SR
← Sermones super Cantica Canticorum (Sermons on the Song of Songs)/Book 1 · Sermones super Cantica Canticorum
Chapter 20SermC.1.20

Sermo 20

The Anathema of Lovelessness

Whoever does not love the Lord Jesus is anathema, for without him we are nothing; the preacher thus begs God to redeem his wasted years and accept his broken heart.

So that my words may begin with the teacher's own: whoever does not love the Lord Jesus — let that person be anathema.✦✦ He is altogether beyond measure worthy of my love — the one through whom I exist, live, and have any wisdom at all. If I am ungrateful — and I am unworthy. Clearly worthy of death is anyone who refuses to live for you, Lord Jesus — and that person is dead; whoever has no taste for you is senseless; and whoever cares about existing only for your sake counts as nothing, and is nothing. In the end, what is a person — except that you have made yourself known to them? For your own sake, God, you made all things; and whoever wants to exist for themselves and not for you begins to be nothing among all things: fear God and keep his commandments — that, he says, is the whole of being human.✦ So if this is the whole person, without this every person is nothing. Bow down to me a little, God — to this creature you have deigned to bring into being — and from my wretched life receive, I beg you, whatever remains of my years; and for those years which I have lost by living, because I have lived so ruinously, do not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.✦

A Small Gift and a Great Debt

Reflecting on lost years and lingering foolishness, the preacher asks God to increase the gift of grace so that his love may grow in response.

My days have faded like a shadow, and they've passed without bearing fruit. I can't call them back; may it please You for me to reflect on them before You, in bitterness of soul.1 Even now, concerning wisdom, every desire of mine and the purpose of my heart are before You; if there were any in me, I would keep it for You.2 But, God, You know my foolishness — unless perhaps this very thing is to be wise: that I acknowledge it, and indeed by Your gift.3 Increase that gift for me — for one who is certainly not ungrateful for a small gift, but anxious for what is still lacking.4 For these reasons, therefore, I love You as much as I can.

The Cup of Redemption

What moves the soul most is the work of redemption, in which the Creator endured mockery and death—a labor of love that far surpasses his work of creation.

But there is something that moves me more, urges me more, and kindles me more. Above all, I say, the cup you drank — the work of our redemption — makes you lovely to me, good Jesus.5 This alone easily claims our whole love for itself. This, I say, is what entices our devotion more enticingly, demands it more justly, binds it more tightly, and moves it more vehemently.6 The Savior labored greatly in this, nor did the Maker of the whole frame of the world take up such weariness in vain.7 That word spoke, and they came to be; he commanded, and they were created.✦8 But he, on the other hand, endured opponents in his words, observers of his deeds, mockers in his torments, and reproachers in his death.9 See how he loved.

He First Loved Us

Christ did not return our love—he initiated it, loving us even before we existed and while we were still his enemies.

Add to this that he didn't give back this same love — he added to it. For who gave to him first, and will be repaid by him? But as Saint John the Evangelist says: Not because we loved God, but because he first loved us.✦ In short, he loved even those who didn't yet exist — and he adds that we should love even those who resist him, following Paul's testimony: While we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the blood of his Son.✦10 Otherwise, if he hadn't loved his enemies, he wouldn't yet have friends — just as those he would thus love wouldn't yet exist, if he hadn't loved those who didn't yet exist.11

Sweet, Prudent, and Strong

Christ loved with sweetness in assuming flesh, with prudence in avoiding guilt, and with strength in undergoing death, becoming a sweet friend, prudent counselor, and brave helper.

He loved with sweetness, with wisdom, and with strength. I'd say it was sweet that he took on flesh, cautious that he shunned guilt, and brave that he endured death.12 For those he visited in the flesh, he certainly didn't love in a fleshly way, but in the wisdom of the Spirit.13 For it's the Spirit — Christ the Lord before our face — who spurs us on with a zeal that is God's, not man's, and with a love that is surely more wholesome than the first Adam felt for his Eve.14 And so those he sought in the flesh, he loved in the Spirit, and redeemed in power. How utterly full of every sweetness it is to see the Creator of humanity in a human being.15 But while he prudently chose our nature away from guilt, he also powerfully drove death away from nature. In taking on flesh he condescended to me; in avoiding guilt he took thought for himself; in undergoing death he made satisfaction for the Father — a sweet friend, a prudent counselor, a brave helper.16

Safe in the Conqueror's Hand

Trusting in the one who conquered death and outwitted the devil, the soul commits itself to Christ, who combined tender affection with cunning wisdom and patient strength to redeem us.

