Sermon LIV. On the Manner of the Bridegroom's Skipping, and on the Three Kinds of Fear

"Behold He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills."

To-day, my brethren, I intend to propose to you another interpretation of those words of the Spouse which occupied us on the last occasion. I have reserved it purposely for the present. And it shall be for you to compare the two expositions and to select the one which pleases you most. There is no need, I suppose, to recall to your minds what was spoken yesterday, as I am sure you cannot have forgotten it in so short a space. But even if anything should have escaped your memory, it can easily be recovered, because all I said then has been written down exactly as it was delivered and inscribed with the style, as have been my other sermons also.¹ Wherefore, listen now to something new. "Behold," exclaims the Spouse, "He cometh, leaping on the mountains, skipping over the hills." She is speaking of her Bridegroom, Who then undoubtedly leaped upon the mountains when He was sent by His Father to preach the Gospel to the poor. For whereas He was Lord of all, He disdained not to discharge the angelic office, and made Himself the "Angel of the great Counsel." He Who was wont heretofore to employ created spirits as His messengers, now descended to the earth in person. He Himself "hath revealed His justice in the sight of the gentiles." Of the angels St. Paul says, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" He, therefore, Who was above them, descended to their level and made Himself as one of them, disregarding the interests of His own glory in His desire to accumulate grace for us. But attend to Himself. "The Son of Man is not come," He says, "to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." Now, none of the other angels can be said to have ever done anything like this, so that in the devotedness and fidelity of His service, He has skipped over every one of them, as many as seemed to minister to the necessities of man. Faithful Minister, Who gave His Flesh for our food, and His Blood for our drink, and His life for our ransom! Surely faithful, Who, in the fervour of His Spirit, in the ardour of His love, and in the zeal of His piety, not alone leaped upon the mountains, but even skipped over the hills! That is to say, He surpassed and exceeded all others in His devotion to our service. For He is the same Whom "God, His God hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows," and therefore with unrivalled alacrity "He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way." Thus, He skipped over the Archangel Gabriel and reached the Virgin before him, as the same heavenly prince acknowledged when he said, "Hail Mary, fuU of grace, the Lord is with thee." What is this thou sayest, O Gabriel? Hast thou found in Mary's womb the Lord

Whom but now thou didst leave behind in heaven? Yet how can that be? The explanation is that ' ' He flew upon the wings of the winds "and so was first to arrive. Thou art conquered, O Archangel. Thou hast been skip-ped over by Him Who sent thee to herald His coming.

Or, at all events, He may be said to have leaped upon or in the mountains when He showed Himself to the patriarchs of old in the persons of His angels. This interpretation appears to be more in harmony with the propriety of the words. For it is not said that He leaped on Ihe mountains {saliens inmontes), but in the mountains {saliens in montihus); which seems to imply that He leaped in the angels by giving them the power and the impulse to leap themselves. In the same sense He is said to speak in the prophets and to work in the virtuous, inasmuch as He enables the former j to utter good words and the latter to perform good actions. Besides, some of the angels have acted as Hi^ vicegerents, so that they spoke, not in their own name

I i as celestial princes, but in the name of the Lord. For instance, the angel who conversed with Moses did not say, "I, the servant of the Lord," but, "I the Lord." And he repeated this several times. The Bridegroom, therefore, leaped in the mountains, viz., in the angels in whom He spoke and manifested His presence to men. For He leaped to men, but in the angels. He leaped in the subject creature, since He could not leap in Himself, in His own Divine nature. He who leaps must pass from one place to another, which is manifestly impossible to God. He leaped, then, in the mountains, that is, in the angels, being unable, as remarked, to leap in Himself. And He leaped even as far as the hills, namely, to the patriarchs, and the prophets, and the other spiritual persons on earth. But He went yet further, for He skipped over the hills when He deigned to manifest Himself and to speak in the same angelic representatives, not only to great and holy men but even to some ordinary people, aye, and to many women also.

