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Chapter 38SermC.1.38

Sermo 38

The Question of Ignorance

Bernard opens by asking what ignorance of God gives birth to, recalling yesterday's conclusion and preparing to unfold the answer.

So what does ignorance of God give birth to? For this is where we must begin, as you remember was concluded here yesterday. What, then, does it give birth to? We've said despair — but in what way? Let's talk about that.

How Ignorance of God Breeds Despair

A penitent sinner, ignorant of God's goodness, is trapped by carnal reasoning into despair and final impenitence, which is the consummation of all wickedness.

Perhaps someone has turned back to himself and is displeased with himself over all the evils he has done, and is thinking about repenting and turning away from every evil way and his own carnal way of living — but if he is ignorant of how good God is, how kind and gentle, and how eager to forgive, won't his own carnal thinking convict him and say: What are you doing? And do you want to lose this life and the life to come? Your sins are at their worst and exceedingly numerous: you could never make satisfaction for so many and so great sins, not even if you were to flay yourself.1 You have a tender constitution; your life has been sheltered; you'll overcome a settled habit only with difficulty.2 For these and similar reasons a person in despair recoils, wretched, not knowing how easily the omnipotent Goodness — which wills that no one perish — would resolve all those things; and impenitence follows, which is the greatest sin and an unforgivable blasphemy.3 But he himself, either overwhelmed by excessive sorrow, is swallowed up and carried into the depths — never now to receive consolation, once he surfaces — as it is written: 'The wicked one, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises'; or at least, dissembling and flattering himself with some plausible reasoning of any kind, he calls himself back irrevocably into the world, to enjoy and delight in all its goods for as long as it is permitted.45 But when he has said, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon him, like pain in the womb of one bearing child, and he will not escape.✦6 So therefore, from the ignorance of God comes the consummation of all wickedness, which is despair.

The Penitent Must Trust God's Mercy

Bernard refutes despair by reminding the sinner of God's mercy on the cross, the superabundance of grace, and God's knowledge of our bodily needs, urging the soul to let go of what hinders its salvation.

The apostle says that some people are ignorant of God. But I say that everyone who refuses to turn back to God is ignoring him. And it's for no other reason, without a doubt, that they hold back — except that they picture the one who is merciful as harsh and stern, the one who is compassionate as brutal and terrifying, the one who is loving as fierce and dreadful. Iniquity lies to itself, shaping for itself an idol in place of the one who truly is.7 What are you afraid of, you of little faith? So that he'd refuse to forgive sins? But he fastened it to the cross with his own hands. Because you're tender and delicate? But he himself knows what we are. What about those who have long been accustomed to evil, bound by the habit of sinning? But the Lord loosens those in chains. Are you afraid that, angered by the enormity and sheer number of your sins, he might hesitate to stretch out a helping hand? But where sin has abounded, grace has been accustomed to superabound all the more.✦ Are you anxious about clothing, or about food and the other necessities for your body, and so you hesitate to let go of your possessions?✦ But he knows you need all these things.✦ What more do you want? What now stands in the way of your salvation?

Faith Precedes Understanding

Bernard laments that unbelief blocks understanding of God and acknowledges that the gift of faith is not given to all.

But here's what I mean: you don't know God, and you won't believe what we tell you either. I wish you would come to believe through your own experience, because unless you believe, you won't understand.8 But faith isn't given to everyone.

The Bride's Bold Request

The bride asks to see where the Bridegroom rests, but her presumption is corrected: she must first know herself, for only the pure of heart can behold God.