I entrust myself safely to this one, who would wish to save me, know me, and be able to. The one he sought out, he also called through his grace; would he cast out the one who comes to him? But I don't fear any violence or treachery at all, which could clearly rescue me from his hand; he who both conquered death, conquering all things, and overcame the serpent, the deceiver of the world, with a holiness more cunning; wiser than that one, more powerful than that. He takes on the truth of flesh, but the likeness of sin; offering entirely sweet consolation to the weak in the one, and in the other prudently hiding a snare of deception for the devil. Furthermore, so that he might reconcile us to the Father, he undergoes and subdues death bravely, pouring out his blood as the price of our redemption. So unless he had loved me tenderly, that majesty would not have sought me out in prison; but he joined wisdom to his affection, by which he might deceive the tyrant; and he joined patience, by which he might appease the offended God and Father. These are the ways I had promised you; but I sent them ahead in Christ, so that you might hold them more commendable.

Learn to Love as Christ Loved

The Christian must learn from Christ to love sweetly, prudently, and strongly—corresponding to the heart, soul, and strength commanded in the great law of love.

Learn, O Christian, from Christ how you should love Christ. Learn to love sweetly, to love prudently, to love strongly. Sweetly, so we aren't lured away; prudently, so we aren't deceived; strongly, so we aren't crushed and turned away from the love of the Lord. Don't be led away by the world's glory or the flesh's pleasures; let Christ as wisdom grow sweet to you beyond these things. Don't be led astray by the spirit of falsehood and error; let Christ as truth shine for you. Don't be worn down by adversities; let the power of God in Christ strengthen you. Let love inflame your zeal, let knowledge shape it, let constancy strengthen it. Be fervent, be circumspect, be unconquered. Don't let it have lukewarmness, don't let it lack discretion, and don't let it be timid. And see whether perhaps these three things have also been handed down to you in the law, as God says: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.✦✦

Heart, Soul, and Strength

Love of the heart is affectionate zeal, love of the soul is reasoned judgment, and love of strength is steadfast vigor; without all three, love is either seducible or fragile.

It seems to me — unless some more fitting meaning presents itself within this threefold distinction — that love of the heart pertains to a certain zeal of affection, while love of the soul pertains to the effort or reasoned judgment of virtue, but love of virtue can be referred to the mind's steadfastness or vigor. So love the Lord your God with the whole and full affection of your heart; love with all the watchfulness and careful judgment of reason; and love with all your strength, so that you would not even fear dying for love of him — as it is written in what follows: For love is as strong as death, rivalry as harsh as hell.✦✦ Let the Lord Jesus be sweet and gracious to your affection — certainly against the wickedly sweet enticements of the carnal life — and let sweetness drive out sweetness, just as one nail drives out another. But let there nonetheless be a light going before for the mind and a guide for reason — not only for guarding against the snares of heretical deceit and for protecting the purity of the faith from their cunning, but also so that you are cautious and avoid excessive and undiscerning intensity in your way of life. Let your love also be strong and steadfast, neither yielding to terrors nor succumbing to hardships. So let us love affectionately, circumspectly, and strongly — recognizing that the love of the heart, which we call affectionate, apart from what is called love of the soul is indeed sweet but seducible; while that love of the soul, apart from the love of virtue, is rational but fragile.

The Disciples' Incomplete Love

The disciples loved Christ sweetly but not prudently, grieving his departure; Peter too loved imprudently, earning rebuke for opposing the saving necessity of the cross.

And see, in clear examples, that it's just as we say. Because the disciples had a hard time bearing what they'd heard from the Master himself about his impending departure, they heard him say: If you love me, you would certainly rejoice that I am going to the Father.17 What then? Weren't they loving the very one whose departure they grieved? They loved in a certain way, and yet they didn't love. They loved sweetly, but less prudently; they loved carnally, but not rationally; in short, they loved with their whole heart, but not with their whole soul. Their love was working against their own salvation, and so he said: It is to your advantage that I go away, finding fault with the plan, not with the love. When he was speaking likewise about his coming death, Peter—who loved him and was trying to restrain him—attempted to oppose him, and, as you remember, Jesus rebuked him and held him back; what did he rebuke in him other than imprudence?18

Peter's Growth into Strength

Peter was taught to love with his whole soul but was still afraid of martyrdom; only when clothed with power from on high did he love with his whole strength, laying down his life.

So what does it mean, in the end, to have no taste for the things of God? Simply this: you love in an unwise way, following your human attachment against God's purpose. And he called him Satan because he set himself against our salvation — though he didn't know it — by trying to keep the Savior from dying. And so, once corrected, when he later tried to repeat that sorrowful word — that Jesus should by no means die — he was forbidden, but he promised he would die with him. But he didn't fulfill it, because he hadn't yet reached the third degree, in which love is complete in the full strength of virtue. He was taught to love with his whole soul, but he was still weak; well instructed, but barely helped; not ignorant of the mystery, but afraid of martyrdom. His love wasn't yet so strong that it bowed to death — the kind of love that gives itself over to death. But later, once he had been clothed with power from on high through the promise of Jesus Christ, he finally began to love with such strength that when he was forbidden in the council to preach the holy name, he answered those who forbade him without wavering: 'We must obey God rather than men.' Then at last he loved with his whole strength, when he didn't spare even his own life for the sake of love. No one has greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends. Peter certainly didn't lay it down at first, but he has now laid it open.

