can carry out the
decision when made, into action. Thence also is man capable of
merit. For every action done by you, and which you were free to
do or to leave undone, is rightly imputed to you for merit or demerit,
according as it is good or evil. And as a person is rightly praised,
both he who, having it in his power to do evil, has not done it, and
he who, being free not to do good, has, nevertheless, done it; so also
a person is justly blamed who, being able not to do evil actions, has
done them, or to do good ones, has not done them. For where there
is no liberty of action there is no merit On this account it is that
animals, which are without reason, have likewise no merit, because
they are wanting both in freedom [of will] and in the power of
deliberation and judgment. They are directed by the leadings of
their senses, carried away by their impulses, and are under the
dominion of their appetites. For they have not the power of judgment, by which to reflect upon their actions or control them ; nor,
indeed, have they the faculty of forming a judgment, that is, reason ;
and they are not judged, because they are not capable of forming a
judgment. How can creatures who have not received the gift of
reason be reasonably called to account for their actions ?
7. Man alone is not put under a constraint by his nature, and
therefore man alone among living beings is free. And yet he also,
by the intervention of sin, suffers a kind of violent constraint; but
this arises not from his nature, but from his own will, and he is not
thereby deprived of the liberty which is natural to him. For that
which is done voluntarily is done freely. And, indeed, it is by sin it
is brought about that the corruptible body weighs upon the soul; but
32

498

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

this is not by its own weight, but by its love for that which is amiss.
For that the soul which was capable of falling by its own action is
not capable of rising again by its own action is the fault of the will,
which, being weakened and prostrated by the corrupted and vicious
affections of the corrupt body, is no longer capable of an equal love
for righteousness. And thus, I know not how, it happens that the
will, having fallen by sin into a state so changed and miserable,
imposes upon itself a strange and sad necessity, and that of such a
kind, that being voluntary, it forms no excuse for the will, while the
will, being led away by the false good which attracts it, has no power
of resisting the necessity, a voluntary necessity, if it may be so called.
For there is a pleasing violence, which overcomes by flattering, and
flatters while overcoming; and then the will, become a traitor to itself,
and having once consented to that which is evil, is no longer able to
free itself by its own strength, yet can found no reasonable excuse upon
its own weakness. From thence comes that complaint of one who
groaned under the yoke of that necessity : O Lord, I am oppressed:
undertake for me (Is. xxxviii. 14). But knowing, on the other hand,
that he could not justly make complaint against the Lord, when it
was his own will that was in fault, take notice of what he adds : What
shall I say, or what shall He answer for me, when I myself have done
it P1 He was weighed down by a heavy yoke, but it was the yoke of
a voluntary servitude; and that servitude excited pity, but the assent
of his will to it rendered it inexcusable. For it was the will which,
when it was free, made itself the slave of sin by consenting to sin, and
it was also the will which, by submitting itself to sin, made the servitude a willing one.
8. Some one, perhaps, will thus reply to me : ' Take heed of what
you say. Do you call that voluntary, which it is plain to all the
world is done under constraint ? It is true that the will has rendered
itself subject, but it does not remain in that state of subjection
willingly ; it is held captive in spite of itself.' Very good ; you allow
at least that it is held captive. But consider that it is the will of
which you say this. Do you assert, then, that the will is not willing?
But the will is not constrained against itself. It is not will at all
unless it wills. The word expresses the action of one who exercises
a power of determining, not of one who has no such power to exercise. If the will is constrained willingly it constrains itself. What,
then, shall it answer, or what excuse shall it make to God, since its
action is its own ? What has it done ? It has made itself a servant.
Wherefore it is said : Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin
(John viii. 34). On this account, when it has sinned (and it has
sinned when it has determined to obey a sinful impulse) it has made
itself a servant of sin. But it becomes free if it no longer does the
bidding of sin. But while it chooses to abide in the same servitude
it goes on following the temptation to sin. Yet it is not retained in
1
Is. xxxviii. 15. The Vulgate has fecerit, not fecerim. St. Bernard takes notice
of each of these varieties of reading in Sermon de Diversis, iii., nn. 5, 6.

T H E SIMILARITY AND LIKENESS OF T H E SOUL TO T H E WORD

499

bondage unwillingly, from the very fact that it is the will. If, then,
it has made itself a slave voluntarily, it is also voluntarily that it
remains in its bondage. What, then, shall it reply in excuse for
itself, since its servitude (and this is always to be borne in mind) has
been, and is, its own doing.
9. ' But you will not make me disbelieve' (says an objector) ' in
the necessity under which I labour, which I experience in my own
self, and against which I continually struggle.' Where, then, I ask,
do you feel this constraint ? Is it not in your will ? You do not,
then, will with too little strength what you will of necessity. You
will strongly what you are unable not to will, whatever strength of
resistance you exert. Now, where there is the power to will, there is
liberty. And in saying this I refer to the liberty which is by nature,
not that which is spiritual and by grace; namely, that liberty wherewith, as says the Apostle, Christ hath made us free (Gal. v. i). And
the same Apostle, speaking of that liberty, says : Where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. iii. 17). It is thus that the soul is
at the same time free, and enslaved by this necessity which, as unhappily as strangely, is voluntarily incurred; free, by the possession
•of the power of will, and enslaved, by the pressure of necessity. And
farther, which is at once stranger and more deplorable, it is guilty
because it is free, and a slave because it is guilty; and thus by a
strange paradox is a slave because it is free. Unhappy man that I
am, who shall deliver me from this servitude so shameful ? Unhappy
I am indeed; but I am free. Free, because I am a man ; unhappy,
because a slave. Free, because I am in the likeness of God; unhappy, because I am contrary to Him. O Thou Preserver of men I
why hast Thou set me as a mark against Thee? (Job vii. 20). For
indeed Thou hast in a sense done that, the doing of which Thou hast
not hindered. But, in other respects, it is I who have set myself
where I am, so that I am a burden to myself (Ibid.). It is indeed
most just.and right that he who is Thy enemy should be mine also,
and that he who opposes Thee should oppose me too. In truth, I
have become contrary to Thee and to my own self also, and I find
in my members a revolt against my own soul and against Thy law.
Who shall set me free from my own hands ? That which I would,
that do I n o t ; and it is not another person, but my own self, who
hinders me. So also that which I hate, that do I ; and it is no other
person, but my own self, who obliges me to do it. I would that this
prevention on the one hand, and this compulsion on the other, were
so violent that my actions ceased to be voluntary, for then perhaps I
might be excused; or that it were so far voluntary that it was not
violent, for so perhaps I might be corrected. But now no opening
for escape appears on either side for me unhappy, whom, on the one
hand, the assent of my will renders, as I have said, inexcusable; and
on the other, necessity renders incapable of being corrected. Who
shall deliver me from the hands of a sinner, from the hand of the
•unrighteous and cruel man? (Ps. lxxi. 4).

5°°

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

10. Someone asks me, perhaps, ' Of whom am I complaining?' Of
myself. It is I who am that sinner, that man unrighteous and cruel.
A sinner I am, for I have, in fact, sinned; and unrighteous, because
I persist voluntarily in violating the law of righteousness. For my
will itself is as a law in my members warring against the Divine Law.
And because the Law of the Lord is of right a law unto my soul, as
it is written : The Law of his God is in his heart (Ps. xxxvii. 31), for
that very reason it is that my will is found in opposition to my own
self, which is the height of iniquity. For to whom am I not unjust,
when I am unjust to myself? ' H e that is evil to himself,' it is said,
' t o whom will he be good?' (Ecclus. xiv. 5). I am not good, I
confess, [even to myself], for in me is no good thing. Yet I am
consoled for this, because even a saint said : / know that in me {that
is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing (Rom. vii. 18). Nevertheless
he makes a distinction when he says, in himself and explains that he
means, 'in his flesh/ because of the law of contradiction [to the Law
of God], which is in it. For that better law is also in the soul. Is
not the Law of God good ? If, then, he is evil, because of the law of
evil which is in him, why is he not good by reason of the law of good
which is in him likewise ? Will you say that the law of evil is his
own because it is in his flesh, and that therefore he is evil because
his law is evil, and not also that he is good because of a law which is
good ? That cannot be the case. The Law of God is in his soul,
and so in his soul as to be the law of his soul. H e is a witness of
this, who says : I see another law in my members, warring against the
laiv of my mind (Rom. vii. 23). Is that his which is in his flesh, and
not that which is in his soul ? I say that it is his even more. Why
should I not say what the same master of the spiritual life says :
With the mind (that is, following the impulse of the spirit which is
myself) / myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin
(vii. 25). H e shows very clearly by those words, which law he regards
as being his own, since he considers the evil which is in his flesh as
being alien to him, for he says : / / is no more I that do it [the evil],
but sin that divelleth in me (vii. 20). And it is perhaps for that very
reason that he has declared expressly that he found another law in
his members, because he regarded it as foreign to him, and coming
from without. Therefore I venture (yet not, I think, rashly) to add
something more, that St. Paul was not a sinner on account of the
evil which he had in his flesh; but rather good on account of the
good which he had in his soul. Is he not good who consents unto
the law of God, that it is good ? For although he confesses that he
is in captivity to the law of sin, this he does in the flesh, not in the
soul. For with the mind he senses the law of God, though with the
flesh the law of sin, and which of these two ought the rather to be
attributed to St. Paul, you can easily judge. For my part, I confess
that I have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that that which
was of the spirit was more truly his than that which was of the flesh ;
and this is not my belief alone, but it was that of St. Paul himself, as

THE SIMILARITY AND LIKENESS OF T H E SOUL TO T H E WORD 5 0 1

is shown by what he has said, which I have quoted above: If I do
that I ivould not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me,
11. This will suffice respecting liberty. In the treatise which I
have written on Grace and Free Will you will perhaps find other
points discussed, in which the soul is made after the image and likeness of G o d ; but nothing, I think, contrary to what is said here.
That treatise you have read, and what has just now been said you
have heard ; which of the two you rather approve I leave to your
judgment, and if there is anything in either which approves itself to
you, in this I rejoice and will rejoice. However that may be, you
will bear in mind that we have remarked upon three great qualities as
distinguishing the nature of the soul: its simplicity of substance, its
immortality, and its liberty of will. And I think that it will appear
very clear to you that the soul, by these three points of resemblance
in the qualities which are its birthright and are natural to it, has no
small affinity to the WORD, the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS
CHRIST our LORD, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXXXII.
HOW THE SOUL, WHILE STILL REMAINING LIKE UNTO GOD, LOSES
BY SIN A PORTION OF ITS LIKENESS TO HIM IN ITS SIMPLICITY,
IMMORTALITY, AND LIBERTY.

W

H A T think you, my brethren ? Does it appear to you
that we can go back and take up again the order of exposition from which we have digressed, since the affinity
of the soul with the WORD, to establish which was the object of the
digression, must be now quite clear to you ? We might do so, as
it seems to me, only for one thing ; that there still remains, as I
feel, some little obscurity in the various parts of the expositions
w7hich have been given. I do not wish to steal anything from
you. I do not willingly pass over anything that I think would
be useful to you. How could I dare to do so, especially of those
truths which I receive only in order that I may communicate them
to you ? I know a man who once, in the course of an address that
he was making, held back some part of what the Holy Spirit suggested
to him, not unfaithfully, but perhaps with a want of reliance on His
aid for the future, with the purpose of reserving it for another occasion, that he might have something to say when treating on the same
subject again; and that man seemed to hear a voice, which said to
him : ' As long as you shall withhold this you shall receive nothing
else.' 1 What if he had kept back this thought, not for the supply of
1
St. Bernard is here borrowing one of St. Paul's turns of phrase (2 Cor. xii. 2),
and speaking of himself. This is declared by Gesar of Heisterbach, who, in his
sermon for the Octave of Christmas, speaks thus : * One day he was treating upon

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

his own need, but from a feeling of jealousy that his brethren should
be advanced by it ? Would it not have been just that the very knowledge which he seemed to have should be taken away from him?
May God keep such a feeling far from him who is your servant, as
H e has always done as yet! May that inexhaustible fountain of
saving wisdom deign to impart itself unto me as constantly and abundantly, as it is true that I have always, without grudging, shared with
you what I have received, and have poured forth again upon you
whatever H e in His goodness has so far showered upon me. If I
should fail to bestow liberally upon you, how could I hope that God
would bestow liberally upon me ?
2. There is, then, among the various observations that have been
made, something which may, I fear, be a stumbling-block to you,
unless it be made very clear. And, if I do not mistake, there are
some standing here to whom what I wish to say may be the occasion
of some scruple. That threefold likeness to the WORD, which we
have assigned to the soul, or, rather, have observed that it was impressed upon the soul, do you remember that it appeared to us to
inhere in it inseparably ? Now, does not that seem to conflict with
some statements of Scripture, as, for example, with this out of the
Psalms : Man that is in honour and ujtderstandeth not is like the beasts
that perish (Ps. xlix. 12, 20); and this : They changed their glory into
the similitude of an ox that eateth grass (Ps. cvi. 20); and this, which
is plainly stated in the Person of God : Thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such an one as thyself (Ps. 1. 21); and many others, which
seem to assert with one voice that, after the commission of sin, the
likeness to God in man was altogether effaced ? What, then, shall we
say to these statements ? That these three qualities are not in God,
and that therefore we must seek for others, in which consist the
resemblance that the soul has to Him ? or that they are indeed in
God, but are not in the soul, so that in these respects it has no
resemblance to God ? or that, though they are in the soul, they are
not in it necessarily, and therefore are not inseparable from it ? God
forbid that either of these alternatives should be the fact. These
qualities are in G o d ; they are also in the soul, and are in it always.
Nor have we any reason to repent of what has been stated upon these
points, since it is founded on certain and indubitable truth. But
when the Scripture speaks of the unlikeness of man to God which has
been brought about, it does so, not because that likeness which previously existed was effaced, but because another has been laid over it.
The soul has plainly not put off its original form, but has put on over
it one which is foreign to it. The latter is added, but the former is
some subject, and a thought came to him which, though it would have been in
place at the time, he proposed to himself to reserve till the end, where he thought
he should be in want of matter, and he heard a voice saying to him, " If you keep
back this, nothing else shall be given to you." ' ' So truly was it,' says Manrique,
' not he that spake, but God in him.' See on the same subject, Sermon in Cantic,
xviii., n. 2.

