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Chapter 8SermC.1.8

Sermo 8

The Promise of the Highest Kiss

Bernard introduces the bride's petition for the kiss of the mouth and identifies it with the ineffable mutual knowledge and love of the Father and the Son.

Today, as you hold to yesterday's promise, I plan to discuss with you the highest matter—that is, the kiss of the mouth.✦ Listen more closely to what tastes sweeter, is savored more rarely, and is harder to understand. To begin a little more deeply, it seems to me that he has designated a certain ineffable and untried kiss for every creature—he who says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, or anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.✦ For the Father loves the Son and embraces him with singular love—the highest embracing the equal, the eternal embracing the co-eternal, the one embracing the only-begotten. But the Father himself is bound by no lesser affection from the Son—indeed, for love of whom he even dies, with the Son himself testifying when he says: So that all may know that I love the Father, rise, let us go—doubtless, to his passion.✦ That mutual knowledge, then—of the begetter and the begotten—equally both knowing and loving, what is it except a most sweet, yet most secret, kiss?

The Kiss the Bride Dares to Ask

The bride boldly seeks not the Father's own kiss but the kiss of his mouth, which is the Holy Spirit, the shared love and peace of Father and Son.

I'm convinced that not even an angelic creature is allowed to enter into so great and so holy a mystery of divine love. In fact, Paul himself, wise as he is, says that peace surpasses every understanding—even an angel's. So even she, though she presumes greatly, nevertheless dares to say: Let him kiss me with his mouth — reserving that for the Father alone — but asking for something less: Let him kiss me, she says, with the kiss of his mouth.✦1 Look at the new bride receiving a new kiss—not from his mouth, but from the kiss of his mouth. He breathed on them—Jesus, there's no doubt, breathing on the apostles, that is, on the early church—and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.✦ It was indeed a kiss. What? That bodily breath? No, but an invisible Spirit: who for that very reason was given in that lordly breath, so that by this it might be understood that he proceeds equally from himself as from the Father, as truly a kiss shared by the one kissing and the one kissed.✦ So it's enough for the bride if she is kissed by the bridegroom's kiss, even if she isn't kissed by his mouth. For she doesn't consider it a small or worthless thing to be kissed by this kiss: which is nothing other than to be poured out upon by the Holy Spirit. Surely, if the Father is rightly understood as the one kissing, and the Son as the one kissed, it won't be beside the point to understand the Holy Spirit as the kiss — seeing that he is the unshakable peace of the Father and the Son, a firm bond, an undivided love, an indivisible unity.

Bold Request for the Revealing Spirit

Confident in the Son's promise to reveal the Father, the bride asks for the Holy Spirit, since neither the Father nor the Son can be known without the other.

Therefore, concerning him, the bride dares to ask confidently that he be poured out into herself, under the name of a kiss. She holds, after all, something from which the occasion to presume will not be lacking. For the Son says: 'No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son' — and he added, 'or anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'✦✦ The bride, however, does not distrust him — that he might not will it for her, if he wills it for anyone. Therefore she boldly asks to be given a kiss — that is, the Spirit in whom both the Son and the Father will be revealed to her. For one, without the other, can by no means become known. Whence that saying: 'Whoever sees me sees also my Father'; and that other from John: 'Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either.'✦✦ But whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.✦

Eternal Life as Threefold Knowledge

True blessedness is knowing both the Father and the Son, and where both are known the Holy Spirit cannot be ignored, since he is the mutual goodness and love of both.

From all this it's clear that the Father isn't known without the Son, and the Son isn't known without the Father. Rightly, then, the highest blessedness is placed not in the knowledge of one alone, but in the knowledge of both, by the one who says: 'This is eternal life, that they may know you, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.'✦2 And finally, those who follow the Lamb are said to have his name, and the name of his Father written on their foreheads — which means glorying in the knowledge of both.✦3 But someone says, "So then, isn't acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit necessary either, since he said that eternal life is to know the Father and the Son, but said nothing about the Holy Spirit?"✦ Indeed it is: but where the Father and the Son are perfectly recognized, how can the goodness of both — which is the Holy Spirit — be ignored? For a human being doesn't fully become known to another human being as long as it remains hidden whether his will is good or evil. And although it was said, 'This is eternal life, that they may know you, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,' surely if that mission shows forth the good pleasure of the Father, who sends so graciously, no less than of the Son, who obeys so willingly, then the Holy Spirit was not entirely passed over where mention was made of grace so great belonging to both.✦ For the love and kindness of both is indeed the Holy Spirit.