The Meaning of Wholehearted Love

To love with one's whole heart, soul, and strength is to refuse to be lured away by flatteries, led astray by deceptions, or broken by injuries.

So to love with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole strength means not being lured away by flattery, led astray by deception, or broken by injuries.✦

The Sweetness of His Flesh

Carnal love of Christ's flesh moves the heart to compunction and prayer, and it was by this sweetness that Christ first drew fleshly souls to himself, suspending their love of all other flesh.

And notice that the love of the heart is in a certain way fleshly, inasmuch as the human heart is moved more toward the flesh of Christ and toward those things Christ did or commanded in the flesh. Filled with this love, a person is easily moved to compunction at every sermon of this kind. They hear nothing more willingly, read nothing more eagerly, recall nothing more often, and meditate on nothing more sweetly. From this they enrich the burnt offerings of their prayers, as if from the fat of a fattened calf. The holy image of the Man of God stands near the one praying — whether of the one being born, nursing, teaching, dying, rising, or ascending — and whatever such image presents itself or stirs the heart, it necessarily draws the mind either into a love of virtue or, on the flesh's side, drives out vices, puts temptations to flight, and settles disordered desires. I consider this to have been the chief reason in the sight of the invisible God: that he chose to be seen in the flesh and to live as a man among men, so that those who were fleshly — who could not be loved in any other way than through the flesh — might first be drawn back, through every affection, to a saving love of his own flesh, and so, step by step, be led onward to a spiritual love. Were not those who said, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you' still standing on this very step?✦ It was plainly the love of his bodily presence alone for which they had left everything — so much so that they could not even bear to hear a word calmly about his future suffering and death, much less look upon the glory of the one who would afterward ascend, except with deep grief. This is what he was telling them: 'Because I have spoken these things to you, sadness has filled your heart.'✦ And so, in the meantime, by the grace alone of his present flesh, he had suspended them from the love of all flesh.

From Flesh to Spirit

A higher degree of love knows Christ no longer according to the flesh but through the life-giving Spirit; beginners may rest in the shadow of his flesh, but true love requires the Spirit even there.

But then he was showing them a higher degree of love when he said: 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing.' I think the one who said this had already ascended: 'Even though we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.' And perhaps the prophet was standing in that very place when he said: 'Christ the Lord is before our face; his Spirit.' For when he adds, 'We will live among the nations in his shadow,' I think he was speaking in the person of beginners, so that at least they might rest in the shade—those who feel themselves too weak to bear the full heat of the sun—and be nourished by the sweetness of the flesh, since they aren't yet strong enough to perceive what comes from the Spirit of God. The shadow of Christ, I believe, is his flesh, by which Mary too was overshadowed, so that by its interposition the heat and splendor of the Spirit's fervor might be tempered for her. So let anyone who doesn't yet have the life-giving Spirit find comfort, for the time being, in devotion to the flesh—but only in the way meant by those who say, 'Christ the Lord is before our face; his Spirit,' and again, 'Even though we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.' For otherwise Christ is never loved without the Holy Spirit, even in the flesh—though not in that fullness. And yet the measure of this devotion is this: that the sweetness of the flesh should fill the whole heart, and claim the whole heart entirely for itself, away from the love of all fleshly and carnal enticement.

An Undivided Heart

To love with the whole heart is to prefer nothing of one's own flesh or the world's glory to the flesh of the Lord, setting every competing affection behind his.

To love with your whole heart, you see, is just this. Otherwise, if I were to prefer any blood tie or pleasure of my own flesh to the flesh of my Lord — through which it's clearly less likely that I'd carry out what he taught me by his word and example while living in the flesh — doesn't it plainly follow that I'm not loving with my whole heart at all, since I have it divided, and seem to be giving part of it to his flesh while turning part toward my own? In the end he says: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.✦ So, to put it briefly: to love with your whole heart is to set behind the love of his most holy flesh everything that flatters you about your own flesh or anyone else's. In this I also take in the glory of the world equally, because the glory of the world is the glory of the flesh, and those who delight in it are unquestionably fleshly.

Carnal Love and Spiritual Love Compared

Devotion to Christ's flesh is good, but the higher love—which embraces him as wisdom, justice, and holiness—is greater and more excellent.