But far be it from us to think that the bride — warned about such a thing, that is, about ignorance of God — was endowed with so great an acquaintance with her bridegroom and her God: I don't mean with knowledge, but with love and intimacy, so that she deserved his frequent conversation and kisses, and now speaks with a familiar boldness: Tell me where you feed your flock, where you rest at midday. There, truly, she isn't asking for himself to be pointed out to her, but for the place of the dwelling of his glory to be shown to her — though he himself is not one thing and his place or glory another. But she is judged to need restraint because of her presumption and the self-reproof of her own understanding, in which she clearly seems to have grown somewhat dark, in that she considered herself fit for so great a vision — whether from not paying attention, given the transcendence that belongs to her in the body, or from hoping in vain that, even while remaining in the body, she could approach that inaccessible clarity. And so she is immediately called back to herself, her ignorance exposed, and her presumption corrected. If you don't know yourself, she says, go out. Terribly the bridegroom thunders against the beloved — not as a bridegroom, but as a teacher; and not as though he were angry, but so that, being terrified, she might be purified, and once purified, be made fit for that very vision she longs for. For that vision is reserved, surely, for the pure of heart.

Beautiful, but Only Among Women

The bride is called beautiful among women—that is, above carnal souls but below the angelic hosts—just as Scripture's greatest figures are praised only within their own order.

Beautifully, then — but not in every sense — he calls her 'beautiful among women,' that is, with a distinction: so that by this she may be further restrained, and may know what is still lacking in her. For I think that by the term 'women' in this passage are designated souls that are carnal and worldly — having nothing virile in them, displaying nothing vigorous or steadfast in their actions — but everything slack, everything weak and soft, in the way they live and in the way they act. A spiritual soul, on the other hand, is already beautiful in this respect — that it does not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit; yet because it still lives in the body, it falls short of perfect beauty and is making progress toward it. And so it is not beautiful in every way, but beautiful among women — that is, among earthly souls that are not spiritual as it is — but not among angelic beatitudes, not among virtues, powers, or dominions.✦✦ Just as one of the fathers of old was found and called 'righteous in his generation' — that is, before all of his own time and generation; and Tamar is said to have been justified by Judah — that is, over against Judah; and in the Gospel the tax collector is reported to have come down from the temple justified, but justified rather than the Pharisee; and how that great John was once magnificently commended, namely that he had no one greater — but this only among those born of women, not among the choirs of blessed and heavenly spirits: so too the bride is now called beautiful, but for the time being still only among women, and not among heavenly beatitudes.✦✦

The Inaccessible Light of Glory

While on earth the bride must not pry into heavenly mysteries; the full vision of God's brightness is reserved for the glorified life, when she will be wholly beautiful.

So then, as long as she is on earth, let her stop investigating the things that are in heaven too closely, lest perhaps a searcher of majesty be overwhelmed by glory. Let her stop, I mean, while she moves among women, inquiring into the things that belong to those exalted powers, things plain only to them and permitted only to them, as though heavenly things were meant for heavenly beings alone to behold. This vision that comes from you, O bride, which you ask to be shown to you, has become wondrous: and still you are not strong enough to look upon the dazzling, wondrous brightness I dwell in. For you have said: Show me where you pasture, where you lie down at noon.✦ But being led into the clouds, penetrating the fullness of light, breaking through the depths of glory, and dwelling in inaccessible light — this does not belong to this life, nor to the body.✦ This is kept for you in the last days, when I present you to myself, glorious, without spot or wrinkle, or anything of the sort.✦ Don't you know that as long as you live in this body, you are a stranger to the light? How, when you are not yet wholly beautiful, do you consider yourself fit to behold the fullness of beauty?

Know Yourself, and Wait for His Coming

Until the Bridegroom appears, the bride must be content with partial knowledge, guard against presumption, and wait for the fullness that will come when the perfect arrives.

