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Chapter 18SermC.1.18

Sermo 18

The Twofold Work of the Spirit

Bernard introduces the Song of Songs text and distinguishes the Holy Spirit's inward gifts for salvation from outward gifts for the good of others, naming them infusion and effusion.

Oil poured out is your name.✦ What certain thing does the Holy Spirit show us in us on the occasion of this chapter? Surely, what presents itself is the experience of a certain twofold operation of his: one by which he first strengthens us inwardly through virtues for salvation, but the other by which he also adorns us outwardly with gifts for profit. The former we receive for ourselves, the latter for our neighbors. For example, faith, hope, and love are given to us for our sake; without these, of course, we cannot be saved. Furthermore, discourse about knowledge or wisdom, the grace of healing, prophecy, and similar gifts — which we can lack without the integrity of our own salvation — are beyond doubt given to be spent for the salvation of our neighbors. And these operations of the Holy Spirit, which we experience either in ourselves or in others, so that they may receive names from the thing itself — let us call them, if you will, infusion and effusion. To whom do these belong? 'Oil poured out is your name.'✦

Your Name Is Oil Poured Out

The bride's words are expounded: the outward fragrance of grace poured over the soul rightly calls the Bridegroom's name oil poured out, and those who experience this outward gift can say the same.

Doesn't this belong to pouring out? For when speaking of pouring in, she would have said "poured in" rather than "poured out." And so, because of the rich fragrance of gifts poured over from outside, the bride says, "Your name is oil poured out," ascribing that fragrance to the bridegroom's name, as though with oil poured out over the breasts.✦ And whoever feels himself poured over with the gift of outward grace, by which he too can pour back to others, is also able to say to him, "Your name is oil poured out."✦

Discerning When to Speak and When to Be Silent

Bernard warns against both hiding God's gifts out of fear and pouring out prematurely from emptiness, showing the dangers of both silence and rash self-disclosure.

But clearly you have to be careful in these matters: either pass on what you've received, or hold back what you were given to give away. You're keeping what belongs to your neighbor for yourself if, for example, you're full of virtues and yet outwardly adorned with gifts of knowledge and eloquence, but out of fear perhaps, or laziness, or a humility that isn't as discerning as it should be, you tie up a good word that could help many people in useless — no, damnable — silence; you're certainly cursed because you're hiding grain among the peoples.✦ On the other hand, you scatter and lose what's yours if, before you're poured out completely, you're only half-full and yet you hurry to pour yourself out — plowing against the law in the firstborn of the ox, and shearing the firstborn of the sheep.✦ Without a doubt, you cheat yourself of the life and salvation you give to another while you're empty of sound purpose, inflated with the wind of vain glory, or infected with the poison of earthly greed, and swollen with a deadly abscess you perish.

Be a Sponge, Not a Channel

Using the sponge and channel image, Bernard urges interior fullness before outward giving, rebukes those who teach before they are formed, and counsels mercy toward one's own soul under prophetic obedience.

So if you have any sense, you'll show yourself a sponge, not a channel. The channel, you see, almost simultaneously receives and pours out again; but the sponge waits until it's full, and so shares what overflows without any loss to itself — knowing full well it's cursed who makes his own part worse.1 And don't think little of my advice — listen to one wiser than me: 'A fool,' says Solomon, 'pours out all his spirit at once; a wise man holds something back for later.'✦2 But today in the Church we have many channels, yet very few sponges. So great is the love of those through whom the heavenly streams flow to us: they'd rather pour out than be poured into, they're more ready to speak than to hear, eager to teach what they haven't even learned, and desperate to be in charge of others when they can't even govern themselves.3 I think no step toward the salvation of devotion should be placed above the one the Wise One set when he said: 'Have mercy on your soul by pleasing God.'4 And if I don't have even a little oil with which I might be anointed — do you think I ought to give it to you, and then be left empty myself? I keep that for myself, and I won't bring it out at all unless the prophet commands it.

Love That Is Full Before It Flows

Charity does not seek its own because it already possesses what it needs for salvation; it keeps only enough so that from its fullness it may overflow to others.

If some of those who perhaps think more of me than what they see in me, or who hear something from me, keep pressing their questions, they'll be told: "It may not be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who are selling, and buy for yourselves."✦ But love, you say, doesn't seek its own interests.✦ And do you know why? It doesn't seek its own interests, plainly, because they aren't lacking. Who goes looking for what they already have? Love never lacks what belongs to it — that is, what is necessary for its own salvation; it doesn't merely have these things, it overflows with them. It wants to overflow within itself so that it can overflow for everyone; it keeps for itself only what is enough, so that no one is left lacking. Otherwise, if it isn't full, it isn't perfect.