But perhaps by the name of hills are here designated the "powers of the air," who are no longer classed mth. the mountains, as having lost, through their Dride, the eminence of virtue. Yet neither have they looped to the humility of valleys, or should I say,:o the valleys of humility? It is to them, I have no doubt, the Psalmist is alluding, where he says, "The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the ord." Therefore He, Who leaped in the mountains, dipped over the hills— the swelling but barren hills, vhicYi hold an intermediate place, as it were, between he lofty eminences of the perfect and the deep valleys f the penitent— and disregarding and despising them. descended to the low-lying regions, in order that the "vales might abound with corn." The hills, on the contrary, have been cursed with an everlasting barrenness and sterility. For it is against them that the Prophet pronounced the malediction, "Let neither dew nor rain come upon you." And lest there should be any doubt that he was addressing the angels who prevaricated, under the figure of the mountains of Gelboe, he added, "Where many fell wounded."² How many of the army of Israel have fallen on those accursed hills from the beginning of the world, and still daily fall! It is of such the same Prophet speaks in another place, where he says to the Lord, "Like the slain, sleeping in the sepulchres, whom Thou rememberest no more; and they are cast off from Thy Hand."

It is no wonder, therefore, my brethren, that those heights, which are aerial hills rather than heavenly mountains, should be found barren and unfruitful, since they are visited neither by dew nor rain. For the Author of grace and the Bestower of all blessings has skipped over them, on His way down to the valleys, that He might there refresh the humble amongst men with the spiritual waters of holiness, and so enable them to "bring forth fruit in patience," some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some a hundred-fold. Hence the Psalmist says, "Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it, and hast many ways enriched it." He visited, not the air, but the earth, and so "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord." For, "He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth," not surely in the midst of the air. This I maintain against Origen, who, by his impudent heresy, crucified again the Lord of glory, but now in the air, for the redemption of the demons; whereas, St. Paul, the confidant of God's mysterious designs, distinctly affirms that "Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more; death shall no more have dominion over Him."³

But He Who skipped over the air, visited heaven as well as the earth, since we read in Holy Scripture, "O Lord, Thy mercy is in heaven, and Thy truth reacheth even to the clouds." "Even to the clouds," my brethren, extends the heaven which is peopled by the holy angels, whom the Bridegroom does not skip over, but rather leaps upon, and leaves on them the impress of His two feet, namely, His mercy and His truth. Concerning these feet of the Lord, I remember to have discoursed at length in one of the preceding sermons. From the clouds downwards through this misty lower atmosphere is the dwelling of the demons. On them the Bridegroom disdains to leap. He skips over them and hastens on, so that they retain in themselves no footprints from the passing of the Lord. For how could truth have place in the devil, of whom it is stated in the Gospel that "he stood not in truth, but was a liar from the beginning "? Neither will any one call him merciful whom the same inspired Book pronounces to have been also a "murderer from the beginning." And as is the head of the household, so shall be the members thereof. The Church, therefore, when singing of her Bridegroom, that He *' dwelleth on high, and looketh down on the low things in heaven and on earth," rightly omits all mention of the proud spirits who inhabit the air, because "God resisteth the proud and giveth His grace to the humble."

The Spouse, consequently, beheld her Beloved leaping upon the mountains and skipping over the hills, when He was fulfilling the imprecation of David, "Let the Lord visit all the mountains which are round about, but Gelboe let Him pass over." For the devil, here designated under the name of Gelboe, occupies a middle place between the mountains visited by the Lord, the angels above, and men below. After falling from glory, he was condemned, as part of his punishment, to make his abode in the air, midway between heaven and earth, that he might thence see the favours bestowed both on angels and men, and seeing be further tormented with jealousy, according to what the Psalmist says, "The wicked shall see and shall be angry, he shall gnash with his teeth and pine away." What misery he must feel whenever he looks up to heaven, and beholds there innumerable mountains glittering in the light of God, resounding with the divine praises, exalted in glory, abounding in grace! But how much greater misery, as often as he turns his gaze down towards the earth, whereon he also observes countless multitudes of mountains belonging to the "purchased people," sound in faith, sublime in hope, spacious in charity, adorned with virtues, and covered with the fruits of good works, deriving a daily blessing from the dew of heaven, as if it were from the Bridegroom's leaping! How great must be the anguish and envy of one so ambitious of glory when, on the one hand, he sees the mountains round about him all resplendent with glory, and himself and his followers, on the other hand, without ornament, without light, without any capability for good of any kind; so that he who reproaches all is obliged to acknowledge himself the reproach of all, both men and angels, according to the testimony of David, "The sea-dragon which Thou hast formed for the purpose of mocking him "!⁴

