Sermons on the Song of Songs

on the title of the book : * the song of songs, which is Solomon's/ O you, brethren, it is needful to speak of other truths than to those persons who are of the world; or, at least, to speak of them in a different manner.

To them, if a preacher wishes to observe the order of teaching which the Apostle has prescribed (i Cor. iii. 2), milk, not meat, is to be given. He himself teaches us, by his own example, to offer more solid nourishment to such as are spiritual, as when he says : * We speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ' And also : ' We speak wisdom among them that are perfect' (1 Cor. ii. 13, 6), such as I trust that you, my brethren, are ; unless it is in vain that you have been long occupied in the study of heavenly things, in meditating upon the law of God day and night, and in training yourselves to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Prepare, therefore, to be nourished, not with milk, but with bread. There is bread in [these words of] Solomon, and that white and delicate ; I mean in this book which is called ' The Song of Songs.' Let us set it before us, and break it according to our need. 2. As for the Book of Ecclesiastes, you are, if I do not mistake, Digitized by 8 sufficiently well instructed by the grace of God to recognise and despise

the vanity of the world, which is treated of therein. And what as to the Proverbs? Is not your life and conduct sufficiently formed and ruled on the teaching which they contain ? Wherefore, having tasted of both of these, which you have accepted nevertheless as [it were loaves] offered from the chest of a friend, draw near and taste of this third loaf also, and see if it be not still better.1 There are, then, two evils, which are the chief, if not the only ones which war against the soul, namely, the vain love of the world, and the excessive love of self. The two former books prescribe the remedy for each of these diseases, the former, by cutting away, with the sharp blade of discipline, whatever is corrupt in the character and superfluous in the desires of the flesh ; the latter, by wisely penetrating with the light of reason the deceitful glamour of this world's vanity, and distinguishing it accurately from that which is real and solid. Finally, Solomon prefers the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments to the pursuit of human knowledge and of worldly desires. And rightly so. For the first of these is the beginning of true wisdom, and the second its consummation ; if, that is to say, true

and perfect wisdom consists only in departing from evil and doing good ; and if, also, no one is able perfectly to depart from evil without the fear of God, as no one is able to do good without the keeping of His commandments. 3. These two evils having then been put to flight by the reading of those two books, it is possible to approach fitly in order to listen to that sacred and sublime discourse, which being, as it were, the fruit of both [the previous books], is not to be listened to except by ears and hearts which are chastened and wise. For otherwise, unless the flesh has been mastered by discipline, and subjected to the spirit ; unless the burdensome pomp of the world has been despised and cast away as insupportable, the heart is impure and unworthy to peruse the sacred Song. Just as the pure light is poured, vainly and to no purpose, upon blind eyes, or upon eyes that are closed, so 'the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God* (1 Cor. ii. 14). For the holy spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful (Wisd. i. 5), that is, from one who leads an unregulated life. Never will He, who is the Spirit of Truth (John xiv. 17),

have part or lot with the vain things of this world. What alliance can there be between the wisdom which is from above, and the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness with God (1 Cor. iii. 19), or the wisdom of the flesh, which is positively hostile to Him (Rom. viii. 7) ?

But I think that the friend who comes to us from his journey2 will have no reason to murmur against us, when he shall have taken of this third loaf. Whether the words in the text imply that St. Bernard had made a comment upon those two books is discussed in the preface. a There is a question whether this ' friend ' may not have been Bernard des Portes. See the discussion in Mabillon's preface. — Ed.

Digitized by Google 9 4. But who shall break it ? The Master of the house is present ; do ye recognise the Lord in the breaking of bread. What other is there who is capable of doing this ? As for me, I am by no means so rash as to arrogate the task to myself. If you look to me, yet do so as looking for nothing from me. For I myself am one of those who await their meat from God ; I entreat with you, for the food of my soul, the sustenance of my spirit Truly poor and needy as I am, I knock at the door of Him who openeth and no man shutteth (Rev. iii. 7), to obtain a knowledge of the deep mystery which lies hidden in this book. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, O Lord. Thy little children seek bread, and there is no one to break it for them. From Thy goodness we hope for that blessing. O most merciful One, break Thy bread to the hungering souls that are before Thee : by my hands, if Thou shalt see fit, but by the strength of Thy grace. 5. Make known to us, we entreat, by whom, and of whom this verse is said, and to whom it applies (Cant. i. 1). Why is it so abruptly spoken that it seems to plunge the hearer suddenly into the mid-action of a drama ? The speaker breaks forth suddenly, as if someone had spoken before, and as if a second character in the dialogue were then introduced, whosoever it may be, who makes this impassioned request.

Then again, why is this unusual manner of speech made use of? But assuredly the very novelty and abruptness of this manner of beginning is not otherwise than very pleasing. Thus is it with the Holy Scripture ; it has an attractive countenance, which wins upon us at once, and carries us on to the reading of it, in such wise that, however laborious it may be to investigate the hidden mystery which it enfolds, that labour becomes pleasure, and however great the difficulty of the inquiry, it does not weary, inasmuch as the sweetness of the discourse recompenses and charms the inquirer. Who is there whom that commencing without commencement, that novel mode of speaking in a book so old, would not render attentive ? From this it appears that this work is not due to human powers, but was thus composed by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit ; so that, however difficult it might be to understand, the searching out of its meaning might be a delightful task. 6. But are we to pass over the title in silence ? By no means. We ought not to neglect the least iota, remembering that our Lord gave command that the fragments should be gathered together, that nothing might be lost (John vi. 12). The title is thus worded: * Here begins the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. ' Observe first that the name of Solomon, that is, the Peaceful,1 well becomes the beginning of this book, which commences by the sign of peace ; and remark at the same time also that only the peaceful are invited to the consideration of this scripture, that is to say, those who have tranquil and peaceful souls, delivered from the agitation of evil passions, and the tumult of earthly cares.

