Sermon 79 on the Song of Songs — Bernard of Clairvaux
On the Tenacious and Indissoluble Love by Which the Soul Holds the Bridegroom: Likewise on the Return of the Bridegroom at the End of the Age to Save the Synagogue of the Jews.
1. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" (Song 3:3) O love headlong, vehement, burning, impetuous, who does not allow anything to be thought of besides yourself, who disdains all other things, who despises everything besides yourself, content with yourself! You confound all order, you disregard custom, you know no measure; everything that seems to belong to propriety, to reason, to modesty, to counsel or judgment, you triumph over in yourself, and you bring into captivity. Behold, everything that this one thinks, and that she speaks, sounds of you, smells of you, and of nothing else: so thoroughly have you claimed for yourself both her heart and her tongue. She says: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" As if indeed these men should know what she herself is thinking. You ask about him whom your soul loves? And does he not have a name? And indeed who are you, and who is he? And these things I have said thus on account of the singularity of the speech, and the remarkable carelessness of the words, by which the present Scripture appears quite unlike the rest. Whence in this epithalamium the words are not to be weighed, but the affections. Why is this so, unless because holy love, which is established to be the one subject of this whole volume, is not to be judged by word or tongue, but by work and truth? Love speaks everywhere: and if anyone desires to gain knowledge of these things which are read, let him love. Otherwise, he who does not love approaches in vain to hear or read the song of love: since a cold heart can in no way grasp the fiery speech. For just as one who does not know Greek does not understand one speaking Greek, nor one who is not Latin one speaking Latin, and so with the rest; so the tongue of love will be barbarous to one who does not love, and it will be as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor 13:1). But these men (I speak of the watchmen), since they too have received from the Spirit that they might love, know what the Spirit speaks, and since the voices of love are perfectly well known to them, they have ready at hand to respond in a like tongue, that is, in the pursuits of love and the offices of devotion.
2. And so they send her forth, thus briefly instructed concerning that which she seeks, so that she says: "A little while after I had passed beyond them, I found him whom my soul loves." Well does she say "a little while," because they made a shortened word for her, handing on the symbol of faith. And what follows is of this nature. It was necessary indeed that the bride pass through them, through whom she might come to know the truth; but yet also to pass beyond them. For unless she had passed beyond even them, she would not have found him whom she was seeking. And do not doubt that she was persuaded of this by them. For they did not preach themselves, but their Lord Jesus, who without doubt is both above them and beyond them. Whence he also says: "Pass over to me, all you who desire me" (Sir 24:26). Nor was it sufficient to pass through, but she is taught also to pass beyond. For he whom she was tracking had passed beyond. For he had not only passed from death to life, but had passed beyond to glory. Why should it not have been necessary for her likewise to pass beyond? Otherwise she could not have laid hold of one whom she was not following by the same footsteps wherever he had gone.
3. And that what I say may be clearer: if my Lord Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, but had by no means ascended to the heavens, it could not be said of him that he had passed beyond, but only that he had passed through; and accordingly it would only be necessary for the bride seeking him to pass through, not to pass beyond. But now, since by rising he had already passed through, and had added to pass beyond, namely by ascending; rightly did she too declare that she had not merely passed through, but had passed beyond, she who had followed him by faith and devotion even to the heavens. Therefore, to believe the resurrection is to pass through; to believe also the ascension is to pass beyond. And perhaps (what I remember having said on one of these days when I was treating the subject [Sermon 1 on the Feast of Easter]) she knew the former, but did not know the latter. Therefore, instructed by them concerning what she lacked, namely that he who had risen had also ascended, she too ascended likewise, that is, she passed beyond, and she found. Why should she not have found, reaching with the mind [or, with faith] to where he is in body? "A little while after I had passed beyond them." And well does she say "them": for both them and all other members of his which are upon the earth, our head has preceded and transcended by two steps, by the resurrection, as we have already said, and by the ascension. For Christ is the firstfruits. But if he has preceded, so has our faith. For where would it not follow him? If he ascends into heaven, it is there; if he descends into hell, it is present; and if he takes his wings at dawn, and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, "there," it says, "your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me" (Ps 138:8-10). Has not finally, according to this, the almighty and supremely good Father of the bridegroom raised us up together and made us sit together at his right hand [some add: in the heavenly places]? And this for what the Church said, that she had passed beyond them; since she also passed beyond herself, standing by faith where she has not yet arrived in reality. I consider it also plain why she preferred to say that she had passed beyond, rather than that she had passed through. And let us pass on to what follows.
