Sermon II. On the Incarnation of Christ, Announced by Patriarchs and Prophets

"Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth."

Whenever I reflect, as I very often do, on the yearning and ardent desires of the fathers for the presence of Christ in the flesh, I am filled with grief and confusion. Even now scarcely can I restrain my tears, so great is the shame I feel at. the thought of the tepidity and sloth of these miserable times. For is there one amongst us, my brethren, who derives a satisfaction from the actual fruition of this grace, proportionate to the longing excited in the holy men of old by its mere promise? What multitudes, for instance, will rejoice on the anniversary of the Saviour's Birth, which we shall soon be celebrating? But would to God the cause of their joy were the Divine Nativity, and not rather worldly vanity! It is something of the fathers' yearning and holy expectation I now find enkindled in my soul by those words, "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth." Such few spiritual persons as could be found in those pre-Christian times, well knew in spirit what grace would be "poured abroad on His Lips." This is the reason why they exclaimed, speaking in the desire of their souls, "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth." They longed, namely, with ari\ eager longing, for admission to some share in such overflowing sweetness. In truth, every perfect soul under^ the old dispensation may be supposed to have complained to God somewhat as follows: "Wherefore dost Thou offer me these 'babbling'¹ lips of the prophets? Rather let Him Who is 'beautiful above the sons of men' — 'let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth.' 'I will not now hear Moses,' for he is become to me 'of a more stammering tongue.' Isaias is a 'man of unclean lips.' Jeremias 'knoweth not how to speak, for he is a child.' All the other prophets, too, lack the power of utterance. Him, Him of Whom they prophesied — let Him speak, 'let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth.' No longer in them, or through them, let Him speak to me, since 'dark are the waters in the clouds of air,' but 'let Him,' in His own Person, 'kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth,' whose grace-giving contact and streams of heavenly doctrine may become in me 'a fountain of living water, springing up into eternal life.' Surely I may expect a more abundant outpouring of graces from Him Whom the Father 'hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows' — if only He will condescend to 'kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth.' For His word, ' living and efficacious,' is to me as a kiss, not indeed a contact of lips, which sometimes deceives in falsely signifying a union of hearts, but an infusion of joy, a revelation of secrets, a marvellous, and, in a sense, indistinguishable intermingling of the Light Supernal with the enlightened soul."²

Hence, my brethren, that expression of the Apostle, "He that adhereth to the Lord is one spirit with Him." With good reason, therefore, do I refuse visions and dreams; with reason do I decline figures and parables. Even the loveliness of the angelic spirits fails to content me, as falling infinitely short of the comeliness and beauty of my Jesus. It is He, then, Himself, and none other, whether angel or man, that I ask to kiss "me with the kiss of His Mouth." But I am not so presumptuous as to want to be kissed with His Mouth— iv that is the incommunicable happiness and the singular prerogative of His assumed Human Nature. My request is more humble: to be kissed with the kiss of His Mouth. This is the privilege of many who can consequently say, "i\nd we all have received of His plenitude"

Now, my brethren, I want your best attention. Let us consider the Word assuming to be the Mouth that kisses; let the Nature assumed be the Mouth that is kissed; and let the Divine Person, subsisting in two Natures, the Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, be the Kiss in which both Mouths cooperate. In this sense, none of the saints would ever presume to say, "Let Him kiss me with His Mouth," but only "with the kiss of His Mouth," for they reserved the higher privilege to Him to Whom, solely and once and for all, the Mouth of the Word then impressed a kiss when the whole plenitude of the Divinity poured Itself into Him "corporally." O happy Kiss, marvel of infinite condescension, whereby there is not mere pressure of mouth upon mouth, but God is united to man! The contact of lips signifies the embrace of loving hearts; but this union of natures brings together the divine and human, "making peace as to the things on earth and the things that are in heaven" — "For He is our peace Who hath made both one." It if or this Kiss, therefore, that is, for Christ, that every saint of the Old Testament yearned, because they foreknew that His was the inheritance of joy and exultation, that in Him "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge were hidden," and they desired for themselves a participation in His fulness.

I believe this interpretation commends itself to you, dear brethren. Now, listen to another. Even the saints who lived before the coming of Our Saviour were not unaware that God entertained thoughts of peace towards the race of mortal men, for He would not accomplish any of His designs on earth without revealing it to His servants the prophets, as He Himself declared. Yet this word Was hidden from many; faith was then not easy to find in the world, and even in the case of most of those who were still "looking for the Redemption of Israel" hope had grown exceedingly weak. Now, the prophets, who foresaw that Christ was to come in the flesh bringing with Him peace, began to proclaim these things. Thus one of them said, "And there shall be peace in our land when He comes." What is more, under divine inspiration, they predicted with all confidence that through Him men were destined to recover the grace of God. John, the Precursor, acknowledged that this prophecy was fulfilled in his own day, saying, "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." And now every Christian beholds its fulfilment in his own experience.