The Bride Asks for Threefold Grace

The bride asks the Son for the Spirit, through whom he reveals himself and the Father, a revelation that not only illumines the mind but also inflames love.

So the bride asks to have the grace of this threefold knowledge poured into her, as much as can be received in mortal flesh, when she asks for the kiss. And she asks from the Son, because it belongs to the Son to reveal whomever he wills. So the Son reveals himself to whomever he wills, and he reveals the Father too. And he reveals without doubt through the kiss — that is, through the Holy Spirit — with the Apostle as witness, who says: 'But to us God has revealed through his Spirit.'✦ But in giving the Spirit through whom he reveals, he also reveals that very Spirit; by giving he reveals, and by revealing he gives. Furthermore, the revelation that comes through the Holy Spirit not only illuminates toward knowledge but also kindles toward love, as Paul says: 'The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.'✦ And so perhaps of those who, though they knew God, did not glorify him as God, it is not written that they knew through the Holy Spirit revealing them; because even when they knew, they did not love.✦ So you have it, you see: 'For God has revealed to them.'✦

Knowledge That Builds, Not Puffs Up

Natural knowledge of God, though real, lacked love and humility; minds that pursued majesty without meekness failed to know God's heart.

And there is this added: "Through his Spirit" — so that impious minds would not, on their own authority, usurp the bride's kiss, content with the things that puff her up, never knowing the things that build her up. Then again, let the Apostle himself say through what they knew. Through the things that were made, he says, they perceived the things understood.✦ And so it's clear that they didn't fully know the one they barely loved. For if they had fully known the goodness by which he willed to be born in the flesh and to die for their redemption, they would not have been ignorant of it. Hear again what was revealed to them about God: 'His eternal power and divinity.'✦ You see that whatever is lofty, whatever is majestic, they searched out in a spirit of presumption — not God's spirit but their own — but that he is meek and humble of heart, they did not understand.✦ And it's no wonder, since their head Behemoth is humble about nothing; but, as it is read of him, he looks to what is lofty in everything.✦

Warning Against Presumption

The soul is warned not to walk in paths of greatness and wonders beyond itself, lest searchers of majesty be overwhelmed.

The path against which David did not walk — not in great things, not in wonders beyond himself — was so that no searcher of majesty would be overwhelmed by glory.✦

The Spirit's Teaching Sets Love Ablaze

The bride seeks the Holy Spirit rather than rely on fleshly senses or human curiosity, because the Spirit's teaching inflames love and unites grace with true knowledge.

So that you too may plant your feet carefully in the secret depths of meaning, always remember what the Wise One warns: 'Do not seek things too high for you, and do not probe into things too strong for you.'45 Walk in the Spirit among them, and not in your own senses. The Spirit's teaching doesn't sharpen curiosity, but it does set love ablaze.6 Rightly, then, the bride whom her own soul loves does not entrust herself to the senses of her own flesh, nor does she settle for the empty reasonings of human curiosity; instead she seeks the kiss — that is, she calls upon the Holy Spirit — through whom she may receive at once both the taste of knowledge and the seasoning of grace.78 And how fitting that knowledge given in the kiss is received with love, since a kiss is the sign of love. So knowledge that puffs up, since it exists without love, does not come from the kiss.✦9 But those who wield God's weapon, yet not according to knowledge, must by no means claim it for themselves.10 For both gifts that the kiss brings — grace, the light of recognition, and the richness of devotion — arrive together.11

Two Lips for the Twin Grace

The soul prepares understanding and will as two lips to receive the kiss, since the Spirit pours out both light and sweetness, and no creature may approach the Father-Son embrace without him.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding is, as it were, a bee carrying wax and honey — it has both the means to ignite the light of knowledge and the means to pour out the sweetness of grace. Therefore, let neither suppose they have received the kiss — neither the one who understands the truth but does not love, nor the one who loves but does not understand. Indeed, in this kiss there is no room for error and no room for lukewarmness. Therefore, to receive the twin grace of the most holy kiss, the bride — which is the soul — prepares her two lips from within: the faculty of understanding for wisdom, and the faculty of willing for wisdom, so that from the full kiss she may deserve to hear, rejoicing: 'Grace is poured out on your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.' So when the Father kisses the Son, he pours out to him the deepest mysteries of his divinity and breathes forth the sweetness of love, as Scripture signifies when it says: 'Day pours forth speech to day.' To this eternal, singular, and blessed embrace — as has already been said — no creature is permitted to draw near at all; it is granted only with the Spirit of both as witness and conscious seal of their mutual knowledge and love. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

Narration from the Only-Begotten's Bosom

Bernard protests his unworthiness, then explains that the Only-Begotten has narrated the Father's secrets to John and through him to all the friends of the Bridegroom.