Digitized by Google IO 7. Do not suppose either that it is without significance that the title of this scripture is not simply ' a song/ but ' the Song of Songs.' I have read many songs or canticles in Scripture, and I do not remember one on which such a title as this was set. Israel sang to the Lord a song of praise, because they had escaped both from the sword and the slavery of Pharaoh, because they had been at once wonderfully delivered, and avenged, as by a twofold miracle, at the Red Sea. But yet their song was not styled ' Song of Songs. ' The Scripture says, if I remember rightly, 'Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord* (Exod. xv. 1). Deborah, too ; Judith, and the mother of Samuel, each gave utterance to a song.

Not a few of the Prophets also raised their voices in song ; but we do not read that any of all these called his canticle 'the Song of Songs.' You will find, I believe, that each and all of these sang to celebrate some advantage conferred upon themselves or their people ; for example, because they had gained a battle, escaped from some peril, obtained some wished-for benefit, or object of that kind.

They uttered their songs, then, each for some object more or less private, that they might not be found ungrateful for the Divine benefits, as it is written : ' When Thou hast blessed him he will praise Thee ' (Ps. xlix. 18, Vulg.). But this King Solomon, who was endowed with admirable wisdom, exalted glory, overflowing wealth, and enjoyed profound peace, is known to have needed nothing, the attainment of which would have given him occasion to lift up his voice in this song of praise. There is no statement of Scripture anywhere which seems to suggest any such reason. 8. It was, then, by inspiration from above that he sang the praises of Christ and His Church, the grace of holy love, and the mysteries of everduring marriage ; and at the same time gave expression to the yearning aspirations of the holy soul. Thus he has composed a nuptial song or epithalamium, rejoicing in spirit, and in an ornamental and figurative style. Doubtless he veiled his face, as it were, after the example of Moses (Exod. iii. 6), which was perhaps not less resplendent [in the glory of its meaning] as also because in that day there were few, or none, who were capable of sustaining that glory if fully revealed. Therefore I conclude that this nuptial anthem is named ' Song of Songs ' for its surpassing excellence, just as He who is above all is for that reason called alone ' King of Kings and Lord of Lords' (1 Tim. vi. 15). 9. If you consult your own experience,1 after the victory which your faith has gained over the world, and at your coming forth from the abyss of misery and filthy bog, have not you also sung a new song unto the Lord, because He hath done wonderful things? Again, when He has set your feet upon a rock, and ordered your goings, I at each advance ;' which seems to be an error. (Or is there a reference to the ' Psalms of Degrees V)— Ed.

Digitized by Google think that then also in like manner, in thankfulness for the renewal of your life, a new song was put into your lips, even a thankfulness unto our God. And when, after your repentance for sin, He has not only put away your offences, but has even promised you rewards also, has not that joy with which you were inspired by the hope of future blessings made you to 1 sing in the ways of the Lord, that great is the glory of the Lord 1 ? Again, when some one of you who had found some passage of Scripture to be hitherto obscure and impenetrable has gained a certain degree of light upon it, then, without doubt, in thankfulness for the nourishment of heavenly bread which he has received, he should delight the Divine ear with the voice of gladness and the sound of one that feasts. Finally, in the struggles and combats of every day, which are at no time wanting to those who live piously in Christ, whether it be with the flesh, the world, or the devil, so that the life of man upon the earth is a continual warfare, as you experience incessantly in your own selves, it is needful day by day to raise new songs of thanksgiving for the victories

which you gain. As often as temptation is overcome, vicious inclination restrained, imminent danger escaped, a snare of the tempter discovered, or some ancient and inveterate fault of the soul healed perfectly and once for all, or as often as some special favour long desired and frequently besought from God is at length obtained from Him, ought we not so often, according to the prophet's saying, to make the voice of joy and praise resound, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody (Is. li. 3), and at each of His benefits let God be praised in His gifts ? Otherwise, he shall be counted as ungrateful in the day of judgment who is not able to say unto God : Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage (Ps. cxix. 54). 10. I imagine that you have yourselves already noticed that in the psalter we have psalms called not ' Songs of Songs,' but songs or psalms 'of degrees ' (Pss. cxx.-cxxxiv.) * because in the measure that you make progress in the spiritual life, according to the steps upward that each makes in his heart, he ought to render songs to the praise and glory of Him who is the inspirer of them all. I do not see how in any other manner that verse could

be accomplished : The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the dwellings of the righteous (Ps. cxviii. 15), or that beautiful and salutary exhortation of the Apostle : Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord (Eph. v. 19). 11. But there is a canticle which, by its excellence and incomparable sweetness, rightly surpasses those which I have mentioned and all others, if there be any, and this I may call ' the Song of Songs/ seeing that it is itself the fruit of all others. That canticle the anointing of grace alone teaches, and experience only makes the soul to be familiar with it. Those who have had experience of it know it well ; let those who have not had that happiness earnestly desire, not to know it, but to experience it. It is not a cry from the Digitized by Google mouth, but the gladness of the heart ; not the sounding of the lips, but the impulse and emotion of joys within ; not a concert of words, but of wills moving in harmony. It is not heard without, nor does it make a sound in public. Only she who sings, and He in whose honour it is sung, that is the Bridegroom

and the Bride, hear the accents of that song. It is a nuptial song, which is expressive of the chaste and sweet emotions of souls, the entire conformity of character, the blending of affections in mutual charity. 12. But for the rest, this song is not to be sung or to be understood by a soul which is as yet a neophyte in the infancy of its virtue, and but newly turned from the world. It belongs to the advanced and instructed soul, which, by the progress in grace made by it through the power of God, has grown as far as to reach a perfect age, and, as it were, to have become marriageable (remember that I speak not of years, but of virtues), and fit for the nuptials with its heavenly spouse, such as will be more fully described in its place. But the hour is passing, at which both our poverty and the precept of our rule call us forth to the labour of our hands. To-morrow we will continue in the name of God what we had entered upon with respect to the opening verse, since the sermon of to-day has furnished the explication of the title.

OF THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST, WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED BY THE PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, AND ARDENTLY EXPECTED BY THEM. * Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.1 — Cant. i. I. THINK very often of the deep earnestness and ardour with which the ancient Fathers desired the presence of Christ in the Flesh, and I am touched with a feeling of extreme grief and shame in myself, I am scarcely able even now to restrain my tears, so much am I ashamed of the coldness and insensibility of the unhappy times in which we live. Who is there among us that feels joy as great at the actual showing forth of this wonder of grace, as the desire and longing wherewith the ancient saints were fired at the promise only of so great a thing ? How many there are who will rejoice at that Festival of His Birth, which we are soon about to celebrate ! But would that their rejoicings were, not on account of vain things, but really on account of His Birth ! This verse seems, then, to me to breathe the ardent desire and pious impatience of those great men.