Do Not Pour Out an Unstable Love

Because love is still fragile and easily swayed, one must first be filled with David's fullness and Christ's abundance before daring to pour out, lest one exceed what God gives.

And yet, brother, when your own salvation is still not secure enough, when your love is either nonexistent or so tender and fragile as a reed that it yields to every gust of wind, puts its trust in every spirit, and is swept along by every shifting current of teaching — indeed, when your love is so great that you love your neighbor beyond the commandment, more than yourself, and yet at the same time so small that, against the commandment, it melts away under favor, gives way under fear, is disturbed by sadness, shrinks with greed, is pulled along by ambition, is unsettled by suspicions, is tormented by insults, is ripped apart by cares, swells with pride in honors, and wastes away with envy — you, I say, caught between such extremes in your own experience, with what madness, I ask, do you reach after other people's concerns, chase them down, or give yourself to them? But listen to what cautious, watchful love advises. Not that there's relaxation for others but tribulation for you — but it comes from fairness. Don't try to be too righteous. It's enough that you love your neighbor as yourself — that, after all, is what fairness means. David says: Let my soul be filled with fat and richness, and let my mouth praise with joyful lips — clearly, wanting to be poured into first and only then to pour out; and not only to be poured into first, but also to be filled, so that from fullness he might pour forth, not gape out of emptiness.✦ Carefully, indeed — lest relaxation should be for others but tribulation for himself; and yet, purely, imitating the one from whose fullness we have all received.✦ Learn also to pour out only from what is full, and don't wish to be more generous than God.

The Spring Fills Before It Flows

Just as a spring fills itself before becoming a stream, the soul must be filled within before pouring out, imitating the life-giving fountain that fills heaven before overflowing to earth.

Let the shell imitate the spring. It doesn't flow into a stream or spread out into a lake until it's filled with its own waters. Let the shell not be ashamed that it isn't more abundant than its own spring. And so the fountain of life itself, full in itself and filled from itself — doesn't it, first of all, boiling up and leaping toward the nearest secrets of heaven, fill all things with goodness? And then at last, when the higher and more hidden regions had been filled, didn't it burst forth toward the earth and from its abundance save humans and beasts alike, as it multiplied its own mercy?5 It first filled the inner things; and so, overflowing in its many compassions, it visited the earth and made it drunk, multiplying to enrich it. So you, too, do likewise. Be filled first, and then take care to pour yourself out. Kind and wise love is accustomed to flowing to, not flowing away.

Do Not Drain Yourself Away

Echoing Solomon and the Apostle Paul, Bernard warns against letting oneself drain away, insisting that one who is wicked to oneself cannot truly benefit another.

My son, don't let yourself drain away, says Solomon; and the Apostle: Therefore, he says, we must pay attention to what is being said, so that we don't perhaps drain away.✦ What is there, after all? Then holier than Paul, wiser than Solomon? Otherwise it doesn't sit right with me that I should be enriched from you once you're emptied out. For if you are wicked to yourself, to whom will you be good? From the heap, if you are able, help me; but if not, spare yourself.

The Physician of the Wounded Soul

The Holy Spirit comes as physician to the soul still wounded after baptism, cutting away chronic sin with compunction and soothing the pain with the ointment of devotion and hope.

But now listen: what things, and how great, are necessary for your own salvation, and what things, and how great, must be poured in before we presume to pour out — though for now I can only gather them briefly. The hour has already advanced far, and the pressure of this discourse draws toward its end. The physician comes to the wounded — the spirit to the soul. For what soul would he not find wounded by the devil's sword, even after the wound of ancient sin was healed by the medicine of baptism? So when the spirit approaches that soul who says, 'My scars have rotted and festered because of my own foolishness,' what is the first thing needed?✦ So that any swelling or gangrene that may have grown over the wound — and could block healing — may be cut away before all else. Therefore let the chronic ulcer of long-standing habit be cut away with the sharp iron of compunction. But the pain is bitter; let it then be soothed with the ointment of devotion — which is nothing other than exultation conceived from the hope of pardon. This is what the power of self-restraint produces, and victory over sin.