But perhaps someone will say to me: 'Then how did it become known to you, since you confess that it was entrusted to no creature?' Assuredly the Only-Begotten, who is in the Father's bosom, has himself related it — I would not say to me, wretched and unworthy as I am, but clearly to John, the friend of the Bridegroom, to whom these words belong; and not only to John, but also to John the Evangelist, that disciple whom Jesus loved. For that soul was pleasing to God, and entirely worthy of the bride's name and endowment, worthy of the Bridegroom's embrace, and finally worthy to recline upon the Lord's breast. John drew from the bosom of the Only-Begotten what that One had drawn from the Father's bosom. Nor was it to him alone, but also to all those to whom that angel of great counsel said: 'I have called you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you.' Paul too drew deeply — he whose gospel is not from man, nor did he receive it through a human being, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Truly, all these can say — as truly as they can say it with joy — 'The Only-Begotten, who is in the Father's bosom, has himself related it to us.' And what was that narration to them if not a kiss?

Kiss of Mouth, Kiss of Kiss

Christ possesses the kiss from the mouth as fullness, while the saints receive it as participation; the highest mutual indwelling belongs to the Son, and the Spirit-given knowledge belongs to the saints.

But a kiss from a kiss, and not from the mouth. Hear now: a kiss from the mouth. "I and the Father are one; likewise I am in the Father, and the Father is in me."✦ A kiss is taken from mouth to mouth; but no one approaches it. Clearly a kiss of love and of peace; but that love surpasses all knowledge, and that peace surpasses all understanding. Yet what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it risen into the heart of man, God revealed to Paul through his Spirit — that is, through the kiss of his mouth. Therefore, that the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son is a kiss from the mouth. But what is read elsewhere: "For we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may know what things have been given to us by God" — that is truly a kiss from a kiss.

Paul's Humility, Christ's Fullness

Paul, even in the third heaven, receives a kiss from the kiss, while Christ, equal to the Father, takes the kiss from the mouth by singular prerogative.

And so that we may distinguish more clearly between the two: the one who receives the fullness takes a kiss from the mouth, but the one who receives from the fullness takes a kiss from the kiss. Paul was great indeed; yet no matter how far he stretches his mouth upward — even if he reaches as far as the third heaven — he must still remain short of the Most High's mouth, content in his own measure, and stand firm in himself. And since he cannot reach the face of glory, he must humbly seek a kiss sent down from on high, for his own condescension.12 But the one who does not consider it robbery to be equal to God — so that he dares to say, 'I and the Father are one' — because he is joined on equal terms and embraced equally, he does not beg for a kiss from a lower place, but joins mouth to mouth at the same loftiness, and by a singular prerogative takes a kiss from the mouth.13 Therefore for Christ the kiss is fullness; for Paul, a participation — so that when the one takes it from the mouth, the other may glory only in being kissed from the kiss.

Loved as Daughter and Bride

The soul that has felt the Spirit crying 'Abba, Father' may know herself as the Father's daughter and the Son's bride or sister, called by both titles.

Blessed, then, is the kiss through which God is not only recognized but the Father is loved — the Father who is never fully known unless he is perfectly loved. What soul among you has at some time felt this in the secret place of its own conscience — the Spirit of the Son crying out, 'Abba, Father'?✦ . Let her, and no other, count on being loved with a father's affection — the one herself moved by the very same Spirit by which the Son too is moved. Take heart, whoever you are — that woman — take heart, hesitating at nothing. In the Spirit of the Son, know yourself as the Father's daughter, the Son's bride or sister. You'll find that she who is such is called by both titles. It's close at hand, the means by which I can prove this: I won't have to labor long.