4. "I held him, nor will I let him go, until I bring him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who bore me." So it is: from that time forward the Christian race does not fail, nor faith from the earth, nor charity from the Church. The floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon it, and it did not fall, because it was founded upon the rock (Mt 7:25). But the rock is Christ. And so neither by the wordiness of philosophers, nor by the cavils of heretics, nor by the swords of persecutors has she been able, or will she ever be able, to be separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:39): so firmly does she hold him whom her soul loves, so good it is for her to cling to God. "The gluing is good," says Isaiah (Isa 41:7). What is more tenacious than this glue, which is neither washed away by waters, nor dissolved by winds, nor cut apart by swords? And indeed, "many waters cannot extinguish love" (Song 8:7). "I held him, nor will I let him go." And the holy patriarch says: "I will not let you go," he says, "unless you bless me" (Gen 32:26). So this one does not wish to let him go, and perhaps more so than the patriarch she does not wish it, because not even for a blessing: since he, having received the blessing, let him go, but she does not do so. I do not want, she says, your blessing, but you. "For what is there for me in heaven, and what have I desired upon earth besides you?" (Ps 72:25) I will not let you go, not even if you bless me.
5. "I held him, nor will I let him go." Nor does he perhaps wish any less to be held, since he testifies, saying: "My delights are to be with the sons of men" (Prov 8:31); and as he promises, saying: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age" (Mt 28:20). What is stronger than this bond, which is made firm by so vehement a will of the two? "I held him," she says. But no less is she herself in turn held by him whom she holds, to whom she says elsewhere: "You have held my right hand" (Ps 72:24). She who is held and holds, how can she now fall? She holds by the firmness of faith, she holds by the affection of devotion. But she would by no means hold for long, if she were not held. She is held, moreover, by the power and mercy of the Lord. "I held him, nor will I let him go, until I bring him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who bore me." Great is the love of the Church, which does not begrudge even to its rival, the Synagogue, its own delights. What is more generous than that she should be prepared to share him whom her soul loves even with an enemy? Nor is this surprising, however, since "salvation is from the Jews" (Jn 4:22). To the place from which he had gone forth, let the Savior return, that the remnant of Israel may be saved. Let not the branches be ungrateful to the root, nor the sons to the mother. Let not the branches begrudge the root that which they drew from it: let not the sons begrudge the mother that which they sucked from her breasts. Let the Church therefore firmly hold the salvation which Judea lost and she herself has seized, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved. Let her will that the common salvation come to the common good, which is so received by all that nothing is diminished for each. Certainly she does this, and more. What more? That she wishes for her also the name of bride, and the grace. This is truly beyond salvation.
6. Incredible love, if the word which she herself has spoken had not produced belief. For she said, if you noticed, that she wished to bring him whom she held not only into the house of her mother, but also into the chamber, which is a sign of special privilege. It would have sufficed for salvation if he entered the house: but the secret of the chamber signifies grace. "Today," he says, "salvation has been made for this house" (Lk 19:9). Why should there not be salvation for the household, when the Savior has entered the house? But she who deserves to receive him into the chamber has her own secret apart. Salvation is given to the house; delights are stored up in the bridal chamber. "I will bring him into the house of my mother," she says. Into what house, unless that of which he had once foretold to the Jews: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate"? (Lk 13:35) He did what he said, as you have testimony of this also from him in the prophet: "I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance" (Jer 12:7): and now she promises to lead him back, and to restore the lost salvation of the house of her mother. And if this seems too little, hear what good she adds: "And into the chamber of her who bore me." He who enters the bridal chamber is the bridegroom. Great is the power of love! The Savior had gone out indignant from his house and his inheritance: and now, softened by her grace, he is bent so as to return not only as Savior, but also as bridegroom. Blessed are you by the Lord, O daughter, who both quench his indignation and restore his inheritance. Blessed are you to your mother, by whose good office wrath is turned away, salvation returns, and he returns who may say to her: "I am your salvation" (Ps 34:3). This does not suffice; let him add also and say: "I will betroth you to me in faith, I will betroth you to me in judgment and justice, I will betroth you to me in mercy and compassions" (Hos 2:19-20). But remember that she who arranges these friendships is the bride. How then does she yield the bridegroom, and this bridegroom, to another, not to say, desire to do so? It is not so. The good daughter desires him indeed for her mother, yet not so as to yield him to her, but to share him. One suffices for both, except that they are no longer two, but one in him. For he himself is our peace, who makes both one, that there may be one bride, and one bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed above all things forever. Amen.
Translated from the Latin by AI. Source: Migne, Patrologia Latina 183.