Such, my brethren, is the sterility with which these hills have been cursed, because, on account of their pride, they were skipped over by the Bridegroom, when He leaped upon the mountains that are round about; like the fountain which sprang up in the midst of paradise, refreshing the whole world, and "filling every animal with blessing." Happy they who are accounted worthy to drink of this "torrent of pleasure," even though it be at rare intervals! If the "water of wisdom" from the well-spring of life does not flow in them continuously, at any rate it leaps from time to time, so that in them also it becomes a "fountain of living water, springing up unto life everlasting." It is of this fountain the Prophet says, "The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful," and that eternally and abundantly. God grant that the same river may sometimes overflow its banks, so to speak, and leap down upon our own mountains on earth; and that they, being thus themselves sufficiently watered, may send down a few little drops even to us who are the valleys. Then we shall no longer remain altogether barren and unproductive. But whatsoever regions are irrigated by none of these leapings of the fountain or distillations therefrom, but are entirely skipped over and disregarded, there, beyond question, misery, and poverty, and fearful famine must prevail. Hence we read in the Prophet Baruch, "And because they had not wisdom they perished through their folly."

"Behold He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills." He leaps upon some in such a manner that He skips over others, since it is not His pleasure to visit all; for not all are pleasing to God. My brethren if, as the Apostle in his wisdom declares, these things "are written for our correction," let us study the deliberate and prudent conduct of the Bridegroom, and notice how both amongst the angels in heaven, and amongst men on earth He leaps upon the humble and skips over the proud;" "For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low; and the high He knoweth afar off." Let us, I repeat, consider these matters attentively, so that we may be careful to prepare ourselves for His leapings. Otherwise we may be found unworthy of His visitation and He will skip over us as over the mountains of Gelboe. "Why is earth and ashes proud?" Even the angels the Lord skipped over, because their pride was an abomination to Him. Then let their reprobation be the cause of our reformation, since it has been recorded only "for our correction." Let the fall of Satan co-operate unto good for me, and in this way let me "wash my hands in the blood of the sinner." Do you wish to know how? Then listen. It is evident enough that the awful and terrible malediction, "Let the Lord visit the mountains which are round about, but Gelboe let Him pass over," was pronounced against the proud demon, whom David, as I have said, speaking in the Spirit, designates here under the symbolic name of Gelboe. Now when I read this, I turn my eyes upon myself; and after a careful scrutiny, I discover my own soul to be infected with the same disease which, when exhibited in Satan, inspired the Lord with such horror that He skipped over him, although all the other mountains round about, whether angels or men, were honoured with His gracious visitation. Then, with fear and trembling I say to myself, if such has been the fate of the angel, what will become of me, who am but dust and ashes? He grew proud on a heavenly throne, I on a dunghill. And who does not feel more indulgence for pride in the rich than for pride in the poor? Alas for me! If that mighty spirit has been chastised so terribly, because his heart was lifted up, if the natural affinity which is known to exist between pride and greatness did not avail to excuse his sin, what punishment must I expect who am proud even in my misery!