Sister, Bride, and Adored Lord

The soul is called sister through the one Father and bride through the one Spirit; yet the one she seeks to kiss is the Lord God, to be adored with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever.

The voice of the Bridegroom is directed to her: Come into my garden, my sister, my bride. She is called sister because she comes from the one Father; she is called bride because she is in the one Spirit. For if a carnal marriage establishes two in one flesh, why shouldn't a spiritual union join two together in one spirit all the more? And indeed, whoever clings to the Lord is one spirit. But hear also about the Father — how tenderly and how worthily He calls her daughter, and yet invites her as a own daughter-in-law to the gentle embraces of the Son. Listen, He says, daughter, and see, and incline your ear; and forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. . Behold, from whom this one demands a kiss. O holy soul, hold reverence: he himself is the Lord your God, and perhaps not one to be kissed, but one to be adored with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Hodie vobis, sicut hesterna promissione tenetis, de summo, id est de oris osculo, disputare propositum est. Audite attentius quod sapit suavius, et gustatur rarius, et intelligitur difficilius. Mihi videtur, ut paulo altius inchoem, ineffabile quoddam atque inexpertum omni creaturae osculum designasse, qui ait: Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater; et nemo novit Patrem, nisi Filius, aut cui voluerit Filius revelare. Pater enim diligit Filium, et singulari dilectione amplectitur, summus aequalem, aeternus coaeternum, unus unicum. Sed enim non minori ipse a Filio affectione astringitur: quippe pro cuius amore et moritur, ipso attestante cum ait: Ut sciant omnes quia diligo Patrem, surgite, eamus; haud dubium quin ad passionem. Illa itaque mutua gignentis genitique cognitio pariter et dilectio, quid nisi osculum est suavissimum, sed secretissimum?

Ego pro certo ad tantum et tam sanctum divini amoris arcanum ne ipsam quidem angelicam admitti arbitror creaturam. Etenim, Paulo hoc ipsum sapiente, pax illa exsuperat omnem, etiam angelicum, sensum. Unde nec ista, quanquam multum praesumens, audet tamen dicere: Osculetur me ore suo; soli illud scilicet reservans Patri: sed aliquid minus postulans: Osculetur me, inquit, osculo oris sui. Videte novam sponsam novum osculum accipientem, non tamen ab ore, sed ab osculo oris. Insufflavit, inquit, eis, haud dubium quin Iesus apostolis, id est primitivae Ecclesiae, et dixit: Accipite spiritum sanctum. Osculum profecto fuit. Quid? corporeus ille flatus?

Non, sed invisibilis Spiritus: qui propterea in illo dominico flatu datus est, ut per hoc intelligeretur et ab ipso pariter tanquam a Patre procedere, tanquam vere osculum, quod osculanti osculatoque commune est. Itaque sufficit sponsae, si osculetur ab osculo sponsi, etiamsi non osculetur ab ore. Nec enim exiguum quid aut vile putat osculari ab osculo: quod non est aliud nisi infundi Spiritu sancto. Nempe si recte Pater osculans, Filius osculatus accipitur, non erit ab re osculum Spiritum sanctum intelligi, utpote qui Patris Filiique imperturbabilis pax sit, gluten firmum, individuus amor, indivisibilis unitas.

De ipso igitur audet sponsa, ipsumque infundi sibi fidenter sub osculi nomine petit. Tenet quippe aliquid, unde non desit occasio praesumendi. Dicens enim Filius: Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater; et nemo novit Patrem, nisi Filius; adiecit, aut cui voluerit Filius revelare. Non autem diffidit sponsa quin sibi velit, si cui voluerit. Petit ergo audenter dari sibi osculum, hoc est Spiritum illum, in quo sibi et Filius reveletur et Pater. Alter enim sine altero nequaquam innotescit. Unde est illud: Qui videt me, videt et Patrem meum; et illud Ioannis, Omnis qui negat Filium, nec Patrem habet. Qui autem confitetur Filium, et Patrem habet.

Ex quibus liquido constat, quia nec Pater sine Filio, nec Filius sine Patre agnoscitur. Merito proinde non in alterius tantum, sed in utriusque cognitione constituit summam beatitudinem qui dicit: Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum. Denique et qui sequuntur Agnum, referuntur habere nomen eius, et nomen Patris eius scriptum in frontibus suis : quod est de utriusque notitia gloriari.