Food, Drink, and Penance for the Soul

After thanksgiving, penance is applied through fasting, vigils, good work, almsgiving, and prayer, forming a complete sequence of spiritual nourishment and drink.

Now he gives thanks and says: You have broken my bonds, and I will offer a sacrifice of praise to you.✦ Then the remedy of penance is applied: a poultice of fastings, vigils, and prayers, and whatever other practices of penitents there may be. In toil, one must be fed with the food of good work, so that one doesn't give way. That work is food, you learn from this: 'My food,' he says, 'is to do the will of my Father.'✦ Therefore let the labors of penance be accompanied by works of piety that strengthen.6 Almsgiving, it is said, provides great confidence before the Most High. Food arouses thirst; one must drink. Let the drink of prayer be added to the food of good work, composing in the stomach of conscience what has been well done, and commending it to God.

The Wine of the Spirit

Prayer is the wine that gladdens and intoxicates the heart, moistening the soul, digesting good deeds, and nourishing faith, hope, love, and character.

By praying, the wine that gladdens the human heart is drunk — the wine of the spirit, which intoxicates and pours in forgetfulness of carnal pleasures. It moistens the inner parts of a parched conscience, digests the food of good deeds, and leads it down through certain members of the soul — strengthening faith, comforting hope, quickening and ordering love, and enriching character.7

Contemplation and Burning Love

After action comes contemplative rest, where the soul glimpses God dimly, burns with jealous love, suffers with others, and overflows in fruitful mission, since love is the fullness of the law.

Once you've taken food and drink, what's left, except that the sick person rest and, after the exertions of action, give themselves over to the stillness of contemplation? As you sleep in contemplation, you dream of God; for now you behold God through a mirror, in an enigma, and not yet face to face.8 Yet in this way the soul burns with love, not so much from what it has gazed upon as from what it has glimpsed — and that only fleetingly, as if under the flash of some passing spark, barely and lightly touched. And it says: My soul longed for you in the night, and my spirit within me.9 Such love is jealous. This is what a friend of the bridegroom ought to be; it is necessary that the faithful and wise servant, the one the Lord appointed over his household, burn with it. Here love fills, here it boils, here it bubbles up; now, secure, it pours itself out, overflowing and bursting forth, and it says: Who is weak, and I am not weak?10 Who is scandalized, and I am not burning?11 Let such a one preach, bear fruit, bring renewal, work signs, and change wonders: where love holds everything, there is no room for vanity to intrude. For the fullness of the law and of the heart is love — if only it be full.

Only Love Fills the Image of God

Nothing but God Himself can fill the creature made in God's image; therefore compunction, devotion, penance, piety, prayer, contemplation, and the fullness of love must be poured in before one pours out, to the glory of Christ.

God is love, and nothing in all creation can fill the creature made in God's image — only the love that is God, who alone is greater than that creature. Whoever has not yet attained it is advanced most dangerously, no matter how powerful he may seem in any other virtues. If someone had all knowledge, if he gave all his possessions to the poor, if he handed over his body to be burned — without love he is empty. Look at how many things must first be poured into us so that we may dare to pour out from fullness and not from scarcity: first, compunction; then devotion; third, the labor of penitence; fourth, the work of piety; fifth, the pursuit of prayer; sixth, the leisure of contemplation; seventh, the fullness of love. All these things are worked by one and the same Spirit, according to the operation that is called infusion — so that what is called the outpouring may now be given purely and, for this reason, safely, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns, God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Quid certum demonstrat Spiritus sanctus nobis in nobis occasione huius capituli? Profecto, quod interim occurrit, geminae cuiusdam suae operationis experimentum; unius quidem, qua nos primo intus virtutibus solidat ad salutem; alterius vero, qua foris quoque muneribus ornat ad lucrum. Illas nobis, haec nostris accipimus. Verbi gratia, fides, spes, charitas nobis propter nos dantur; absque his quippe salvi esse non possumus. Porro scientiae seu sapientiae sermo, gratia curationis, prophetia, similiaque, quibus carere cum integritate etiam salutis propriae possumus, proximorum procul dubio in salutem expendenda donantur. Et has Spiritus sancti operationes, quas vel in nobis, vel in aliis experimur, ut ex re nomina accipiant, infusionem, si placet, atque effusionem nominemus. Cuinam ego harum convenit: Oleum effusum nomen tuum?

