Sermon 46 on the Song of Songs — Bernard of Clairvaux
On the State and Composition of the Whole Church. Likewise, How Through the Active Life, Which Is Carried Out Under Obedience, One Arrives at the Contemplative Life.
1. "Our little bed is flowering, the beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings are of cypress" (Song 1:15-16). She sings a wedding hymn, describing the couch and the chambers in beautiful speech. She invites the Bridegroom to rest. For this is better: to rest and to be with Christ. Yet it is necessary to go out to gain profits for the sake of those who are to be saved. But now, having found the opportunity, as she thinks, she announces that the chamber is adorned, and pointing to the little bed as if with her finger, she invites the beloved, as I have said, to rest, and not enduring the burning of her heart with those going to Emmaus, she draws him to the lodging of her mind, compels him to stay the night with her (Lk 24:29, 32), and speaks with Peter: "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Mt 17:4).
2. Now let us inquire what these things contain spiritually. And in the Church indeed I consider the bed in which one rests to be the cloisters and monasteries, in which one lives quietly, free from the cares of the world and the anxieties of life. And this bed is shown to be flowering when the conduct and life of the brethren shines forth, sprinkled as it were with certain sweet-smelling flowers, by the examples and institutions of the fathers. Furthermore, understand the houses as the assemblies of Christian people, whom those who are placed in high position, that is, Christian leaders of both orders, like beams strongly bind together the walls by imposing just laws, lest each one living by his own law or will, like leaning walls and fences pushed down, should fall apart from one another, and so the entire structure of the building should collapse and be scattered. But the paneled ceilings, which hang firmly from the beams and adorn the houses remarkably, I think designate the gentle and disciplined manners of a well-ordered clergy, and their duly administered offices. For how shall the orders of clergy and their ministrations stand, if they are not sustained by the beneficence and munificence, and protected by the power of rulers, as by beams?
3. But as for the fact that the beams are described as of cedar and the paneled ceilings as of cypress, the nature of these species of wood without doubt contains something that corresponds to the aforesaid orders. And cedar indeed, since it is an incorruptible and also a fragrant wood, and of tall stature, sufficiently indicates what sort of men ought to be chosen for the role of beams. Therefore it is necessary that those who are set over others be strong and steadfast, and also long-suffering in hope, lifting the summit of their mind toward things above, who also, spreading everywhere the good odor of their faith and conduct, can say with the Apostle: "For we are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place" (2 Cor 2:15). Cypress likewise, a wood equally of good fragrance and similarly incorruptible, shows that anyone of the clergy ought to be of incorrupt life and faith, so that he may deservedly be assigned to the beauty of the house and the adornment of the paneling. For it is written: "Holiness befits your house, O Lord, for length of days" (Ps 92:5). Where indeed both the beauty of holiness and the perseverance of unfailing grace are expressed. Therefore it is necessary that the man who is taken up for the ornament and beauty of the house be adorned with good character; and although he himself is always within, he should nevertheless have a good testimony also from those who are without. There are also other things in the nature of these woods that correspond to what is being discussed spiritually, but for the sake of brevity I pass over them.
4. But note how beautifully the entire state of the Church is comprehended in one brief little verse: namely the authority of prelates, the beauty of the clergy, the discipline of the people, the quiet of monks. In the contemplation of all these things, when all is rightly ordered, holy mother Church rejoices, and then she also offers them for the beloved to behold, when she refers all things to his goodness, as the author of all, attributing nothing of all these things to herself. For when she says "our" and "of our," it is not a sign of usurpation but of love: because, namely, by the confidence of exceeding charity, she considers nothing of him whom she greatly loves to be alien to her. For she does not think herself to be excluded from the companionship of the Bridegroom or from the sharing of his rest, she who has always been accustomed to seek not what is her own but what is his: and this is the reason why she has dared to declare as common to herself and the Bridegroom alike whether the little bed or the houses. For she said: "Our little bed," and "the beams of our houses," and "our paneled ceilings": boldly associating herself in possession with him to whom she does not doubt she is joined in love. Not so she who has not yet renounced her own will, but lies by herself, dwells by herself: or rather not by herself, but lives luxuriously in company with harlots -- I mean the lusts of the flesh -- with whom she squanders her goods, and the portion of substance that she demanded be divided for her (Lk 15:12-13).
5. Moreover, you who hear or read these words of the Holy Spirit, do you think you are able to apply any of these things that are said to yourself, and to recognize in yourself something of the happiness of the bride, which is sung in this love-song by the Spirit himself, lest it be said to you also that you hear his voice and do not know whence it comes or where it goes? Behold, perhaps you yourself also desire the quiet of contemplation, and you do well: only do not forget the flowers with which you read that the bed of the bride is sprinkled. Therefore take care that you too likewise surround yours with flowers of good works, that you anticipate the holy leisure as fruit with the exercise of virtues as flower. Otherwise you will want to drowse in quite delicate leisure, if you do not seek rest as one who has been exercised, and, neglecting the fruitfulness of Leah, desire to delight yourself in the embraces of Rachel alone. But also the order is reversed if one demands the reward before the merit, and takes food before the labor, since the Apostle says: "He who does not work, let him not eat" (2 Thess 3:10). "From your commandments I have gained understanding," he says (Ps 118:104): so that you may know that apart from the obedience of the commandments the taste of contemplation is not at all owed. Therefore do not think that any prejudice at all should be done to the acts of holy obedience, or the traditions of the elders, out of love for your own quiet. Otherwise the Bridegroom will not sleep with you in one bed [or: in one little bed], especially that one which you have sprinkled for yourself with the hemlock and nettles of disobedience, instead of the flowers of obedience. For which reason he will not hear your prayers, and when called he will not come: for he will not grant to the disobedient access to himself, he who is so great a lover of obedience that he preferred to die rather than not to obey. Nor does he approve the idle leisure of your contemplation, he who says through the prophet: "I have labored, sustaining" (Jer 6:11); signifying the time when, an exile from heaven and the homeland of supreme quiet, he worked salvation in the midst of the earth. Moreover I fear lest that dreadful sentence may also envelop you, thundering thus against the faithlessness of the Jews: "Your new moons and sabbaths and other festivals I will not endure"; likewise: "Your new moons and your solemnities my soul hates; they have become burdensome to me" (Is 1:13-14). And the prophet will mourn over you and say: "Her enemies saw her and mocked at her sabbaths" (Lam 1:7). For why should the enemy not mock at what the beloved repudiates?