Although devotion toward the flesh of Christ is indeed a gift, and a great gift of the Spirit of this kind, I would call this love carnal, nonetheless, by the standard of that love by which the Word now tastes not so much of flesh as the Word of wisdom, the Word of justice, the Word of truth, the Word of holiness, piety, and virtue, and whatever else of this sort can be named. And surely all these things are Christ, who was made wisdom for us by God, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption.✦ Do they seem to you moved in one and the same way—on the one hand, the one who piously suffers with Christ who suffered, is pierced with compunction, is easily moved to the memory of the honors he endured, is fed by the sweetness of that devotion, and is strengthened toward all things that are wholesome, honorable, and pious; and on the other, the one who is always kindled with zeal for justice, who is zealous for truth everywhere, who burns with the pursuit of wisdom, for whom holiness of life and discipline of manners is a friend, whose character blushes at boasting, abhors detraction, does not know envy, detests pride, and not only flees all human glory but also disdains and scorns it, who most vehemently abhors and drives out all impurity of flesh and heart within themselves, and finally rejects every evil as if by nature, and embraces what is good? If you compare the affections of each, isn't it clear in a certain way that the one who loves with regard to those higher things is greater, by the standard of this other love, which loves as if carnally?

The Progress of Love

Carnal love is good, rational love is better, and spiritual love—which holds faith pure and endures even death—is perfect; this is the depth of love the bride celebrates.

And yet this carnal love is a good love, the kind through which carnal life is shut out, despised, and the world is overcome. It advances, however, when it also becomes rational; it is perfected when it is made spiritual as well. Furthermore, it is rational when, in everything that ought to be perceived about Christ, the reasoning of faith is held so firmly that it is not turned aside even slightly from the purity of the Church's meaning by any likeness of truth, or by any heretical or diabolical deception. Likewise, when in one's own conduct that carefulness is preserved, so that the proper limit of discernment is not overstepped by any superstition, or by frivolity, or by the vehemence of what seems a more fervent spirit. And we have already said above that this is to love God with one's whole soul.✦ And if the vigor of the helping Spirit draws so close that justice is never abandoned because of any cheap sufferings or torments, nor even out of fear of death—in this too God is loved with all one's strength, and the love is spiritual.✦ And I think this name belongs especially to that love, because of the distinctive prerogative of fullness of spirit by which it excels. And let these remarks suffice for the passage where the bride says: 'That is why the young women have loved you so deeply.'✦

Closing Prayer

May Christ the Lord open the treasures of his mercy to us, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

May Jesus Christ himself, our Lord and the guardian of those treasures, deign to open for us the treasures of his mercy — he who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all the ages of ages. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Ut a Magistri verbis sermo exordium sumat: Qui non amat Dominum Iesum, anathemata sit. Valde omnino mihi amandus est, per quem sum, vivo et sapio. Si ingratus sum; et indignus. Dignus plane est morte, qui tibi, Domine Iesu, recusat vivere, et mortuus est; et qui tibi non sapit, desipit; et qui curat esse nisi propter te, pro nihilo est, et nihil est. Denique quid est homo, nisi quia tu innotuisti ei? Propter temetipsum, Deus, fecisti omnia; et qui esse vult sibi et non tibi, nihil esse incipit inter omnia: Deum time, et mandata eius observa; hoc est, inquit, omnis homo. Ergo si hoc est omnis homo, absque hoc nihil omnis homo. Inclina tibi, Deus, modicum id quod me dignatus est esse; atque de mea misera vita suscipe, obsecro, residuum annorum meorum; pro his vero, quos vivendo perdidi, quia perdite vixi, cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicias.

Dies mei sicut umbra declinaverunt, et praeterierunt sine fructu. Impossibile est ut revocem; placeat ut recogitem tibi eos in amaritudine animae meae. Iam de sapientia, ante te est omne desiderium meum, et propositum cordis mei; si qua esset in me, servarem ad te. Sed, Deus, tu scis insipientiam meam; nisi quod hoc ipsum fortasse sapere est, quod et ego agnosco eam, et quidem ex munere tuo. Auge illud mihi, minime quidem ingrato pro munusculo; sed sollicito pro eo quod deest. Pro his ergo ita sum amans te, quantum possum.

Sed est quod me plus movet, plus urget, plus accendit. Super omnia, inquam, reddit amabilem te mihi, Iesu bone, calix quem bibisti, opus nostrae redemptionis. Hoc omnino amorem nostrum facile vindicat totum sibi. Hoc, inquam, est quod nostram devotionem et blandius allicit, et iustius exigit, et arctius stringit, et afficit vehementius. Multum quippe laboravit in eo Salvator, nec in omni mundi fabrica tantum fatigationis auctor assumpsit. Illa denique dixit, et facta sunt; mandavit, et creata sunt. At vero hic et in dictis suis sustinuit contradictores, et in factis observatores, et in tormentis illusores, et in morte exprobratores. Ecce quomodo dilexit.