Nonne effusioni? Nam de infusione infusum potius, quam effusum dixisset. Denique ob bonum odorem uberum extrinsecus perfusorum, ait sponsa: Oleum effusum nomen tuum; ascribens ipsum odorem nomini sponsi, tanquam oleo effuso super ubera. Et quicunque munere gratiae exterioris perfusum se sentit, quo et ipse aliis refundere possit, etiam huic dicere est: Oleum effusum nomen tuum.

Sed sane cavendum in his, aut dare quod nobis accepimus; aut quod erogandum accepimus, retinere. Rem profecto proximi retines tibi, si, verbi causa plenus virtutibus cum sis, forisque nihilominus donis scientiae et eloquentiae adornatus, metu forte aut segnitie, aut minus discreta humilitate, verbum bonum, quod posset prodesse multis, inutili, imo et damnabili ligas silentio; certe maledictus, quod frumenta abscondis in populis. Rursum quod tuum est spargis et perdis, si priusquam infundaris tu totus, semiplenus festines effundere, contra legem arans in primogenito bovis, et ovis primogenitum tondens. Nimirum vita atque salute, quam alteri das, te fraudas, dum sana vacuus intentione, gloriae inanis vento inflaris, aut terrenae cupiditatis veneno inficeris, et lethali apostemate turgens interis.

Quamobrem, si sapis, concham te exhibebis, et non canalem. Hic siquidem pene simul et recipit, et refundit; illa vero donec impleatur, exspectat; et sic quod superabundat, sine suo damno communicat, sciens maledictum qui partem suam facit deteriorem. Et ne meum consilium contemptibile ducas, audi sapientiorem me: Stultus, ait Salomon, profert totum spiritum suum simul, sapiens reservat in posterum. Verum canales hodie in Ecclesia multos habemus, conchas vero perpaucas. Tantae charitatis sunt per quos nobis fluenta coelestia manant, ut ante effundere quam infundi velint, loqui quam audire paratiores, et prompti docere quod non didicerunt, et aliis praeesse gestientes, qui seipsos regere nesciunt. Ego nullum ad salutem pietatis gradum illi gradui anteponendum existimo, quem Sapiens posuit, dicens: Miserere animae tuae placens Deo. Quod si non habeo nisi parumper olei quo ungar, putas, tibi debeo dare, et remanere inanis? Servo illud mihi, et omnino nisi ad prophetae iussionem non profero.

Si institerint rogitantes aliqui ex his, qui forte existimant de me supra id quod vident in me, aut audiunt aliquid ex me, respondebitur eis: Ne forte non sufficiat nobis et vobis, ite potius ad vendentes, et emite vobis. Sed charitas, inquis, non quaerit quae sua sunt. Et tu scis quam ob rem? non quaerit quae sunt sua, profecto quia non desunt. Quisnam quaerat quod habet? Charitas quae sua sunt, id est propriae saluti necessaria, nunquam non habet; nec modo habet, sed etiam abundat. Vult abundare sibi, ut possit et omnibus; servat sibi quantum sufficiat, ut nulli deficiat. Alioquin si plena non est, perfecta non est.

Caeterum tu, frater, cui firma satis propria salus nondum est, cui charitas adhuc aut nulla est, aut adeo tenera atque arundinea, quatenus omni flatui cedat, omni credat spiritui, omni circumferatur vento doctrinae; imo cui charitas tanta est, ut ultra mandatum quidem diligas proximum tuum plus quam teipsum: et rursum tantilla, ut contra mandatum favore liquescat, pavore deficiat, perturbetur tristitia, avaritia contrahatur, protrahatur ambitione, suspicionibus inquietetur, conviciis exagitetur, curis evisceretur, honoribus tumeat, livore tabescat: tu, inquam, ita in propriis teipsum sentiens, quanam dementia, quaeso, aliena curare aut ambis, aut acquiescis? Sed enim audi quid consulat cauta vigilque charitas. Non quod aliis, inquit, sit remissio, vobis autem tribulatio, sed ex aequalitate. Noli nimium esse iustus. Sufficit ut diligas proximum tuum tanquam teipsum; hoc quippe est ex aequalitate. Dicit David: Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea, et labiis exsultationis laudabit os meum : infundi nimirum prius volens et sic effundere; nec solum infundi prius, sed et impleri, quatenus de plenitudine eructaret, non oscitaret de inanitate. Caute quidem: ne quod aliis remissio, sibi tribulatio esset; et nihilominus caste, imitans illum, de cuius plenitudine omnes accepimus. Disce et tu nonnisi de pleno effundere, nec Deo largior esse velis.