But whilst the prophets were thus predicting peace, and the Author of peace still deferred His coming, the people's faith began to waver, "because there was none to redeem or to save." And so they began to complain of the delay. They complained that the Prince of Peace, so often announced, had not yet arrived amongst them, "as He spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets who are from the beginning." Hence they came to doubt the consoling predictions, and demanded the sign or pledge of the promised reconciliation, that is, a kiss. It was as if one of the people should thus address the messengers of peace:" ' How long do you hold our souls in suspense? ' You have now been predicting peace for a great length of time, and lo! it has not yet appeared. You have promised good things and still there is only confusion. Behold this very grace, ' at sundry times and in divers manners/ was announced to the fathers by angels and to us by the fathers, who cried³ Peace, peace/ and there was no peace. If God would reassure us as to the sincerity of His good will, so often proclaimed by His legates, but not yet proved by the event, 'let Him kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth/ and thus, by the token of peace, confirm me in my hope of peace. For how can I any longer have faith in mere words? The verbal promise requires confirmation by deeds. Let God prove His envoys truthful — if His envoys they are indeed — by following them Himself, as they promised He would do, because without Him they can do nothing. He has sent His servant, He has sent His staff,* but as yet there is no return of either voice or feeling. I will not arise, I will not awake, I will not shake off the dust, I will not admit hope until the Prophet Himself come down and ' kiss me with the kiss of His

Mouth/ Besides, He Who proclaims Himself to be our Mediator with God, is God's own Son, and Himself true God. And ' what is man that He should be made known to him? Or the son of man that He should make account of him? ' On the other hand, what is my confidence that I should dare to entrust myself to so awful a Majesty? How, I ask, can I, who am but dust and ashes, presume to think that God hath caie of me? Moreover, He loves His Father, but of me or of ' my goods He hath no need.' How, then, can I be sure that He, my Mediator, will not take part against me? Yet if, indeed, as you prophets say, God has resolved to show mercy and is ' thinking of becoming, more favourable again/ let him establish a testament of peace, let Him make an everlasting covenant with me by the ' kiss of His Mouth.' In order that He may not ' make void the words that proceed from His Lips,' let Him ' empty Himself,' let Him humble Himself, let Him stoop down and ' kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth.' If, as Mediator, He would be equally trusted by both parties (God and the sinner) and an object of suspicion to neither, let Him, the Son of God, become man, let Him become the Son of man, "and by this kiss establish my confidence. Securely j shall I accept the mediation of the Son of God, ve$.

Whom I recognise a Brother. As my Brother and my flesh I can no longer regard Him with suspicion. Nor shall He any longer have it in His power to despise me, being bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."

Thus, therefore, the saints of the old time querulously demanded this holy kiss, that is, the Incarnation of the Word, whilst with the long and weary waiting, faith got tired and was ready to faint, and the fickle people, yielding to impatience, were murmuring against the promises of God. This interpretation, my brethren, I will confess to be but a baseless fancy of my own, if you also do not find it suggested to your minds by the words of Scripture. But surely it was this disappointment, due to the Messias's delay in coming, that called forth cries like the following, expressive of impatience and discontent, "Command, command again! Expect, expect again! A little here, a little there!" And prayers like these, anxious, indeed, but full of fervour: "Give, O Lord, a reward to those who hope in Thee, that Thy prophets may be found faithful." Also, "Stir up, O Lord, the prophecies which the former prophets have spoken in Thy name." To the same delay must be attributed the joyous and consoling promises: "Behold" the Lord "will appear and will not lie; if He should delay, expect Him, because He shall surely come and shall not be slack"; "Her time (viz., Israel's time of deliverance) is near and her days shall not be lengthened." The next is spoken in the person of the Messias Himself: "Behold, I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the gentiles" Such expressions reveal clearly to us both the insistence of the preachers and the distrust of the people. Thus, then, the Israelites murmured and their faith was staggered, and, in the words of Isaias, "the angels of peace were weeping bitterly." Hence, as Christ still delayed His advent, lest the whole human race should perish in despair, suspecting that the infirmity of its mortal condition was despised, and lest it should abandon all hope of receiving the promised grace of reconciliation with the Lord, the saints, who had assurance from God in the Spirit, demanded a further assurance from Him present in the flesh; and for the sake of the weak and incredulous, they solicited a kiss with all importunity as the sign of a peace re-established.