Sed dicit aliquis: Ergo et Spiritus sancti agnitio non est necessaria, ut cum dixerit esse vitam aeternam nosse et Patrem et Filium, de Spiritu sancto tacuerit? Est utique: sed ubi Pater et Filius perfecte agnoscitur, utriusque bonitas, quae Spiritus sanctus est, quomodo ignoratur? Neque enim integre homo homini innotescit, quandiu latet, utrumnam bonae an malae sit voluntatis. Quanquam et cum dictum est: Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum; profecto si missio illa beneplacitum tam Patris benigne mittentis, quam Filii voluntarie obedientis demonstrat, non omnino tacitum est de Spiritu sancto, ubi tantae utriusque gratiae mentio facta est. Utriusque siquidem amor et benignitas Spiritus sanctus est.

Trinae ergo huius agnitionis infundi sibi gratiam, quantum quidem capi in carne mortali potest, sponsa petit, cum osculum petit. Petit autem a Filio; quia Filii est cui voluerit revelare. Revelat ergo Filius se ipsum cui vult, revelat et Patrem. Revelat autem sine dubio per osculum, hoc est per Spiritum sanctum, Apostolo teste, qui ait: Nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum. At vero dando Spiritum per quem revelat, etiam ipsum revelat; dando revelat, et revelando dat. Porro revelatio, quae per Spiritum sanctum fit, non solum illustrat ad agnitionem, sed etiam accendit ad amorem, dicente Paulo: Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis. Et ideo forsan de his qui cognoscentes Deum, non tanquam Deum glorificaverunt, non legitur quod Spiritu sancto revelante cognoscerent; quia cum cognoscerent, non amaverunt. Sic quippe habes: Deus enim illis revelavit.

Nec adiunctum est: Per Spiritum suum, ne sibi sponsae osculum mentes impiae usurparent, quae contentae ea quae inflat, eam quae aedificat nescierunt. Denique ipse Apostolus dicat per quid cognoverunt. Per ea, inquit, quae facta sunt, intellecta conspexerunt. Unde et constat quia nec perfecte cognoverunt, quem minime dilexerunt. Si enim integre cognovissent, bonitatem qua pro eorum redemptione in carne nasci et mori voluit non ignorassent. Audi denique quid eis de Deo revelatum fuerit: Sempiterna, ait, virtus eius et divinitas. Vides quia quod sublimitatis, quod maiestatis est, in praesumptione spiritus, non Dei, sed sui rimati sint; quod autem mitis sit et humilis corde, non intellexerint. Nec mirum, quia et caput eorum Behemoth nihil humile; sed, sicut de eo legitur, omne sublime videt.

Quo contra David non ambulabat in magnis, neque in mirabilibus super se, ne scrutator maiestatis opprimeretur a gloria.

Vos quoque, ut caute in arcanis sensibus pedem figatis, mementote semper, quod Sapiens admonet: Altiora, inquit, te ne quaesieris, et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris. In spiritu ambulate in illis, et non in sensu proprio. Doctrina Spiritus non curiositatem acuit, sed charitatem accendit. Merito proinde sponsa, quem diligit anima sua inquirens, non se suae carnis sensibus credit, non curiositatis humanae inanibus ratiociniis acquiescit; sed petit osculum, id est Spiritum sanctum invocat, per quem accipiat simul et scientiae gustum, et gratiae condimentum. Et bene scientia, quae in osculo datur, cum amore recipitur; quia amoris indicium osculum est. Scientia ergo quae inflat, cum sine charitate sit, non procedit ex osculo. Sed nec qui telum Dei habent, et non secundum scientiam, sibi ullatenus arrogent illud. Utrumque enim munus simul fert osculi gratia, et agnitionis lucem, et devotionis pinguedinem.

Est quippe Spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, qui instar apis ceram portantis et mel, habet omnino et unde accendat lumen scientiae, et unde infundat saporem gratiae. Neuter ergo se osculum percepisse putet, sive qui veritatem intelligit, nec diligit; sive qui diligit, nec intelligit. Sane in osculo isto nec error locum habet, nec tepor. Quamobrem geminae gratiae sacrosancti osculi suscipiendae paret e regione duo labia sua quae sponsa est, intelligentiae rationem, sapientiae voluntatem, ut de pleno osculo glorians mereatur audire: Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis; propterea benedixit te Deus in aeternum. Itaque Pater Filium osculans, plenissime illi arcana suae divinitatis eructat, et spirat suavitatem amoris, Scriptura hoc significante, cum ait: Dies diei eructat verbum. Cui sane sempiterno singulariterque beato complexui, nulli omnino, ut iam dictum est, creaturae interesse donatur, solo utriusque Spiritu teste ac conscio mutuae agnitionis et dilectionis. Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius eius fuit?

