Sermon 47 on the Song of Songs — Bernard of Clairvaux
On the Threefold Flower, Namely of Virginity, Martyrdom, and Good Works — and on the Devotion to Be Had in the Divine Office.
1. "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1). I think this looks back to what the bride had commended concerning the little bed sprinkled with flowers. For lest she should ascribe to herself those flowers, by which the little bed appeared adorned and the bridal chamber beautified, the Bridegroom declares that he is the flower of the field; and that the flowers do not come forth from the bridal chamber, but from the field; and that by his gift and by participation in him is produced what shines and what gives fragrance. Lest therefore anyone should be able to reproach her and say: "What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor 4:7), he himself, as much an eager lover as a kind instructor of his beloved, piously and graciously shows her to whom she ought to attribute the splendor, about which she was glorying, and the sweet fragrance of the little bed. "I am the flower of the field," he says: from me is that in which you glory. Most wholesomely are we admonished also from this passage, that we ought by no means to glory: "and if anyone glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17). And this according to the letter: now let us examine, with the help of him of whom it speaks, the spiritual understanding that lies hidden therein.
2. And first observe for me now a certain threefold state of the flower: in the field, in the garden, in the bridal chamber; so that after this it may also more easily become clear why he chose above all to call himself the flower of the field. And in the field indeed and in the garden the flower springs up, but in the bridal chamber by no means. It gives fragrance and shines there, yet not standing erect, as in the garden or field; but plainly lying down, as one that has been brought in, not born there. And therefore it is indeed necessary to renew them frequently, and always to set out fresher flowers, because they do not long retain their fragrance or their beauty. But if, as I said in another sermon, the little bed sprinkled with flowers is the conscience filled with good works (preceding Sermon, no. 7); you see certainly, that the likeness may be preserved, that it by no means suffices to do what is good once or twice, unless you ceaselessly add new things to the former, so that sowing in blessings, you may also reap from blessings. Otherwise the flower of the good work lies down and withers, and in a short time all splendor and vigor is destroyed from it, if it is not continually renewed by other and yet other acts of piety cast upon it. This is so in the bridal chamber.
3. In the garden however it is not so: but neither in the field similarly. For from themselves, having once produced flowers, they continually supply that whereby the inborn beauty may long persevere in them. Yet they also differ among themselves, in that the garden indeed, in order to flower, is cultivated by the hand and art of men: but the field naturally produces flowers of itself, and without any aid of human diligence. Do you think you now seem to yourself to perceive who that field is, neither furrowed by the ploughshare, nor dug up by the hoe, nor fattened with dung, nor sown by the hand of man; yet nevertheless adorned with that noble flower, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord is known to have rested? "Behold," he says, "the smell of my son is as the smell of a field full, which the Lord has blessed" (Gen 27:27). That flower of the field had not yet put on his beauty, and already he was giving forth his fragrance, when the holy and aged Patriarch, feeble in body, dim of sight, but keen of smell, perceived him in spirit, so as to cry out this for joy. He ought not therefore to have declared himself a flower of the bridal chamber, he who is a flower perpetually vigorous: but neither likewise of the garden, lest he should seem to have been produced by human work. But beautifully and most fittingly, "I am the flower of the field," he says, who both came forth without human effort, and once having come forth, no corruption thereafter had dominion over him, that the word which he spoke might be fulfilled: "You will not give your Holy One to see corruption" (Ps 15:10).
4. But, if it please you, receive also another reason for this matter, not to be despised, as I judge. For not without cause is the manifold spirit described by the Wise Man, except that beneath one rind of the letter it is accustomed to conceal frequently diverse understandings of wisdom. And so according to the aforesaid division concerning the state of the flower, virginity is a flower, martyrdom is a flower, a good work is a flower. Virginity in the garden, martyrdom in the field, good work in the bridal chamber. And well is virginity in the garden, to which modesty is familiar, shunning the public, rejoicing in hiding places, enduring discipline. For the flower is enclosed in a garden, which in the field is exposed and in the bridal chamber is scattered. And you have: "A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed" (Song 4:12). Which indeed signifies the enclosure of modesty in the virgin, and the guarding of inviolate sanctity: if nevertheless she be such a one as is holy both in body and in spirit. Well likewise is martyrdom in the field, since martyrs are exposed to the mockery of all, made a spectacle both to angels and to men. Is not their pitiable voice in the psalm: "We have been made a reproach to our neighbors, a derision and a mockery to those who are round about us" (Ps 78:4)? Well also is the good work in the bridal chamber, which makes the conscience both tranquil and secure. For after a good work one sleeps more securely in contemplation, and with that much more confidence does one undertake to gaze upon and investigate sublime things, the more one is conscious that one has by no means failed in works of charity out of love for one's own rest.
