Sermon LXXIX. On the Manner in which the Spouse Passed Beyond the Watchmen, and on the Final Reconciliation of Christ with the Synagogue

"Have you seen Him Whom my soul loveth? When I had a little passed beyond¹ them I found Him Whom my soul loveth, I held Him and will not let Him go till I bring Him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that bore me."

"Have you seen Him Whom my soul loveth?" O love, so precipitate, so violent, so ardent, so impetuous, suffering the mind to entertain no thought but of thyself, spurning everything, despising everything which is not thyself, content with thyself alone! Thou disturbest all order, disregardest all usage, ignorest all measure. Thou dost triumph over in thyself and reduce to captivity whatever appears to belong to fittingness, to reason, to decorum, to prudence or counsel. Thus every thought which this Spouse thinks and every word which she utters savours of thee and sounds of thee and of nothing but thee, so completely hast thou monopolised both her heart and her tongue. She says to the watchmen, "Have you seen Him Whom my soul loveth?" As if she expected them to know what she is thinking of. Dost thou enquire concerning Him Whom thy soul loveth? And has He no other name except this? But who art thou thyself and who is He? Such questions, my brethren, I should be inclined to ask on account of the strangeness of language and the remarkable disregard for the proprieties of speech which appear to distinguish this part of Holy Scripture from every other. Therefore it seems to me that in examining this nuptial song we ought to attend more to the affection than to the verbal expression. And the reason is, because holy love, which is manifestly the sole, exclusive theme of the entire composition, can be measured "not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." It is love that is speaking everywhere. And should any of you desire to attain to an understanding of the things which he reads, let him love. For it is useless for him who loves not to attempt to read or to listen to this Canticle of love, because the "ignited word" can obtain no long-ment in a heart that is cold and frozen. Just as he who knows not Greek cannot understand one speaking Greek, just as one who knows not Latin cannot understand one speaking Latin, and so on with all other tongues: in the same way to him who knows not love the language of love is barbarous and becomes as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." But these, I mean the watchmen who keep the city, having themselves also received from the Spirit the gift of love, are able to comprehend what the same Spirit speaketh; and as the language of holy love is perfectly familiar to them, they can answer immediately in the same tongue, that is, by loving affections and offices of piety.

Accordingly, she obtains from them in brief so much information concerning Him Whom she loves that she proceeds to tell us, "When I had a little passed beyond them I found Him Whom my soul loveth." Well does she say "a little," because they replied to her question with an "abbreviated word," by delivering to her the symbol of the faith. The words which follow are equally well-chosen. It was necessary indeed that the Spouse should pass (transire) to them from whom she was to learn the truth. But it was no less necessary that she should pass beyond them {pertransire). For had she not passed beyond even these watchmen, she would never have found Him Whom she was seeking. And let it not be supposed that they left her in ignorance of this. For they preached not themselves but the Lord Jesus, Who without doubt is above them and beyond them. Therefore also He says, "Pass over to Me all ye that desire Me." Neither was it sufficient for her to pass simply, but she is also instructed to pass over or beyond; because He in Whose steps she was walking, had Himself passed beyond. For not only had He passed from death to life, but He had passed beyond to glory. How, then, could it have been otherwise than necessary for her too to pass beyond? For unless she did so, she could not have overtaken her Beloved Whose footprints she had not faithfully followed whithersoever He had gone.

To express my meaning more plainly, if my Lord Jesus had arisen from the dead, but had not ascended to heaven, it could not be said of Him that He had passed beyond, but only that He had passed from death to life; and thus for the Spouse also in seeking Him it would have been necessary merely to pass, without passing beyond. But now that He has not alone passed from death to life by rising from the tomb, but has also passed beyond by ascending into heaven, there was good reason for her to announce that she, on her side, has not been content to pass to the watchmen, but has passed beyond them, inasmuch as she has followed her Bridegroom to heaven by her faith and devotion. We may say consequently that to believe in the resurrection is to pass, but to believe in the ascension is to pass beyond. And perhaps before she was found by the watchmen, the Spouse had already a knowledge of the resurrection but not of the ascension, as I remember to have remarked on a previous occasion when discussing the former mystery.² Therefore, having been instructed by them in that which was still wanting to her, in the truth, namely, that He Who had arisen from the dead had also ascended into heaven, she likewise ascended, that is to say, she passed beyond the watchmen and so found her Beloved. How, indeed, could she have failed to find Him, seeing that, whither He has ascended in body, she has attained in mind? "When I had a little passed beyond them." Rightly also does she say "beyond them," that is, the watchmen or the preachers of the Gospel. For these, as well as His other mystical "members which are upon the earth," our divine Head has passed beyond and transcended by two of His mysteries, namely, by His resurrection, and I have before explained, and also by His ascension. For "Christ is the first-fruits of them that sleep." But if He has passed beyond, so too has our faith, which follows Him whithersoever He goes. If He ascends into heaven, it is there; if He descends into hell, it is present; if He takes His wings in the morning early and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, still our faith can say to Him, in the words of the psalm, "Even there also shall Thy Hand lead me and Thy Right Hand shall hold me." For has not the infinitely good and powerful Father of the Bridegroom "raised us up together "with Him "and hath made us to sit" with Him at His own Right Hand "in the heavenly places"? Thus far I have been occupied in explaining the words of the Church, "When I had a little passed beyond them," and showing how she has even passed beyond herself, since she dwells by faith where she has not yet arrived in fact. I have also, as I hope, made plain to you the reason why she chose to say "when I had passed beyond "rather than "when I had passed/* And now let us likewise pass on to the discussion of what remains of our text.