How, then, do you seek to see me in my brightness, when you still don't even know yourself? For if you knew yourself more fully, you would surely understand that one weighed down by a corrupt body could never lift up your eyes and fix them on that radiance that even angels long to gaze upon.✦ It will be when I appear that you will be wholly beautiful, just as I am wholly beautiful; and most like me, you will see me just as I am.✦ Then you will hear: You are wholly beautiful, my friend, and there is no flaw in you.✦ As it is now, although you are already like me in one respect, in another you are still unlike me; be content, then, to know only in part. Pay attention to yourself, and do not go searching beyond yourself for higher things, and do not probe beyond yourself into what is too strong for you. Otherwise, if you do not know yourself, O beautiful among women — for I do call you beautiful, but beautiful among women, that is, only in part — when that which is perfect comes, then what is partial will be set aside. If, then, you do not know yourself, but what follows has already been said, there is no need to say it again.✦✦ I had promised to discuss the two kinds of ignorance usefully: if I seem to have fallen short, grant pardon to one who is willing.

Doxology

Bernard closes by confessing his dependence on Christ's grace and offering a final doxology.

For the will is within my reach, but I don't find the ability to carry it out, except to the extent that the bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, will deign to grant it by his own kindness for your edification — he who is God over all, blessed forever.✦ Amen.

Read the original Latin

Quid igitur Dei ignorantia parturit? Nam hinc incipiendum est, sicut recordamini hic heri fuisse terminatum. Quid itaque parturit? Diximus desperationem, sed quonam modo, dicamus. Forte aliquis reversus in se, et displicens sibi in omnibus malis quae fecit, cogitansque resipiscere, et redire ab omni via mala et carnali conversatione sua, si ignorat, quam sit bonus Deus, quam suavis et mitis, et quam multus ad ignoscendum, nonne sua carnalis cogitatio arguet eum, et dicet: Quid facis? et vitam istam vis perdere, et futuram? Peccata tua maxima sunt, et nimium multa: nequaquam pro tot et tantis, nec si tu excories, sufficies satisfacere. Complexio tenera est, vita exstitit delicata, consuetudinem difficile vinces.

Pro his et similibus desperatus resilit miser, ignorans quam facile omnipotens Bonitas, quae neminem vult perire, cuncta ista dissolveret: sequiturque impoenitentia, quae est delictum maximum, et blasphemia irremissibilis. Ipse vero aut conturbatus nimia tristitia absorbetur, et fertur in profundum, minime iam ut consolationem recipiat, emersurus, sicut scriptum est: Impius, cum venerit in profundum malorum, contemnit : aut certe dissimulans, et sibi qualicunque verisimili blandiens ratione, revocat se irrevocabiliter in saeculum, ad perfruendum et deliciandum in omnibus bonis eius, quoad licuerit. Cum autem dixerit: Pax et securitas, tunc repentinus ei superveniet interitus, sicut dolor in utero habentis, et non effugiet. Ita ergo et de ignorantia Dei universae malitiae consummatio venit, quae est desperatio.

Apostolus dicit quod ignorantiam Dei quidam habent. Ego autem dico omnes ignorare Deum, qui nolunt converti ad Deum. Neque enim ob aliud procul dubio renuunt, nisi quia gravem et severum imaginantur, qui pius est, durum et implacabilem, qui misericors est, ferum et terribilem, qui amabilis est: et mentitur iniquitas sibi, formans sibi idolum pro eo quod non est ipse. Quid timetis modicae fidei? ut peccata nolit remittere? Sed affixit ea cruci cum suis manibus. Quod teneri et delicati estis? Sed ipse novit figmentum nostrum.

Quod male assueti, et ligati peccandi consuetudine? Sed Dominus solvit compeditos. Forte ne irritatus immanitate et multitudine criminum, cunctetur porrigere manum adiutorii? Sed ubi abundavit delictum, superabundare et gratia consuevit. An de vestimento solliciti estis, vel cibo, caeterisque corpori vestro necessariis, et propterea cunctamini relinquere vestra? Sed scit quia his omnibus indigetis. Quid vultis amplius? quid iam impedit a salute?

Sed hoc est quod dico: Deum ignoratis, sed nec creditis auditui nostro. Vellem vos vel expertis credere, quia, nisi crodideritis, non intelligetis. Sed non est omnium fides.

Absit autem ut de tali, hoc est de Dei ignorantia, sponsam commonitam sentiamus, quae tanta sponsi pariter et Dei sui, non dico agnitione, sed amicitia et familiaritate donata est, ut eius crebra colloquia et oscula mereretur, et nunc familiari ausu loquitur: Indica mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Ubi sane non ipsum, sed locum habitationis gloriae eius sibi indicari requirit, quanquam non aliud ipse, et aliud locus eius vel gloria. Sed reprimenda censetur propter praesumptionem, et de sua ipsius commonenda cognitione, in qua nimirum visa est aliquatenus caligare, quae tantae se aestimarit idoneam visioni, sive minus attendens prae excessu suo, quod esset in corpore, sive frustra sperans, etiam manentem in corpore ad illam se posse inaccessibilem accedere claritatem. Ergo ad se ipsam protinus revocatur, et ignorantia convincitur, et insolentia castigatur. Si ignoras te, inquit, egredere. Terribiliter sponsus intonat in dilectam, non tanquam sponsus, sed tanquam magister; et non quasi iratus, sed ut territa purgaretur, purgata idonea redderetur huic ipsi, cui inhiat, visioni. Mundicordibus nempe illa visio sequestratur.

Pulchre autem pulchram, non omnimode quidem, sed pulchram inter mulieres eam dicit, videlicet cum distinctione; quatenus et ex hoc amplius reprimatur, et sciat quid desit sibi. Ego enim puto mulierum nomine hoc loco appellatas animas carnales ac saeculares, nihil in se virile habentes, nihil forte aut constans in suis actibus demonstrantes, sed totum remissum, totum femineum et molle quod vivunt, et quod agunt. Spiritualis autem anima, etsi inde iam pulchra quod non secundum carnem ambulat, sed secundum spiritum; ex eo tamen quod adhuc in corpore vivit, citra perfectum adhuc pulchritudinis proficit, ac proinde non pulchra omni modo, sed pulchra inter mulieres, id est inter animas terrenas, et quae non sunt, sicut ipsa, spirituales, non autem inter angelicas beatitudines, non inter virtutes, potestates, dominationes. Sicut patrum aliquis olim inventus et dictus est iustus in generatione sua, id est prae omnibus sui temporis suaeque generationis; et Thamar iustificata perhibetur ex Iuda, hoc est, prae Iuda; et in Evangelio publicanus descendisse refertur de templo iustificatus, sed iustificatus a Pharisaeo; et quomodo magnus ille Ioannes magnifice quondam commendatus est, quod videlicet superiorem non haberet, sed hoc inter natos mulierum, non autem inter choros beatorum coelestiumque spirituum; ita et sponsa modo dicitur pulchra, sed interim adhuc inter mulieres, et non inter coelestes beatitudines.

Desinat proinde, quandiu in terris est, quae in coelis sunt curiosius investigare, ne forte scrutatrix maiestatis opprimatur a gloria. Desinat, inquam, donec inter mulieres versatur, inquirere quae apud sublimes illas sunt potestates, solis ipsis perspicua, solis licita, tanquam coelestibus coelestia ad videndum. Mirabilis facta est, inquit, visio ista ex te, o sponsa, quam tibi postulas demonstrari: nec modo praevales intueri meridianam et miram quam inhabito claritatem. Dixisti enim: Indica mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Sed enim induci in nubes, penetrare in plenitudinem luminis, irrumpere claritatis abyssos, et lucem habitare inaccessibilem, nec temporis est huius, nec corporis. Id tibi in novissimis reservatur, cum te mini exhibuero gloriosam, non habentem maculam aut rugam, aut aliquid huiusmodi. An nescis quia quandiu vivis in hoc corpore, peregrinaris a lumine? Quomodo quae necdum tota pulchra es, idoneam te existimas universitatem pulchritudinis intueri?

Quomodo denique quaeris me in mea claritate videre, quae adhuc ignoras te? Nam si te plenius nosses, scires utique, corpore quod corrumpitur aggravatam nullatenus posse attollere oculos, et figere in illum fulgorem in quem prospicere angeli concupiscunt. Erit, cum apparuero, quod tota pulchra eris, sicut ego pulcher sum totus: et simillima mihi, videbis me sicuti sum. Tunc audies: Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te. Nunc vero, etsi ex parte iam similis, ex parte tamen dissimilis, contenta esto ex parte cognoscere. Te ipsam attende, et altiora te ne quaesieris, et fortiora te ne scrutata fueris. Alioquin si ignoras te, o pulchra inter mulieres; nam et ego te dico pulchram, sed inter mulieres, hoc est ex parte; cum autem venerit quod perfectum est, tunc evacuabitur quod ex parte est : si ergo ignoras te; sed quae sequuntur, dicta sunt, et non oportet iterum dici. Promiseram me de duplici ignorantia utiliter disputaturum: si quominus implesse videor, date veniam volenti.

Nam velle adiacet mihi, perficere autem non invenio, nisi quantum sua benignitate ad vestram aedificationem largiri dignabitur sponsus Ecclesiae Iesus Christus Dominus noster, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Thess.5.3 — When they say, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction comes upon them, like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
  2. ↩Rom.5.20 — The law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
  3. ↩Matt.6.25 — Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat [or what you will drink], nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
  4. ↩Matt.6.32 — For all these things the Gentiles seek after. For your Father who is in heaven knows that you need all of these things.
  5. ↩Rom.8.4;Gal.5.16 — so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Gal.5.16 — But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desire of the flesh.
  6. ↩Col.1.16;Eph.1.21 — For in him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. Eph.1.21 — far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come
  7. ↩Luke.18.10-Luke.18.14 — Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Luke.18.11 — The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed these things toward himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.' Luke.18.12 — I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get. Luke.18.13 — But the tax collector, standing far off, was not even willing to lift his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner.' Luke.18.14 — I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than that one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
  8. ↩Matt.11.11;Luke.7.28 — Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Luke.7.28 — I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
  9. ↩Song.1.7 — Tell me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
  10. ↩1Tim.6.16 — He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one among human beings has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
  11. ↩Eph.5.27 — so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she might be holy and blameless.
  12. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  13. ↩1John.3.2 — Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
  14. ↩Song.4.7 — You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
  15. ↩1Cor.13.9-1Cor.13.10 — For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 1Cor.13.10 — But when the complete comes, the partial will be done away.
  16. ↩Song.1.8;Song.2.10 — If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, go out by the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds' tents. Song.2.10 — My beloved answered and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away.'
  17. ↩Rom.9.5 — whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩excories (you flay yourself): rare verb, reading slightly uncertain; the sense is of extreme bodily self-punishment as insufficient for satisfaction.
  2. 2 ↩complexio (constitution/temperament): rare physical term; the point is that a delicate bodily disposition makes severe penance unrealistic.
  3. 3 ↩The Latin blurs the line between despair as a spiritual state and impenitence as a settled refusal of repentance; the two are presented as linked but distinct.
  4. 4 ↩The embedded citation 'Impius, cum venerit in profundum malorum, contemnit' is a candidate scriptural quotation (likely from Proverbs or a wisdom tradition); final resolution belongs to a later stage.
  5. 5 ↩The Latin blurs whether the person is genuinely repentant but unable to surface, or merely self-deceiving; the two outcomes (despair vs. relapse) are presented as alternatives.
  6. 6 ↩The citation 'Pax et securitas ... sicut dolor in utero habentis' echoes 1 Thessalonians 5:3; final resolution belongs to a later stage.
  7. 7 ↩The Latin plays paired adjectives across the three contrasts (pius/gravem severum, misericors/durum implacabilem, amabilis/ferum terribilem). The rendering keeps the movement from perceived severity to perceived cruelty, which is the rhetorical force of the passage.
  8. 8 ↩The manuscript reads 'crodideritis' for standard 'credideritis'; the corrected form is translated here.

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