O "Root of Jesse, Who standest for an Ensign of the people!" How many kings and prophets have desired to see Thee and have not seen! Happier than all was Simeon whose "old age was crowned with abundant mercy." He exulted in the hope of seeing the Pledge of his desire: "he saw It and rejoiced," and having received the kiss of peace, departed in peace, first proclaiming, however, that Jesus was born as "a Sign which should be contradicted." And his prophecy was justified in the event. Scarcely had the Sign of peace appeared when It met with contradiction from those, namely, who hate peace. To men of good will It brought true peace, but to the wicked It became "a rock of scandal and a stone of stumbling." So we read, "Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him," because "Jesus came unto His own and His own received Him not." Happy the shepherds, in their nightly watch, who were accounted worthy to behold this S;gn! Already was He beginning to hide Himself from the wise and prudent and to reveal Himself to the little ones. Herod also desired to see H'm. but not being a man of good will, he did not deserve to have his desire gratified; for the Sign of peace, that is, Jesus, was given only to men of good will. No sign shall be offered to men like Herod "but the sign of Jonas the Prophet." "And this," said the angel to the shepherds, "shall be a S'gn to you"—to you who are humble, to you who are obedient, who are not high-minded, who are vigilant, who "meditate day and night on the law of God." "This," he said, "shall be a S;gn to you." What? That which angels have promised, which peoples have asked for, which prophets have foretold— that the Lord hath now brought to pass and showeth to you. It is the S:gn which will bring faith to the incredulous, hope to the despairing, perseverance to the perfect. "This, therefore, shall be a S:gn to you." But a S"gn of what? A S:gn of pardon, a S'gn of grace, a S'gn of peace that shall have no end."Tfrs,"then,"shall be a S;gn to you, you shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes"Yes, indeed, but in this Infant you shall find the Great Almighty reconciling the world to Himself." He is to die for your sins and to rise again for your justification, that justified through faith, you may have peace towards God." This is the Sign of peace which the prophet of old desired King Achaz to ask of the Lord his God, "whether in heaven above or in hell beneath." But the impious monarch refused, miserably disbelieving that in this Sign the lowest depths and the highest heights were to be united in peace. This will be accomplished when Christ, descending into hell, salutes the dwellers there, and to them also gives the pledge of peace in a holy kiss; and returning thence to heaven, admits the blessed spirits above to the same embrace in everlasting sweetness.

Here I must bring my discourse to an end. But permit me to close with a brief recapitulation. It is evident, then, that this holy Kiss is a necessary condescension to the world, for two reasons: firstly, in order to fortify the faith of the weak; secondly, in order to gratify the desires of the perfect. It is also plain, I hope, that this mystical Kiss is nothing else than the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. This is the word used in the Douay Version, and renders the common meaning of the Greek original, σπερμολόγα (seed-gathering, from σπέρμα and λέγειν), a term applied to crows to express their scavenging habits, and hence transferred to persons who resembled the crow in any of its characteristics. Thus, in calling St. Paul a "σπερμολόγος" (Acts xvii. 18) the Areopagites meant that he was but an idle babbler or gossiper. However, as the word λέγειν can mean to speak as well as to gather, σπερμολόγα may also be rendered "seminiverbia," as in the Vulgate, which is correctly translated "word-sowing" by the authors of the Rheims Version — quite a beautiful meaning in the present context, as the words of the prophets may be regarded as the seeds of the events predicted. St. Bernard seems to have intended the word in both significations. — (Translator.) ↩

2. "Mira quaedam et quodamodo indiscreta commixtio superni Luminis et illuminatae mentis." Similarly, St. Theresa speaking of the spiritual marriage: "I can only say that, as far as one can understand, the soul, I mean the spirit of the soul, is made one with God" (Interior Castle, "Seventh Mansion," chap, xi.). Also, "spiritual marriage is like rain falling from the sky into the river or stream, becoming one and the same liquid, so that the river water and the rain cannot be divided.... The marriage may also be likened to a room into which the light enters through the windows— though it passes through two the light is one." And St. John of the Cross: "He (God) communicates His own supernatural Being in such a way that the soul seems to be God Himself and to possess the things of God." Iliis union must not be confounded with the "deification" of the false mystics, such as Eckhardt and Tauler, in which the creature is said to be so merged in the Creator that it loses its own personality. Eckhardt was condemned by John XXII in 1329.— (Translator.) ↩

3. Reference to 4 Kings iv. 29. — (Translator.) ↩