Adde quod hanc ipsam dilectionem non reddidit, sed addidit. Nam quis prior dedit ei, et retribuetur ei? Sed ut sanctus Ioannes evangelista ait: Non quia nos dilexerimus Deum, sed quia ipse prior dilexit nos. Denique dilexit etiam non existentes; sed adiicit et resistentes diligere, iuxta Pauli testimonium dicentis: Quoniam cum adhuc inimici essemus, reconciliati sumus Deo per sanguinem Filii eius. Alioquin si non dilexisset inimicos, nondum possedisset amicos, sicut necdum quos sic diligeret essent, si non dilexisset qui nondum essent.

Dilexit autem dulciter, sapienter, fortiter. Dulce nempe dixerim, quod carnem induit; cautum, quod culpam cavit; forte, quod mortem sustinuit. Nam quos sane in carne visitavit, carnaliter tamen nequaquam amavit, sed in prudentia spiritus. Spiritus quippe ante faciem nostram Christus Dominus, aemulans nos Dei aemulatione, non hominis, et certe saniori, quam primus Adam Evam suam. Itaque quos in carne quaesivit, dilexit in spiritu, redemit in virtute. Plenum prorsus omni suavitatis dulcedine, videre hominem hominis Conditorem. At dum naturam prudenter selegit a culpa, etiam potenter mortem propulit a natura. In carnis assumptione condescendit mihi, in culpae vitatione consuluit sibi, in mortis susceptione satisfecit patri; amicus dulcis, consiliarius prudens, adiutor fortis.

Huic securus me credo, qui salvare me velit, noverit, possit. Quem quaesivit, hunc et vocavit per gratiam suam; nunquid venientem eiiciet foras? Sed nec vim, nec fraudem metuo profecto ullam, quod me videlicet de manu eius possit eruere; qui et vincentem omnia vicit mortem, et seductorem universitatis serpentem, arte utique sanctiore delusit; isto prudentior, illa potentior. Carnis quidem assumit veritatem, sed peccati similitudinem; dulcem prorsus in illa exhibens consolationem infirmo, et in hac prudenter abscondens laqueum deceptionis diabolo. Porro ut Patri nos reconciliet, mortem fortiter subit et subigit, fundens pretium nostrae redemptionis sanguinem suum. Ergo nisi amasset dulciter, non me in carcere requisisset illa maiestas; sed iunxit affectioni sapientiam, qua tyrannum deciperet; iunxit et patientiam, qua placaret offensum Deum Patrem. Hi sunt modi, quos vobis promiseram; sed praemisi eos in Christo, ut commendabiliores haberetis.

Disce, o Christiane, a Christo, quemadmodum diligas Christum. Disce amare dulciter, amare prudenter, amare fortiter. Dulciter, ne illecti; prudenter, ne decepti; fortiter, ne oppressi ab amore Domini avertamur. Ne mundi gloria seu carnis voluptatibus abducaris, dulcescat tibi prae his sapientia Christus; ne seducaris spiritu mendacii et erroris, lucescat tibi veritas Christus; ne adversitatibus fatigeris, confortet te virtus Dei Christus. Zelum tuum inflammet charitas, informet scientia, firmet constantia. Sit fervidus, sit circumspectus, sit invictus. Nec teporem habeat, nec careat discretione, nec timidus sit. Et vide ne forte tria ista tibi et in lege tradita fuerint, dicente Deo: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota virtute tua.

Mihi videtur (si alius competentior sensus in hac trina distinctione non occurrit) amor quidem cordis ad zelum quemdam pertinere affectionis; animae vero amor ad industriam seu iudicium rationis; virtutis autem dilectio ad animi posse referri constantiam vel vigorem. Dilige ergo Dominum Deum tuum toto et pleno cordis affectu; dilige tota rationis vigilantia et circumspectione; dilige et tota virtute, ut nec mori pro eius amore pertimescas, sicut scriptum est in consequentibus: Quoniam fortis est ut mors dilectio, dura sicut infernus aemulatio. Sit suavis et dulcis affectui tuo Dominus Iesus, contra male utique dulces vitae carnalis illecebras; et vincat dulcedo dulcedinem, quemadmodum clavum clavus expellit. Sed sit nihilominus intellectui praevia lux et dux rationi, non solum ob cavendas haereticae fraudis decipulas, et fidei puritatem ab eorum versutiis custodiendam, verum et cautus quoque sis nimiam et indiscretam vehementiam in tua conversatione vitare. Sit etiam fortis et constans amor tuus, nec cedens terroribus, nec succumbens laboribus. Ergo amemus affectuose, circumspecte et valide, scientes amorem cordis, quem affectuosum dicimus, absque eo qui dicitur animae, dulcem quidem, sed seducibilem; istum vero absque illo qui virtutis est, rationabilem esse, sed fragilem.