5. And all these things in a certain respect is the Lord Jesus. He is the flower of the garden, a virgin, the rod generated from a virgin. He is likewise the flower of the field, a martyr, the crown of martyrs, the pattern of martyrdom. For he was led forth outside the city, he suffered outside the camp, he was raised up on the wood, to be gazed upon by men, to be mocked by all. He is likewise the flower of the bridal chamber, the mirror and exemplar of all beneficence, as he himself declared to the Jews, saying: "Many good works have I shown you from my Father" (Jn 10:32); and likewise Scripture concerning him: "Who went about," it says, "doing good and healing all" (Acts 10:38). If therefore the Lord is these three things, what was the reason that out of the three he preferred to call himself the flower of the field? Assuredly in order that he might animate to endurance her whom he knew would have to suffer persecution, if indeed she wished to live piously in Christ. He therefore more willingly professes himself to be that to which he above all wishes to have a follower; and this is what I said on another occasion, that she always desires rest, and he urges her to labor, announcing to her that "through many tribulations it is necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Acts 14:21). Whence, when the new Church on earth, newly espoused to him, he was arranging to return to the Father, he said to her: "The hour comes when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God" (Jn 16:2); likewise: "If they have persecuted me," he says, "they will also persecute you" (Jn 15:20). You can also gather many similar announcements of evils to be endured in the Gospel.
6. "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys." While she therefore points to the little bed, he calls to the field, he provokes to exercise. He does not think anything will be more persuasive to her for entering the contest than if he should set forth himself as either the example or the reward of the one contending. "I am the flower of the field." Indeed either meaning is given to be understood in this speech: either that he is the pattern of the one fighting, or the glory of the one triumphing. You are both to me, Lord Jesus, both the mirror of suffering and the reward of the one who suffers. Both strongly provoke and vehemently kindle. You teach my hands to fight by the example of your valor; you crown my head after victory by the presence of your majesty; whether because I behold you fighting, or because I await you not only crowning but also as the crown: in both you wonderfully draw me to yourself; each is a most violent cord for drawing. "Draw me after you": gladly I follow you, more gladly I enjoy you. If you are so good, Lord, to those following you, what will you be to those who attain you? "I am the flower of the field." He who loves me, let him come into the field, let him not refuse to enter the contest with me and for me, that he may be able to say: "I have fought the good fight" (2 Tim 4:7).
7. And since it is not the proud or arrogant, but rather the humble, who do not know how to presume of themselves, that are fit for martyrdom, he adds that he is also the lily of the valleys, that is, the crown of the humble, designating by the eminence of this flower the special glory of their future exaltation. For there will come a time when "every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low" (Isa 40:4): and then that whiteness of eternal life, plainly a lily not of the hills but of the valleys, shall appear. "The just shall spring up as a lily," it says (Hos 14:6). Who is just, if not the humble? For when the Lord bowed himself to the hands of the Baptist, his servant, and he was terrified at the majesty, "Permit it," he said; "for thus it befits us to fulfill all justice" (Mt 3:15), establishing the consummation of justice in the perfection of humility. The just man therefore is the humble, the just man is the valley. And if we shall be found humble, we too shall spring up as the lily, and we shall flourish forever before the Lord. Or does he not truly and then especially prove himself the lily of the valleys, when "he shall reform the body of our humility, made conformable to the body of his glory" (Phil 3:21)? He does not say "our body," but "the body of our humility": so that by the wondrous and everlasting whiteness of this lily he signifies that the humble alone shall be illumined. And let these things be said on account of what the Bridegroom declared himself to be the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys.
8. Now it would be good also to hear what he consequently declares concerning his dearest one: but the hour does not permit. For by our Rule it is not lawful to prefer anything to the Work of God (Rule of St. Benedict, ch. 43). By which name indeed Father Benedict wished the solemn praises, which are daily rendered to God in the oratory, to be called, so that from this he might more clearly reveal how attentive he wished us to be to that work. Whence I admonish you, most beloved, to be present at the divine praises always purely and vigorously. Vigorously indeed, so that just as reverently, so also eagerly you may stand before the Lord: not sluggish, not drowsy, not yawning, not sparing your voices, not cutting words in half, not skipping whole ones, not with broken and slack voices sounding something womanish, stammering through the nose; but with a manly sound and affection, as is worthy, bringing forth the words of the Holy Spirit. Purely indeed, so that while you sing the psalms you think of nothing other than what you are singing. I do not mean only that vain and idle thoughts are to be avoided: those are also to be avoided, at that hour at least and in that place, which the brothers who hold offices are, as if necessarily, frequently compelled to admit on account of the common need. But, I would certainly not have counseled receiving then even those things which perhaps a little before, sitting in the cloister, you had read in books, such things as even now you carry away fresh from this auditorium of the Holy Spirit, from me speaking with living voice. They are wholesome, but you by no means wholesomely revolve them during the singing of the psalms. For the Holy Spirit at that hour does not receive as welcome whatever you offer other than what you owe, while neglecting what you owe. May we always be able to do his will according to his will, he himself inspiring us, by the grace and mercy of the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is over all things God blessed forever. Amen.
Translated from the Latin by AI. Source: Migne, Patrologia Latina 183.