Concha imitetur fontem. Non manat ille in rivum, nec in lacum extenditur, donec suis satietur aquis. Non pudeat concham non esse suo fonte profusiorem. Denique ipse fons vitae plenus in seipso, et plenus seipso, nonne primum quidem ebulliens et saliens in proxima secreta coelorum, omnia implevit bonitate; et tunc demum impletis superioribus secretioribusque partibus erupit ad terras, ac de superfluo homines et iumenta salvavit, quemadmodum multiplicavit misericordiam suam? Prius interna replevit; et sic exundans in multis miserationibus suis visitavit terram, et inebriavit eam, multiplicavit locupletare eam. Ergo et tu fac similiter. Implere prius, et sic curato effundere. Benigna prudensque charitas affluere consuevit, non effluere.

Fili mi, ne pereffluas, ait Salomon; et Apostolus: Propterea, inquit, debemus intendere his quae dicuntur; ne forte pereffluamus. Quid enim? tunc Paulo sanctior, sapientior Salomone? Alioquin nec mihi sedet ditari ex te exinanito. Si enim tu tibi nequam, cui bonus eris? De cumulo, si vales, adiuva me; sin autem, parcito tibi.

Sed iam audite, quae et quanta saluti propriae necessaria sint, quae et quanta infundi oporteat, priusquam effundere praesumamus, quae tamen impraesentiarum breviter colligere potero. Hora siquidem iam multum ascendit, et sermonis urget ad finem. Accedit medicus ad vulneratum, spiritus ad animam. Quam enim non reperiat gladio diaboli vulneratam, etiam post sanatum vulnus antiqui delicti medicamento baptismatis? Ergo ad illam animam quae dicit: Putruerunt et corruptae sunt cicatrices meae a facie insipientiae meae; cum accedit spiritus, quid primo opus est? Ut tumor vel nicus, quod forte supercrevit in vulnere, et potest impedire sanitatem, ante omnia amputetur. Abscindatur itaque ferro acutae compunctionis ulcus inveteratae consuetudinis. Sed est acerbus dolor; leniatur proinde unguento devotionis, quod non est aliud, nisi concepta de spe indulgentiae exsultatio, Hanc continendi parit facultas, et victoria de peccato.

Iam gratias agit, et dicit: Dirupisti vincula mea, tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis. Deinde apponitur medicamentum poenitentiae, malagma ieiuniorum, vigiliarum, orationum, et si qua sunt alia poenitentium exercitia. In labore cibandus est cibo boni operis, ne deficiat. Quod opus sit cibus, inde doceris: Meus cibus est, inquit, ut faciam voluntatem Patris mei. Itaque comitentur poenitentiae labores pietatis opera quae confortent. Magnam, ait, fiduciam praestat apud Altissimum eleemosyna. Cibus sitim excitat; potandus est. Accedat cibo boni operis orationis potus, componens in stomacho conscientiae quod bene gestum est, et commendans Deo.

Orando bibitur vinum laetificans cor hominis, vinum spiritus, quod inebriat, et carnalium voluptatum infundit oblivionem. Humectat interiora arentis conscientiae, escas bonorum actuum digerit, et deducit per quaedam animae membra, fidem roborans, spem confortans, vegetans ordinansque charitatem, et impinguans mores.

Sumpto cibo potuque, quid iam restat, nisi ut pauset aegrotus, et quieti contemplationis post sudores actionis incumbat? Dormiens in contemplatione Deum somniat; per speculum siquidem et in aenigmate, non autem facie ad faciem interim intuetur. Tamen sic non tam spectati, quam coniectati, idque raptim et quasi sub quodam coruscamine scintillulae transeuntis, tenuiter vix attacti inardescit amore, et ait: Anima mea desideravit te in nocte, sed et spiritus meus in praecordiis meis. Talis amor zelat; hic decet amicum sponsi, hoc necesse est ardeat fidelis servus et prudens, quem constituit Dominus super familiam suam. Hic replet, hic fervet, hic ebullit, hic iam securus effundit, exundans et erumpens, ac dicens: Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror? Praedicet, fructificet, innovet signa, et immutet mirabilia: non est quo se immisceat vanitas, ubi totum occupat charitas. Siquidem plenitudo legis et cordis est charitas, si tamen plena.