Et vide in manifestis exemplis hoc ita esse ut dicimus. Cum aegre ferrent discipuli quod de ascensuri Magistri discessu ab eodem ipso audierant, audierunt: Si diligeritis me, gauderetis utique quia vado ad Patrem. Quid ergo? non diligebant de cuius discessione dolebant? Sed diligebant quodam modo, et non diligebant. Diligebant dulciter, sed minus prudenter; diligebant carnaliter, sed non rationabiliter; denique diligebant toto corde, non autem tota anima. Dilectio eorum contra salutem eorum; unde et aiebat: Expedit vobis ut ego vadam, culpans consilium, non affectum. Loquenti item de morte sua futura, obviare sibi conantem Petrum, qui eum tenere diligebat, cum ita, ut meministis, increpando repressit, quid in eo aliud quam imprudentiam reprehendit?

Postremo quid est: Non sapis quae Dei sunt, nisi: Non sapienter diligis, humanum sequens affectum, contra divinum consilium? Et vocavit Satanam, eo quod saluti, etsi nesciens, adversaretur, qui Salvatorem mori prohiberet. Unde et correctus, repetentem postmodum triste verbum minime iam mori vetuit, sed se commoriturum esse promisit. Non autem implevit, quia necdum ad tertium pervenerat gradum, in quo virtute tota diligitur. Erat tota anima doctus diligere, sed adhuc infirmus; bene instructus, sed parum adiutus; non ignarus mysterii, sed martyrii pavidus. Non plane illa fortis ut mors dilectio tunc fuit, quae morti succubuit; fuit autem postea, cum ex promissione Iesu Christi indutus virtute ex alto, tanta tandem coepit virtute diligere, ut in concilio prohibitus praedicare nomen sanctum, constanter prohibentibus responderet: Obedire oportet Deo magis quam hominibus. Tunc demum tota virtute dilexit, cum nec vitae suae pepercit pro dilectione. Maiorem siquidem charitatem nemo habet, quam si animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis : quam etsi minime tunc posuit, iam tamen exposuit.

Ergo non abduci blanditiis, nec seduci fallaciis, nec iniuriis frangi, toto corde, tota anima, tota virtute diligere est.

Et nota amorem cordis quodam modo esse carnalem, quod magis erga carnem Christi, et quae in carne Christus gessit vel iussit, cor humanum afficiat. Hoc repletus amore, facile ad omnem de huiusmodi sermonem compungitur. Nihil audit libentius, nihil legit studiosius, nihil frequentius recolit, nihil suavius meditatur. Inde holocausta orationum, tanquam ex adipe vituli saginati impinguat. Astat oranti Hominis Dei sacra imago, aut nascentis, aut lactentis, aut docentis, aut morientis, aut resurgentis, aut ascendentis; et quidquid tale occurrerit, vel stringat necesse est animum in amorem virtutum vel carnis exturbet vitia, fuget illecebras, desideria sedet. Ego hanc arbitror praecipuam invisibili Deo fuisse causam, quod voluit in carne videri, et cum hominibus homo conversari, ut carnalium videlicet, qui nisi carnaliter amari non poterant, cunctas primo ad suae carnis salutarem amorem affectiones retraheret, atque ita gradatim ad amorem perduceret spiritualem. Nonne denique in hoc gradu adhuc stabant qui aiebant: Ecce nos reliquimus omnia, et secuti sumus te? Solo profecto corporalis praesentiae amore reliquerant omnia, adeo ut salutaris futurae passionis et mortis ne audire quidem verbum aequanimiter sustinerent, sed nec gloriam ascendentis postmodum nisi cum gravi moerore suspicere.

Hoc enim est quod eis dicebat: Quia haec locutus sum vobis, tristitia implevit cor vestrum. Itaque in sola interim gratia praesentis suae carnis eos ab amore omnis carnis suspenderat.