Indeed, I am already paying the penalty, I am already writhing under a most cruel scourge. Not without reason surely has my soul been invaded since yesterday or the day before by this heavy languor, this dulness of mind, this unusual sluggishness of spirit. I had been running well. But behold! In the way has appeared a "stone of stumbling." I tripped upon it and have fallen. Pride has been found in me, and the Lord has departed in anger from His servant. Hence the sterility of soul, hence the want of fervour which I experience. Ho\ has my heart grown so hard and dry, "congealed hk( milk," and become "as earth without water"? N( longer am I able to shed tears of contrition, because o my exceeding obduracy. I find no pleasure now ii psalmody, no satisfaction in pious reading, no consolation in prayer, no taste for my customary meditations Where now are those spiritual transports which I one enjoyed? Where that serenity of soul, that peace an joy in the Holy Spirit? Therefore am I become slothfi in labour, drowsy at vigils, prone to anger, obstinate in antipathies, more indulgent to the tongue and tl:, palate, less vigorous and zealous in preaching. Alas all the mountains round about, the Lord vouchsafes 1 visit, but me He comes not nigh! Am I not, then, oi of the hills which the Bridegroom skips over? For looking around me I behold one brother endowed with an extraordinary gift of abstinence, a second possessed of admirable patience, a third excelling in humility and meekness, a fourth conspicuous for mercy and piety, this one enjoying frequent raptures in contemplation, that one penetrating the clouds and knocking at the very gate of heaven by the importunity of his prayers, and others equally distinguished for other virtues. I see them all fervent, all devout, all united in Christ, all abounding with heavenly gifts and graces, as so many spiritual mountains which have been visited by the Lord, and often receive the Bridegroom leaping upon them. But as for me, who can discover in my soul none of these evidences of the divine visitation, what else ought I to consider myself but as one of the mountains of Gelboe, which are skipped over by Him Who so graciously leaps upon the others round about?

My little children, it is sentiments like these that remove the "haughtiness of the eyes," draw down upon us the grace of God, and prepare our souls for the leaps of the Bridegroom. All that I have just said, "I have in a figure transferred to myself for your sakes." "Be ye followers of me" in this respect. Ii do not mean, in the practice of virtue, or in the obser-! vance of regular discipline, for I am not so foolish as to pretend to have an5rthing therein worthy of your imitation; but I want you not to spare yourselves, I want you to accuse yourselves in the way I have done, whenever you may happen to notice that your fervour is diminishing, even in the slightest degree, or your virtue growing slack. To act in this manner is the characteristic of the prudent religious, who keeps a zealous watch over himself, diligently examines all his ways and works, and is ever and in everything on the alert to prevent the vice of arrogance from finding entrance to his soul. I have learned this in truth, that there is no more efficacious means of obtaining grace, of preserving it when obtained, or of recovering it when lost, than to appear always in the sight of God "not high-minded but fearful." Hence we read in Proverbs, "Blessed is the man that is always fearful." Be afraid therefore when grace rejoices you with its presence; be afraid when it departs; be afraid when it returns to you. Thus you shall be always fearful. Let these three fears succeed each other in your souls, according as grace condescends to abide with you, or is perceived to have withdrawn in resentment, or to have come back appeased.⁵ When present, be afraid of not cooperating with it faithfully. Hence the Apostle's admonition, "Receive not the grace of God in vain"; and again, addressing his disciple Timothy, he says, "Neglect not the grace that is in thee"; finally, he says of himself, "His grace in me hath not been void." This great man, the confidant of the divine counsels, knew well that to neglect the gift of grace, and not to use it for the purpose for which it was given, redounds to the dishonour of the Giver, He judged such conduct to be intolerable pride, and therefore avoided it most studiously himself, and taught his disciples to do the same. But there is here concealed another pitfall which I desire to put you on your guard against. It is that wherein the spirit of pride himself, as the Psalmist says, "lieth in wait in secret, like a lion in his den," and the danger is only all the greater because it is so unsuspected. What I wish to say is this: when the devil cannot prevail upon you to omit a good work, he will endeavour to corrupt your intention, and by prompting and persuading will urge you to appropriate to yourselves what is but the fruit of divine grace. Now, there can be no doubt that this species of pride is far more detestable than the other. What indeed can be more hateful than the arrogance which once led men to say, "Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things"!