Sed dicat mihi fortasse aliquis: Tibi ergo unde innotuit, quod nulli fateris creditum creaturae? Profecto Unigenitus qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit, dixerim, non mihi misero et indigno, sed plane Ioanni amico sponsi, cuius haec verba sunt; non solum autem, sed et Ioanni evangelistae, utique discipulo quem diligebat Iesus. Placita enim fuit Deo et anima illius, digna prorsus nomine et dote sponsae, digna sponsi amplexibus, digna denique quae recumberet super pectus Domini. Hausit Ioannes de sinu Unigenti, quod de paterno hauserat ille. Nec solus ipse tamen, sed et omnes, quibus idem aiebat magni consilii angelus: Vos dixi amicos, quia omnia quaecunque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis. Hausit et Paulus, cuius evangelium non est ab homine, neque per hominem illud accepit, sed per revelationem Iesu Christi. Profecto hi omnes tam feliciter, quam veraciter dicere-possunt: Unigenitus qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit nobis. Et illa enarratio quid eis nisi osculum fuit?

Sed osculum de osculo, et non de ore. Audi siquidem osculum de ore. Ego et Pater unum sumus; item: Ego in Patre, et Pater in me est. Osculum est ore ad os sumptum; sed nemo appropiat. Osculum plane dilectionis et pacis; sed dilectio illa supereminet omni scientiae, et pax illa omnem sensum exsuperat. Verumtamen quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, Paulo revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum, hoc est per osculum oris sui. Igitur Filium in Patre, et Patrem esse in Filio, osculum de ore est. Quod autem legitur: Non enim accepimus spiritum huius mundi, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, ut sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis; osculum sane de osculo est.

Et ut apertius alterutrum distinguamus, qui plenitudinem capit, osculum de ore sumit; qui vero de plenitudine, osculum de osculo recipit. Magnus quidem Paulus: sed quantumlibet sursum porrigat os, etiamsi se usque ad tertium coelum extendat, citra os Altissimi tamen necesse est ut remaneat, et modo suo contentus in se subsistat; et cum pertingere ad vultum gloriae non valebit, condescendi sibi, et ex alto transmitti osculum humiliter petat. Qui vero non rapinam arbitratur esse se aequalem Deo, ita ut audeat dicere: Ego et Pater unum sumus; quia ex aequo coniungitur, ex aeque complectitur, non osculum de loco inferiori mendicat, sed pari celsitudine os ori coniungit, et singulari praerogativa osculum de ore sumit. Christo igitur osculum est plenitudo, Paulo participatio; ut cum ille de ore, iste tantum de osculo osculatum se glorietur.

Felix tamen osculum, per quod non solum agnoscitur Deus, sed et diligitur Pater: qui nequaquam plene cognoscitur, nisi cum perfecte diligitur. Quae in vobis anima sensit aliquando in secreto conscientiae suae Spiritum Filii clamantem: Abba, Pater? . Ipsa, ipsa, paterno se diligi praesumat affectu, quae eodem se spiritu, quo et Filius, affectam sentit. Confide, quaecunque es illa, confide nihil haesitans. In spiritu Filii filiam cognosce te Patris, sponsam Filii vel sororem. Utroque vocabulo eam, quae huiusmodi est, invenies appellari. Ad manum est unde id probem: non multum laborabo.

Vox sponsi est ad ipsam: Veni in hortum meum, soror mea sponsa. Soror siquidem est, quia ex uno Patre; sponsa, quia in uno Spiritu. Nam si carnale matrimonium constituit duos in carne una, cur non magis spiritualis copula duos coniunget in uno spiritu? Denique qui adhaeret Domino, unus spiritus est. Sed audi etiam de Patre, quam amanter quamque dignanter et filiam eam nominat, et nihilominus tanquam nurum propriam ad Filii blandos invitat amplexus. Audi, inquit, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam; et obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui, et concupiscet rex decorem tuum. . Ecce a quo ista flagitat osculum.