Monstrabat autem postea eis altiorem amoris gradum, cum diceret: Spiritus est qui vivificat, caro non prodest quidquam. Puto, hunc ascenderat iam qui dicebat: Etsi cognovimus Christum secundum carnem, sed nunc iam non novimus. Fortassis et nihilominus propheta in hoc ipso stabat, cum diceret: Spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus Dominus. Nam quod subiungit: Sub umbra eius vivemus inter gentes, mihi videtur ex persona incipientium addidisse, ut quiescant saltem in umbra, qui solis ferre ardorem minus validos se sentiunt; et carnis dulcedine nutriantur, dum necdum valent ea percipere quae sunt Spiritus Dei. Umbram siquidem Christi, carnem reor esse ipsius, de qua obumbratum est et Mariae, ut eius obiectu fervor splendorque Spiritus illi temperaretur. In carnis ergo devotione interim consoletur, qui vivificantem Spiritum necdum habet, eo duntaxat modo, quo habent illi qui aiunt: Spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus Dominus; et item: Etsi cognovimus Christum secundum carnem, sed nunc iam non novimus. Nam alias quidem nequaquam sine Spiritu sancto vel in carne diligitur Christus, etsi non in illa plenitudine. Cuius tamen mensura devotionis haec est, ut totum cor illa suavitas occupet, totum sibi ab amore universae carnis ac carnalis illecebrae vindicet.

Hoc quippe toto corde diligere est. Alioquin si carnis meae quamlibet consanguinitatem vel voluptatem forte praefero carni Domini mei, per quod me videlicet minus ea implere contingat, quae in carne manens verbo et exemplo me docuit; nonne liquido constat, quod toto nequaquam diligo corde, cum id divisum habens, partem impendere videar carni eius, partem intorquere ad propriam? Denique ait: Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus; et qui amat filium aut filiam plus quam me, non est me dignus. Ergo, ut breviter dicam, toto corde diligere, est omne quod blanditur de carne propria vel aliena, sacrosanctae carnis eius amori postponere. In quo et mundi aeque gloriam comprehendo, quia gloria mundi gloria est carnis, et qui ea delectantur, carnales esse non dubium est.

Licet vero donum, et magnum donum Spiritus sit istiusmodi erga carnem Christi devotio; carnalem tamen dixerim hunc amorem, illius utique amoris respectu, quo non tam Verbum caro iam sapit, quam Verbum sapientia, Verbum iustitia, Verbum veritas, Verbum sanctitas, pietas, virtus; et si quid aliud quod sit, huiusmodi dici potest. Et haec nempe omnia Christus, qui factus est nobis sapientia a Deo, et iustitia, et sanctificatio, et redemptio. An tibi aeque et uno modo affecti videntur, is quidem qui Christo passo pie compatitur, compungitur, et movetur facile ad memoriam honorum quae pertulit, atque istius devotionis suavitate pascitur, et confortatur ad quaeque salubria, honesta, pia: itemque ille, qui iustitiae zelo semper est accensus, qui veritatem ubique zelat, qui sapientiae fervet studiis; cui amica sanctitas vitae, et morum disciplina; cuius mores erubescunt iactantiam, abhorrent detractionem, invidiam nesciunt, superbiam detestantur, omnem humanam gloriam non solum fugiunt, sed et fastidiunt et contemnunt; omnem in se carnis et cordis impuritatem vehementissime abominantur et persequuntur; omne denique tanquam naturaliter et malum respuunt, et quod bonum est amplectuntur? Nonne si compares utriusque affectiones, constat quodam modo illum superiorem, respectu quidem huius, amare quasi carnaliter?

Bonus tamen amor iste carnalis, per quem vita carnalis excluditur, contemnitur et vincitur mundus. Proficitur autem in eo, cum fit et rationalis; perficitur, cum efficitur etiam spiritualis. Porro rationalis tunc est, cum in omnibus quae oportet de Christo sentiri, fidei ratio ita firma tenetur, ut ab ecclesiastici sensus puritate nulla veri similitudinem, nulla haeretica seu diabolica circumventione aliquatenus devietur. Itemque cum in propria conversatione illa cautela servatur, ut discretionis meta nulla superstitione vel levitate, vel spiritus quasi ferventioris vehementia excedatur. Et hoc esse tota anima Deum diligere iam supra diximus. Quod si etiam adiuvantis Spiritus vigor tantus accedat, ut nulla vilaborum vel tormentorum, sed nec mortis metu iustitia unquam deseratur; in hoc etiam tota virtute diligitur, et est amor spiritualis. Quod nimirum nomen huic specialiter amori congruere puto, ob praerogativam utique plenitudinis spiritus, qua praecellit. Et haec sufficiant pro eo quod sponsa dicit: Propterea adolescentulae dilexerunt te nimis.