6. I greatly wonder at the shamelessness of certain ones who are among us, who, when they have disturbed us all by their singularity, irritated us by their impatience, and shown contempt for us by their stubbornness and rebellion, nevertheless dare to invite the Lord of all purity, with every insistence of prayers, to so foul a bed of their conscience. "But when you stretch out your hands," he says, "I will turn away my eyes, and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear" (Is 1:15). For what? The little bed is not flowering, but rather is even putrid; and you drag the King of glory thither? Do you do this for resting or for causing a lawsuit? The centurion forbids him to enter under his roof because of his own unworthiness, whose faith nevertheless is fragrant throughout all Israel (Mt 8:8, 10): and you compel him to enter to you, filthy as you are with the squalor of so many vices? The prince of the apostles cries out: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man" (Lk 5:8); and you say: "Enter to me, Lord, for I am holy"? "Be all of one mind in prayer," he says, "love the brotherhood" (1 Pet 2:17). And the vessel of election: "Lifting up pure hands," he says, "without anger and disputation" (1 Tim 2:8). Do you see how the prince of the apostles and the teacher of the nations agree with each other, and speak by the same Spirit concerning the peace and tranquility of mind that he who prays ought to have? Go on then, you, stretch out your hands to God all day long, you who trouble the brethren all day long, who attack unanimity, who separate yourself from unity.
7. "And what do you want me to do?" you say. Assuredly that first you cleanse your conscience from all defilement of anger and disputation, and murmuring, and envy; and that whatever is recognized as contrary either to the peace of the brethren or to obedience to the elders, you hasten to eliminate from the dwelling place of your heart. Then also that you surround yourself with flowers of whatever good deeds and praiseworthy pursuits, and the sweet perfumes of virtues; that is, "whatever things are true, whatever things are modest, whatever things are just, whatever things are holy, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praise of discipline; think on these things" (Phil 4:8), take care to be exercised in them. To such a bed you will safely call the Bridegroom: because when you have brought him in, you too will be able to say truthfully that our little bed is flowering, with your conscience giving forth the fragrance of piety, indeed of peace, of meekness, of justice, of obedience, of cheerfulness, of humility. And concerning the little bed let it be thus.
8. But let each one recognize himself to be a spiritual house of God, provided that he no longer walks in the flesh but in the spirit: "For the temple of God is holy," he says, "which you are" (1 Cor 3:17). Take care therefore, brethren, for this spiritual building which you are, lest when it begins to advance to higher things, it should totter and collapse if it has not been supported and bound together with strong timbers. Take care, I say, to give it beams that are incorruptible and immovable: namely the chaste fear of the Lord, that which "endures forever and ever" (Ps 18:10); patience, of which it is written that "the patience of the poor shall not perish forever" (Ps 9:19); also long-suffering, which, persevering unbent under whatever weight of the structure, extends into the infinite ages of blessed life, as the Savior says in the Gospel: "He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved" (Mt 10:22); but above all charity, "which never fails," because "love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell" (Song 8:6). Then strive to lay beneath these beams and bind to them other woods equally precious and beautiful, should those others be at hand for the work of paneling for the beauty of the house: namely the word of wisdom or of knowledge, prophecy, the grace of healings, the interpretation of words, and other such things, which are known to be more suited for ornament than necessary for salvation. Concerning these I have no commandment, but I give counsel: since indeed such woods are found to be laboriously sought and found with difficulty and dangerously worked (for our land, especially in these times, is found to produce them rarely), I counsel indeed and warn that they not be greatly sought after; rather let paneling be prepared from other woods, which, even if they appear less splendid, are nevertheless proved no less strong, and moreover are more easily possessed and more safely.
9. Would that I too had an abundance of those woods with which the garden of the Bridegroom, the Church, is thickly planted: peace, goodness, kindness, joy in the Holy Spirit, to show mercy with cheerfulness, to give with simplicity, to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep (Rom 12:8, 15). Would you not consider that house (as far as concerns the paneling) sufficiently and abundantly adorned, which you see paneled suitably and in good order with such woods? "Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house" (Ps 25:8). Always give me these woods, I pray, with which I may always present to you an adorned chamber of conscience: of my conscience, I say, and of another's. With these I shall be content. There will be those too who will be willing to acquiesce in my counsel in this matter, because I think you also will be content: the rest I leave to the holy apostles and to apostolic men. But you also, most beloved, even if you do not have those other woods, nevertheless if you have these, be confident; nevertheless with all boldness approach the chief cornerstone, elect, precious; nevertheless upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets you yourselves also as living stones are built up, spiritual houses, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (Eph 2:19-22 and 1 Pet 2:4-9), the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord, who is over all things God blessed forever. Amen.
Translated from the Latin by AI. Source: Migne, Patrologia Latina 183.