Digitized by Google 13 The little band of those who then were animated by the Holy Spirit felt in advance how great would be the grace which would be diffused upon those Divine Lips. Therefore it was that speaking in the ardour of that desire, wherewith their heart was fired, they said these words, passionately wishing not to be deprived of happiness so great. 2. For each of these saintly souls would, as it were, say : To what end do these wordy1 utterances from the mouths of the prophets come to me? Let Him rather who is fair beyond the sons of men, let Him come to me with the touch of His Lips. Not now do I listen to Moses : he has become slow of speech to me, and of a slow tongue (Exod. iv. 10). The lips of Isaiah are impure (Is. vi. 5).

Jeremiah knows not how to speak, for he is a child (Jer. i. 6) ; yea, all the prophets are speechless. Let Him of whom they bear witness, let Him speak Himself to me. Let Him speak to me no longer in them or by their means, for their words are as a darkening cloud in the air of heaven ; but let Him whose presence is full of grace, whose teaching shall become in me a fountain of water springing up into eternal life (John iv. 14), let Him come to me with the touch of His Lips. Shall not He whom the Father hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 8), pour upon me from His fulness a more abounding grace, if He shall indeed deign to do this ? He it is whose speech, living and powerful, is to me as a kiss, and that not the mere meeting of the lips, which ofttimes is but a deceptive sign of peace in the heart, but rather the imparting of joys, the revealing of things hidden, and a certain wonderful, intimate, and wholly ineffable mingling of the heavenly light which enlightens the soul, and the soul which is illuminated by it For he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17). Rightly, then, do I receive neither visions nor dreams ; I turn away from parables and metaphors ; even angelic glories themselves I hold in disdain. For even these Jesus, who is mine, by His fairness and His attractiveness to my soul, far surpasses.

Of no other, then, whether angel nor man, but of Him alone do I make his entreaty. Yet I have not the presumption to require to be kissed with His mouth. That is the unique privilege and incommunicable felicity of the Man whom the Word has assumed to Himself in the incarnation. My petition is more humble : and this is a privilege common to all who are able to say, Of His fulness have we all received (John i. 16). 3. Observe : It is the Word becoming Incarnate, who is the Mouth who gives the kiss. It is the Human Nature which is assumed which receives it. The kiss, which is perfected equally by Him who gives and Him who receives it, is that Person constituted of each nature, the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ the corresponding Greek is used only this once in the New Testament. — Ed. Digitized by Google Jesus. On this account none of the saints presume to say, * Let Him kiss me with His mouth/ but only ' With the kiss of His mouth.' They reverently respected the sole prerogative of that [Nature] on which the adorable Mouth of the Word was impressed once for all, when the Fulness of the Godhead was united corporeally with it.

Happy the sign, wonderful and stupendous the condescension, in which, not lip is pressed to lip, but God is united to Man. There, indeed, the pressure of the lip does signify the union of souls, but here a union of Natures joins that which is Divine and that which is Human, and reconciles those things which are on earth and those in heaven. For He is our Peace, who hath made both one (Eph. ii. 14). It was, then, for this that every saint of the old time longed, because they felt the assurance beforehand that upon Him joy and gladness were abundantly poured, and in Him were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3) ; and they earnestly desired to have part with Him and in His fulness. 4. I feel that what has been said meets with your assent ; but listen to still another sense of the words. It was not hidden from holy souls, even before the coming of the Saviour, that God was meditating designs of peace towards the race of mortals (Jer. xxix. 11).

Nor did He speak as regarding the earth without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets (Amos iii. 7). Yet this saying was hid from many (Luke xviii. 34), for in that time faith was rare upon the earth, and hope faint among most of those who waited for the redemption of Israel. But those who had foreknowledge, predicted that Christ should come in the Flesh, and that with Him should come peace. Thus one of them says : Peace shall be in our land when He shall have come (Micah v. 5). Nay, more, they confidently predicted what they had learned from above, that men through Him should recover the favour [gratiam] of God. And this John, the Forerunner of the Lord, recognized to have been fulfilled in his time, and declared : Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John i. 17), an assertion of the truth of which the whole Christian people has experience at this day. 5. But though they foretold peace, yet, as the Author of peace delayed to come, the faith of the people was weak and tottering, there being none to redeem or to save. That brought men to complain of the delay, because the Prince of Peace, so oft announced, had not yet come, as He had for so many ages

promised by the mouth of His holy prophets ; and holding these promises, as it were, in suspicion, they eagerly demanded the sign of the reconciliation, that is to say, the Incarnation. As if one of the people should reply to the messengers of peace, * How long do you hold our minds in suspense ? You have long been foretelling peace, and it does not come ; you promise every kind of good, yet behold trouble and misery. Behold, how many times and in what divers manners have angels announced this very thing to our fathers, and our fathers have handed it down to us, crying Peace, peace, yet there is no peace (Jer. vi. 14). If God desires Digitized by Google that I should be convinced of the determination of His good pleasure, which He so frequently promised by His messengers, but does not as yet make manifest, let Him come to me with the touch of His Lips, and the sign of peace shall be for me an assured pledge of peace. How can I put my trust any longer in words ? It is instead needful to strengthen words by action. Let God approve His messengers, if, indeed, they be His, as men of truth, and let Him follow them Himself, as they have so often

promised ; for without Him they can do nothing (John xv. 5). He has sent a servant, and by the servant His staff; but there is neither voice nor breath thereby (2 Kings iv. 29-31). I rise not, I am not lifted up nor brought out of the dust, I do not breathe the free air of hope, unless the Prophet Himself shall come down, unless He shall come to me with the sign of peace. 6. It is farther to be added, that He who declares Himself our Mediator before God, is the Son of God, is Himself God (1 Tim. ii. 5).