In his quae sequuntur, dignetur nobis aperire thesauros misericordiae suae ipse custos eorum Iesus Christus Dominus noster, qui vivit et regnat cum Patre in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.16.22 — If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be accursed. Maranatha.
  2. ↩Gal.1.8-Gal.1.9 — But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you beyond what we proclaimed to you, let him be accursed. Gal.1.9 — As we have said before, and now say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed.
  3. ↩Deut.6.5 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
  4. ↩Ps.50.19 — You send your mouth toward evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
  5. ↩Ps.33.9 — For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
  6. ↩1John.4.10 — In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
  7. ↩Rom.5.10 — For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
  8. ↩Deut.6.5 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
  9. ↩Mark.12.30;Matt.22.37;Luke.10.27 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Matt.22.37 — And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Luke.10.27 — And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
  10. ↩Song.8.6 — Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion is fierce as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yah.
  11. ↩Deut.6.5 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
  12. ↩Deut.6.5;Mark.12.30 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Mark.12.30 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
  13. ↩Matt.19.27 — Then Peter answered him, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?'
  14. ↩John.16.6 — But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
  15. ↩Matt.10.37 — Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
  16. ↩1Cor.1.30 — But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom for us from God—both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
  17. ↩Deut.6.4-Deut.6.5;Mark.12.30 — Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Deut.6.5 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Mark.12.30 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
  18. ↩Mark.12.30 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
  19. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩placeat ut: optative subjunctive; rendered as a prayerful petition ('may it please you') to capture the devotional force.
  2. 2 ↩si qua esset in me: the conditional implies doubt that any wisdom exists in the speaker; rendered to preserve the humble, hypothetical force.
  3. 3 ↩nisi quod hoc ipsum fortasse sapere est: the sentence plays on the paradox that recognizing one's own foolishness may itself be a kind of wisdom; rendered to keep that tension.
  4. 4 ↩minime quidem ingrato: emphatic negation; rendered 'certainly not ungrateful' to preserve the force of minime quidem.
  5. 5 ↩Calix (cup) evokes the Eucharistic cup and Christ's Passion; rendered as 'cup' rather than 'chalice' to keep modern readability while preserving sacramental resonance.
  6. 6 ↩Devotio rendered as 'devotion' per lexeme policy. The four parallel comparatives (blandius, iustius, arctius, vehementius) are rendered with 'more + adverb' to preserve the rhetorical escalation in natural modern English.
  7. 7 ↩The phrase 'nec…tantum fatigationis auctor assumpsit' is rendered to preserve the implication that the Creator willingly undertook great weariness — not merely that he 'assumed' it as a passive fact, but that the labor was real and purposeful.
  8. 8 ↩Allusion to Psalm 33:9 (Vulgate) / Psalm 33:6–9: 'Dixit et facta sunt; mandavit et creata sunt.' A candidate for Moses resolution.
  9. 9 ↩At vero is rendered 'But…on the other hand' to capture the adversative force and the shift from God's creative word to Christ's personal suffering.
  10. 10 ↩The clause 'sed adiicit et resistentes diligere' is rendered as an exhortation ('he adds that we should love even those who resist him'), taking adiicit as introducing a teaching. Alternatively it could mean 'he even adds love for those who resist,' continuing the description of God's love. The ambiguity affects whether this is prescriptive or descriptive.
  11. 11 ↩The form 'possedisset' is uncertain (glossed as pluperfect subjunctive of possideo). The conditional structure is complex and the sense is rendered on the most plausible reading: God's love for enemies precedes and brings into being the friendship that follows.
  12. 12 ↩Dulce…cautum…forte are predicative neuter singulars; the speaker offers his own reflective verdict ('I would say') on three aspects of Christ's work: the incarnation, his avoidance of sin, and his endurance of death.
  13. 13 ↩Carnaliter…sed in prudentia spiritus contrasts carnal affection with spiritual love; the Spirit here is best understood as the Holy Spirit, not merely a spiritual disposition.
  14. 14 ↩Aemulans nos Dei aemulatione, non hominis: the phrase plays on the double sense of aemulatio as both holy zeal and rivalry. The sense is that Christ stirs us with divine, not merely human, emulation. Saniori (comparative of sanus) applied to love suggests a love that is healthier, more sound, than Adam's for Eve.
  15. 15 ↩Plenum prorsus omni suavitatis dulcedine: an exclamatory accusative of quality (Greek-style accusative) modifying the implied experience. Rendered as an exclamation to capture the emotional force.
  16. 16 ↩In culpae vitatione consuluit sibi: the sense is that Christ's sinlessness was not passive but a deliberate act of prudence for his own sake — he guarded himself from sin as part of his saving mission. In mortis susceptione satisfecit patri: 'satisfaction' here carries the theological weight of atonement made to the Father.
  17. 17 ↩Cf. John 14:28: 'If you loved me, you would have rejoiced that I am going to the Father.'
  18. 18 ↩Cf. Matthew 16:22–23 / Mark 8:32–33: Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke him, and Jesus responds, 'Get behind me, Satan.'

Sermones super Cantica Canticorum (Sermons on the Song of Songs) companion

Practice Bernard's method every morning

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) →