T H E SOUL'S LIKENESS TO GOD

503

not lost; and that which is subsequent may hide the earlier and
natural lineaments of the soul, but cannot obliterate them. Thus it
is said by the Apostle : Their foolish heart was darkened (Rom. i. 21),
and by a prophet: How is the gold become dim, hoiv is the most fine
gold changed7 (Lam. iv. 1). The gold laments that it has become
dim, but it still remains gold; its beautiful colour has changed, but
the ground of the colour is not fundamentally changed. The pure
and simple nature of the soul remains unshaken in its essential
character, but it is concealed from view by a thick film of human
fraudfulness, and pretence, and hypocrisy.
3. How incongruous is the mixture of duplicity wTith the natural
simplicity of the soul! What an unworthy action to raise a structure
so poor on a foundation so precious ! It was with this duplicity that
the serpent concealed his cunning purpose when, in order to deceive
the first woman, Eve, he took upon himself the character of an
adviser, and pretended to be her friend. It was with this that the
first dwellers in the earthly Paradise, after they had been led into
disobedience by him, endeavoured to conceal their nakedness and
shame by the shelter of a leafy tree, by girdles of leaves, and by words
of excuse (Gen. iii. 7, 8, 12, 13). From that time and thenceforward
the poison of hypocrisy has spread deeply and widely, and has
infested the whole of their posterity. Whom is there of all the children of Adam who, I will not say wishes the entire truth in every
instance to appear, but even suffers it to do so ? Nevertheless, the
fundamental truthfulness of the soul persists [in conflict] with original
duplicity in every soul, and confusion is increased by the simultaneous
presence of the two; and its immortality also continues, but an immortality shadowed and rendered sombre by the encroaching clouds
of the death which belongs to the body. For although it is not deprived of life, it is unable to claim the full benefit of that life for its
body. But of the soul which does not hold fast its own spiritual life,
what shall I say ? For the soul that sinneth it shall die (Ezek. xviii. 4).
Does not that twofold death into which it falls, render the immortality
(of what kind soever it may be) which it still retains, gloomy and unhappy to the last degree ? Add to this that the desires which it has
for earthly things (which, indeed, all tend towards its destruction)
render still more dense the clouds and darkness in which it is enveloped, so that a soul existing in such a state has, as it were, a
countenance pallid and deathlike, nay, the very image of death.
Why does not the soul, being immortal, desire things which are
eternal and immortal like itself, so as to appear that which it really is,
and to live that life for which it was intended ? But it delights in and
seeks for things which are quite contrary to these; it conforms itself
to things which are mortal and perishable, by leading a life far degenerated from the nobleness of its nature, and blackens, as it were,
the glory of its immortality by daily converse with, and preference
for, things which are dingy and defiled. How can a longing desire
for mortal things fail to assimilate the immortal to mortality and make

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

it unlike to itself? For ' H e , ' saith the Wise Man, 'that toucheth
pitch shall be defiled therewith' (Ecclus. xiii. 4). In the enjoyment
of things that are mortal it is itself clothed with mortality, and though
it does not put off its robe of immortality, it dims the brightness of it
by the stains and similitudes of death.
4. Consider, for instance, how Eve, by attaching herself to things
that were mortal, though herself an immortal soul, soiled the glory of
her immortality by the mould of mortal things. Since she was immortal, why did she not contemn things that were perishing and
transitory, and content herself with those that were unchangeable and
eternal, similar to her own nature ? She saw, saith the Scripture, that
the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to make one wise (Gen. iii. 6). That beauty, O woman,
that sweetness, that desirableness, is not thine ; and if it belongs to
thee because thou art in part made of the dust of the earth, is not
thine alone, but thou hast it in common with all the living creatures
of the earth. That which is truly thine is of another nature, and
comes from another source;. it is eternal, and comes from eternity.
Why dost thou set upon thy soul another likeness, or, rather, a
deformity 'which is strange to it? For what it desires to possess,
that it fears to lose; and that fear is a kind of colour, which stains its
free will, which hides it, and renders it like unto itself. How much
more worthy of its origin would it be that it should desire nothing, so
that it should fear nothing; and that, thus guarding its inborn freedom from servile fear, it should remain in its pristine beauty and
strength ! Alas ! it is not so ; its perfect hue has faded. Thou dost
fly, and hidest thyself; when thou hearest the voice of the Lord God
thou lurkest in a hiding-place. Why is this, but that Him whom thou
didst once love, now thou dost fear; and that a slavish fear has taken
the place of the beauty of thy freedom ?
5. That necessity voluntarily incurred, and that law of contradiction imposed upon the members (of which I have spoken in another
discourse), weighs upon the same liberty, and at the same time allures
and enslaves by means of its own will, a creature free by nature;
covers it with confusion and ignominy, so that it obeys, though unwillingly, the law of sin which is in its flesh. Because, then, it has
neglected to guard the original nobleness of its nature by innocency
of life, it has followed, by the just judgment of its Creator, that it is
not stripped of the freedom which belongs to it, but clad with its own
confusion as with a mantle (Ps. cix. 29). Well is it said, as with a
mantle, that is, a garment which is folded or doubled (diploide\
because while its liberty remains, that being necessarily inherent in
the will, yet its manner of conduct, which is servile, imposes upon it
constraint and necessity. The same thing may be remarked of the
simplicity of the soul, as of its immortality; and if you observe closely
you will find nothing in that also which is not covered, as it were,
with a double mantle of likeness and unlikeness. Is not that like a
doubled mantle, where deceit is not inborn, but is laid upon truthful-

THE SOUL'S LIKENESS TO GOD

505

ness, is attached and, as it were, sewn to it by the sharp needle of
sin; as also death to immortality, and necessity to freedom ? For
this duplicity of disposition does not destroy the essential truthfulness
of the soul, nor does death, whether it be the voluntary death of sin,
or the necessary death of the body, disprove the immortality of the
soul by its nature; nor, again, does the necessity which follows a
voluntary servitude destroy the freedom of the will. Thus these evils
are adventitious; they do not follow from the good gifts which are
natural, but are superinduced upon them; they disfigure, without
destroying them ; and trouble their action, though they do not nullify
it. Thence it is that the soul is unlike to God, and unlike even to
itself; thence it is that it is compared unto beasts that perish, and
made like unto them (Ps. xlix. 12, 20); thence it is that, as we read,
they have changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth
grass (Ps. cvi. 20); thence it is that men, like foxes, have winding
earths, as it were, of duplicity and fraud; and, as they have made
themselves like unto foxes, shall have the destiny of foxes ; for, according to the saying of Solomon, that ivhich befalleth the sons of men
befalleth beasts : even one thing befalleth them (Eccles. iii. 19). Why
should not one who has lived like the beasts'have a death like theirs ?
H e has attached himself to earthly things, and delighted in them, like
the beasts; like the beasts also he must leave them. And there is
still another point. What wonder is it that we should go forth from
this life similarly to the beasts, since we come into it in a similar
manner? Whence is it, except from their resemblance to the lower
animals, that there is in human creatures so much ardour in the
indulgence of the passions, so much pain in parturition ? Thus it is
that the human creature, in his conception and his birth, in his life
and his death, is compared unto the beasts that perish, and made
like unto them.
6. What shall I say of the fact that a creature who is free does not
subdue appetite and rule it as a queen, but, on the contrary, follows
and obeys it as a servant? Does not such a creature rank itself
among animals without reason, and make itself like unto them whom
their nature has not called to liberty, but has placed in a state of
servitude, to follow and obey their lusts and appetites ? Is it not
with justice that God is revolted at being considered and represented
as like unto a man such as this ? And therefore it is that H e says :
Thou thoughtest [wickedly] that I was altogether such an one as thyself ;
and declares, I will reprove thee, and set thee in order before thine eyes
(Ps. 1. 21). It is not for a soul that sees and knows itself, to think
that God is like unto it, especially such a soul as mine, which is unrighteous and a sinner. For it is to such that the stern accusation is
addressed : * Thou thoughtest, O ivicked one] not ' O soul,' or * O
man,' that 1 was altogether such an one as thyself. But if the wicked
one be set, as it wrere, before his own eyes, and made to stand face to
face, if I may so speak, with the ghastly and discoloured countenance
of his inner man, so that he cannot avoid beholding the manifold

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

uncleanness of his conscience, nor ignore it when beheld; but, on
the contrary, recognizes, even against his will, the defilement of his
sins, and the deformity of his vices; then he will by no means be
able to think that God is like unto him; nay, the difference which he
will see will be so great that I think he will be driven to cry, Lord,
who is like unto Thee? (Ps. xxxv. 10), which, indeed, was spoken with
reference to that voluntary and novel unlikeness. For the first resemblance still remains ; and it is that which renders the later unlikeness still more displeasing. Oh, how great a good is the one, and
how great an evil the other ! And by the close contact and contrast
of the two the effect of each in its kind is heightened.
7. When the soul discerns in itself two things so different and so
opposed, how can it do otherwise than cry out, between hope and
despair : Lord, who is like unto Thee ? By so great an evil it is
drawn towards despair, but by so great a good it is recalled towards
hope. Thence it is that the more it is offended by the evil which it
beholds in itself, the more ardently it aspires to the good which it
also descries, and the more it desires to become wholly like unto
Him in whose image it has been formed ; that is to say, to be simple,
upright, fearing God, and departing from evil. Why should it not be
able to depart from that which it has been able to approach, or to
draw near to that from which it has been able to withdraw ? Yet for
either of these movements, I must not omit to say, grace must be
relied upon, not nature, nor even laborious effort. For it is wisdom
that prevails over vice (Wisd. vii. 30), not nature nor labour. Nor
is ground for hope wanting, for it is the WORD to whom it turns for
help. The noble relationship of the soul to the WORD, and the
enduring likeness which it has to Him, of which, during the last
three days, I have been discoursing, is- not barren or ineffective with
the WORD. H e deigns to admit into the fellowship of His Spirit that
which is like unto Him by nature. Like seeks like assuredly, according to the natural order. Listen to His voice as H e calls to the soul:
Return, return, O Shulamite: return, return, that we may look upon
thee (Cant. vi. 13). H e would not look upon her while she was
unlike unto Him, but when she shall be in His likeness .will behold
her, and admit her also to the vision of Himself. For we know that
when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as
He is (1 John iii. 2). Believe, then, that when it is inquired: Lordy
who is like unto Thee? the words refer rather to a thing .that is difficult than to one which is absolutely impossible.
8. Or, if you prefer to take it thus, it is a cry of admiration.
Assuredly it is a likeness wonderful and admirable, which accompanies the vision of God, or, rather, it is that vision itself. For I
understand this of the vision which is brought about by love, for in
love is that vision and that likeness. Who does not stand amazed at
the great love of God in recalling to Himself a soul by which H e has
been scorned ? It is with justice, then, that that wicked one, who
was represented in a former sermon as usurping to himself the like-

THE SOUL'S LIKENESS TO GOD

5°7

ness of God, is severely censured, since in loving iniquity he is
not able to love either himself or God, as it is written : He that
loveth iniquity hateth his ow?i soul (Ps. x. 6, Douay). The iniquity,
then, which is in part the cause of the unlikeness between God
and the soul, being taken out of the way, there shall be between
them a spiritual union perfect and entire, a mutual discernment and
vision, a reciprocal love. When that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away, and there shall be between
God and the soul a perfect and consummated affection, a full knowledge, a vision manifest, a firm union, an indivisible society, a perfect
similitude. Then the soul shall know, even as also it is known
(i Cor. xiii. 10, 12); then shall it love even as it is loved, and the
Bridegroom shall rejoice over the Bride, because knowledge and love
are reciprocal between them. He is JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who
is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SERMON LXXXIII.
OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SOUL, HOWEVER CORRUPTED IT
MAY BE WITH EVIL HABITS, IS STILL ABLE, BY A CHASTE AND
HOLY LOVE, TO RECOVER ITS RESEMBLANCE TO T H E BRIDEGROOM, THAT IS, CHRIST.

I

HAVE, during three days, devoted myself, as far as the time
prescribed by our rule for me to address you would permit, to
show you the close relation and resemblance of the soul to the
WORD. What usefulness is there in all that endeavour ? There is
this. We have shown that every soul, though it may be burdened
with sins, caught in the net of evil habits, taken captive by the
allurements of sinful pleasures ; though it be as a captive in exile, confined in the body as in a prison, submerged and fixed fast in mud
and clay, closely bound to its members, weighed down by cares,
absorbed in business, saddened by fears, afflicted by sorrows, led
astray by errors, anxious because of forebodings, uneasy through
suspicions, and, lastly, an alien on the earth, in which it finds so
many enemies, and, according to the saying of a prophet, defiled
with the dead and counted with them that go down into hell (Baruch
iii. 11); although a soul, I say, be thus under condemnation and thus
despairing, yet, as I have shown, it is able to find in itself, not only
reason for breathing freely in the hope of mercy and forgiveness, but
also for daring to aspire to the heavenly nuptials of the Word ; nor
does it fear to enter into alliance with God, and to bear the sweet
yoke of love with Him who is the King of Angels. For why should
it not venture to come confidingly into the presence of Him by whose
image and likeness it sees and knows that it is still honoured and