"I held Him and I will not let Him go till I bring Him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that bore me." So it is, my brethren. From that time and thenceforward there has been no failure of the Christian family, nor of faith from the earth, nor of charity in the Church. "The floods came and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, because it was founded upon a rock," "and the rock was Christ." And so neither the verbiage of philosophers, nor the sophistry of heretics, nor the sword of persecutors, has ever been able, and never shall be able, to separate her (the Church) "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus." So strongly does she hold on to Him Whom her soul loveth, so good does she find it to adhere to her God. To charity may be applied the words of the Prophet Isaias, "It is good for soldering." For where shall we find a firmer bond of union than this solder, which can neither be worn away by water nor broken by tempests, nor severed by the sword? "Many waters cannot quench charity," as we read further on in this Canticle. "I held Him and I will not let Him go," says the Spouse. And the holy Prophet Jacob said to Him before her, "I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." The Spouse accordingly is unwilling to let her Bridegroom go, and perhaps is more unwilling than was the Patriarch, because he consented to let Him go after receiving a blessing, but not so the Spouse. "It is not Thy blessing I want," she seems to say, "but Thyself. * For what have I in heaven? And besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? ' I will not let Thee go, no, notevenifiThou^ shouldst bless me."

"^I held Him andr will not let Him go," so speaks the Spouse. But perhaps He is as desirous to be held as she is to hold Him, since He has declared, "My delights are to be with the children of men," and has moreover promised ever to abide with us, where He says, "Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world" What can be stronger than this bond which is constituted by one and the same most ardent desire of two wills? "I held Him," she says. But at the same time she is herself held in turn by Him Whom she holds, and to Whom she elsewhere addresses the words, "Thou hast held me by my right hand." How is it possible for her to fall now, whilst she holds Him and is held by Him? She holds Him by the strength of her faith; she also holds Him by the tenderness of her devotion. But not for long would she continue to hold Him, if she ceased to be held by Him. And she is held by the power of the Lord and by His mercy. "I held Him and will not let Him go till I bring Him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that bore me." Boundless, my brethren, is the charity of the Church which begrudges not a participation in her delights even to her jealous rival, the Synagogue. Can anything be kinder than the readiness which she here manifests to communicate Him Whom her soul loveth even to her enemy? However, it should not surprise us, since "salvation is of the Jews." Thither whence He came let the Saviour return in order that a "remnant" of Israel may be saved. Let not the branches be ungrateful to the root, nor the children to their mother. The branches ought not to begrudge the root a share of the sap they have derived from it; nor should the children envy their mother a participation in the milk they have drawn from her breasts. Let the Church, therefore, keep a firm hold of the salvation which the Synagogue has lost; let her hold fast to it "until the fulness of the gentiles shall come in, and so all Israel shall be saved." At the same time, let her be willing that the universal salvation should be universally participated in, since it can be so communicated to all that each shall have thereby nothing the less. But as a matter of fact, she does do this, aye, and more than this. Do you ask me, my brethren, what does she more? I will tell you. She desires for her rival both the name and the grace of a Spouse. That certainly is something more than mere salvation.

Such charity, my brethren, would be incredible did not the words of the Spouse prove it to be a fact. For if you have observed, she expressed her intention to bring Him Whom she holds not only into her mother's house, but into her mother's chamber also, which signifies a high prerogative. It would be sufficient for salvation that the Bridegroom should enter the house: "This day is salvation come to this house," said Jesus to Zacheus. But His entrance into the privacy of the chamber means the communication of special grace. How should there not be salvation for the household when the Saviour comes into the home? But the soul that deserves to receive Him into her chamber has Him all to herself and enjoys Him in secret. Salvation comes to the house, but for the chamber are reserved the delights of holy love. "Till I bring Him into my mother's house," she says. Of what house is she speaking except that whereof the Bridegroom Himself declared to the Jews, "Behold your house shall be left to you desolate "? And He did what He threatened to do, as we have it again on His own testimony, spoken by the mouth of His Prophet Jeremias, "I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance." But now the Spouse promises to bring Him back and to restore to the house of her mother the salvation she has lost. And should you consider this a slight favour, attend to the grace which she promises in addition, "And I will bring Him into the chamber of her that bore me." Now, if He enters this chamber it can only be as a Bridegroom. Oh, how great is the power of love! The Saviour in anger had forsaken His home and His inheritance, and now, appeased by the love of the daughter. He so far relents that He goes back to the mother not alone as a Saviour, but even as a Bridegroom. "Blessed art thou of the Lord, O daughter," because thou hast appeased His indignation and restored to Him His inheritance. And blessed art thou of thy mother, since it is by thee that the wrath of heaven has been averted from her, grace recovered for her, and the Bridegroom brought back to say to her, "I am thy salvation." And lest this should not be enough, thou hast even induced Him to add and to say to her, "I will espouse thee to Me in faith, I will espouse thee to Me in judgment and in justice, and I will espouse thee to Me in mercy and in commiserations." But remember that she who thus reconciles the Bridegroom to her mother is the Spouse. How then can she consent to yield her Bridegroom, and such a Bridegroom as hers, to another, not to speak of her desiring to do so? Such is not the case, however. She does indeed, like a good daughter, desire Him for her mother, yet only by communication, not as renouncing her own rights. One Bridegroom is sufficient for the two, although it would be more correct to say that they shall now no longer be two, but one Spouse in Him. "For He is our peace Who hath made both one," so that there might be one Bride and one Bridegroom, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. "Paululum quum pertransissem eos." The Douay Version has "When I had a Uttle passed by them." The substitution of "beyond"for "by"has been made in order to suit St. Bernard's context. — (Translator.) ↩

2. See liis first sermon for Easter on the text, "The Lion of the tribe of Juda hath conquered." — (Translator.) ↩