O sancta anima, reverentiam habe, quoniam ipse est Dominus Deus tuus, et fortasse non osculandus, sed adorandus cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  2. ↩Matt.11.27 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  3. ↩John.14.31 — But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, so I do. Rise, let us go from here.
  4. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  5. ↩John.20.22 — And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
  6. ↩John.20.22 — And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
  7. ↩Matt.11.27 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  8. ↩Luke.10.22 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  9. ↩John.14.9 — Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?'
  10. ↩1John.2.23 — Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
  11. ↩1John.2.23 — Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
  12. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
  13. ↩Rev.14.1 — And I looked, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.
  14. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
  15. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
  16. ↩1Cor.2.10 — But to us God has revealed it through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
  17. ↩Rom.5.5 — And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
  18. ↩Rom.1.21 — For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
  19. ↩Rom.1.19-Rom.1.20 — because what can be known about God is plain among them, for God made it plain to them. Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  20. ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  21. ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  22. ↩Matt.11.29 — Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
  23. ↩Job.40.15-Job.40.24 — Look now at Behemoth, which I made alongside you; it eats grass like an ox. Job.40.16 — Look now—his strength is in his loins, and his power is in the muscles of his belly. Job.40.17 — It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are tightly knit. Job.40.18 — His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. Job.40.19 — He is the first of God's ways; his Maker can bring near his sword. Job.40.20 — Surely the mountains bear produce for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. Job.40.21 — Under the lotus trees he lies down, in the cover of the reed and marsh. Job.40.22 — The lotus bushes cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook surround him. Job.40.23 — Surely it seizes the river and is not alarmed; it is confident even when the Jordan rushes into its mouth. Job.40.24 — With his eyes he will take him; with snares he will pierce his nose.
  24. ↩Ps.130.1 — A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
  25. ↩1Cor.8.1 — Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
  26. ↩John.14.10-John.14.11 — Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. John.14.11 — Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you cannot, then believe because of the works themselves.
  27. ↩Gal.4.6 — And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father.'

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Bride's 'presuming' is presented as bold but not sinful — a holy boldness. The distinction between 'ore suo' (with his mouth) reserved for the Father and 'osculo oris sui' (with the kiss of his mouth) asked of the Bridegroom structures the entire section's theology of the kiss.
  2. 2 ↩Quoted span is John 17:3.
  3. 3 ↩Alludes to Revelation 14:1.
  4. 4 ↩The Latin 'Altiora ... te ne quaesieris, et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris' echoes Sirach 3:21–22 (Vulgate), though the exact source anchor is unresolved and awaits Moses verification.
  5. 5 ↩'ut' rendered as 'so that' to express purpose; 'quod' introducing the content of what is remembered is rendered naturally as 'what'.
  6. 6 ↩'doctrina Spiritus' rendered as 'the Spirit's teaching'; 'acuit' (sharpens) and 'accendit' (kindles/sets ablaze) preserve the contrast between restless inquiry and burning love.
  7. 7 ↩'sponsa, quem diligit anima sua' alludes to the Bride of the Song of Songs; 'osculum' (kiss) is the central mystical image of this sermon, here interpreted as the Holy Spirit.
  8. 8 ↩'petit osculum' rendered as 'seeks the kiss'; 'scientiae gustum' as 'the taste of knowledge'; 'gratiae condimentum' as 'the seasoning of grace' — preserving the sensory and eucharistic overtones.
  9. 9 ↩The contrast between knowledge that 'puffs up' (inflat) and love (charitas) echoes 1 Corinthians 8:1.
  10. 10 ↩'telum Dei' (God's weapon) likely refers to the Word of God or spiritual gifts; 'non secundum scientiam' means not in accordance with the right knowledge — i.e., without love and humility.
  11. 11 ↩'agnitionis' rendered as 'recognition' (of God); 'devotionis pinguedo' as 'richness of devotion' — preserving the sensory and spiritual fullness of the image.
  12. 12 ↩The phrase 'condescendi sibi' is compressed: the sense is that Paul must, as it were, stoop to receive the kiss sent down from above — a humble seeking of divine condescension.
  13. 13 ↩Quoted span 'Ego et Pater unum sumus' echoes John 10:30; resolution deferred to scripture-reference stage.

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