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

ennobled ? Why should even a Majesty so great be a cause of distrust to a being to whom its own origin gives a ground for confidence?
All that it has to do is to preserve with care the original purity of its
nature by a pure and honourable life; or, rather, to study to adorn
and embellish by good and virtuous thoughts and actions, as by rich
colours, that illustrious image which has been impressed upon the
depths of its nature at its creation.
2. Why, then, does it remain inactive ? Labour and industry are
assuredly a great gift of nature; and if we do not employ it to its
fullest extent, will not all those good inclinations which are left in us
by nature be hindered in their working, or remain, as it were, inactive
and powerless ? This would indeed be an injury to the Creator.
That is the reason why God our Creator has willed to preserve always
in the soul a clear sign of its Divine origin, so that it should be continually admonished by the resemblance which it has to the WORD,
either to remain with Him, or to return to Him, if it has been induced by any motive to quit His Presence. It does not leave Him,
as by change of place, or by steps taken with the feet; but it leaves
Him in the manner of a spiritual substance, that is to say, by its
purposes and affections, when it renders itself unlike Him, and
degenerates from the nobleness of its origin, by the evil of its conduct and life, and thus becomes distinctly wTorse. That unlikeness,
nevertheless, does not amount to an abolition of its nature ; but it is
a grave fault, for good raises up nature as much by comparison with
itself, as by conjunction [with evil] it is defiled. But this return of the
soul is its conversion, that is, its turning to the WORD ; to be reformed
by Him, and to be rendered conformable to Him. In what respect?
In charity. For it is written : Be ye followers of God, as dear children :
and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us (Eph. v. i, 2).
3. It is that conformity which makes, as it were, a marriage between
the soul and the WTORD, when, being already like unto Him by its
nature, it endeavours to show itself like unto Him by its will, and
loves Him as it is loved by Him. And if this love is perfected, the
soul is wedded to the WORD. What can be more full of happiness
and joy than this conformity? what more to be desired than this
love ? which makes thee, O soul, no longer content with human
guidance, to draw near with confidence thyself to the WORD, to
attach thyself with constancy to Him, to address Him with confidence, and consult Him upon all subjects, to become as receptive
in thy intelligence, as fearless in thy desires. This is the contract of
a marriage truly spiritual and sacred. And to say this is to say too
little; it is more than a contract, it is a communion, an identification
with the Beloved, in which the perfect correspondence of will makes
of two, one spirit. Nor is it to be feared that the inequality of the two
who are parties to it should render imperfect or halting in any respect
this concurrence of wills ; for love has no respect of persons. It is
from affection, not from reverence, that it is named love. Let one
who is struck with horror, with astonishment, with fear, with admira-

T H E SOUL RECOVERS ITS RESEMBLANCE TO CHRIST

509

tion, rest satisfied with honouring; but in one who loves all these
feelings are merged in affection. Love is filled with itself; and in
the soul to which it has once come, it overcomes and transforms all
other feelings. Therefore the soul which loves, in loving, is regardless of all else. H e who justly deserves to be honoured and admired,
and regarded as a miracle of perfectness, yet loves rather to be loved.
They are Bridegroom and Bride. What other bond or constraining
force do you seek for between spouses, than to love and to be loved ?
This bond overcomes even that which nature has drawn most closely,
namely, the bond between parents and children. For this cause, says
the Saviour in the Gospel, shall a man leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife (Matt. xix. 5). You see how powerful is this
feeling in those who are wedded; not only does it prevail over all
other feelings, but even over itself.
4. It is to be added that this Bridegroom is not only loving, H e is
Himself Love. Is H e not also Honour ? Anyone who pleases may
maintain that He i s ; but I have not, in fact, read any such thing. I
have read that God is Love (1 John iv. 16); not that H e is honour, or
dignity; though it is not to be understood that God does not desire to
be honoured, for He says : If I be a Father, where is Mine honour ?
He says that as a Father. But if H e declares Himself to be a Bridegroom, will H e not change the word, and say : ' If I be a Bridegroom,
where is the love that is due to Me ?' For he had previously said :
If I be a Master, where is My fear ? (Mai. i. 6). God, then, requires
that H e should be feared as Lord, honoured as Father, but as Bridegroom, loved. Which of these three is highest and most to be preferred? Surely it is love. Without it fear is painful, and honour
without attraction. Fear is servile as long as it is not rendered free
by love ; and honour which is not inspired by love is not truly
honour, but flattery. Certainly honour and glory are due to God,
and to Him alone; but neither of these will H e receive, if they be
not, as it were, seasoned with the honey of love. Love is alone
sufficient by itself; it pleases by itself, and for its own sake. It is
itself a merit, and itself its own recompense. It seeks neither cause,
nor consequence, beyond itself. It is its own fruit, and its own
object and usefulness. I love, because I love; I love, that I may
love. Love, then, is a great reality, and very precious, provided that
it recurs to the principle on which it rests, that it is kept in continual
relation with Him who is its origin, and draws from that pure source
waters that flow continually in greater abundance. Of all the feelings,
affections, and movements of the soul, love is the only one by which
the reasonable creature is able to respond to its Creator, and even in
some sort to repay, though not upon equal terms, the goodness which
it has received from Him. For example, if God is displeased with
me, should I be at liberty to feel displeasure towards Him ? Certainly n o t : I tremble, and humble myself before Him, and entreat
His pardon. So also, if H e accuses me, H e is not to be accused by
me in return, but the justice of His accusation is to be instantly

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

recognised. Nor, if He shall judge me, will I judge, but will adore.
When He saves me, H e does not ask of me salvation in return; nor
does H e who restores freedom to all need that H e should Himself
be freed. If H e exercises the authority which H e has over me, my
part is to do Him service; if H e commands, my duty is to obey;
and it is not for me to require of the Lord either the service, or the
obedience, that I properly render to Him. Now, you see what a
great difference there is in all these respects with regard to love !
For when God loves us, He desires nothing else than to be loved,
because He loves us that H e may be loved by us, knowing that
those who love Him become blessed by their love itself.
5. Love, then, is a great reality, but there are degrees in it. The
Bridegroom stands highest of all. For though children have affection
for their parents, yet they think of their heritage, and in the fear of
losing that, they have more respect than love for him from whom they
expect it. That love I hold in suspicion which seems to be produced
only by the hope of acquiring something. It is weak ; for if that hope
be withdrawn, it is either extinguished altogether, or greatly diminished.
It is impure, since it is founded on the hope of something else. Love
that is pure is not mercenary; it does not draw strength from hope,
nor is it weakened by distrust. This is the love which is felt by the
Bride, because all that she is is only love. The very being of the
Bride, and her only hope, consists in love. In this the Bride abounds;
with this the Bridegroom is content. H e seeks nothing else from her;
she has nothing but this to give. Thence it is that He is Bridegroom,
and she is Bride. This belongs exclusively to a wedded pair, and to
it none other attains, not even a son. For H e cries out to His sons :
Where is My honour? and does not say: ' Where is My love?' reserving
the prerogative of the Bride. Thus we see that a man is bidden to
honour his father and his mother (Deut. v. 16), and no mention is
made of love; not because parents are not to be loved by their
children, but because many children are disposed more to honour
parents than to love them. It is true that the honour of a king loves
judgment (Ps. xcix. 4 ) ; but the love of the Bridegroom, or rather of
the Bridegroom who is Himself Love, requires only love and faithfulness in return. Let it, then, be permitted to the Bride to love in
return. How could she do otherwise who is the Bride, and the Bride
of Love ? How can Love fail to be loved ?
6. Rightlj7, then, does she renounce all other affections, and devote
herself wholly and entirely to Him who is Love, since she can make
return to Him by a love which is reciprocal. For when she has
poured herself forth entirely in love, what would that be in comparison
with the ever-flowing and inexhaustible source of love? Not with
equal fulness of resource flows that stream from Love and from the
creature that loves Him, from the soul and from the WORD, the
Bridegroom and the Bride, the Creator and the creature; and the
thirsty wayfarer might as well be compared with the fountain that
satisfies his thirst. What then ? Shall the vow of the Bride, the deep

THE SOUL RECOVERS ITS RESEMBLANCE TO CHRIST

511

aspirations of her heart, her loving ardour and undoubting confidence,
perish and become of none effect because she is unable to contend
with a Giant who runs His course, to dispute the palm of sweetness
with honey, of gentleness with the lamb, of whiteness with the lily,
of brilliance with the sun, or of charity with Him who is Himself
Charity and Love ? No. For although, being a creature, she loves
less than H e by whom she is loved, because she is less; yet if she
loves with her whole self, nothing can be wanting where the whole
being is offered. Wherefore, as I have said, to feel such love as this
constitutes a spiritual marriage between the soul and the WORD, since
it is not possible for a soul to love thus, and yet not to be greatly
loved; and in the consent of the two parties consists a perfect marriage.
Unless anyone should feel a doubt whether the soul is not first loved,
and with a greater affection, by the WORD. Assuredly, it is both
anticipated in loving, and surpassed in love. Happy is the soul
whose favoured lot it is to be prevented with the benediction of a
delight so great! Happy the soul to which is granted to experience the delight of that communion so sweet, which is nothing
else than a love holy and pure, sweet and delightful, as calm as it is
sincere: a love mutual, endearing, powerful, which makes of two, by
their close union, not, indeed, one flesh, but one spirit, as St. Paul
declares : He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit (i Cor. vi. 17).
And now upon these subjects let us listen to her whom that unction
which teaches of all things, and a frequent experience, has rendered
more learned than all others in this mystery. Though perhaps it will
be better to defer that subject to the beginning of another sermon,
so that we may not confine an important matter within the limits of
a sermon just upon the point of closing. So, then, if you approve, I
will break off this discourse before reaching the end of the subject, in
order that to-morrow we, as souls that are a-hungered, may assemble
in good time to taste with eagerness those delights which it is the
exceeding great reward of the holy soul to enjoy from the WORD, and
with the WORD, who is her Bridegroom, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who

is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXX1V.
THAT THE SOUL, SEEKING GOD, IS ANTICIPATED BY HIM ; AND IN
WHAT CONSISTS THAT SEARCH FOR GOD IN WHICH IT IS THUS
ANTICIPATED.

' By flight on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth?—Cant. iii. 1.

I

T is a great good to seek God. I think that, among all the
blessings of the soul, there is none greater than this. It is the
first of the gifts of G o d ; the last degree of the soul's progress.
By no virtue is it preceded; to none does it give place. To what
virtue is that added which is not preceded by any ? And to which

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

should that give way which is the consummation of all virtues ? For
what virtue can be ascribed to him who is not seeking God, or what
limit prescribed to one who is seeking Him ? Seek His Face evermore
(Ps. cv. 4), says the Psalmist; nor do I think that when a soul has
found Him, it will cease from seeking. God is sought, not by the
movement of the feet, but by the desires of the heart; and when a
soul has been so happy as to find Him, that sacred desire is not
extinguished, but, on the contrary, is increased. Is the consummation of the joy the extinction of the desire ? It is rather to it as oil
poured upon a flame ; for desire is, as it were, a flame. This is,
indeed, the case. The joy will be fulfilled; but the fulfilment will
not be the ending of the desire, nor therefore of the seeking. But
think, if you can, of this earnest love of seeking God as being without
any deprivation of Him, and of the desire for Him as without anxiety
or trouble of mind. His Presence excludes the one, and the abundance of His graces prevents the other.
2. But now observe why I have made these introductory remarks.
It is that every soul among you which is seeking God should know
that it has been anticipated by Him, and has been sought by Him
before it began to seek Him. For without this knowledge it might
be that out of a great blessing might arise great harm, if, when it has
been filled with the good gifts of the Lord, it treats those gifts as if
they had not been received from Him, and so does not render to
God the glory of them. It is, doubtless, in this way that some who
appeared very great before men, because of the graces which had been
conferred upon them, were counted as the least before God, inasmuch
as they did not render back to Him the glory which was due on their
account. But in saying this, I have used inadequate terms. To spare
you, I have spoken of ' greatest' and of ' least,' but I have not thus
expressed my thought in all its force. I will make clearer the distinction which I have tried to mark. I cught to have said that he
who is the best of men becomes in this way the worst. For it is a
thing certain and without doubt that such a person becomes as blameable as he before was praiseworthy, if he ascribe to himself the praise
of that which was excellent in him. For this is one of the worst of
crimes. Someone will perhaps say, ' God forbid that I should be of
that mind; I fully recognize that by the grace of God I am what I
am ; but suppose that a person should try to take for himself a little
spark of glory for the grace that he has received, is he, therefore, a
thief and a robber?' Let one who speaks thus listen to the words :
Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant (Matt,
xix. 22). For what can be more wTicked than the servant usurping to
himself the glory which belongs to his Lord ?
3. By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth. The
soul seeks the WORD, but it had been previously sought by the WORD.
For otherwise, wThen it had been once driven out or cast forth from
the presence of the WORD, it would have returned no more to obtain
the sight of the good things it had lost if it had not been sought by

T H E SOUL, SEEKING GOD, IS ANTICIPATED BY HIM

513

the WORD. Our soul, if abandoned to itself, is a spirit which goes to
and fro, but does not return. Listen to a fugitive and wandering soul,
and learn what it complains of, and what it seeks : / have gone astray
like a lost sheep: seek Thy servant (Ps. cxix. 176). O man, dost thou
desire to return ? But if that depends upon thy own will, why dost
thou entreat help ? Why dost thou ask for from another what thou
hast in abundance in thy own self? It is plain that he does desire
this, and is not able to perform it; he is a spirit which goes to and
fro, and returns n o t ; though he who has not even the wish to return
is farther removed still. Yet I would not say that the soul which
longs to return, and desires to be sought, is wholly exposed and abandoned. For from whence comes this willingness which is in it ? It
comes, if I do not mistake, from its having been already sought and
visited by the WORD ; nor is that visitation fruitless, since it has so
worked in the soul as to produce that good will, without which a return
would not be possible. But it does not suffice to be sought once
only, so great is the languor of the soul, and so great the difficulty of
the return. What if the will of a soul is to return ? The will lies
inoperative, if it be not supported by the power to do so. For, to will
is present with me, says the Apostle, but how to perform that which is
good 1find not (Rom. vii. 18). What is it, then, that the Psalmist
seeks in the passage which I have quoted ? H e plainly seeks nothing
else than to be sought: which he would not seek if he had not been
sought; and yet again, which he would not seek if he had been sought
sufficiently. This latter grace, indeed, is what he entreats : Seek Thy
servant; that is, that what it has been granted to him to desire, it
may be granted to him also perfectly to attain, according to the good
pleasure of God.
4. Yet it does not seem to me that the present passage is capable
of being applied to a soul such as this, which has not attained the
second grace, and, though desiring to approach Him whom she loves,
has not the ability to do so. For how can the words which follow be
made to apply to such a soul; namely, that she rises and goes about
the city in the streets, and in the broad ways seeks her Beloved (iii. 2),
seeing that she herself needs to be sought ? Let her do this as she is
able; only let her remember that, as she was first beloved, so she was
first sought; and to that she owes it that she herself loves and is
engaged in seeking. Let us, too, pray, beloved, that those mercies
may speedily anticipate us, for we are brought into extreme need of
them. But I do not say this of you all; for I know that very many
of you are walking in the love wherewith Christ hath loved us, and
are seeking Him in simplicity of heart. But there are some (I say
it with sorrow) who have not yet given us any mark of this saving
and preventing grace being in them, and therefore no sign of their
salvation ; they are men who love their own selves, not the Lord, and
seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
5. I have sought, says the Bride, Him whom my soul loveth. It is
to this that the goodness of Him who has anticipated you in seeking
33