Deus denique charitas est, et nihil est in rebus quod possit replere creaturam factam ad imaginem Dei, nisi charitas Deus, qui solus maior est illa. Eam nondum adeptus periculosissime promovetur, quantislibet aliis videatur pollere virtutibus. Si habuerit omnem scientiam, si dederit omnem substantiam suam pauperibus, si tradiderit corpus suum ita ut ardeat; absque charitate vacuus est. En quanta prius infundenda sunt, ut effundere audeamus, de plenitudine, non de penuria largientes: primo quidem, compunctio; deinde, devotio; tertio, poenitentiae labor; quarto, pietatis opus; quinto, orationis studium; sexto, contemplationis otium; septimo, plenitudo dilectionis. Haec omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus secundum operationem, quae infusio appellatur; quatenus illa quae effusio dicta est, pure, et ob hoc tute iam administretur ad laudem et gloriam Domini nostri Iesu Christi, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat Deus in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  2. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  3. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  4. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  5. ↩Deut.28.38 — You will sow much seed into the field, but gather little in, because the locust will consume it.
  6. ↩Deut.15.19 — Every firstborn male that is born among your cattle and your flock you shall set apart to the LORD your God. You shall not work your firstborn ox, and you shall not shear your firstborn flock.
  7. ↩Prov.25.11 — A word spoken at just the right time is like golden apples in silver settings.
  8. ↩Matt.2.9 — After they had heard the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen in the east went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
  9. ↩1Cor.13.5 — It does not dishonor others, it does not seek its own, it is not easily provoked, it does not keep a record of wrongs.
  10. ↩Ps.62.5 — Only in God be still, my soul, for my hope comes from him. Only he is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
  11. ↩John.1.16 — For from his fullness we all received, grace upon grace.
  12. ↩Heb.2.1 — Therefore we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
  13. ↩Ps.37.7 — Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out wicked schemes.
  14. ↩Ps.115.16-Ps.115.17 — The heavens are the LORD's, but the earth he has given to the children of men. Ps.115.17 — The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who descend into silence.
  15. ↩John.4.34 — Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩concha (sponge) vs canalis (channel): the metaphor contrasts those who pass grace along immediately (and lose nothing) with those who pour out before they are full, to their own impoverishment.
  2. 2 ↩Proverbium citatur secundum Salomonem; 'Stultus profert totum spiritum suum simul, sapiens reservat in posterum' — allusio ad Proverbia (cf. Prov 25:11 al. necnon Prov 13:12?). Exact Vulgata correspondens textus investigandus (tx-08).
  3. 3 ↩charitatis rendered as 'love' per default policy; 'charity' is also allowed in theological-virtue contexts.
  4. 4 ↩'Miserere animae tuae placens Deo' — non textus Vulgatus proprius; allusio ad traditionem sapientialem de animae cura et complacendo Deo (cf. Eccli./Sir. 30:24? Prov. 19:17?). Investigandus (tx-08).
  5. 5 ↩The image of the fountain of life filling heavenly secrets before overflowing to earth draws on biblical fountain/river imagery (cf. Ps 36:9, Rev 22:1); final resolution of allusion belongs to a later stage.
  6. 6 ↩comitentur: form uncertain in gloss; rendered as passive jussive 'let them be accompanied' following the most plausible sense.
  7. 7 ↩The metaphor of spiritual nourishment runs through the sentence: the conscience is dry ground soaked by prayer, good deeds become food that is digested, and the virtues are the soul's members through which this nourishment is distributed.
  8. 8 ↩The 'through a mirror, in an enigma, and not yet face to face' clause echoes 1 Cor 13:12 (per speculum in aenigmate ... facie ad faciem).
  9. 9 ↩The quoted words echo Song 3:1 (Quaesivi quem diligit anima mea) and/or Ps 76:3 (Veni, Domine, in nocte), blending scriptural idiom rather than citing a single verse.
  10. 10 ↩The quoted clause echoes 2 Cor 11:29 (Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor?).
  11. 11 ↩The quoted clause echoes 2 Cor 11:29 (Quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror?).

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The free course teaches the method; the Chosen Portion app gives you a fresh historic portion to practice it on each day.

Bernard built his monks' devotion around a short daily portion of one text taken slowly; Chosen Portion serves the same daily-portion practice on your phone.

  • Learn Bernard's one-verse meditation method in 7 daily emails, about 5 minutes each
  • Get 7 curated excerpts from the actual sermons, in readable modern English
  • Finish with a repeatable 10-minute daily meditation routine you can run in the free app
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →