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Chapter 77SermC.1.77

Sermo 77

Not All Are Friends of the Bridegroom

Bernard warns that many who appear to attend the Church are self-seeking, lovers of money, and ostentatious rather than true guardians of the Bride.

Come on — we're unencumbered now! Yesterday's discourse told us what sort of guides we'd want to have on this road we're walking — not the sort we actually have. We find they're far different. Not all are friends of the Bridegroom whom you see gathering around the Bride today from every side, and who, as people commonly say, seem to be waiting on her. Very few are those who don't seek their own interests out of all his dear ones. They love sums, and cannot equally love Christ, because they've given their hands to mammon. Look at how they strut — bright and adorned, draped in variegated garments — like a bride coming from her chamber. If you suddenly saw someone like that approaching from a distance, wouldn't you take them for a bride rather than a bride's guardian?

The Bride Despoiled by Those Who Should Guard Her

The Church's splendor has been stolen by corrupt leaders who devour rather than feed her, and Bernard indicts them with prophetic scripture.

So where do you think all this abundance comes from for them — the splendor of garments, the luxury of tables, heaps of silver and gold vessels — if not from the bride's possessions?1 That is why she is left behind — poor, destitute, and naked — with a wretched appearance, uncouth, rough, and bloodless.2 For this reason, this is no time to adorn the bride but to strip her bare; not to guard her but to destroy her; not to defend her but to expose her; not to instruct her but to prostitute her; not to feed the flock but to slaughter and devour her — as the Lord says about them: 'They devour my people like bread'; and: 'They have eaten Jacob and laid waste his dwelling'; and in another prophet: 'They will eat the sins of my people'; as if to say: 'They demand payment for sinners' sins, and they do not give the care owed to those who sin.'✦✦34 Which one will you give me from among the number of overseers — one who is no more watchful about emptying purses than about uprooting vices?5 Where is the one who can soften wrath by praying, who can proclaim the acceptable year to the Lord?6 What we say is lighter; what remains to be judged is far heavier.

Sellers of the Bride, Not Finders

Leaving unresponsive leaders behind, Bernard contrasts those who hold office with those who inherit apostolic zeal, warning that successors without imitation betray the Bride.

Yet we linger over these people or those without cause, because they don't listen to us. But even if these things we say were perhaps put into writing, they'd scorn to read them; or if by chance they did read them, they'd be indignant at me, even though they'd be doing what's more right for themselves. So let's leave these people — they're not finders of the bride, but sellers of her — and let's look instead for those the bride herself says were found by her. And indeed these men have received the position of ministry from those earlier ones, but not the zeal. Everyone wants to be successors; few want to be imitators. Oh, if only they could be found as watchful in their duty as they are eager to rush after the seat of honor! They would surely stay alert, carefully guarding the one found by them and entrusted to them. Indeed, they would stay awake for their own sake, and they wouldn't allow it to be said of them: 'My friends and my nearest ones have drawn near against me and stood opposed.'✦

A Complaint Against Our Own Age

Bernard laments that in this age watchmen not only fail to guard the Church but actively destroy her, plunging themselves and others into ruin.

This is a thoroughly justified complaint, and it could not more rightly be directed against any age than against our own. It's not enough for our watchmen that they don't guard us — they also destroy us. Plunged into the deep sleep of forgetfulness, they don't wake up at any thunder of the Lord's warnings — at least not enough to be afraid for their own danger. And so it happens that those who don't spare themselves don't spare their own people either — destroying and perishing together.

Apostles and Saints, True Guardians of the Church

The apostles and apostolic men are the true watchmen who guard the Church in life and, even more powerfully, in death.

But then who are these watchmen, by whom the bride claims to have been found? Surely the apostles and apostolic men. Truly these are the ones who guard the city — that is, the very one they found. The Church — and the more watchfully, the more dangerously they see her now imperiled by an evil that is certainly domestic and internal, as it is written: 'And a man's enemies are those of his own household.' For they do not abandon her, for whom they stood firm even to blood, destitute of their protection; but they shield and guard her by day and by night — that is, in their life and in their death. And if precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, I do not doubt that all the more powerfully they accomplish this in death, the more their authority has been strengthened through death itself.

Guards Seen and Unseen

Bernard defends the claim that the saints in heaven, no less than angels, watch over the Church with compassionate concern born of shared suffering.

"So those are just rafters," someone says, "even if you think you've seen them with your own eyes; but they're shut off from human sight."7 To which I say: "If you think the testimony of your own eyes is trustworthy, God's testimony is greater."✦ He says indeed: "Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have stationed guards; all day and all night, they will never be silent."✦ "But that was said about the angels," you say. I don't deny it: they are all ministering spirits.✦ But who's going to stop me from thinking the same about those who are certainly no less powerful than the angels themselves, but in affection and mercy are perhaps even closer to us, since they are bound to us more closely by nature?8 Add to that their endurance of the very same sufferings and miseries in which we are still engaged for a time. Won't even more compassion for us, or concern, be at work in the minds of the saints, because without a doubt they remember that they themselves passed through them?

The Church Is Well Cared For

Drawing on Psalm 65, Bernard assures the Church of heavenly and earthly protection, declaring that angels and the spirits of the just alike watch over her without sleep.

Isn't that their own voice: We passed through fire and water, and you led us into a place of refreshment?✦ What? They themselves crossed over — will they leave us in the midst of fires or waves, not even deigning to stretch out a hand to their children in peril? It is not so. You are well cared for, O mother Church; you are well cared for in the place of your pilgrimage: help comes to you from heaven and from earth. Those who guard you do not slumber, nor do they sleep.✦ Your guards are holy angels; your watchful ones are the spirits and souls of the just. Those who have found you guarded by both kinds of spirits are not mistaken — you are watched over equally by both.

Heaven Awaits Fulfillment from the Church

Both angels and saints await their completion from the Church, the former to be filled, the latter to receive what they desire, as the psalm says.

And the reason for this anxious concern is different for each: for some, because without you they are not brought to completion; for others, because unless it comes from you they are by no means restored to their fullness. Who doesn't know that when Satan fell from heaven, and his accomplices with him, the number of the heavenly host was diminished by no small part? And so all of them await their fulfillment from you — some, the filling of their number; others, the desire of their hearts. Recognize, then, the voice in the psalm: 'The righteous wait for me, until you repay me.'

The Bride Seeks the Bridegroom and Is Taught by Him

The Bride seeks the Bridegroom who is not hidden, and He sends teachers to nourish her in truth, for genuine love of the soul is love of truth.

And it's worth noting that the Scriptures say it wasn't these things that found them, but rather they who found that truth — and, I suspect, they were driven to this very pursuit by a deep hunger for it. For how will they preach unless they are sent? In the Gospels you have him speaking clearly: 'Go, I am sending you,' and again, 'Go, preach the Gospel to all creation.' So it is. She was seeking the bridegroom, and the bridegroom was not hiding from her. Surely the one who had stirred her up precisely so that she would seek him had also given her a heart inclined toward his precepts, and the law of life and discipline — provided there would be someone to instruct her and teach her the way of wisdom. And he sent planters and waterers to meet her, to nourish her and strengthen her in every firmness of truth — that is, to show her and give her confident assurance about the beloved — because what she seeks is truth, and it is truth that her soul truly loves. And truly, what is faithful and genuine love of the soul, if not precisely that by which truth itself is loved?

Reason, Truth, and the Embrace of the Bridegroom

Bernard reflects on the soul's rational nature as the image of God, dares to rest in the chaste embrace of truth, and warns of the danger of leaving God's gift unused.

I have the faculty of reason, I'm capable of knowing truth; but I wish I wouldn't be, if true love were missing. For this is the fruit of those branches, and I am the root. I'm not safe coming from the Safe One, if I'm found without him. Surely in that gift of nature there shines forth the distinguishing mark of the divine image — there's no question about it — the very thing by which a human being excels all other living creatures.9 That's why my soul dares to rise up toward the sweet, chaste embrace of truth, and so to rest in complete security and delight within its love — provided, though, that she finds favor in the eyes of so great a Bridegroom, so that he considers her worthy to attain this glory; or rather, so that he himself presents her to himself without stain or wrinkle, or anything of that kind.✦10 How great a difference do you think there is — and how great a punishment is deserved — in holding so great a gift of God idle and unused?11 But that's for another time.

Beware the Blind Guides

The Bride does not find the one she seeks, but finds those she did not seek; Bernard warns of self-appointed teachers and blind guides who destroy themselves and others.

Now the bride, the one she was seeking, she doesn't find at all; and those she wasn't seeking have found her. Let those who aren't afraid to enter the ways of life without a guide or a teacher hear this: they are, all by themselves, both disciples and masters in the spiritual craft.12 This isn't enough: they even gather disciples for themselves — blind guides of the blind.✦13 How many have been shown to have wandered most dangerously from the straight path because of this! Without a doubt, those who are ignorant of Satan's schemes and his designs brought it about that those who began in the flesh were finished in the flesh — led astray in disgrace, fallen in damnation.✦1415 Let those who are like this, then, consider how carefully they should walk, and let them take an example from the bride, who could in no way reach the one she longed for before those came to meet her — those whose teaching she would use to come to know the beloved, and certainly to learn the fear of the Lord.16 He gives his hand to the seducer while pretending to give it to the teacher.17 And the one who sends the sheep out to pasture without a guardian is a shepherd not of sheep, but of wolves.

How Can the Bride Say She Was Found?

Bernard puzzles over the Bride's claim to have been found, since the Church was gathered from all directions and never assembled in one place under angelic or apostolic direction.

So let's look at how the bride says she has been found. To me, it seems like a pretty unusual way of putting it, to speak of a 'finding.' For she says this as if she had come from some single place — the Church. But she comes from East and West, according to the word of the Lord, and from all the ends of the earth. But she was never gathered into one place where she could be found led or directed by angels or by apostles toward the one whom her soul loves. Was she found before she was gathered? No — because she did not yet exist. So if she had said she was gathered, assembled, or — what fits the name of the Church more properly — convoked by preachers, I would have passed over it plainly, without any hesitation at all.

The Hidden Meaning of 'Found'

Since the Church was neither gathered, founded, nor built by the apostles in the usual sense, the Bride's claim to be 'found' invites deeper examination.

They are God's helpers, the one she speaks of — both hearing him speak and being heard by him: 'Whoever does not gather with me scatters.' But neither will this seem irrelevant to me, if someone says it was founded or built by them. For they did this together with him who speaks in the Gospels: 'And on this rock I will build my Church'; and: 'Because it was founded on a firm rock.' But now, saying none of these things, yet claiming beyond what is usual that she was found, she makes us hesitate somewhat and leads us to suspect that something lies hidden in a place that should be more carefully examined.

A Humble Beginning for the Next Discourse

Overcome by humility and encouraged by past help, Bernard takes up the question of how the Bride was found, and commends the listeners to Christ with a doxology.

I was wanting, I confess, to pass this by and to withdraw from this examination, which I didn't feel equal to. But then, recalling how in matters equally doubtful and obscure I have been helped along — with you indeed lifting hearts upward, and even beyond my own expectation — I'm ashamed of my lack of trust; and rebuking my own fear, I take up the task, not rashly, but because I was shrinking back in timidity. The usual help will be there, I trust; and if less so, still, before willing listeners it won't be wasted — what I've attempted. But the next discourse will take this as its starting point; for here we close the present one. And may he himself grant you that the things spoken may be held not only in memory, but also loved ardently and carried out effectively — the bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is over all, God blessed forever.✦ Amen.

Read the original Latin

Eia expediti sumus! Diximus hesterno sermone, quales in via hac qua ambulamus, vellemus habere duces, non quales habemus. Longe dissimiles experimur. Non omnes sunt amici spousi, quos hodie sponsae hinc inde assistere cernis, et qui, ut vulgo aiunt, eam quasi addextrare videntur. Pauci admodum sunt, qui non quae sunt quaerant, ex omnibus charis eius. Diligunt numera, nec possunt pariter diligere Christum; quia manus dederunt mammonae. Intuere quomodo incedunt nitidi et ornati, circumamicti varictatibus, tanquam sponsa procedens de thalamo suo. Nonne si quempiam talium repente eminus procedentem aspexeris, sponsam potius putabis, quam sponsae custodem?

Unde vero hanc illis exubere existimas rerum affluentiam, vestium splendorem, mensarum luxuriem, congeriem vasorum argenteorum et aureorum, nisi de bonis sponsae? Inde est quod illa pauper, et inops, et nuda relinquitur, facie miseranda, inculta, bispida, exsangui. Propter hoc non est hoc tempore ornare sponsam, sed spoliare; non est custodire, sed perdere; non est defendere, sed exponere; non est instituere, sed prostituere; non est pascere gregem, sed mactare et devorare, dicente de illis Domino: Qui devorant plebem meam, ut cibum panis; et: Quia comederunt Iacob, et locum eius desolaverunt, et in alio propheta: Peccata populi mei comedent; quasi dicat: Peccatorum pretia exigunt, et peccantibus debitam sollicitudinem non impendunt. Quem dabis mihi de numero praepositorum, qui non plus invigilet subditorum vacuandis marsupiis, quam vitiis extirpandis? ubi qui orando flectat iram; qui praedicet annum placabilem Domino? Leviora loquimur; graviora gravius manet iudicium.

Sine causa tamen vel his, vel illis immoramur, quia non audiunt nos. Sed etsi litteris forsitan mandentur ista quae dicimus, dedignabuntur legere; aut si forte legerint, mihi indignabuntur, quamvis rectius sibi hoc facerent. Propterea relinquamus istos, non inventores sponsae, sed venditores; et inquiramus potius illios, a quibus sponsa se inventam loquitur. Et quidem illorum isti sortiti sunt ministerii locum, sed non zelum. Successores omnes cupiunt esse, imitatores pauci. O utinam tam vigiles reperirentur ad curam, quam alacres currunt ad cathedram! Vigilarent utique, sollicite servantes ab illis inventam, sibi creditam. Imo vero evigilarent pro semetipsis, nec sinerent de se dici: Amici mei et proximi mei adversum me appropinquaverunt et steterunt.

Iusta omnino querimonia, nec ad ullam iustius, quam ad nostram referenda aetatem. Parum est nostris vigilibus quod non servant nos, nisi et perdant. Alto quippe demersi oblivionis somno, ad nullum Dominicae comminationis tonitruum expergiscuntur, ut vel suum ipsorum periculum expavescant. Inde est ut non parcant suis, qui non parcunt sibi, perimentes pariter et pereuntes.

Sed enim quinam illi sunt vigiles, a quibus se inventam perhibet sponsa? Nempe apostoli, atque apostolici viri. Vere hi sunt qui custodiunt civitatem, id est eam ipsam quam invenerunt. Ecclesiam, eoque vigilantius, quo nunc temporis gravius periclitantem conspiciunt, a malo utique domestico et intestino, sicut scriptum est: Et inimici hominis domestici eius. Neque enim pro qua usque ad sanguinem restiterunt, suo derelinquunt patrocinio destitutam, sed protegunt et custodiunt eam die ac nocte, hoc est, in vita et in morte sua. Et si pretiosa est in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius, non ambigo ego quin etiam tanto in morte potentius id agant, quanto in ipsa amplius confortatus est principatus eorum.

Sic ista asseria, ait quis, ac si oculis tuis videris ea; sunt autem ab humanis seclusa conspectibus. Cui ego: Si tu tuorum oculorum testimonium fidele putas, testimonium Dei maius est. Ait vero: Super muros tuos, Ierusalem, constitui custodes: tota die et tota nocte, in perpetuum non tacebunt. Sed de angelis, inquis, id dictum est. Non abnuo: omnes sunt administratorii spiritus. At quis me prohibeat itidem et de istis sentire, qui potentia quidem minime iam ipsis angelis impares sunt, affectu autem et misericordia eo nobis forsitan germaniores existunt, quo natura coniunctiores? Iunge et tolerantiam earumdem passionum et miseriarum, in quibus nos pro tempore adhuc versamur. Nihilne amplius miserationis pro nobis vel sollicitudinis operabitur in mentibus sanctis, quod et se transisse per eas procul dubio meminerunt?

Nonne illa ipsorum vox est: Transivimus per ignem et aquam, et eduxisti nos in refrigerium? Quid? ipsi transierunt, et nos in mediis ignibus vel fluctibus derelinquent, nec saltem manum porrigere dignabuntur periclitantibus filiis? Non est ita. Bene tecum agitur, o mater Ecclesia, bene tecum agitur in loco peregrinationis tuae: de coelo et de terra venit auxilium tibi. Qui custodiunt te, non dormitant, neque dormiunt. Custodes tui angeli sancti, vigiles tui spiritus et animae iustorum. Non errant qui te ab utrisque inventam spiritibus senserint, ab utrisque pariter custodiri.

Et est huius sollicitudinis ratio quibusque sua: his quidem, quod sine te non consummentur; illis vero, quod nisi de te ad sui plenitudinem minime restaurentur. Nam quis nesciat, Satana cadente de coelo et eius complicibus, numerum supernae multitudinis parte non modica imminutum? De te itaque omnes consummationem exspectant, alii numeri, alii desiderii sui. Agnosce proinde vocem in psalmo: Me exspectant iusti, donec retribuas mihi.

Et advertendum, quod non ista illos, sed illi istam potius invenisse referuntur, utque ego suspicor ad hoc ipsum studio destinati. Nam quomodo praedicabunt, nisi mittantur? Denique habes loquentem in Evangeliis: Ite, ecce ego mitto vos; et: Ite, praedicate Evangelium omni creaturae. Ita est. Illa quaerebat sponsum, et sponsum non latebat. Nempe qui in hoc ipsum excitaverat eam ut se quaereret, et dederat illi cor ad praecepta, et legem vitae et disciplinae, dummodo esset qui instrueret et doceret viam prudentiae. Et misit in occursum eius plantatores et rigatores, qui eam enutrirent, et confirmarent in omni certitudine veritatis, hoc est, indicarent illi certamque redderent de dilecto; quia veritas est quam quaerit, et quam vere diligit anima eius. Et revera quis fidus verusve animae amor, nisi utique is, quo veritas adamatur?

Rationis sum compos, veritatis sum capax; sed utinam non forem, si amor veri defuerit. Horum quippe ramorum is fructus est, et ego radix. Non sum securus a securi, si absque eo inveniar. In illo nimirum naturae munere illud divinae imaginis enitere insigne haud dubium est, ex quo caeteris praestet animantibus. Inde est quod audet anima mea ad dulces castosque assurgere veritatis amplexus, et sic in amore ipsius tota securitate ac suavitate quiescere, si tamen inveniat gratiam in oculis tanti sponsi, ut dignam reputet, quae ad hanc pertingat gloriam; imo ipse eam sibi exhibeat non habentem maculam aut rugam, aut aliquid eiusmodi. Quanti putas esse discriminis, quave dignum poena, tantum Dei donum otiosum tenere? Verum hoc alias.

Nunc vero sponsa quem quaerebat, minime reperit; et quos non quaerebat, reperta est ab ipsis. Audiant hoc, qui sine duce et praeceptore vias vitae ingredi non formidant; ipsi sibi in arte spirituali existentes et discipuli pariter et magistri. Non sufficit hoc: etiam coacervant discipulos sibi, caeci duces caecorum. Quam multi ex hoc a recto tramite periculosissime aberrasse comperti sunt! Nimirum ignorantes astutias Satanae et cogitationes ipsius, factum est ut qui spiritu coeperant, carne consummarentur, abducti turpiter, lapsi damnabiliter. Videant proinde qui eiusmodi sunt, quomodo caute ambulent, et de sponsa exemplum sumant, quae non prius ad eum, quem desiderabat, ullo modo valuit pervenire, quam sibi occurrerent, quorum magisterio uteretur ad cognoscendum de dilecto, certe ad discendum timorem Domini. Seductori dat manum, qui dare dissimulat praeceptori. Et qui dimittit oves in pascua absque custode, pastor est non ovium, sed luporum.

Nunc iam videamus de sponsa, quomodo se dicat inventam. Mihi enim insuete satis verbum inventionis posuisse videtur. Nam ita hoc dicit, ac si uno de loco Ecclesia venerit. Venit autem ab Oriente et Occidente, iuxta verbum Domini, et a cunctis finibus terrae. Sed neque aliquando congregata est in unum locum, ubi ab apostolis seu ab angelis inveniretur deducenda vel dirigenda ad eum, quem diligit anima sua. Fueritne prius inventa quam collecta? Non; quia nec erat. Quamobrem si collectam, si congregatam, si certe, quod magis vocabulo Ecclesiae competit, convocatam a praedicatoribus se dixisset, transissem simpliciter, minime in aliquo cunctabundus.

Coadiutores enim Dei sunt, quem et audiere loquentem: Qui non colligit mecum, dispergit. Sed neque hoc mihi ab re videbitur, si dixerit quis ab eis fundatam sive aedificatam. Siquidem hoc fecerunt una cum illo, qui in Evangeliis loquitur: Et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam; et: Quia fundata est supra firmam petram. Nunc vero nihil horum loquens, sed praeter solitum quidem perhibens se inventam, cunctari aliquantum nos facit, atque in suspicionem adducit latere loco, quod sit diligentius intuendum.

Volebam, fateor, praeterire, meque subducere huic scrutinio, cui sufficere non sentirem. Caeterum reminiscens in quantis aeque dubiis et obscuris, vobis quidem sursum corda levantibus, etiam supra spem meam adiutum me senserim, pudet diffidentiae: et reprehendens timorem meum, adorior non quidem temere, quod timide refugiebam. Aderit, ut confido, solitum adiutorium: quod si minus, apud benevolos tamen auditores non erit otiosum quod volui. Verum hoc habebit sequens sermo principium; nam praesentem hic claudimus. Ipse autem det vobis ea quae dicuntur non solum tenere memoriter, sed et ardenter diligere, et efficaciter adimplere sponsus Ecclesiae Iesus Christus, Dominus noster, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.14.5;Heb.13.4 — There they were in great dread, for God is in the generation of the righteous. Heb.13.4 — Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
  2. ↩Hos.4.8 — They feed on the sin of my people, and lift up their soul toward their iniquity.
  3. ↩Ps.41.9 — A word of worthlessness is poured out on him, and having risen, he will not rise again.
  4. ↩1John.5.9 — If we accept human testimony, God's testimony is greater, for this is God's testimony—that he has testified about his Son.
  5. ↩Isa.62.6 — Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have posted guards; all day and all night they will never be silent. You who remind the LORD, do not rest.
  6. ↩Heb.1.14 — Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation?
  7. ↩Ps.65.12 — You have crowned the year of your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance.
  8. ↩Ps.120.4 — A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of broomwood.
  9. ↩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.
  10. ↩Matt.15.14 — Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. But if a blind person guides a blind person, both will fall into a pit.
  11. ↩Gal.3.3 — So foolish are you? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being completed by the flesh?
  12. ↩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 ↩exubere: rare form, possibly from exubeo 'to pour forth abundantly'; sense uncertain but clearly negative (ill-gotten gain). illis: dative/ablative plural, case ambiguous — rendered as recipient/beneficiary. sponsae: genitive or dative singular feminine; here taken as genitive ('the bride's').
  2. 2 ↩bispida: rare form, possibly 'rough/hairy' or 'hardened'; sense uncertain. exsangui: case form ambiguous (dative/ablative singular or nominative/ablative plural); rendered as nominative agreeing with the bride.
  3. 3 ↩Three embedded scripture quotations: (1) 'Qui devorant plebem meam, ut cibum panis' — cf. Ps 13:4 (Vulg. 13:5) or Mic 3:3; (2) 'Quia comederunt Iacob, et locum eius desolaverunt' — cf. Ps 78:47 (Vulg. 79:46) or Jer 10:25; (3) 'Peccata populi mei comedent' — cf. Hos 4:8. Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses stage.
  4. 4 ↩The repeated adversative structure (non est... sed...) is preserved to maintain the rhetorical force of the prophetic indictment.
  5. 5 ↩extirpandis: rare gerund form from extirpo; sense 'uprooting' is clear in context of vices.
  6. 6 ↩'annum placabilem Domino' echoes Is 61:2 'annum placabilem Domino' (the acceptable year of the Lord) and possibly Lk 4:19. Candidate quotation; final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses stage.
  7. 7 ↩The rare word asseria refers to beams or rafters; here it is used metaphorically for something seemingly visible but actually inaccessible.
  8. 8 ↩The relative clause 'qui... impares sunt' refers to the saints, who are not inferior to the angels in power.
  9. 9 ↩enitere (rare verb) rendered 'shines forth'; insigne rendered 'distinguishing mark' to convey the visible badge of the imago Dei.
  10. 10 ↩The closing phrase 'without stain or wrinkle, or anything of that kind' echoes Ephesians 5:27 (sine macula aut rugam aut aliquid eiusmodi); candidate allusion, not yet resolved against Moses.
  11. 11 ↩The rhetorical question contrasts the dignity of the God-given gift (reason/imago Dei) with the culpability of leaving it idle (otiosum).
  12. 12 ↩arte spirituali rendered 'spiritual craft' to capture the sense of a practiced skill or discipline in the spiritual life, not mere theory.
  13. 13 ↩The phrase caeci duces caecorum echoes Matt 15:14; rendered 'blind guides of the blind' to preserve the familiar cadence.
  14. 14 ↩ignorantes is ambiguous between accusative of respect and participial adjunct; rendered as 'those who are ignorant of' to preserve the sense of culpable unawareness.
  15. 15 ↩The ut clause is resultative after factum est: their ignorance resulted in those who began in the Spirit being completed in the flesh. Rendered with a dash to capture the consequential force.
  16. 16 ↩prius...quam temporal construction rendered as 'could in no way reach...before those came to meet her' to preserve the logical sequence.
  17. 17 ↩dat manum is idiomatic for yielding or supporting; rendered 'gives his hand' to preserve the concrete image while conveying the sense of complicity.

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) →