5M

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

you and loving you first, it is to this that His goodness is calling and
arousing you. You would not seek Him at all, O soul, nor love Him
at all, if you had not been first sought and first loved. You have
been anticipated by a twofold benediction, that of love and of seeking.
The love is the cause of the seeking; the seeking is the fruit and the
clear proof of the love. You have been loved, so that you might not
fear that you were sought for to be punished; you were sought for,
that you might not complain that you were loved to no purpose.
Each of these two great and unmistakable favours has given you
courage, has removed shyness and timidity, has touched your feelings,
and disposed you to return. Hence arises that zeal and ardour
in seeking Him whom thy soul loveth; because, just as you were
not able to seek Him, until you had first been sought, so now that
you have been sought, you are not able to do otherwise than seek
Him.
6. Again, never forget whence it is that you have come hither.
And that I may apply the better to myself what has been said (which
is the safer course), is it not thou, O my soul, who, having left thy
first Bridegroom, by whose side all had been well with thee, hast
broken the faith first pledged to Him, and gone after others ? And
now that thou hast sinned with them to the full, and art perhaps
fallen into contempt with them, dost thou impudently and with
effrontery desire to return to Him, to whom thou hast behaved with
so much pride and insolence ? What ? when thou art fit only to hide
thyself, dost thou seek the light, and though more deserving of correction than favour, dare to run unto the Bridegroom ? Wonderful it will
be if you do not find a Judge to condemn you instead of a husband
to receive you. Happy is he who shall hear his soul replying to
these reproaches: ' I do not fear because I love, and also I am
loved; nor could I have loved unless H e had first loved me. Let
those fear who have no love; but for the soul that loves there is
nothing to be feared. How can those who have no love do otherwise than be under constant apprehension of injury? But because I
love, I no more doubt that I am loved than I doubt of my own love;
nor can I possibly fear His countenance, whose affection for me I
have assuredly felt. In what have I felt it, do you inquire ? In this :
that not only has H e sought me, unhappy as I am, but has caused
me to seek Him, and to feel sure of succeeding in my search. Why
should I not respond to Him in His search, to whom in His affection
I respond ? Why should H e be angry at my seeking Him, who,
when I showed contempt for Him, forgave it ? H e sought me when
I contemned Him, why should He contemn me when I seek Him ?
Benign and gentle is the Spirit of the WORD, and gentle is His greeting to m e ; H e makes me aware of His kindness towards me, H e
whispers to me and convinces me of the earnest love of the WORD
for me, which cannot be hidden from Him. For H e searcheth the
deep things of God, and knows that the Divine thoughts are thoughts
of peace, and not purposes of vengeance. How can I be otherwise

THE SOUL, SEEKING GOD, IS ANTICIPATED BY HIM

515

than encouraged to seek Him, who have had experience of His
clemency, and am persuaded of His reconciliation with me ?'
7. My brethren, to think seriously of these truths is to be sought
by the WORD ; to be persuaded of them is to be found by Him.
But not all are capable of receiving that Word. Wriat shall we do for
the little children among us, I mean those who are still in the. stage
of beginners (incipientes), and yet are far from being without understanding (insipientes), since they possess already the beginning of
wisdom, being subject one to the other in the fear of Christ ? How,
I say, shall we cause them to believe that the spiritual life of the
Bride is marked by such experiences as these, since they know nothing
as yet of such feelings themselves ? But I send them to one, to whom
they cannot refuse credence. Let them read in a book [of Scripture]
that which they fail to discern in the heart of a fellow man, and
therefore will not believe. For it is written in one of the Prophets :
If a man put aivay his wife, and she go from him, and become another
marts, shall he return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly
polluted ? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return
again to Me, saith the Lord (Jer. iii. i). They are the words of the
Lord, and it is not permitted to doubt or hesitate. Let them believe
what they have not experienced, that by the merit of their faith they
may one day attain the fruit of experience. I think that now it has
been sufficiently explained what it is to be sought by the WORD, and
how this is necessary, not for the WORD, but for the soul, so that the
soul which has experienced this knows Him both more fully and
more happily. It remains to be treated of in the next discourse
how souls that thirst for Christ seek Him by whom they have been
sought; or rather that we should learn that from her, who is brought
before us in these verses, as seeking Him whom her soul loveth,
Him who is the Bridegroom of the soul, JESUS CHRIST our Lord,
who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

516

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

SERMON LXXXV.
OF T H E SEVEN NEEDS OF THE SOUL, ON ACCOUNT OF WHICH IT
SEEKS T H E WORD. WHEN T H E SOUL IS ONCE REFORMED, IT
DRAWS NEAR TO CONTEMPLATE CHRIST, AND TO ENJOY T H E
SWEETNESS OF HIS PRESENCE.
6

By night upon ?ny bed I sought Him whom mv soul /oveth.'—Cimt. iii. I.

F

OR what cause does she thus beek? That has been already
stated, and it would be superfluous to repeat i t : yet, for the
sake of some who were not present when that question was
treated, I will give a short summary of the causes, to which even those
who were with us on the former occasion will not find it troublesome
to listen. For not all that was to be said could be finished then.
The soul seeks the WORD, and accepts His correction with willingness
and joy, so that she may obtain enlightenment and the knowledge of
Him, that by His support she may attain to virtue, and be reformed
according to wisdom, that she may be conformed unto His likeness
and rendered by Him fruitful in good works, and, finally, may be
happy in the enjoyment of His Presence. For all these causes the
soul seeks the WORD. I do not doubt that there are many others,
but in the meantime these are what occur to me. Anyone who is
disposed to do so may easily discover others in himself. For our unhappinesses are many, the needs of our soul numerous and unlimited,
and our anxieties uncounted. But more richly and fully still does the
WORD superabound in good things, insomuch that H e surpasses our
badness by His wisdom, overcoming evil with good. And now hear
the reason for these statements which I have made. In the first place,
see how the soul consents, as I said first, to the Divine correction.
We read that the WORD speaks thus in the Gospel: Agree with thi?ie
adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him, lest at any time
the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer (Matt. v. 25). What can be more prudent? It is the advice
of the WORD, who declares solemnly, if I do not mistake, that H e is
an adversary to us, because H e opposes Himself to our carnal desires,
as when H e says : / / is a people that do err in their heart (Ps. xcv. 10).
Thou, then, who hearest this, if thou shalt begin in a just fear to flee
from the wrath to come, wilt be, I think, solicitous to know in what
manner thou mayest agree with that adversary who seems to menace
thee with a wrath so terrible. Now, that is impossible, unless thou
shalt disagree with thyself, unless thou shalt become an adversary to
thine own self, unless thou shalt combat with thyself in continual and
untiring struggle; in short, unless thou shalt renounce thy rooted
habitudes and inborn affections. That is indeed a struggle hard and
stern; and if thou shalt attempt it in thy own powers alone, it is as if

THE SEVEN NEEDS OF T H E SOUL

S*7

thou shouldst try to arrest a rushing torrent with a finger, or to make
tjie river of Jordan flow backwards. What canst thou do, then?
Thou must seek the WORD, by whose grace it is that thou art enabled
to give a glad acquiescence to His will. Fly for help to Him who
opposes thee [in evil], by whose help thou mayst become such that
He will oppose thee no longer, that H e who now threatens thee will
approve and applaud thee, and that the grace which H e imparts may
be more effectual to transform thee than the most violent anger.
2. This is the first necessity, as I think, which brings the soul to
seek the WORD. But if you know not what He, to whose will you
have already given consent, really desires, will H e not say of you that
you have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge ? (Rom. x. 2).
And that you may not think such ignorance a light thing, remember
that which is written, that if any man know not he shall not be known
(1 Cor. xiv. 38, Douay). Would you know what I should counsel
you to do in this strait ? In the first place, my advice is that you
should have recourse to the WORD, and H e will teach you His ways,
for fear lest you, wishing to do good, but not knowing how, should
only wander from the right road in your course, and go to and fro in
a pathless wilderness. For the WORD is Light, as it is said in the
Psalms : The entrance of Thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding to the simple. Blessed art thou if thou also art able to say : Thy
Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Ps. cxix. 130,
105).
In no small degree has your soul profited, if your will is
changed and your reason enlightened, so that you are enabled both
to desire that which is good and to recognise it when it appears to
you. In the one gift your soul has received life; in the other, vision.
For the soul was dead when it willed that which was evil, and blind
when it was ignorant of good.
3. Now your soul lives, now it sees, now it is established in good;
but all this is by the help and by the working of the WORD. If it
stands upright, it is because it has been lifted up by the hand of the
WORD, and set, as it were, upon two feet, devotion and understanding.
It stands upright, I repeat; but yet let it take as spoken of itself that
which is said : Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
(1 Cor. x. 12). Do you think that the soul, which was not able to
arise by its own strength, will by its own strength be enabled to stand ?
I should suppose not. What ? It was by the WORD of the Lord that
the heavens were made (Ps. xxxiii. 6), and shall a being which is but
earth stand without Him ? If it were able to stand by itself, why was
it that a man, formed also of the earth, prayed thus : Strengthen Thou
me according unto Thy Word (Ps. cxix. 28) ? H e had even experienced
that he could not stand by himself, since he says : Being pushed, I
was overturned that I might fall, but the Lord supported me (Ps.
cxviii. 13, Douay). Does anyone inquire what it was that thus
pushed ? It was not one only; it was the devil, it was the world, it
was perhaps some man. What man, do you rejoin? In truth, every
man is a tempter such as this to and for himself. Marvel not at this.

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SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

To such a degree is every man a tempter to himself, and an occasion
of falling, that you need not fear the temptation put before you by
another person, if you can keep your own hands from working destruction to you. For who, says the Apostle, is he that will harm you,
if ye be followers of that which is good? (i Peter iii. 13). By your own
hands I mean the consent of your will. If, when the devil suggests
to you, or the world persuades you to do, anything which is not right,
you refrain from giving an inward consent to it, nor allow your members to be the instruments of iniquity, then you have not permitted
sin to reign in your mortal body ; in resisting the promptings of evil
you have approved yourself the follower of good, and the temptation
has done you good rather than harm. For it is written : Do that
which is good, and thou shall have praise (Rom. xiii. 3). They are
confounded who sought to harm your soul, and you shall sing: If
they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot (Ps.
xix. 14, Douay). You have shown yourself to be animated by a holy
emulation if, under the guidance of wisdom, you have had affection
for your own soul (Ecclus. xxx. 23), if you have kept; your heart with
all diligence (Prov. iv. 23), if, according to the precept of the Apostle,
you have kept yourself pure (1 Tim. v. 22). Otherwise, even though
you should gain the whole world, but suffer loss to your soul, we
shall certainly, as the Saviour Himself teaches, regard you as not
being a follower of that which is good.
4. There are, then, three adversaries by whom you are threatened.
Of these the devil impels to evil by malice and jealousy, the world
by the tempest of vanity, while man himself is burdened by the weight
of his own corruption. The devil impels you indeed to evil, but he
does not overthrow you, if you do not give him your help by yielding
assent to his wicked suggestions. Thus we read: Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you (James iv. 7). It is he who in his envy
tempted and overthrew those who were upright in Paradise, for they
did not resist him, but consented to his evil suggestions. It is he
who, by his pride, cast himself down from the height of heaven, and
that without impulse from any other; thus you may learn what very
grave cause man also, because of the weight by which he is oppressed
in his own nature, has to fear that he may fall. The world also
impels to evil, because it lieth in wickedness (1 John v. 19). Its
impulse is felt by all, but it overthrows only those who are of it, that
is, who are consentient with it in mind and will. I desire not to be
the friend of the world, lest I fall. For he who desires to be a friend
of this world becomes thereby an enemy of God, and this is the most
calamitous fall it is possible to make. From this it appears that
man is to himself the principal occasion of falling, since he can fall
by his own impulse, and without any impulse from another person,
but cannot fall without his own impulse, whatever instigation he may
receive from others. Now, which of these three adversaries ought
chiefly to be resisted ? Plainly, that one which is more importunate,
as it is in more intimate relation with us, which is sufficient by itself

THE SEVEN NEEDS OF T H E SOUL

519

to make us fall, and without which no other adversaries are able to
effect anything against us. Not without cause does the wise man
declare: He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city
(Prov. xvi. 32). This is of great importance to you; you have need
of great strength, and of that strength with which you can be endued
only from on high. That strength, if it be perfect, will easily render
the soul victorious over itself, and, consequently, invincible by all
other adversaries. For it is a spiritual strength, which knows not how
to yield when in defence of the right. Or, if you prefer to express
it thus, it is a spiritual strength which stands firm and unshaken,
with good reason, and on behalf of the right. Or, again, thus : a
spiritual strength, which, as far as in it lies, directs and rules all
things according to reason.
5. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Whosoever shall
take upon him to ascend to the top of that mountain, that is to say,
to attain the perfection of virtue, must consider how arduous is that
ascent, and how easy to fall without the assistance of the WORD.
Happy is the soul which excites the joy and the astonishment of the
Angels who behold it, so that it hears them speaking of it thus : Who
is this that cotneth up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved ?
(viii. 5). For otherwise she labours to no purpose, if she does not
lean upon God (nititur, innititur).
She will acquire new forces in
her struggle with herself, and thus becoming the stronger, will bring
all things into subjection to reason. She will regulate anger, fear,
cupidity, and joy, as a skilful charioteer (if I may so speak), driving
the chariot of the soul; she will bring into captivity every carnal
affection, and subject all the senses to the control of reason and the
practice of virtue. \ How can all things fail to be possible to a man
who depends in his endeavours upon Him who can do all things?
How firm a ground of confidence is that saying : I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me (Phil. iv. 13). Nothing shows
more clearly the Almighty power of the WORD, than that H e makes
all those whose hope is in Him to be, as it were, all powerful. For
all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark ix. 23). Is not he
all-powerful to whom all things are possible ? Thus it is that the
soul, if it does not presume upon its own powers, but is strengthened
by the WORD, will be able so to rule over itself that no unrighteousness
shall have dominion over it. It is thus, I say, that the soul, resting
upon the WORD, and endued with power from on high, cannot possibly be either overthrown or brought into subjection by any open
violence, secret guile, or enticing allurement.
6. W7ould you have no fear of violence from without ? Then let
not the foot of pride find place within you ; so the hand of the violent
shall not cast you down. There are the workers of iniquity fallen
(Ps. xxxvi. 12). It was thus that the devil and his angels fell." They
were impelled to evil by no force from without; nevertheless, they
were not able to stand, but were driven forth from Heaven. H e did
not stand fast in the truth, who did not rely upon the WORD, but