Therefore, fear is necessary even when grace is with us. But what if it retires? Have we not then more cause to be afraid? Aye, and much more, for when grace fails us, we also shall fail. Hear what the Giver of grace teaches: "Without Me," He says, "you can do nothing." Fear, then, when you are abandoned by grace, as knowing yourselves to be on the point of falling. Be afraid and tremble, as aware that you have incurred the displeasure of God. Be frightened at the thought that your defence has left you. x\nd doubt not that pride is the cause of your abandonment, even though it is not apparent, even though you are conscious to yourselves of nothing. For God can see what escapes us, and He is our Judge. And "not he who commendeth himself is approved, but he whom God commendeth." But surely God commends not him whom He deprives of His grace. Surely He Who "giveth His grace to the humble," will not recall His gift as long as we continue humble. Therefore, the deprivation of grace is a proof of pride. Nevertheless grace is sometimes withdrawn or subtracted, not on account of any pride that is actually present but because of the pride that would exist, if the grace were allowed to remain. We have an evident example of this in the case of the Apostle, who in spite of himself had to endure the sting of the flesh, not because he was lifted up, but lest he should be. Thus whether already present, or not yet brought forth, pride is always the cause of the subtraction of grace.

But it is when grace comes back appeased that we ought to feel most afraid, lest haply we should suffer a relapse. So we read in the Gospel, "Behold thou art made whole: go and sin no more lest some worse thing happen to thee." You perceive, my brethren, that a second fall would be more terrible than the first. Therefore should our fear increase in proportion with our danger. Blessed art thou, whosoever thou be, that fillest thy heart with this threefold fear, so that thou art afraid on account of grace received, more afraid on account of its loss, and still more afraid when it has been recovered! In this way thou dost make thyself as a "water-pot" at the banquet of Christ, "filled up to the brim," and containing not one or two, but three "measures"; and dost deserve that the Lord should bless thee, and by His blessing change thy waters of fear into the wine of gladness. For "perfect charity casteth out fear."

My meaning is this. Fear may be compared to water, because of its power to cool the heat of carnal desires. "The fear of God," says the Psalmist, "is the beginning of wisdom." And we read in Ecclesiasticus, "And she shall give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink."Now, if fear is wisdom, and wisdom water, fear may rightly be called water. Hence it is written in Proverbs," The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life."Furthermore, our minds may be likened to the water-pots which are described as" containing two or three measures apiece." The three measures are the three fears. "And they filled them," says the Evangelist, "up to the brim." It is not one of the fears, nor two, but all three together that can thus fill our minds "up to the brim."⁶ Fear God, my brethren, at all times, and with your whole hearts, and thereby you shall have filled your water-pots up to the brim. God loves integrity in the gift, fulness in the affection, perfection in the sacrifice. See, therefore, that you bring your water-pots full to the celestial espousals, so that of each one of you it may be said, "And he hath been filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." He who is thus entirely possessed with this fear, neglects nothing. How indeed can negligence find room for itself in a soul which is already full? For that which has capacity for more is not as yet completely filled. In the same way, this fulness of fear excludes high-mindedness. There can be no place for pride in him who is filled with the fear of the Lord. And similarly with the other vices. The fulness of holy fear leaves no room for any of them. But when your fear is thus full and perfect, then, at the blessing of the Lord, charity will mingle its sweetness with your waters, as without charity, "fear hath pain." For charity is the wine which "cheereth the heart of man." But "perfect charity casteth out fear," so that where before was water, there is now wine, unto the praise and glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. "Scripta sunt ut dicta sunt, et excepta stylo sicut et caeteri sermones mei." This sentence is extremely important as proving beyond the possibility of a doubt what might otherwise be fairly questioned. For, as Mabillon has pointed out (Praef. in t. iii. n. 10), we have here unequivocal testimony from the Saint himself that the sermons preserved to us are identical both in matter and form with those preached 800 years ago to the Cistercian community in the auditorium of Clairvaux. The same words seem to imply that the sermons were committed to writing after delivery either by himself or by others at his dictation. It is not certain whether we are to understand what he says here of other discourses besides those on the Canticle. It cannot clearly be understood of all, for many of the sermons De Diversis consist of only a paragraph or two, and are apparently nothing more than abstracts or summaries. The Saint's first letter to the Apostolic Legate, Cardinal Peter, contains evidence of this. The Cardinal had sent a request for copies of his treatises and discourses. In his reply, the holy Abbot says, "I have never composed any work on moral questions which I could consider worthy of your Excellency's perusal. But some of the brethren have taken down in their own hand (stylo) summaries of the sermons I have preached in their presence. One of these brothers is now near you, I mean Gebuin, the Archdeacon and Precentor of Troyes, who will lend you his notes, if you care to see them." It is hard to resist identifying these notes with the shorter sermons referred to above.— (Translator.) ↩

