First it was necessary to find a person in whom the commandments of God might be placed, namely a strong woman. This was the glorious Virgin. Whence in Luke: A certain woman from the crowd, raising her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you. And Jesus said: Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Not only is she blessed who conceived and nursed him, but also those who follow her. And who are they? Those who hear the word of God and fulfill it. Eve, having transgressed the commandment of God, destroyed the house which God had prepared for us unto salvation; but the wise woman built the house and restored our salvation.
8. Third, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy with the holiness of full benevolence. Whence the Angel Gabriel said to her: Blessed are you among women etc. The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And therefore the holy one that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God. Augustine: The Holy Spirit is love, and although he is given with his gifts, there is no gift from which he cannot be separated except the gift of love. While the other virtues are common to the good and the wicked, the love of God and neighbor is proper to the good and the pious: it alone is what sanctifies. The Holy Spirit came upon her, because love was added to love, so that she might transcend the bounds of all others. Whence Hugo says: "Because the love of God burned singularly in the mind of the Virgin, therefore it worked wonders in her flesh."
It is said in Exodus: That the bush burned and was not consumed, that is, the glorious Virgin, bringing forth the Son of God and light, gave light to the world through the fire of divine love and was not corrupted. The love of charity preserves from corruption. And therefore that which shall be born of you, through undefiled love and keeping her unstained, shall be called the Son of God. Just as from the love of a man with a woman a carnal son is born, so from the love of the Virgin with God the Son of God was born.
9. But a figure preceded in the bush and fire, which Moses saw; a figure in the rod and flower of Aaron ; a figure in the fleece and dew of Gideon; and a figure preceded in the strong woman and her price, whom Solomon desired; a figure in the woman and the man, because Jeremiah says: A woman shall encompass a man. All of this was fulfilled in the glorious Virgin. Whence Bernard says: "What was shown to Moses in the bush and fire, to Aaron in the rod and flower, to Gideon in the fleece and dew: this Solomon clearly foresaw in the strong woman and her price; more clearly Jeremiah foretold concerning the woman and the man; most clearly Isaiah declared concerning the Virgin and her son; and at last Gabriel made it manifest by greeting the Virgin."
10. Histories are touched upon here. The first history is in the bush and fire, where the mystery of the incarnation is expressed. The second history is in the rod of Aaron, which, cut off and dry, in the space of a single night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit. The third history is that Gideon asked of the Lord that the dew falling would be entirely on the fleece, and the threshing floor would remain dry; and he filled a basin with dew. — The three other words are those of Solomon, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. The word of Solomon concerns the strong woman and her price. The word of Jeremiah concerns the woman and the man: A new thing, he says, the Lord will make upon the earth; a woman shall encompass a man. The word of Isaiah concerns the Virgin and her son: Behold, he says, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. And this shall be a sign to you, etc.
11. Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is a fervent love is signified to us in the bush and fire. That he is a fruitful love is signified in the rod of Aaron, which in the space of a night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit. That he is an undefiled love is signified in the completed fleece, because the dew did not soil the fleece but cleansed it. That he is a virile love is signified to us in the woman and the man, because the woman encompassed the man, that is, enclosed him on every side. That he is an incorrupt love is signified to us in the Virgin, who conceived a son. That he is a deifying love is signified to us in the Virgin bearing God.
That price is most precious. On account of this Isaiah says: A man shall be more precious than gold, and a human being than pure gold of Ophir. This he says of Christ, who made us precious.
12. Everyone who wishes to be holy must follow the glorious Virgin in the sanctity of incorrupt purity, prompt obedience, and full benevolence. And just as by following the glorious Virgin we become precious and holy, so by following Eve we become wicked and worthless. Whence in Proverbs: The price of a harlot is scarcely one loaf of bread; but a woman captures the precious soul of a man. O foolish Eve, for the eating of one fruit you sold yourself and your husband and all of us! O son of Eve! Beware, lest you be an imitator of Eve; but for whatever pleasure you give your soul, you are an imitator of Eve. What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, yet suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For all that God has created, I would not give my soul. Christ gave His blood to redeem your soul, and for sin you sell yourself and your soul!
13. Do you know what happens through sin? The most precious becomes the most worthless. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: A fornicating woman shall be trodden underfoot as dung in the road. What then is a fornicating cleric and priest? Certainly an abomination to the Lord. Flee therefore from lusts and follow the Virgin, who believed the Archangel Gabriel, not the woman who believed the serpent. Solomon followed foolish women, therefore he laments and says in Ecclesiastes: I found woman more bitter than death, who is the snare of hunters, and her heart is a net, her hands are bonds. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but he who is a sinner shall be captured by her. A snare to those who look upon her, a net to those who lust and consent, and bonds to those who touch her.
14. I say first that she is a snare to those who look upon her; whence it is written: Many, having admired the beauty of a strange woman, have become reprobate. It is read of blessed Bernard that his sister came to see him, adorned with the most beautiful finery; he spat in her face and fled from her. She, indignant, asked why he did this; he answered: "because you come in the adornment of a harlot to capture souls and carry the devil with you." Therefore he says: She is the snare of hunters, that is, of the devil, who through her captures souls: because whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Likewise, she is a net to those who lust and consent. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: On account of the beauty of a woman many have perished. It is difficult to carry fire in one's bosom without one's garments being burned.