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trusted in his own strength. It was for that reason, perhaps, that he
desired to sit, because he was not able to stand upright. For, he
said : I will sit upon the mount of the congregation (Is. xiv. 13). But
the judgment of God was otherwise; he neither stood nor sat, but
fell headlong, as we are told by the Lord Himself: / beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven (Luke x. 18). Therefore let the soul that
stands, if it does not desire to fall, not trust in its own strength, but
lean upon the WORD. The WORD Himself warns us : Without Me
ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). That is most truly the case; without the WORD we can neither stand firm in the good to which we
have attained, nor rise up towards any fresh good. Do you, therefore, who as yet art standing firm, give glory to the WORD, and say :
He set my feet upon a rock and ordered my goings (Ps. xl. 2). It is
needful that the same Hand which has raised you up should hold
you firm and prevent you from falling. Thus much is by way of
explanation of what I said, that we have need of the WORD, that we
may be supported by Him and enabled to attain unto virtue.
7. In the next place, let us consider what I have also asserted,
namely, that it is by the WORD we are reformed according to wisdom.
The WORD is wisdom, and H e is strength. Let the soul, then, draw
wisdom from Him who is wisdom, and strength from Him who is
strength ; and let each of these gifts be ascribed to the WORD alone.
Otherwise, if either be ascribed to some other source, or arrogated to
the soul itself, let it be said also that the river does not flow from the
spring, the juice of the grape from the vine, or light from the orb of
day. It is a faithful saying : If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not: and it shall
be given him (James i. 5). This the Apostle expressly states; and I
think it is not otherwise with regard to strength. For strength is
nearly allied to wisdom; it is a gift of God, coming down from Him
who is the Father of the WORD, and to be ranked among the best
gifts. If anyone should think that it is in all respects identical with
wisdom, I do not contest i t ; but that perfect resemblance is in the
WORD, not in the soul. For those excellences, which in the WORD
are one because of the unique simplicity of the Divine nature, have
not in the soul the same action; but accommodate and distribute
themselves, as if diverse, according to its different and various necessities. According to this principle, then, it is one thing for the soul
to be acted upon by strength, and another for it to be directed by
wisdom : one thing for it to be strengthened by power, and another
for it to be delighted by sweetness. For although wisdom be powerful,
and power sweet; yet that we may attach to words each their proper
signification, we attach to power the sense of a certain vigour in the
soul, and to wisdom that of calmness and composure, accompanied
by a kind of spiritual sweetness. This I take to have been specified
by the Apostle when, after having given many exhortations relating
to spiritual strength, he added with regard to sweetness : In sweetness,
in the Holy Ghost (2 Cor. vi. 6, Douay). It is, then, an honour,

T H E SEVEN NEEDS OF T H E SOUL

521

indeed, to stand firm, to resist, to repel force by force, which are
regarded as the works of strength and courage; but it is also a labour.
For it is not the same thing to defend your honour with toil and
danger, and to possess it in peace. Whatsoever strength laboriously
prepares, wisdom makes use of and enjoys; and that which wisdom
ordains, contemplates, regulates, strength carries into effect.
8. ' The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure/ saith
the Wise man (Ecclus. xxxviii. 25, Douay). The very leisure, therefore, of wisdom is a labour; and the more leisurely wisdom is, the
more laborious it is in its own way. But virtue, the* more it is
exercised in its own sphere of action, the more illustrious it i s ; and
the more it prevails over difficulties, the more it is approved. And
if anyone should define wisdom as the love of virtue, I do not know
that he would be far wrong. But where love is, there a task, whatever
it be, is not a mere labour, but a pleasure and a joy. And perhaps
the name 'sapientia^ is derived from 'sapor,' since it is, as it were,
the seasoning of virtue, to which it gives taste and savour, and which,
in default of it, remains tasteless and insipid. Nor should I object
if anyone should define wisdom to be the love of, and taste for, good.
But we have lost this taste almost from the very appearance of our
race upon the earth. From the moment in which sense has prevailed,
and the venom of the old serpent has occupied and corrupted the
palate of the heart, it has begun to have no longer a taste for that
which is good, and a depraved and injurious taste has begun to enter
in. Thence it is that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth (Gen. viii. 21); that is, from the folly of the first woman. It
is, then, the folly of the woman that was the cause of our losing the
taste for good, and that because the malicious cunning of the serpent
deceived her inexperience. But the very reason which made that
malice appear to have gained the victory for a time, occasions it the
mortification of defeat for all eternity. For, lo ! Wisdom once more
has wholly filled the heart and the body of a woman; so that as by
a woman we had become deformed by falling into folly, so by a
woman we should be reformed unto wisdom. And now wisdom
constantly prevails over malice in those souls into which it has
entered, destroying and replacing by a better that taste for evil which
malice brought with it. Wisdom, when it enters into the soul, renders
insipid all the pleasures of the flesh, purifies the understanding, heals
and restores the palate of the heart. Thus, with the restoration of its
powers, it begins to desire that which is good, and to desire wisdom
itself, than which there is nothing better.
9. How many good actions are done in which, notwithstanding,
those who do them have no real delight, because they are not impelled
to do them by a taste and love for them, but are, in a measure, forced
to do them by the compulsion of reason, or of circumstances, or even
by necessity ! And, on the contrary, how many there are who, though
they do wrong, do not take pleasure in evil, but are led into it rather
by fear, or by some desire which they wish to satisfy, than by any

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satisfaction in wrongdoing ! But those who act from deliberate purpose either are wise, and delight in goodness for its own sake, or they
are of evil disposition, and find pleasure in evil as such, without being
drawn to it by the hope of some advantage. What, indeed, is iniquity
but the taking pleasure in what is evil ? Happy is the soul which has
delight only in whatever is good, and distaste and hatred for whatever
is evil! This it is to be reformed unto wisdom; this is to have had
happy experience of the victory of wisdom in one's own self. For
that in which the predominance of wisdom over malice is most plainly
shown is when, by the exclusion of all delight in evil, which is nothing
else than evil itself, the soul feels itself to be wholly occupied by a
deeply seated approval of, and delight in, that which is good. It is,
then, to power we have to look for the ability bravely to endure
tribulations, and to wisdom for the ability to rejoice in them. T o
strengthen thy heart, and wait patiently upon the Lord, that is the
work of power; to taste and see how sweet is the Lord, is the gift of
wisdom. And as each gift shows to the greatest advantage in its
appropriate virtue, so modesty of mind approves the man who is wise,
constancy the man wTho is full of power. And it is with fitness that
we put wisdom after power, because power of soul is, as it were, the
firm foundation upon which wisdom raises for, itself the complete
edifice of the Christian character. But it is needful that the knowledge of the good should precede each of these, for there is no
point of agreement between the light of wisdom and the darkness of
ignorance. And a good will also is needful, for 'into a malicious
soul wisdom shall not enter (Wisd. i. 4).
10. Now, having taken note that by the change of its will from
evil to good the soul has recovered life, spiritual health by the instruction which God bestows, stability by the gift of strength, and,
lastly, maturity by that of wisdom, it remains that it should obtain
the gift of beauty, without which it is not able to please Him who
is fairest among the sons of men. For she knows that it is said :
The King shall greatly desire thy beauty (Ps. xlv. 11). How many
good gifts to the soul, the gifts of the WORD, have we enumerated :
knowledge, goodwill, power, wisdom; and yet we do not read that
either of these is desired by the WORD ; only of ' thy beauty' is this
said. So the Psalmist also says : The Lord hath reigned. He is
clothed with beauty (Ps. xciii. 1, Douay). How can H e fail to desire
that she who is at once His likeness and His Bride should be clad
with a similar garment of beauty to Himself? The closer is her
resemblance to Him, the dearer will she be. In what, then, consists
this beauty of the soul ? Is it not in this, that she is called honourable ? Let us take that meaning provisionally, if no better occurs to
us. But honour appears in the outward behaviour ; not that it consists in this, but it is by this that it is recognised. Its origin and its
dwelling-place are in the conscience, and the testimony of a good
conscience is its glory. When the truth shines forth in the soul, and
the soul beholds itself in the truth, there is nothing brighter than that

THE SEVEN NEEDS OF T H E SOUL

523

light, nothing more glorious than that testimony. But of what nature
is the image thus displayed ? It is that of a soul chaste, modest, selfrestrained, circumspect, admitting nothing which tends to obscure
the glory of the testimony thus rendered ; conscious of no wrongdoing which should make it ashamed in the presence of the truth,
and oblige it to hide its countenance, as if confused and repelled by
the Divine light. This is without doubt that beauty which God
takes most pleasure in beholding, among all the excellences of the
holy soul; and this we name and define as honow.
i i . But when the splendour of this beauty is diffused abundantly
throughout the heart, so as to fill it wholly, it is of necessity that it
should become visible also without, and be not as a light hidden
under a bushel, but rather as a lamp shining in a dark place, and
which cannot be concealed. Thus casting the bright illumination of
its rays upon the body, it makes the latter an image of the soul, and
diffuses itself through all its faculties and senses, insomuch that every
action, every word, look, motion, every laugh (if it should ever give
way to laughter) should be mixed with gravity and full of self-restraint.
When, then, all the movements of the body, all its gestures and habits,
are grave, pure, and modest, far removed from all boldness and
licence, from all lightness and luxury, but adapted to righteousness,
and to every duty of piety, then the fairness of the soul shall be
visible, provided there be no secret guile to obscure it. For it may
be that all these things are put on and simulated, and do not come
naturally out of the abundance of the heart. And to display this
spiritual beauty in all its lustre, we will define, if you please, this
honour, and show in what it consists. It is the candour of the soul,
which is solicitous to unite the testimony of a good conscience within
with spotlessness of reputation without, or in the words of the Apostle:
Providing for things honest, ?iot only in the sight of the Lord, but also
in the sight of men (2 Cor. viii. 21). Blessed is the soul which has
clothed itself in that beauty of holiness, that pure whiteness of
innocence, by which it may claim a glorious likeness, not to the
world, but to the WORD ; of whom we read, that H e is the Brightness of the everlasting Light (Wisd. vii. 26); the Brightness of the
glory of God, and the express Image of His Person (Heb. i. 3).
12. From this degree the soul which is in such a condition
ventures to think of union with the WORD. Why should she not do
so, when she sees that the more she resembles Him, the more fitted
she is for that spiritual marriage ? The loftiness of His Majesty does
not terrify her, because her resemblance associates her with Him, her
affection unites her to Him, her profession of obedience and loyalty
constitutes a betrothal. And this is the form of that profession : /
have swo7'n, and will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous
judgments (Ps. cxix. 106). This the Apostles had followed when
they said: Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee
(Matt. xix. 27). Similar is that saying which, referring to a carnal
marriage, signified, nevertheless, the spiritual union which is betwixt

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Christ and His Church : For this cause shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be
one flesh (Eph. v. 31); and by the Psalmist the Bride glorifies herself in these terms : / / is good for me to draw near to God: I have
put my trust in the Lord God (Ps. Ixxiii. 28). When, then, you shall
see a soul which, having left all, cleaves unto the WORD with every
thought and desire, lives only for the WORD, rules itself according to
His will, nay, becomes, as it were, fruitful by the Word, which is
able to say with sincerity, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain
(Phil. i. 21), then you may have much assurance that this soul is
wedded to the Word, and is His Bride. The heart of her Spouse
trusteth in her, knowing her to be faithful, inasmuch as she has
despised all things in comparison of Him, and counts them as dung
(Phil. iii. 8), that she may win Christ, and be found in Him. Such
the Lord knew him to be of whom H e said : He is a chosen vessel
unto Me (Acts ix. 15). Assuredly the soul of the Apostle St. Paul
was, as it were, a faithful spouse and a tender mother, as was shown
by his touching words : My little children, of ivhom I travail in birth
again until Christ be formed in you (Gal. iv. 19).
13. But notice that in this spiritual marriage there are two ways of
travailing in birth, different, though not contrary; since saintly souls,
as holy mothers, either bring forth souls by preaching, or by meditation develop spiritual intelligences. In the latter kind of travail it
sometimes happens that the soul is so transported out of itself, and
entirely detached from the bodily senses, that, though conscious of
the WORD, it has no consciousness of itself. This is the case when
it is drawn on by the ineffable sweetness of the WORD, and, as it were,
stolen from itself, or, rather, it is rapt out of itself to enjoy the
Presence of the WORD. The mind is affected in one way when it is
rendered fruitful by the WORD, and in another when it enjoys the
Presence of the WORD. In the one it is full of care for the necessity
of its neighbour; in the other it is filled with enjoyment of the sweetness of the WORD. And, indeed, a mother has joy in her offspring,
as a Bride in the kindness of her spouse. Dear and precious are
children, who are the pledges of affection ; most sweet also the devotion of the beloved. So also it is a good work to save many souls ;
but to depart and to be with the WORD, that is far better. But when
does that happen to us, or how long does it endure ? Sweet is that
communion ; but how seldom does it occur, and for how brief a time
does it last! And this is the final reason of those for which, as I
remember I stated above, the soul seeks the WORD ; namely, that it
may attain to spiritual joy through Him.
14. Perhaps it will be asked of me by someone who hears this,
What is it to enjoy the WORD ? I reply, Let that be asked rather
from him who has had the happiness to experience it. Even though
it were given to me to have that great blessing, how can you think it
possible that I should explain a mystery which is incapable of being
put into words? Hear one who had known it: Whether we be beside

T H E PRAISE OF MODESTY

525

ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause
(2 Cor. v. 13). That is to say, It is one thing for me to have communion with God, and of that God alone is the judge; it is quite
another for me to be in familiar speech, my brethren, with yourselves.
It has been permitted to me to have experience of that great blessing;
it is not at all permitted to me to express it in speech. And in the
reference which I have just now made to it, I adapt my words, so as
to speak, as you are able to receive what I may say. O thou who art
full of curiosity to know what it is to enjoy the WORD, prepare thy
heart for that, not thy ear. The tongue cannot reveal it, it is taught
only by grace. It is hidden from the wise and prudent, and it is
revealed to babes. Humility, my brethren, is a great and lofty virtue,
by which that which is not taught is promised; which is worthy to
attain what is beyond the province of teaching ; worthy of the WORD,
and to receive by the WORD that which it is not itself capable of
expressing in words. Why is this ? Not because of any merit of its
own, but because such is the good pleasure of Him who is the Father
of the WORD, the Bridegroom of the soul, JESUS CHRIST our Lord,

who is above all, God blessed for ever.