2. "Ubi ceciderunt vulnerati multi." These words are nowhere to be found in the Vulgate. Mabillon refers to 2 Kings i. 21, but there is not even a remote resemblance between that text and this. St. Bernard's text is found in the Cistercian Breviary as the verse of the fourth lesson of the first nocturn in the Office for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. It is therefore safe to conclude that it belongs to some more ancient version.— (Translator.) ↩

3. "Hoc adversus Origenem, qui in aere Dominum gloriae denuo pro daemonibus impudenti crucifigit mendacio." The following are the principal errors imputed to the illustrious Alexandrian (185-254): (1) that matter is eternal; (2) that God is necessitated to create; (3) that all spiritual creatures were produced simultaneously, and for certain faults committed, have been condemned to exile in the angelic forms of demons or in the human forms of men; (4) that the fire of hell is nothing more than remorse of conscience; (5) that the demons and the reprobate shall at last repent and be admitted to heaven. According to St. Augustine, he denied the eternal duration not alone of the punishment of the damned, but also of the reward of the just, who may still fall from grace and be condemned, so that there shall be (apparently) for each created spirit, an everlasting alternation of happiness and woe—"alternantes sine cessione beatitudines et miseriae" (De Civ. Dei, xxi. 17). See also Suarez, t. ii. l. viii. c. vii. These errors constitute what is called Origenism, and were condemned by the Second Council of Constantinople, 553. There have been many great and holy men, including Saints and Fathers of the Church who maintained that Origen never held the heretical doctrines attributed to him, but that they were either foisted into his works (he wrote 6,000, according to St. Epiphanius) or unfairly deduced thence. The error to which St. Bernard is alluding in the text is that which concerns the final repentance and salvation of the demons, who shall at length obtain pardon through the merits of a second death which Christ is to suffer for their redemption. In his sermon "De verbis Origenis," the Saint admits that Origen may have spoken metaphorically, yet declares that he is to be read with caution, since several of the Fathers hold him guilty of heresy, and that he is "more abundant than circumspect, more eloquent than sober-minded."— (Translator.) ↩

4. Such is the sense in which the Saint understands the verse, "Draco iste queni formasti ad illudendum ei" (Ps. ciii. 26) and it is the only sense admitted by the Greek, '* dpaKcov ottos ov enXacras efinaieiu avTco" The Douay Version, however, has "This sea-dragon which Thou hast formed to play therein," which exactly translates the Hebrew. Cf. Bellarmin. — (Tran or.) ↩

5. There is question here not of sanctifying grace, but of the grace of devotion. — (Translator.) i ↩

6. "Toti tres simul." It may be asked how can these three fears be together present in the soul since any one of them necessarily excludes the others? The answer i's contained in the sentence which follows. For the three kinds of fear respecting grace are only the fear of God manifesting itself variously according to the state of the soul.— (Translator.) ↩