Beside a rather ingenious metaphor St. Bernard offers some insight
into St. Bernard the man. He expresses a pastoral, even paternal, attitude
toward the monks in his charge. Also, he displays a bit of ego by boasting of
his hard work and by comparing himself to St. Paul. Do not think him lacking in
humility. If humility is having an appropriate assessment on one’s gifts and an
understanding of their source, then St. Bernard is spot on.
From Sermon 22.1-2
THE OINTMENTS OF THE BRIDE are as precious and exquisite as you
have heard them portrayed, how matchless must those of the Bridegroom be! …. My
opinion is that the Bridegroom has a varied and plentiful stock of perfumes and
ointments. Some are solely for the pleasure of the bride who enjoys more intimate
and familiar relations with him: others are wafted out to the maidens; and others
again reach out to strangers afar off, so that "nothing can escape his heat."[1]
For although "the Lord is good to all,"[2]
he is especially kind to those who live in his house, and the more one is
assimilated to him by a virtuous life and an upright will, the more sensitive I
think he will be to the fragrance of the newer perfumes and the sweeter ointments.
2. In matters of this kind, understanding can follow only where
experience leads, and I shall be the last to intrude rashly where the bride alone
may enter. The Bridegroom knows the delights with which the Holy Spirit charms the
one he loves, the inspirations with which he reanimates her affections, the perfumes
that enhance her loveliness. Let her be as a fountain entirely his own, unshared
by any stranger, untouched by unworthy lips: for she is "a garden enclosed,
a sealed fountain,"[3]
though rivulets flow from it into the streets.[4]
These I may use, though I want no trouble or ingratitude from anyone[5]
if I offer what I draw from a public source. I shall even pay myself a mild
compliment in this matter, for no small effort and fatigue are involved in going
out day by day to draw waters from the open streams of the Scriptures and provide
for the needs of each of you, so that without exerting yourselves you may have at
hand spiritual waters for every occasion, for washing, for drinking, for cooking
of foods. God's word is a water of the wisdom that saves;[6]
when you drink it you are made clean, as the Lord himself points out: "You
are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you."[7]
The word of God, winged with the Holy Spirit's fire, can cook the raw reflections
of the sensual man, giving them a spiritual meaning that feeds the mind, and inspiring
him to say: "My heart became hot within me, and as I meditated a fire burst
forth."[8]
[8] Ps 39:3
CISTERCIAN FATHERS SERIES: NUMBER SEVEN - BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX - Song of Songs II
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