And what is man that He takes knowledge of him, or the son of man, that He has consideration for him ? What ground of confidence have I, that I should dare to trust myself to majesty so great ? Wherefore, I repeat, should I, who am but dust and ashes, presume to think that God would take care for me ? Between Him and His Father is indeed love ; but He has no need of me, nor of my goods. How, then, shall it be made clear to me that He who is my Mediator is impartial ?

Yet if God has truly determined, as you say, to have mercy upon me, and still meditates greater acts of favour on my behalf, let Him establish a covenant of peace, let Him make a perpetual alliance with me by this sign. In order that the words which proceed out of His Lips be not made of no avail, let Him empty Himself, let Him humble Himself, let Him stoop from His high heaven, and kiss me with the kiss of His Mouth. Let the Son of God, if He will be a Mediator acceptable to both parties, and suspected by neither, become Man, become Son of Man, and establish my trust on a sure ground by this. With assured confidence shall I take the Son of God as Mediator when I perceive that He is also a son of my own human race. I can no longer retain any suspicion of Him, since He is my brother and my flesh. For I hope that He will then not be able to despise me, when He is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. 7. It was thus, then, that the ancient plaint of humanity earnestly begged for that Kiss sacrosanct, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word; while faith failed, being exhausted with long

and weary expectation, and the unbelieving people, abandoning itself to discouragement, murmured against the promises of God. This is not an invention of mine ; you will find it for yourselves in the Scriptures. Thence arise those sayings mingled with complaint and blame : Precept upon precept^ line upon line, here a little and there a little (Is. xxviii. 10). Thence those prayers also, coming from hearts anxious and troubled, yet loyal : Recompense^ O Lord, them that wait Digitized by Google + i6 for Thee, and let Thy prophets be found faithful and true. And again, Accomplish, O Lord, the predictions of Thy ancient prophets.1 From thence also those promises so sweet and full of consolation : The Lord shall appear, and shall not lie : if He tarry, wait for Him ; for He shall surely come, He shall not tarry (Habak. ii. 3). And again : His time is near to come, and His days shall not be prolonged (Is. xiii. 22). And again, in the person of Him who is promised : Behold I will extend peace to her as a river, and the glory of the nations as a flowing stream (Is. lxvi. 12). In which words are sufficiently apparent both the persevering constancy of the preachers, and the distrust of the peoples. Thus it

was that the mass of men murmured, that faith was tottering, and that, according to the foreboding of Isaiah, The angels of peace themselves wept bitterly (Is. xxxiii. 7). Therefore that the whole human race, while Christ so long delayed His coming, might not perish from mere despair, suspecting its feeble and helpless mortality to be contemned and scorned, and distrusting its reconciliation with God by grace, so often promised ; the saints, who had been kept firm in faith by the Spirit which animated them, desired earnestly the confirmation of their faith by His presence in the flesh, and urged eagerly, on account of those who were weak and incredulous, the sign of peace to be regained. 8. O Root of Jesse, who standest for an ensign of the peoples, how many prophets and kings have desired to see Thee, yet have not seen ! Surely of all the most happy was Simeon, whose old age was rich in mercy ! He rejoiced that he saw the sign so greatly desired : he saw it, and was glad: and having received the kiss of peace, departed in peace ; yet not before he had declared that Jesus was born, to be a sign ; but a sign which should be spoken against (Luke ii. 25-35). And thus indeed it

was. Opposition arose to the sign of peace, from the time that k appeared; but from those who hate peace. For it was peace to men of good will; but to the evil disposed a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (Rom. ix. 33).

Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matt. ii. 3), so it was that the Ix>rd came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John i. n). Happy were those shepherds in their watch by night, who were deemed worthy to behold that sign in a vision. Even then He was hiding Himself from the wise and prudent, and revealing Himself unto babes. Even Herod wished to behold Him, but he was not found worthy, for his motive was not pure. For this was the sign of peace, and was given only to men of good will ; but to Herod, and to those like him shall be given only the sign of Jonas the prophet (Luke xi. 29). To the shepherds, on the contrary, the angel said, 4 This shall be a sign unto you,9 you who are humble, who are obedient, who do not exercise yourselves in high things ; you and the LXX. agrees, tclq irpoftireiac. Ecclus. xxxvl 17, 18.— Ed.

Digitized by Google 17 who are watchful, who meditate day and night in the law of the Lord, to you, He says, this shall be the sign. What sign? The sign which the angels promised, which the peoples asked for, which the prophets had predicted, this sign the Lord has now brought to pass, and shows it to you ; so that in it the unbelieving may obtain faith, those who are fearful hope, and they who are perfect entire security. This then, he says, shall be to you a sign. Of what is it the sign ? Of pardon, of grace, of peace ; and of that peace which has no end.

This is the sign : Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Yet in Him is God reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Cor. v. 19). He shall die for your sins, and rise again for your justification ; so that being justified by faith, you may have peace with God (Rom. v. 1). This sign of peace a prophet formerly proposed to King Ahaz, that he should ask it of the Lord his God, either in the heaven above, or in the depth beneath. But the impious king refused (Is. vii. 11, 12), not believing, unhappy man that he was, that in this sign the highest and the lowest should be joined in fellowship and peace : inasmuch as the dwellers in the very depths of the grave should receive the sign of peace, when the Lord descending thither, should salute them with this holy kiss ; and the celestial spirits also should share in it, and that with joy everlasting when He should return to heaven. 9. This sermon must be brought to a close. But to sum up in a few words what has been treated of in it. It appears that this holy kiss was necessarily accorded to the world for two reasons : that it might produce faith in the weak, and satisfy the longing desire for it in the perfect, since by this kiss is meant no other than the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

WHAT IT IS TO KISS THE FEET, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF ' Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.1 — Cant. i. 1.

WE shall read to-day in the book of experience. Turn your minds inward upon yourselves, and let each of you examine his own conscience in regard to those things which are to be mentioned. I desire to make examination, whether to any of you it has been given to speak out of the deep desire of his heart, these words of the text which we are to consider. Not to all men does it belong to take these words upon their lips with sincere desire ; he alone is able to do so, who has received even once only, the spiritual kiss 2 Digitized by Google from the lips of Christ ; him his own experience incessantly urges to obtain a renewal of that which he found so full of sweetness. It is my strong opinion that no one can comprehend what it is, save he who has experienced it ; it is, as it were, a hidden manna ; and he who tastes of it, still hungers for it again. It is a fountain sealed, from which no stranger may draw ; but he who drinks of it still thirsts to drink again. Listen to one who had experienced that which he again asks for: Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation (Ps. li. 13).