AMEN.

SERMON LXXXVI.
OF T H E CAUTION AND MODESTY BECOMING TO T H E SOUL IN SEEKING
T H E WORD, AND OF T H E PRAISE OF MODESTY.

I

B E L I E V E that nothing more will be expected of me upon the
subject of the soul's reasons for seeking the WORD, for I have
already sufficiently stated them. Come, then, let us continue
to expound what remains of the verse before us, as far only as relates
to morals. Notice, then, in the first place, the modesty of the Bride.
I know not whether there is any virtue which man can attain more
beautiful than this. This before all I would desire to take, so to
speak, in my hands, and to gather it as a fair flower to present to those
who are young among us. Not that those who are more advanced in
it ought not to preserve it with every care, but because the grace of a
tender modesty shines out more fairly and becomingly in those who
are of a more tender age. What is there more amiable than a young
man who is modest ? How fair, and even splendid, does this jewel
of virtues show on the countenance and in the life of the young !
What a certain and unmistakable mark it is of goodness of character,
and of that which may be one day hoped for from them ! It is, as it
were, a rod of correction to such an one, which is constantly present
before his mind, which chastens the affections and the thoughtless
actions of an age which is wont to be artful and deceptive, arid which

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

restrains its light or insolent actions. What is there more contrary
than it to coarse speech, or to any kind of impurity ? It is the sister
of continence. There is no mark so plain and unmistakable as this,
of dove-like simplicity: and therefore it is the proof of innocence.
It is a lamp which burns without ceasing in a modest soul, so that
nothing impure or unbecoming can attempt to enter there without
being instantly discovered. Thus it acts as the destroyer of vices and
promoter of inward purity, the special glory of conscience, the guardian
of good fame, the ornament of life, the seat and the first-fruits of
virtue, the glory of nature, and the token or ensign of everything
honourable. What grace and beauty the very colour in the cheeks
called up by modesty imparts to the countenance !
2. Modesty is an excellence so natural to the soul, that even those
who do not fear to act wrongly are ashamed to let it be perceived, as
the Lord Himself declares : Every one that doeth evil hateth the light
(John iii. 20). And again, St. Paul says : They that sleeps sleep in the
night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the flight (1 Thess.
v. 7 ) ; that is to say, the works of darkness, which are deserving of
darkness everlasting, shroud themselves in darkness of their own
accord. It is, however, important to distinguish here between the
modesty of men who are not ashamed to do such actions, but blush
to have them discovered, and therefore conceal them, and that of the
Bride, who does not merely conceal them, but rejects them absolutely, and drives them away. Thus the Wise Man declares : There
is a shame which bringeth sin : and there is a shame which is glory
and grace (Ecclus. iv. 21). The Bride seeks the WORD ; seeks Him
at night, and on her couch, but modestly and timidly; and this
modesty is glorious, not sinful. She seeks to find Him for the purifying of her conscience, for the obtaining of the testimony, that she may
say : Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience (2 Cor. i. 12,
Douay). By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth
(Cant. iii. 1). Her modesty, if you notice, is indicated to you both
by the place and the time. What is there so congenial to a modest
mind as secrecy ? Now, the night and the couch ensure that her
prayer is secret. And, in fact, we are bidden, when we desire to pray,
to enter into our bedchamber (Matt. vi. 6), no doubt for the sake of
secrecy. That is, indeed, to be done as a measure of precaution,
lest if we pray in the sight of men human praise may hinder the effect
of our prayer and deprive us of its fruit. But we learn from it also a
lesson of modesty; for what course is so appropriate to modesty as to
avoid even the praises that are due to it, and to fly from vainglory ?
It is, then, clear that the Son, who is the teacher 1 and pattern of
modesty, has expressly bidden us to seek for secrecy in our prayers,
so as to promote modesty. What can be so unbecoming, especially
in a young man, as an ostentation of sanctity ? It is to be borne in
mind also that at that age it is particularly needful to make a beginning of religious obedience, according to the saying of Jeremiah : / /
1

Magister;

another reading is ??iinister.

THE PRAISE OF MODESTY

527

is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth (Lam. iii. 27).
The prayer which you are about to offer will be well recommended
if you cause it to be preceded by modesty, saying : / am very young
and despised: but I forgot not Thy justifications(Ps. cxix. 141, Douay).
3. It is needful that he who desires to offer acceptable prayer
should observe not only the right place, but also the right time to do
so. A time of leisure is the fittest and most convenient, and especially
during the deep silence which night brings; for then prayer arises
most freely, and is most pure. Arise, says a prophet, cry out in the
night; in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water
before the face of the Lord (Lam. ii. 19). How securely during the
night does prayer arise to heaven, unwitnessed, save by God alone,
and by the holy Angel, who receives that prayer to present it before
the Altar of Heaven ! How acceptable and clear it is, being rendered
translucent by humility and modesty! How serene and peaceful,
since it is troubled by no sound nor interruption ! And lastly, how
pure and sincere, as being free from the soiling dust of earthly care,
nor deflected by the praise and flattery of human witnesses! For
these reasons it was that the Bride, who is as modest as she is
prudent, sought the silence of the night, and the retirement of her
chamber, to pray, that is, to occupy herself in seeking the WORD.
For these two objects are one. Otherwise you do not pray aright, if
in prayer you seek some other object than the WORD, or seek it
otherwise than on account of the WORD, since in Him are all things
[that you ought to seek]. In Him are the remedies for the wounds
of your soul, in Him the help for necessities, supplies for all defects,
abundance for the soul's progress in holiness, and, in a word, all
things that man ought to have or to desire, all things that he needs,
all things that are good for him. It is, then, wholly without cause
that anything but the WORD is asked of Him in prayer, for He Himself is all things. For although we sometimes seem to ask those
temporal good things of which we have need, if it is for the sake of
the WORD that we ask them (as indeed it is fit and right we should
do), it is not properly those good things themselves for which we are
making petition, but for Him on whose account and for whose service
we are asking them. Those whose rule of conduct it is to make use
of all things so as to endeavour to deserve well of the WORD, know
the truth of what I say.
4. We shall not regret examining still farther the mysteries indicated by this mention of the bed and of the night, to see if there be
some spiritual truth concealed in it, which it will be for our benefit to
discover. If, for example, by the bed we understand the weakness of
our human nature, and by the night its ignorance, then we shall be
thus taught that it is not without good cause that the Bride seeks
with such touching and painful earnestness the WORD, who is the
Power of God and the Wisdom of God, that she may be fortified by
His presence against each of these evils, which are to be attributed
to the fault of origin. What can be more fitting than that Power

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SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

should be opposed to weakness, and wisdom to ignorance? And
that no doubt may linger in the hearts of the simple regarding this
interpretation, let them hear what is said in a Psalm : The Lord will
strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; Thou wilt ?nake all his
bed in his sickness (Ps. xli. 3). That is as relates to the bed. And as
to the night of ignorance, what can be plainer than the statement
in another Psalm : They knoiv not, neither will they understand; they
walk on in darkness (Ps. lxxxii. 5)? which expresses with preciseness
that state of ignorance into which the whole human race are born.
It was into this, as I think, that the blessed Apostle St. Paul both
confesses that he was born, and glories that he has been delivered
from it, saying: Who hath delivered us from the power of dark?iess
(Col. i. 13). And on this account he says also : We are not [children] of the night, nor of darkness (1 Thess. v. 5 ) ; and also he says
(Eph. v. 8) to all those who are elect: Walk as children of light.

Thus far had the holy Bernard written, when death arrested his
proceeding farther ivith the work. This very Sermon was evidently left
unfinished, and on that account is so much shorter than the rest, and
wanting in the usual Ascription and Doxology.
[The Sermons on the Canticles were continued by a disciple of
St. Bernard, Gilbert, first Abbot of St. Mary of Hoiland (Swineshead
Abbey, in the County of Lincoln), and apparently a countryman of
our own. H e carried the Exposition on as far as v. 10, in forty-eight
Sermons, and then * similiterprczventus morte' died, about A.D. 1200,
at least his name cannot be traced in the records any farther than
that date.]

S. J. E.

INDEX.
A.
A C T I V E life, the, more necessary than the
contemplative, 48.
Air, said to be the abode of demons, 327.
Ambition, a temptation, 222.
Ambrose, St., xiii.
Angels, why they need bodies, 25 ; nature
of their bodies, 27 ; cannot by themselves reach unto human minds, ib. ;
assist men in prayer and praise, 35 ;
nature and manner of their love to God,
104 ; Archangels, the, 105 ; Powers,
ib. ; Dominations, 106 ; Thrones, ib.;
Seraphin, 107 ; Cherubin, ib. ; in what
sense they are redeemed, 125 ; mystically called stars, 169; guardian Angel,
his offices to a holy soul, 204; they
watch over the faithful, 249 ; impart
Divine truths, 257; are acquainted with
the invisible verities of God, 321 ; called
mountains and hills, 322 ; how the
fallen Angels were punished, 422 ; their
places are to be filled by human souls,
476.
Animals, in what sense they have spirit,
25 ; it does not survive their body, ib.
Anselm, St., his idea of creatwa rnimdi,
25Apostles, the supposed inebriation of, 298.
Apples, mystically interpreted, 308.
Aquinas, St. Thomas, xiii. ; as to Angelic
bodies, 27
Athanasius, St., xii.
Augustine, St., xii. ; as to Angelic bodies,
27 ; his love for the name of Jesus, 83 ;
on Baptism, 423.
Avarice, mystically interpreted, 249.
Avaricious, the servant rather than the
master of his wealth, 120.
B.
BAPTISM, the deliverance at the Red Sea
a type of, 247 ; heretical errors respecting, 404.
Beams, mystical meaning of, 286.
Berengar, disciple of Abaelard, his Afologeticum, 170.

Bernard, St., his preaching, 1, 2, 3, 4 ;
preparation, 3 ; his experience of spiritual coldness, 77; his lament for his
brother Gerard, 164 ; protests his unworthiness, 196 ; laments his many
occupations, 197; his favourite text,
269; his relics, 270 ; his desire to
preach Jesus only, 269 ; his assiduity
in celebrating, 305 ; his satisfaction at
good results from his sermons, 309;
humility of, 334 ; his modesty, 457 ; his
personal experience of Divine visitations, ib. ; of Divine suggestions, 501 ;
Bible of, xix.
Bernard des Portes, suggests sermons, 2.
Bethel, or Bether, house of, 452.
Bishops, how highly to be revered, 65 ;
not rashly to be criticised, ib. ; their
office not to be sought by ambition, ib.
Blackness, mystical sense of, 150 ; outward, frequently a sign of inward comeliness, 151 ; as applied to St. Paul, 152 ;
to the Saviour, 154; to the Bride, 153.
Blessed dead, whether they can feel sympathy for the living, 159 ; the felicity
of, 216; their care for the faithful on
earth, 476.
Blessedness, the future, to be derived from
God Himself, 57.
Body, the, its complaint against the soul,
147 ; why created upright, ib. ; compared to a tent, 155.
Bonaventura, St., xii.
Bossuet, Bishop, xiv.
Brentius, J., xii.
Bridegroom, the, is the Divine Son, 4 3 ;
breasts of the, are Patience and Clemency, 4 6 ; the four perfumes of the,
123, 129 ; has many chambers, 137 ;
mercy and judgment the attributes of,
333 ; how H e is said to have stood,
336; is present everywhere in His
Divinity, 337; His coming mystically
stated, 341 ; calls to duty, 347; His
great love to mankind, 387 ; gives
attention to the Church, 415 ; the signs
of His Presence in the soul, 424, 454 ;
why called Beloved, 426; feeds among

34

530

SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS

the lilies, 427, 432 ; of His Glory with 1
the Father, 468-470 ; of His returning
at the end of the age, 483.
Bride, the Church called the, 78 ; why
desiring to be drawn after Christ, 116 ;
is black, yet comely, 149 ; adornment
of the, 167 ; beauty of consists in virtues, 168 ; the qualities of, 214 ; called
the fairest, 243 ; loved by the Saviour,
251 ; what constitutes its beauty, 252 ;
compared to a turtle-dove, 254 ; the
ornaments and necklaces of, 256 ; is
called to duty by the Bridegroom, 347 ;
the expression of her love to Him, 408,
415 ; limits of her knowledge, 471.

C.

J

C A M P H I R E , mystically interpreted, 271. >
Canticles, Book of, to be entrusted to 1
wise and devout minds only, 8 ; is with- I
out preface, 9 ; in Scripture, how they |
differ, 10.
Carnal delights compared to wine, 48.
Cassiodorus, xii.
Castellio, S., xiv.
I
Cedar, mystical meaning of the, 282.
!
Centurion, the, depended upon hearing, j
that is, faith, rather than sight, 179.
Chamber of the Bridegroom, mystical i
sense of, 132, 136 ; chambers of God, j
of Providence, of judgment, and of |
mercy, 138.
Chancellors, said to be so-called from sitting behind cancelli, 339.
Chariots of Pharaoh, the, 247, 250 ; their I
horses and drivers, ib.
I
Charity, need of, 104; necessary with faith
to uprightness, 149 ; is the measure of
souls, 174 ; is the best gift, 188 ; want
of, a great fault, 189 ; what it is to set in 1
order in the soul, 300 ; of feeling and of
action compared, 302.
Chastity, commendation of, 354.
Cherubin, the, 107.
C H R I S T , His self-emptying a ground of
hope, 57, 58; why He suffered so greatly
to redeem mankind, 59 ; the Church '
His Body, 66; His Name compared j
to sweet ointment, 79 ; how we should j
love Him, i n ; love to Him according i
to the flesh, 113 ; comparison between j
two ways of loving Him, 115 ; most
men desire His Glory rather than His
Cross, 117 ; in what sense He is a Redeemer to the Angels, 126; how unworthy it is not to follow Him, 127 ; j
various motives for doing so, 128 ; all
perfections united in the Life of, 130 ;
in what sense said to be black, 153 ;
likeness to Him the glory of the Christian, 154; called the true Solomon,
168 ; said to have incurred blackness
for the sake of man, 177 ; His glory
and beauty, 183 ; not discerned in His
humiliation by the Jews, 184 ; the faith- |

ful soul lives in the shadow of, 207;
communicated to some souls as Bridegroom, to others as Physician, 207,208 ;
His Life on earth compared to an
aurora, 217 ; His perfect humility, 266;
meditation upon Plis sufferings and
Passion, how helpful, 267 ; compared
to a bundle of myrrh, ib. ; the Vision of
Him, 278; His manifold Perfections,
280 ; called Rose of Sharon and Lily of
the Valley, 287, 289 ; is our pattern and
also our recompense, 289; what is
meant by the Shadow of, 295 ; compared to an apple-tree, 293 ; is by
Nature superior to the children of
grace, 295; death terrible without Him,
338; the Passion of, the strength of
martyrdom, 370; virtues of, called
lilies, 426 ; manifested that He might
be loved, 427 ; comes in human form to
judge, that He may be delightful to the
elect, 448 ; less than the Angels, yet
loftier, 448, 453 ; why H e ascended into
Heaven, 468.
Church, the prayer of the, for the diffusion of the grace of the Gospel, 75 ; is
black, yet comely, 149 ; is composed
both of Angels and men, 171 ; said to
have heavens, 175 ; is both humble and
sublime, 176 ; complaint of against
persecutors, 186; called a vineyard,
193 ; was increased through persecution, 194 ; its privilege is to be universal,
195 ; the four temptations of, 223 ;
injured by the evil lives of Christians,
224 ; of the state and composition of,
281 ; the end of all things depends on
its consummation, 418 ; how gathered,
478 ; of the elect, predestinated before
all ages, 479 ; not at first recognised,
480 ; how formed, 481 ; how continually
protected, 485; charity towards the
Synagogue, 486.
Cistercian Churches, plainness of, xvii.
Clairvaux, the community at, some insubordinate members of, 284; request
to the brethren of, not to disturb their
Abbot for trifling causes, 318.
Confession, a sincere, of sin, a proof of
spiritual life, 85 ; the three kinds of,
86 ; what is a wrong kind of, 91 ; must
be made with simplicity, 9 2 ; with
faith, 93.
Consolation and exhortation yielded by
the Spouse, 49.
Contemplative life, the, not so necessary
as the active, 48 ; the use of contemplation, 103; three ways of, called storerooms, 130 ; how to be attained, 283 ;
leads to ecstasy, 314.
Contrition, in what it consists, 86.
Conversion, a sign of, 343.
Countenance of the soul, the intention
so-called, 253.
Cure of souls, the, how great a hindrance
is avarice to, 50.

INDEX
Curtains of Solomon, mystical sense of,
155, 156, 167.
Cypress, mystical meaning of the, 282.
Cyril, St., of Jerusalem, xii.
D.
D A V I D , example of, 70, 213 ; his patience,
225, 411 ; his marriage hymn, 412.
Day of inspiration, 446; of respiration,
448.
Daybreak, mystically explained, 444.
Death of the soul, 315 ; of the body,
316 ; is terrible without Christ, 338.
Despair, comes from ignorance of God,
243Detraction, the vice of, 142 ; destroys
charity, 145 ; different kinds of, 146;
detractors called foxes, 380.
Deutz, Rupert of, xiii.
Devotion, a spiritual perfume, 4 9 ; of
what composed, 52 ; glorifies God, 53.
Dionysius Carthusianus, xiii.
Discretion, the importance of, 299; the
regulator of all the virtues, 300.
Divine Service, how it should be shared
in, 291.
Dominations, an order of Angels, 106.
Dublin, St. Mary's Abbey at, 5.
Durand, John, 5.
E.
EBERSBERG, William, Abbot of, xii.
Eberwin, Provost of Steinfeld, 4 ; his
letter to St. Bernard, 388.
Ecstasy, two kinds of, 299 ; is reached by
the way of contemplation, 314 ; is an
approach to the Angelic life, 316.
Elijah and Elisha, the Divine instruments in working miracles, 71.
Elisha, the staff of, 85.
Enemy, an, with what feeling to be regarded, 306.
Engedi, explanation of, 271, 272.
Envy, in anywise to be avoided, 301 ; the
inward consent to, constitutes sin, 302.
Epiphanius, Bishop, xii.
Ernald, Life of St. Bernard, 2.
Estius, as to Angelic bodies, 27.
Eucharist, the Holy, sometimes intermitted among the Cistercians, 305.
Eusebius of Csesarea, xii.
Ewald, G. H. A. von, xiv.
Example, a good, to be given by pastors,
473Exhortation and consolation yielded by
the Spouse, 49.
F.
F A I T H , separation from charity fatal to,
148 ; has a surer cognition than experience, 182 ; compared to a shadow,
206; without works is dead, 296;
denoted by flowers, 309 ; prepares the
soul for the Vision of God, 320.
Faithful, the, signified by vineyards, 192.

531

Fasting, heretical errors respecting, 403.
F A T H E R , the, His Unity with the S O N ,
432» 435. 436.
Fear, the threefold, of the loss of grace
received, 324, 330 ; typified by water,
331.
Figs, green, mystically interpreted of imperfect actions, 359 ; of knowledge and
prophecy, 365.
Fire of God, consumes and yet blesses,
344Flatterers, called foxes, 380.
Flesh, the prudence of the, is death, 192 ;
concupiscence of the, extinguishes compassion for others, 274.
Fleury, Church History, xxii.
Flower of holiness, threefold : virginity,
martyrdom, and good works, 287 ;
flowers of the field, the garden, and in
the chamber, contrasted, 288 ; called
types of Christ, 289 ; mystically interpreted, 308.
Force, a Hand of God, 33.
Foxes, flatterers and detractors called by
that name, 378, 380, 386.
Free will of the soul discussed, 504.
G.
G A R D E N OF T H E BRIDEGROOM, mystical

sense of, 132.
Genebrand, Bishop, xii.
Gentleness, the virtue of, called a lily,
426.
Geoffrey, ' Life of S. B.,' 2.
Gerard, brother of St. Bernard, the
saint's lament for his death, 157 ; his
thoughtfulness for his brother, 159 ;
prudence and ability in management of
affairs, 160 ; his joy in the hour of
death, 164 ; scene at the death of, ib.
Gerhard, John, xiii.
Gerlach, O. von, xiii.
Gerson, J., xii.
Ghislerius, Michael, xiii.
Gifts, there are diversities of, 299 ; a
cheerful giver, 434
Gilbert de la Porr£e, Bishop, 4, 487.
Gilbert of Hoiland, continues the sermons,
5. S28.
Gilboa, Mountains of, mystically interpreted, 327.
Ginsburg, Dr. C. D., xiv.
G O D is a pure Spirit, 22 ; spoken of in
Scripture as having Hands, and Feet,
and Mouth, 2 3 ; is the Principle of
Being to all things, 23 ; has no need
of bodily organs as instruments, 23 ;
makes use of the agency of His creatures, 28 ; acts by the fiat of His Will,
29 ; Mercy and Judgment called His
Feet, 31 ; Force and Liberality called
His Hands, 3 3 ; is perfectly known
only when perfectly loved, 42 ; anticipates the prayers of pious souls, 46 ;
His benefits to be remembered as a

532

SERMONS ON

Th E SONG OF SONGS
I

means of consolation, 57; praise and
glory are to be rendered to Him, 6 7 ;
not every kind of thanksgiving acceptable to Him, 68 ; Name of, revealed to
Moses, 81 ; appeal of the nations to,
82; as Father, forgives, as Creator,
judges, 9 0 ; love of, for human souls,
99 ; three ways in which He is loved,
109 ; aspiration of a penitent soul to,
ib.; the consciousness of the blessed
dead absorbed in, 159 ; the Vision of
by the soul, 201 ; how to draw near to
Him, 202; how manifested to the
Patriarchs, 203; His manifestation cannot be described, 205 ; His Presence
in the soul not continuous, 208 ; His
great lovingkindness, 244 ; His severest
anger is to inflict no chastisement, 261 ;
duty of thankfulness to, 311 ; goodness
of, in entering into relation with the soul,
314 ; the visitations of to be reverently
observed, 340 ; by what signs they may
be known, 341 ; fire of, consumes and
yet blesses, 344; Voice of, calls for
obedient service, ib. ; not to be rashly
sought into, 375 ; His love for the soul,
425 ; His will to be perfectly accomplished, 442; is to be sought in due
time, place, and manner, 4 6 1 ; what is
the right time, 463 ; the right place,
464 ; contrast between His action and
that of creatures, 479, 480; the I mage or
W O R D of, 487 ; seeks first the soul, 512.
Gold, denotes the Divine splendour, 257.
Good works, denoted by fruits, 309;
called lilies, 432 ; vitiated by a bad intention, 433.
Grace, necessity of, 118, 211 ; not to be
counted on unthinkingly, 119 ; we must
co-operate with, 212; preventing and
following grace, 414 ; grace and truth
both needful, 459.
Great souls obtain great blessings, 212.
Green, Dr. W . H., xiv.
Gregory of Nyssa, xii.
Gregory, St., the Great, xiii.
Grotius, Hugh, xiv.
Guerric, Abbot of Igny, 6.
Guignard, M., his account of the relics of
St. Bernard, 269.
Gulielmus Parvus, xiii.
Guyon, Madame, xii.
H.
H A U R £ A U , M., Des Pohmes
Latins
attribute a St. Bernard, 290
Havernick, xiii.
Hearing, rather than sight, the way to
religious truth, 179.
Heaven, in what sense a holy soul is
called this, 167.
Hengstenberg, xiii.
Herder, xiv.
Heresies, temptation from, 223 ; [Heretics]
should be met by reasoning, not by

force, 386 ; the arguments of St. Bernard against, 393, 401, 407, 477.
Herod, not worthy to behold the Messiah,
16.
Hills, interpreted of heavenly spirits, 319 ;
otherwise of demons, 324.
Hinds, mystically interpreted, 317.
Hitzig, xiv.
Holy Ghost, gifts of the, are the Kiss bestowed upon the Church, 38 ; the Holy
Ghost is the Kiss from the Father to
the Son, 39 ; is the Goodness of Each,
39; is not accorded to the angels, 3 8 ;
His approach to the soul to be sedulously observed, 95; His operations upon
souls called infusion and effusion, 100.
Holy women, the, 465.
Honorius of Autun, xii.
Hope of life, itself a harvest, 240; the
soul reposes in, 313.
Humility, combined with spiritual greatness, a rare and high virtue, 69, 224;
a preparation for great graces, 225 ;
is both laudable and safe, 242; two
kinds of, 259 ; signified by spikenard,
262 ; contrast between enforced and
voluntary, 265 ; a qualification for the
crown of martyrdom, 290; the consummation of righteousness, 291.
Hug, L., commentator, xii.
I.
IBN E Z R A , xi.

Ignorance, the parent of falsehood and
doubt, 96 ; two kinds of, to be avoided,
227 ; a cause of degradation, 231, 232 ;
what kind is not hurtful, 234 ; ignorance
of God the cause of despair, 243.
Incarnation, the, expected by the Prophets, 10, 11 ; mystically called the
' Kiss of God,' 11 ; to win the love of
men a principal object of the, 113 ;
called a descending upon the hills,
323 ; the means by which Christ gained
an experimental knowledge of human
necessities, 335.
Inebriation of the Apostles, the supposed,
298.
Infants are regenerated in baptism, 404,
419 ; the merits of Christ are attributed
to, ib.
Inspiration, 481.
Isaac, how deceived, 181.
Isaiah, the prophet, 411.
Isidorus Hispalensis, xii.
Israel holds to the literal meaning of the
text of Scripture, 449.

J.
J E R E M I A H , his book of Lamentations, 88,
411.
Jerome, St., xii.
Jesus, the Name of, St. Bernard's hymn
on, 84, 290; manifold excellences of
the Saviour's character, 84 ; a saving

INDEX
antidote against sin, 8 5 ; called the
Flower of the human race, 3 5 1 ; the
Blood of, called the fruit of the vine,
363; His Wounds places of refuge, 367;
why He is Judge of mankind, 451 ; His
Ascension, 484.
Jews, the incredulity of, 360; their intelligence called bovine, 362.
Job, his saying on the nature of wisdom,
181.
John, St., of the Cross, xii.
Joseph, example of, 69.
Judgment, and mercy, called the Feet of
God, 31, 32 ; Day of, a cause of fear to
the sinner, 90, 450; how to escape it
by penitence, 332.
Justus Argelitanus, xii.
K.
KAISER,

xii.

Kedar, tents of, mystical sense, 155, 156.
Keil, xiii.
Keys of the kingdom of heaven, what is
meant by, 423.
Kimchi, David, xi.
Kiss, meaning of, in the Canticles, 9 ; explained as the Incarnation, 13; of the
Lord's Feet, explained as penitence,
18 ; of His Hand, as strength to make
progress in holiness, 1 9 ; of His Lips,
as spiritual communion with Him, 22 ;
only to be comprehended by those who
have experienced it, 18 ; for the perfect
only, 20.
Kistemacher, xiv.
Knowledge, what kind of. is for our good,
233 ; the right motive for, 235 ; unused and unfruitful is hurtful, 236; of
self, is necessary, id. ; a motive to
humility, 237 ; of God, needful to salvation, id. ; two kinds of, 238; the
right kind of, will not minister to pride,
241.
L.
L A P I D E , C O R N , A , xiii.

Laquearia, what is meant by, 282.
Lazarus, a type, 345, 346.
Lessing, xiv.
Liberality, a Hand of God, 33.
Life, the present, full of dangers, 292.
Lily of the valleys, 290; the Huleh lily,
292 ; the virtues called lilies, 426.
Love, a uniting force, 355 ; shown by the
Bridegroom to mankind, 387 ; of God
for the soul, 425 ; is not mercenary,
510; is small compared with the love
of God, 511.
Lowth, Bishop, xiv.
Lucifer, envied the human race, 97 ; desired to rule over it, 98.
M.
M A B I L L O N , Dom John, his Introduction,
ix, i-b.

533

Macarius, xii.
Maimonides, Moses, xi.
Malice, mystically interpreted, 249.
Man, his degeneration from his first state,
230.
Marriages, plurality of, condemned, 358 ;
heretical errors respecting, 399, 401.
Martha, a type, 345 ; the Lord in her
house, 435.
Martyrdom, called the flower in the field,
289 ; the fruit of the vine, 363 ; the
strength of, derived from the Passion
of Christ, 370.
Mary, a type, 346.
Mary Magdalene, 51 {?iote).
Mary, the Blessed Virgin, her great love
for Jesus, 191 ; her overshadowing a
support to her, 207, 444 ; her purity,
230 ; how found, 482.
Maximus, Confessor, xii.
Mercy and Judgment, called the Feet of
God, 31, 32.
Messiah, His Coming longed for. 14 ; His
Human Nature a ground of confidence,
15Michael, Psellus, xiii.
Michaelis, J. D., xiv.
Modesty, frequently found with knowledge, 342 ; praise, especially in the
young, 524.
Monks, singularity in, blamed, 108 ; their
too great regard for their bodily condition blamed, 199; temptations of,
220 ; the younger, called nascent fruits,
381 ; of their fate, 382 ; the elder, of
their temptations, 383.
Montalembert, Comte de, his purpose of
writing the life of St. Bernard, 269.
Moses, Divine manifestation to, 213.
Mountains, interpreted of heavenly spirits,
319 ; of angels and men, 324.
Myrrh, the sufferings of Christ compared
to a bundle of, 267.
N.
N A M E of Christ, the, compared to sweet
ointment, 79 ; is a salutary medicine,
80; expresses His Power and His Beneficence, id. ; the means of salvation, 81 ;
why compared to oil, 82 ; is light and
nourishment, ib. ; St. Bernard's hymn
on, 84.
Nations, the, their appeal to God, 82.
Necessity, the * maxim of law ' respecting,
3°5Night, a type of the weakness of human
nature, 527.

O.
O R I G E N , the error of, as to a crucifixion
of the Lord in the air, 326 ; Homilies, xii.
Osorius, Hierono., xii.

534

SERMONS ON T H E SONG OF SONGS

P.
PASTOR, a good, qualities of, 103 ; must
use patience and gentleness towards
souls, 150; how he should feed his
flock, 229; is not consoled by being
merely clear of personal blame, 262 ;
qualities needful for, 472 ; must give a
good example, 473 ; of those who are
bad, 474.
Patience, of, 224.
Patriarchs, how God was manifested to
the, 203.
Paul, St., his distinction between his life
and himself, 198 ; his allowance of the
use of wine, 200 ; his struggle against
the law of the flesh, 338, 353.
Penitence, a spiritual perfume, 49 ; acceptable to God, 5 1 ; enables the soul
to escape judgment, 332.
Perfumes, the three spiritual, are Penitence, Devotion, and Piety, 49 ; of the
holy women, 6 4 ; the four, of the
Bridegroom, 125, 129.
Persecutions, the many, endured by the
Church, 187 ; yet they increase it, 193,
223.
Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris (Master
of the Sentences), as to Angelic bodies,
27.
Peter, St., why blamed by the Lord, 112 ;
zeal in defending Jesus, 349 ; the keys
given to, 424.
Pharaoh, mystically interpreted of the
devil, 247 ; the chariots of, 249.
Philip, St., the Lord's reply to, 213.
Piety, a spiritual perfume, 49 ; the most
excellent of all, 60 ; of St. Paul, 61 ; of
Job, id. ; of Joseph, id. ; of David, 62 ;
of the holy women, 63, 64.
Piscator, John, xiii.
Poverty, Evangelical, possesses all things,
120.

Powers, an order of Angels, 105.
Prayer, earnest, does not remain unanswered, 298 ; what kind of, is acceptable, 526.
Preachers, the threefold cord entrusted
to, 87 ; should resemble a reservoir
rather than a canal, 101 ; signs of those
who are faulty, 102 ; duty of preaching
imposed, 258 ,• require a pure intention,
37T> 377 ' t n e desire to preach sometimes a temptation, 384.
Predestined to salvation, happy state of
those in that condition, 141 ; how they
are without sin, id.
Pride, not permissible in an Angel, much
less in a man, 328; secret, the evil
consequences of, 329.
Principalities, an order of Angels, 106.
Psalms, how to find pleasure and sweetness in the, 36.
Puffendorf, Von, xiii.
Pure intention, necessary for those who
pray, 37.

R.
R A I N S , mystical sense of, 351, 353.
Rashi, R. Solomon ben Isaac, xi.
Rectitude, in what it consists, 146.
Redemption, the manner in which accomplished, the benefits of, 57.
Renan, E., xiv.
Repentance, the need of, 103.
Richard of St. Victor, xii.
Riches, the master rather than the servant
of the avaricious, 120.
Righteousness called a lily, 426.
Roes, mystically interpreted, 317.
Roos, M. F . , xiii.
Rosenmuller, xii.
S.
S A A D I A S , R.,

xi.

Sacrament of the Altar, St. Bernard upon
the, 215 ; is food and consolation to
the soul, 219.
Saints, the glory of the, due to God, 71.
Salisbury, John of, his Polycraticus, 235.
Salmeron, xiii.
Samaritan, the good, 272.
Scripture, Holy, threefold sense of, 132 ;
declares Divine truths in a figurative
manner, 455.
Self-denial needs to be continually renewed, 353.
Self, the love of, 8.
Sensuality mystically interpreted, 249.
Separation worse than death, 158.
Seraphin, the, 107.
Seven, the number, mystical signification
of, 86, 88.
Shadows, mystically explained, 441, 444.
Shepherds, the, their vision, 16; evil pastors are hurtful to their flocks, 219.
Simeon, his gladness at Christ's coming,
16.
Sins, called walls between God and man,
335 ; enfeeble the qualities of the soul,
506.
Sixtus of Sienna, 5, 35.
Sleep of the body, 315.
Sleep, those blamed who indulge in during
service, 35.
Solitude, the real nature of, 255; the solitary life unwisely chosen, 384.
Solomon, curtains of, mystical sense, 156.
SON, the, His unity with the F A T H E R ,
432-436.
Song ol Songs, the title, 7, 10.
Sorrow, gives a zest to joy which follows,
418.
Soul, the ardent love of for G o d / 3 3 ;
called the Bride of the Lord, 34 ; its
three great faculties (reason, will, and
memory), 57, 58 ; a depraved soul not
able to love God, 147; a holy soul
called heaven, 167 ; whether it has its
origin in heaven, 170 ; how said to be
heaven, 172 ; is measured by the charity

INDEX
it possesses, 174; its union with the
W O R D not imaginary, but not corporeal, 204; what the devout soul
ought to seek, 214 ; aspirations of, 218 ;
how lamentable for it to leave God for
created things, 228; souls that are carnal
and worldly called women, 245; what
constitutes its beauty, 252 ; its solitude,
255 ; its twofold beauty, 275 ; how it
speaks to God the W O R D , 279 ; sleep
of the, 315; its aspirations towards
heaven, 354 ; said to abide in the clefts
of the Rock, 371, 373 ; how it belongs
to the Lord, 417 ; how the Father and
the W O R D enter into, 420 ; the love of
God for it causes it to love Him, 425;
unity with God of the holy soul, 432 ;
its love to the Lord, 483; is in the
image of the W O R D , 488 ; its greatness and righteousness, 490 ; its immortality and freewill, 494, 497 ; this partly
lost, 501 ; is enfeebled by sin, 506 ; how
able to recover its likeness to Christ,
507 ; conformed to Him by love, 508 ;
is sought first by God, 5 1 1 ; the seven
needs of, wherefore it seeks the W O R D ,
515 ; devotion and understanding, the
two feet of, 517 ; cannot be overthrown
against its will, 518.
Speech, said to be sometimes unmeasured
and involuntary, 410.
Spirits, the four orders of, 24 ; compared
to mountains and hills, 319.
Starke, 'Synopsis,' xiii.
Stars, virtues called by this name, 172.
Storehouse of the Bridegroom, mystical
sense of, 132.
Storrs, Dr. R. S., xxii.
Synagogue, the, desirous to monopolize
the knowledge of God, 75 ; said to be
as a repudiated bride, 414.
T.
T A L M U D of Jerusalem and of Babylon, xi.
Temptations, four kinds of, 221.
Teresa, St., of Jesus, xii.
Thankfulness, duty of, 311.
Theodoret, Bishop, xii.
Thomas, St., his request to the Lord, 213.
Thoughts, good, are from God, but evil
from ourselves, 210.
Thrones, the, an order of Angels, 106.
Thrupp, J. F . , xiv.
Truth, called a lily, 426.
U.
U N B E L I E F , called a night, 466.
Unity, the, of the Divine Persons, 432,
435. 436.

535

Upright, why man was created in that
state, 146.
V.
VAINGLORY, a temptation, 222.
Vineyards, the souls of the faithful spoken
of as, 192 ; souls and Churches spoken
of as (and as vines), 348, 363 ; to be
carefully cultivated, 378.
Virgins, the foolish, 460.
Virtues, the, an order of Angels, 105 ;
compared to stars, 172 ; called lilies,
426 ; called the drink of the W O R D , 443.
Vision of God, the, 201 ; the Beatific, id. ;
not to be attained in this life, 202 ; cannot be described, 205 ; faith a preparation for, 320.
Visitations of the Lord to be reverently
observed, 3 4 0 ; by what signs known,
341, 457, 458.

W.
W A L L S between God and man, sins compared to, 335.
Watchmen, the Apostles called thus, 471,
475 ; the qualities needful for, 472.
Water, the ordeal by, 406.
Widowhood, commendation of, 354.
Windows, Christ's experiences of the
weaknesses of men called thus, 336.
Wine, comparison of, with carnal delights,
48 ; St. Paul's allowance of the use of,
200.

Winter, mystical sense of, 349, 354.
Wisdom, true, 8 ; of the world, ib.; contrasted with that of Christ, 199; gives
all things their right value, 306 ; description of a man who is truly wise,
307 ; called the beauty of a soul, 460.
W O R D , the, His Flesh not subject to
perishableness, 230 ; how H e speaks to
the soul, 279; in what sense said to
have hands, 3 1 1 ; typified by gold, 369 ;
signs of His coming to the soul, 457;
of His departure, 458 ; is the Image of
God, 487 ; what it is to enjoy communion with, 524.
Wordsworth, Bishop Christopher, xiv.
Works, relation of faith to, 149.
World, love of the, 8.
Wounds of Jesus a place of refuge, 367.
Z.
Z E A L , the, needed by spiritual guides,
136; danger of, without discretion, 299.
Zbckler, Dr. Otto, xiv.

Elliot Stocky Paternoster Raw, London.

Third Edition, in crown Svo., tastefully printed and bound, price 55.

VIA CRUCIS,
A Series of Fourteen Sermons on the Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Revised and much enlarged, with appropriate devotions and hymns before
each meditation.

By the Rev. S. J. EALES, M.A., D.C.L.
Illustrated with eight beautiful drawings of the successive scenes of the Passion,
from designs by

N. H. J. WESTLAKE, F.S.A.
Tastefully printed and bound in parchment or leatherette, price 5J.

VIA LUCIS,
Meditations on the Resurrection and Exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
illustrations from original drawings by WYNDHAM H. HUGHES.

With

By the Rev. SAMUEL J. EALES, M.A., D.C.L.,
Author of ' Via Crucis.'

IMa Crucis;
Press Notices of the First and Second Editions.
* Eminently original, powerful, pictorial, and dogmatic. . . . Their bold and
incisive style will be sure to arrest the attention of those less educated minds who
require strong and vivid pictures to be placed before them in order either to rivet
their attention or to touch their hearts.'—Ecclesiastical Gazette.
* For depth of thought and deep spiritual and devotional treatment of the subject
of our Lord's Passion this book is far in advance of anything we have read for a
long time.'—Church Review.
1
It is seldom we have met with a devotional work so useful, able and original.
Mr. Eales' treatment of this all-important subject is in a very considerable degree
worthy of it. He writes with clearness and vigour of style. He is always practical, often eloquent; and occasionally he illustrates his subject with a vivid and
picturesque appeal to the imagination.'—Literary Churchman.
'Whether for private meditation, or as an aid to preaching " t h e Stations," or
for the composition of Lenten courses of sermons, the book is one which we can
recommend to our readers.'—Literary Churchman (Second Notice).
* We have here treated with most reverent spirit the manifold sufferings of our
blessed Lord, from His condemnation by Pilate to His death on Calvary. No
better companion for Holy Week can be recommended. The terrible scenes are
renewed with graphic power, but their practical teaching is always kept in sight,
and enforced with no little skill.'—National Church.
'Very devotional meditations.'—Church Times.
' This little volume is characterized by a fervent piety and prevailing soberness
of religious thought, and we can warmly recommend it as a storehouse of useful
ideas for Lent preachers.'—Church Quarterly Review.
' The matter of the volume is quite/ worthy the decoration bestowed upon it.
This, however, can excite no surprise when we turn to the name of the author, the
Rev. S. J. Eales, whose attainments as a scholar and divine are well known to all
readers of the Church Quarterly. 7^he devotional accessories which Dr. Eales
has added to the Sermons are marked by sobriety, and are calculated to bring
home to the mind and heart the inner significance of each event in the history of
the Passion of the Divine Redeemer.5—Church Quarterly (Second Notice).
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.