Likewise, the hands of a woman are bonds to those who touch her, because she holds so tightly that a man cannot be separated from her. Whence the Apostle: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
From a garment comes the moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man.
If we wish to be most precious, we must cling to the price of the most valiant woman, the incorrupt, most obedient, and most loving Virgin. That woman, namely Eve, expels us from paradise and sells us; this one leads us back and redeems us. — She therefore brought forth that price as a woman valiant and holy.
15. Second, she paid this price as a woman strong and devout, namely when Christ suffered on the cross to pay this price, so that he might purify, wash, and redeem us; then the blessed Virgin was present, accepting and consenting to the divine will. And it pleased her that the price of her womb should be offered on the cross for us. Whence in John: There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing, whom he loved, he said to his mother: Woman, behold your son, namely, who will be handed over as the price of redemption of the human race: as if he were saying: it is necessary for you to be without me, and for me to be without you; and you yourself, as a holy woman, conceived him, and as a devout woman, you offer him; may it please you, O Virgin, that I redeem the human race and appease God. And lest she be left desolate, he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother; he gave a virgin man to the Virgin.
16. Let us hear something of her devotion. This is our hope, who paid this price, as devout with the devotion of divine veneration; second, with the devotion of compassion toward Christ; and third, with the devotion of mercy toward the world, and especially toward the Christian people.
17. First, I say, she paid this price as strong and devout with the devotion of divine veneration. Whence in Proverbs: Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain; the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. But there is no one who could restore the honor taken from God except Christ. And the blessed Virgin is venerative and restorative of the honor taken from God, and a mother consenting that Christ be offered as the price. Therefore she shall be praised. Anna was praised because she offered Samuel: whence it is said of her: The woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer changed. She offered her son to serve: but the blessed Virgin offered her son to be sacrificed. — Abraham, you wished to offer your son, but you offered a ram! But the glorious Virgin offered her own son.
The poor widow is praised because she offered all that she had: but this woman, namely the glorious Virgin, most merciful, devout, and devoted to God, offered her whole substance. — In this the impiety of men is rebuked, who do not render thanks to God for what they have received. You have received so many good things from God, namely prebends and other things; if you do anything for God, it seems great to you. But if you give yourself and everything you have for God, it is nothing. The blessed Virgin paid that price, strong and devout with the devotion of divine veneration. Devotion principally consists in the worship of God.
18. Second, the glorious Virgin, strong and devout, paid that price with the piety of compassion toward Christ. It is said in John: A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her hour has come. On account of giving birth, a woman has pain, namely preceding the delivery. But the blessed Virgin did not have pain preceding the delivery, because she did not conceive from sin, as did Eve, to whom the curse was given; rather, she had pain after the delivery. Whence she gave birth before she was in labor. On the cross she labored; whence in Luke: And a sword shall pierce your own soul. In other women there is pain of the body, in her there is pain of the heart; in others there is pain of corruption, in her there is pain of compassion and charity. Whence she invites us to consider her sorrow, in Jeremiah: All you, she says, who pass by the way, attend and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.
19. This sorrow ought to pierce through the minds of all. Christ died for you; ought you not to suffer with him? The blessed Virgin suffered with him to the utmost; but on the other hand, it pleased her that he was handed over for us. No one knows how much compassion for Christ avails. There is nothing that so extinguishes temptations and pride as that the mind be kept in compassion for the suffering of Christ. The time of Christ's passion comes, and some again are crucifying to themselves the Son of God, namely so far as it lies within them. The supreme cruelty of Christian iniquity is this: that you who are wholly of the blood of Christ, by sinning crucify him again, so far as it lies within you.
20. Third, the blessed Virgin paid that price as a woman strong and devout with the piety of mercy toward the world, and especially toward the Christian people. Isaiah: Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have mercy on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet I will not forget you. This is said of Christ. — And it can be understood here that the entire Christian people was brought forth from the womb of the glorious Virgin, which is signified to us by the woman formed from the side of the man, who signifies the Church.
Whence in Genesis: The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam, and when he had fallen asleep, he took one of his ribs and made a woman and brought her to Adam. And Adam said that she was woman, because she was taken from man. This, he said, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. And the Lord said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and sons and daughters, and shall cleave to his wife. And the Apostle said: This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.
And why, while he slept, did He take one of his ribs? Could He not have done this while he was awake? This is mystical. Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross. And just as from Adam and Eve, Abel and his successors were formed, so from Christ and the Church the whole Christian people. And just as Eve is the mother of Abel and of all of us, so the Christian people has the Virgin as mother.
21. O what a loving mother we have! Let us conform ourselves to our mother and follow her loving-kindness. So greatly did she have compassion for souls that she counted temporal loss and bodily suffering as nothing. So for the salvation of our soul, let it please us to crucify our body. It is said in Matthew: When Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment, and she broke the alabaster jar and poured the ointment over the head of Jesus. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Seeing this, the disciples murmured, certain of them saying: Why this waste? For it could have been sold for much and given to the poor. And Jesus said: Why do you trouble this woman? She has wrought a good work upon me: for the poor you have always with you, but me you do not always have. Magdalene bears the type of penitents; she broke the alabaster jar of ointment out of the loving-kindness which she had toward Christ. And we ought to have loving-kindness toward the universal Church and toward the penitent soul. And just as Magdalene by sinning lost God, so when she anointed the feet and head of Christ, she found Him.