Let not a soul then which is laden with sin, and still subject to the passions of the flesh, which has not yet tasted the delights of the Holy Spirit, which is wholly ignorant of, and inexperienced in, inward joys ; in short, a soul like mine, make the least pretension to such a degree of grace. 2. Nevertheless, to such a one I will point out the position in regard to this saving grace which is befitting to him. Let him not have the rashness to lift himself so high as to the lips of the Divine Bridegroom, but let him, with holy fear, lie with me at the Feet of that Lord so severe ; let him, like the publican, tremble nor dare to lift up his eyes unto heaven (Luke xviii. 1 3), for fear lest his eyes, accustomed only to earthly gloom, should be dazzled by the light of heaven, should be blinded by its glory ; and, being stricken by the unaccustomed splendour of that majesty, should be whelmed anew in a still deeper darkness. It is not for thee, O sinful soul, whosoever thou art, to regard that place and posture, in which the woman that had been a sinner and became a saint, laid down her sins and put on the garment of holiness, as being vile or contemptible. There the Ethiopian changed her skin, and, being restored to a new whiteness, was enabled to respond with as much confidence as truth to those who reproached her: Daughters of Jerusalem, tlwugh black, I am comely (Cant. i. 4). If you wonder how she was enabled to do this, or by what merits she obtained it, I will answer in a few words.

She wept bitterly ; she drew long sighs of remorse from the depths of her soul ; her frame was convulsed with salutary sobs, and thus the deeply-seated poison was cast forth. The heavenly Physician came promptly to help ; for His Word runneth very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15). Is not the Word of God a medicine? It is so in truth, and a medicine strong and powerful, trying the very heart and reins (Ps. vii. 10). For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any Hvo edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. iv. 12). According to the example of this happy penitent, do thou also, O unhappy soul, prostrate thyself that thou mayst cease to be unhappy ; prostrate thyself even to the earth, embrace His Feet, appease them with kisses, bedew them with thy tears ; yet not that thou mayest wash them, but thyself ; and that thou mayest become one of that flock of sheep newly shorn, which come up from the laver of cleansing (Cant. iv. 2).

And do not have the boldness to lift up your countenance suffused Digitized by Google with tears of shame and grief, until you hear, you also, the words of absolution, Thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke vii. 36-48) ; until you hear, Arise, arise, O captive daughter of Zion ; shake thyself from the dust (Is. lii. 2). 3. Having then imprinted this first kiss upon the Feet, do not presume immediately to lift up thyself to the kiss of His Lips, but let the kiss of His Hand be for thee a gradation or second step by which to reach the higher blessedness. Take notice of the reason for this. If Jesus shall have said to me, Thy sins are forgiven thee ; what shall even this avail me if I do not cease to commit sin ? If I have put off my tunic, and then put it on again, what doth it profit ?

Or if I wash my feet and then defile them anew, will it avail anything that they were once washed ? Long have I lain in the filthy mire, wallowing in every kind of vice ; but if, after escaping therefrom, I shall unhappily fall back into it, my state will undoubtedly be worse than it was at first. For I remember how He who healed me spake to me thus : Behold, thou art made whole : sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee (John v. 14). What is needed, then, is that He who gave me a goodwill to repent for the past, should also add to this another gift of grace, whereby I may abstain from sin for the future, so that I may not again commit crime upon crime, and my last state be worse than the first Woe to me if He, without whom I can do nothing, shall suddenly withdraw His supporting Hand from me, even in the midst of my penitence ! Nothing, I repeat, am I capable of doing without Him ; neither to repent of the past, nor to keep myself from fresh sin. I bear in mind the counsel which the Wise Man gives : * Do not make a vain repetition in thy prayer ' (Ecclus. vii. 14). And I tremble at the decree which the Judge has it in mind to pronounce against the tree which bringeth not forth good fruit (Matt. iii. 10) ; I confess that on this account I shall not be wholly content with the former grace, by which I am enabled to be repentant for my former sins, unless I shall have received a second to make me bring forth fruits worthy of penitence, and thenceforth not to return to my former pollution. 4. This, then, remains for me to ask and to receive before I presume to approach the higher and more sacred degrees of blessedness.

I do not desire to reach the highest point suddenly, but to proceed towards it by gradual steps. For inasmuch as the shamelessness of a sinner is displeasing to God, in the same degree is the modesty of a penitent pleasing to Him. Thou mayst the sooner please Him, if thou shalt observe a becoming measure in thy desires, nor seek for thyself the higher degrees of privilege. From the foot to the lips the ascent is long and difficult, and it would be wanting even in reverence to pass from one straight to the other. What ! shalt thou, still marked with recent dust-stains, touch those sacred Lips? and having been but yesterday drawn out of the mire, aspire to-day to the glory of His Countenance ? For thee there must be a mid-stage of preparation ; and that is by His Hand ; it shall first cleanse thee from thy stains, Digitized by Google 20 and then it shall lift thee up. But how shall it raise thee up ? By bestowing upon thee that which shall be aground for aspiring higher : the grace of continence, the fruits worthy of penitence, which are works of piety. These shall lift thee from the dunghill, and infuse into thee the hope of higher things. In receiving this gift, then assuredly thou shouldest kiss the Lord's Hand — that is, give the glory to Him, not to thyself. Give it to Him once, and yet again : the first time because of His pardon to your sins ; the second, because of the virtues He has bestowed. For otherwise, what reply have you to make to such reproaches as these : What hast thou that thou hast not received? Now if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory, as though thou hadst not received it? (i Cor. iv. 7). 5. After you have, then, made in those two kisses, a double proof of the Divine condescension, perhaps you may be so bold as to enter upon the endeavour to reach still higher and more sacred things.

For in proportion as you grow in grace, your confidence also will augment, you will love more fervently, and knock at the door with more assurance of success, to seek that in which you feel you are wanting : for to him who knocks it shall be opened. And to you, when in such a disposition of mind and soul, I believe there will not be refused that kiss, the loftiest and most sacred of all, which contains in itself at once a supreme condescension and a sweetness ineffable. This is the way, and this the order, which must be followed.

In the first place, we fall at the feet of the Lord, and lament before Him who has made us, the faults and sins which we ourselves have committed. In the second, we seek His helping Hand to lift us up, and to strengthen our feeble knees that we may stand upright. In the third, when we have, with many prayers and tears, obtained these two former graces, then at length -we perhaps venture to lift our eyes to that Countenance full of glory and majesty, for the purpose not only to adore, but (I say it with fear and trembling) to kiss, because the spirit before us is Christ the Lord, to whom, being united in a holy kiss, we are by His marvellous condescension made to be one spirit with Him. 6. Rightly, O Lord Jesus, yea, rightly has my heart declared to Thee: My face hath sought Thee: Thy face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvi . 8 ). Thou hast made me to hear Thy mercy in the morning when I lay prone in the dust, and kissing the prints of Thy sacred steps, Thou didst pardon the evil of my former life. Then, as the day of my life went on, Thou hast rejoiced the soul of Thy servant ; since, by the kiss of Thy Hand, Thou hast accorded unto me the grace to live well. And now what remains, O good Lord, unless that in deigning to admit me, in the fulness of Thy Light, in the fervour of my spirit, to the kiss of Thy Divine Lips, Thou shouldest fulfil me with the joy of Thy Countenance? Teach me, O most dear and tranquil One, teach me where Thou dost dwell, and at noonday dost repose. Brethren, it is good for us to be here ; but lo ! the evil of the day calls us away. They, indeed, who just now announced Digitized by Google 21 an arrival of guests, oblige me to break off, rather than conclude, a subject so agreeable. I go, then, to the care of these guests, lest anything be wanting in the discharge of those duties of charity of which we speak, and lest we should hear those words spoken of us : They say, and do not (Matt, xxiii. 3). Do ye in the meantime pray that God will make the free will offerings of my mouth acceptable unto Him, that they may be to your edification, and to the honour and glory of His Name.

OF THE THREEFOLD PROGRESS OF THE SOUL, ARISING FROM THE KISS OF THE FOOT, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF THE LORD. ' Let Him kiss me with tlie kisses of His mouth.' — Cant i. I. HE sermon of yesterday was occupied in describing the threefold progress of the soul, under the name of three kisses.

That, I dare say, is still in your remembrance. In the discussion of to-day I propose to continue the same subject in so far as God in His goodness shall deign to assist my poor powers. I said, if you remember, that those were given severally to the Feet, to the Hand, and to the Lips of Christ our Saviour. In the first are dedicated the first fruits of our conversion ; the second shall be accorded to those who are making progress in holiness ; but the third is rarely experienced, and by those only who are perfect. From this alone, which is placed last, it is that the Scripture which we have undertaken to expound takes its point of departure, and for that reason I have joined the other two to it. Whether that was needful you will judge ; but I think that the very nature of the subject suggested, and indeed required, that course. And I think that you will observe also this, that the Bride desired to indicate a distinction when she said, using a phrase very unusual, * of His Mouth? Why, when it would have sufficed simply to make her request, should she have added expressly and precisely beyond the usual phrase and manner of speaking, words which show that the grace for which she asked was not the only one, but was the highest ? When the Evangelist relates how the false Apostle betrayed our Lord with a kiss, he says, 4 And he kissed Him ' (Mark xiv. 45) ; nor does he add ' with his mouth/ or ' of his mouth.' It is thus that everyone expresses himself either in writing or speech. There are, then, three states or modes of souls sufficiently well-known at least to those who have experienced them, when, as far as is possible in these weak bodies of ours, they are enabled to take knowledge either of the pardon which they have received for their evil actions, or the grace which has enabled them to do good ones ; or lastly, of the very presence of Him who is their patron and benefactor.

Digitized by Google 22 2. Let me repeat to you more plainly why I have spoken of the first and the second of these under this name. We all know that a kiss is a sign of peace. Now if, as the Scripture declares, our iniquities separate between us and our God (Is. lix. 2), let that be taken away which interposes between us, and then there is peace. When, then, we make satisfaction so that we are reconciled with God by the taking away of the sin which separates us, what else can I call the pardon which we receive except a kiss of peace ? Now, that kiss cannot be imprinted elsewhere than upon the Feet ; for the satisfaction, which is the remedy for a transgression of the law of God, which arose from pride, ought to be humble and shame-faced. 3. But when we are endowed with fuller grace, and in a manner, so to speak, more familiar, and so are enabled to lead a life purer and more worthy of God, we begin to lift up our heads from the dust with greater confidence, in order to kiss, as is usual, the hand of our benefactor, provided that we seek, not our own glory, but that of our Creator, in the good things we have

received, and provided also that we ascribe His gifts to Him, and not to ourselves. For otherwise, if instead of glorying in the Lord you glory in yourself, you are plainly shown to be kissing, as it were, your own hand, not the Hand of God ; and this, according to the saying of the blessed Job, is a very great iniquity, and the denial of God who is above (Job xxxi. 28). If, then, following the testimony of Scripture, to seek one's own glory is, as it were, to kiss one's own hand, it follows that he who gives glory to God is said, not unfitly, to kiss the Hand of God. We see that it is thus even among men, that slaves are accustomed to kiss the feet of their offended lords when they are asking pardon of them for their faults ; and those who are poor kiss the hands of the rich when they have received assistance from them. 4. But as God is a Spirit, a pure Substance, not distinguished into parts or members, there will be, perhaps, someone who cannot at all accept what I have said of Him ; but will demand of me that I should show to him the Hands and the Feet of God, and so justify what I have

said upon the kiss of the hand or foot. But if I, in my turn, shall become a questioner, what will he reply to me with regard to the mention in Scripture of * the kiss of His Mouth '? For these [parts of a body] either exist together, or if the one is wanting, the others are wanting also. We say, then, that God has a Mouth, wherewith * He teaches man knowledge ' ; and a Hand, wherewith * He giveth food to all flesh ' ; and Feet, for which ' the earth is His footstool/ and at which the sinners of the earth ' fall down low upon their knees.' All these, then, God has ; but in making that assertion, we reason, as it were, from effects, for it is not by His Nature that He has these. A confession, full of penitence and shame, finds in God that at which [the sinner] may fall down and humble himself, an ardent devotion finds a source of refreshment and renewal, and a joyful contemplation an object of safe repose in its ecstasies. He who governs all things is all things to all His creatures ; yet, to speak with accuracy, He is not Digitized by Google 23 any of all these things. If we consider Him

as He is in Himself, He dwelleth in the Light that no man can approach unto (1 Tim. vi. 16), His * peace passeth all understanding' (Phil. iv. 7), His wisdom is infinite (Ps. cxlvii. 5), there is no end of His greatness (Ps. cxlv. 3), and no man can see Him and live (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Not that He is far from everyone of us, for He is the Principle of Being (Esse) of all things that exist, and without Him they would fall back into nothingness ; but yet, to make a statement still more wonderful, though nothing is more certainly present than He, nothing is more incomprehensible.

For what can be more surely present to everything than its own Principle of Being ? Yet what can be more incomprehensible to each individual than the Principle of Being of all things ? But when I say that God is the Principle of Being to all things, it is not that they are the same being as He ; but it is that all things proceed from Him, subsist by Him, and are in Him (Rom. xi. 36). He, then, that has created all things is the Principle of Being to all things created ; but with regard to Cause and Principle, not with regard to substance. In such a manner it is that the Divine Majesty condescends to all His creatures. He is assuredly the Principle of Being to them all — He is life to all that live ; and, furthermore, He is Light to them who have the use of reason, Virtue to them who use their reason rightly, and, finally, He is Glory to them who triumph [in the probation of this life]. 5. Finally, in the creation of all these things, in governing them, administering them, in giving them motion and growth, in renewing and in strengthening them, He has no need of any bodily instruments, since He created all things, both bodies and spirits, by His mere word.

Souls have need of bodies and of bodily senses, by which they become known the one to the other, and are enabled to act the one upon the other. But it is not thus with the Almighty God ; for from the volition of His Will alone follows promptly the effect He bids, whether it be in the creation of things, or in the ordering of them according as He shall please. What He wills He carries into effect, and to the fullest extent of His good pleasure ; nor in performing it has He any need to employ bodily organs. What ! do you suppose that to have relation with those things which He has Himself created He requires the assistance of bodily senses ? Of all things that exist, nothing hides itself or escapes from His light, which is everywhere present ; nor has He any need, in order to take knowledge of anything, to make use of the ministry of any sense. Not only does He have knowledge of all things without Himself having body, but also without body He makes Himself known to those who are of pure heart. I am repeating the same truth in different words that you may understand it the better ; but as the little time remaining is insufficient for finishing the subject, it will perhaps be better to defer its farther consideration until the morrow. Digiti zed by G00gle 24

OF THE FOUR ORDERS OF SPIRITS—NAMELY, THE SPIRIT OF GOD, OUR orders of spirits are known to you — that of the animals, our own, the angelic, and His who created all these. To each of these a body is necessary, either for its own sake or for the sake of others, or for both of these reasons, excepting only that One to whom every creature, whether corporeal or spiritual, justly bears witness and says : Thou art my God : my goods are nothing unto Thee (Ps. xvi. 2).

As to the first order, that of animals, it is plain that it has such need of a body that it cannot in any wise exist without one ; for when the creature dies, that [class of] spirit ceases at once both to be the source of vivifying power, and itself to live. But we live on after the body dies ; still, there is no access open to us, except through the body, to those things whereby we live in happiness. He had perceived this who said : The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by those things which are made (Rom. i. 20). For, indeed, those things which are made — that is, corporeal and visible things — unless they be perceived by the instrumentality of the body, do not come to our knowledge at all. The spiritual creature, therefore, which we are, must necessarily have a body, without which, indeed, it can by no means obtain that knowledge which is the only means of attaining to those things, to know which constitutes blessedness. If anyone object to me the case of little children who have been made regenerate [in Baptism], that should they go forth from the body without knowledge of things corporeal, they are believed to pass, nevertheless, into a life of blessedness,

I reply, briefly, that it is grace, not nature, which confers this upon them. And what have I, now that I am discoursing of things in the course of nature, to do with a miracle of God ? 2. Again, that heavenly spirits have need of bodies is proved by that true and plainly Divine declaration : Are they not ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation ? (Heb. i. 14). But how can they without bodies fulfil their ministry, especially towards those who are living in bodies ? Then, again, it is a property of bodies only to move about, and to pass from one place to another, a thing which angels are shown to do by well known and undoubted authority. Hence it is that they were seen by the patriarchs, that they entered in unto them and ate with them, and washed their feet Thus spirits both of the higher and the lower order require bodies of their own, but for this reason only, that they may render assistance, not that they may receive it. 3. But the lower animals, though under an obligation by their creation to perform service, are able to help only in matters of a temporal and corporeal kind, and therefore the spirit which is Digitized

by Google irt an animal passes away with time and dies with the body. He which is but a servant does, indeed, abide not in the house for ever (John viii. 35), although those who use him will apply all the profit of his temporal servitude to the gaining of things eternal. But the angel performs these duties of benevolence with an entire freedom of spirit, showing himself to men, as to his future fellow citizens and coheirs of heavenly blessedness, a prompt and ready minister of good things to come. Both orders, then, without doubt, need bodies, that they may render service ; the one [the animal I that he may serve us from obligation, the other [the angel] that he may assist us from benevolence. As for themselves, I do not see what advantage they derive from bodies, at least, with regard to eternity. The irrational spirit participates in the knowledge of things temporal by means of its body, nevertheless its body never assists it to such a point that, by the corporeal and sensible objects with which it is thus brought into connection, it should be led onwards to the knowledge of things spiritual and intelligible. Yet, as we know, it helps, by its service of body and, in time, to the attainment of such things, those

who, using this world as though they used it not, transfer every use of temporal things to the profit of things eternal. 4. Moreover, the heavenly spirit, without any help from the body, or perception of those things which are felt by means of the body, is able to apprehend the highest things, and to penetrate the most secret, by its native force and the kinship of its nature to them. Was not this the Apostle's meaning when, having said, ' The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made,' he added forthwith, ' by the creature of the world ' ?l Surely because it is not so with the creature of heaven. For what the spirit clothed in flesh and a sojourner upon earth strives laboriously, by slow degrees and by little and little, to attain from the consideration of things presented to his senses, that the dweller in the heavens can most swiftly and easily reach by his natural [ingenita] fineness and loftiness of perception, without help from bodily senses or from any limb or organ, nor yet as instructed by the contemplation of any material thing. Why should such a spirit search among corporeal things for spiritual meanings and spiritual truths which he reads in the Book of Life without

contradiction, and understands without difficulty ? Why should he labour in the sweat of his face to thrash grain, to press wine from grapes and oil from olives, who has enough and to spare of all ready to his hand ? Who would beg his food at the houses of others that has abundance of bread in his own? Who would dig a well and seek for veins of water in the meaning of the Greek diro kt'kswq koo^iov. But St. Bernard was led to it by the ambiguous rendering of the Vulgate, ' a creaturd mundi. 9 St. Anselm has much the same idea about this passage, though he supposes the creatura mundi to be man : 1 Hominemrqui dominus est, participium, nodus, et vinculum omnis creatura.

Digitized by Google 26 bowels of the earth if a living spring of limpid waters gushed up for him spontaneously ? Neither the brutish spirit nor the angelic, therefore, are assisted in any wise by their bodies in the requirement of those things which render a spiritual being blessed ; the former because it is unequal by the dulness of its nature even to the compre hension of them, the latter because it so excels in glory and power that it has no need of such help. 5. Now, the spirit of man holds a certain middle place between the highest and the lowest, and it is plain that a body is necessary to it for each of these two purposes, so that without one it can neither help others nor be helped itself. For, to say nothing of the other members of the body and their offices, how, I ask, could you either instruct a hearer if you had not a tongue, or if yourself without ears could you comprehend the words of an instructor ? 6. Since, then, without the assistance of a body neither the brutish spirit can perform the duties of its servile condition, nor the angelic and heavenly spirit can discharge its ministry of kindness, nor, again, can the rational soul be of service to

his neighbour, nor, indeed, to himself, in regard to his salvation, it is plain that every created spirit has need of a body, whether simply to help others, or at once to help and to be helped. What if there are some animals which, as far as use is concerned, are unprofitable and altogether unadapted to the supplying of human necessities ? They are good to look at, if not to use ; and are of more advantage to the hearts of those who behold them, than to the bodies of those who make use of them. Thougrr they appear to be injurious, and even dangerous to human safety in this world, still their bodies are not without that which works together for good to those who, according to the Divine purpose, are called to be saints. And although they be not beneficial by affording us good, or by rendering to us service, they are so, assuredly, by affording a subject on which to exercise the intellect, according to that helpful system of mental and spiritual training which is common to all who have the gift of reason, and by which ' the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made* For both the devil and his satellites, whose intention is always malignant,

are ever desirous to do injury ; but God forbid that they should succeed against those who are aiming at good, of whom it is said : WIw is lie that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? (1 Peter iii. 13); yea, rather, they are of service to them, though against their will, and work together for good to those who are good. 7. On the other hand, whether the bodies of angels be natural to them, as those of men are to them ; and whether they are animal bodies, as [those of] men are, though immortal, which men are not yet ; whether, also, they change those bodies, and give to them such form and figure as they choose, when they desire to become visible ; rendering them as dense and solid as they will, although they are in reality subtle and impalpable, and imperceptible to our sight, because of the fineness and purity of their nature and substance ; or whether, Digitized by Google 27 again, remaining in their simple spiritual substance, they put on bodily forms when they require them, and when their need of them is over suffer them to dissolve again into the same material out of which they were taken : these are points upon which I

am unwilling to reply.1 The Fathers appear to have held diverse opinions respecting them.

I do not see any clear reason for teaching the one or the other, and confess that I do not know. I do not think, moreover, that a knowledge of these things will assist you much in your spiritual progress. 8. Know only this one fact, that no created spirit can by itself reach unto our minds — that is, supposing it to have no assistance from either our body or its own. No spirit can so mix with or be poured into us that we should become by the participation of it either learned or more learned, either good or better. No angel, no soul, is capable of possessing itself of me in such a manner ; nor am I capable of possessing any other. Nor have the angels themselves any such power with regard to each other [i.e., without bodily organs]. This prerogative is reserved for the supreme Spirit, who is not limited by time or space, and who alone, when He imparts knowledge either to angel or man, does not need that we should have ears to hear, or that He should have a mouth to speak. By His own inherent power He pervades our souls ; by His own inherent power He is made manifest ; and being Himself a pure Spirit, He is apprehended by the pure. He alone has no need of any person or thing ; He alone is sufficient, both to Himself and to all, by His Almighty Power alone.2 . 1 St. Bernard propounds the same doubt in ' De Consideratione,' Bk. v., c. 5.

Among the Fathers and chief Doctors of the Church there was great difference of opinion upon this point : some affirming that Angels are incorporeal (bodiless) ; others, and not a few, denying this, so that the Master of the Sentences, Bk. ii., distinct. 8, has not ventured to define anything in face of this variety of opinions. I see that St. Augustine has spoken doubtfully upon this matter, but yet rather inclines to the view that Angels have bodies. For as he had been imbued with the Platonic teaching, he elsewhere mentions the opinion of the Platonists respecting the bodies of Angels in such a way as that he appears to agree with it (' De Civitate Dei,' Bk. viii., c. 14-16). And in other passages he frequently calls Angels living beings, and assigns bodies to them. In 'Enchiridion' (a 59) he says that the question as to the bodies of Angels is a very difficult one. There is not space to point out other passages ; Estius has noted a great many in Sentences, Bk. ii., distinct. 8.

At the present time it appears certain, and the opinion is approved by all, that Angels are incorporeal ; that is to say, have not bodies united to them by their nature. (See St. Thomas, ' Summa,' part i., q. 50, art. I ; and q. 51, art. I and 2.) Whether this is a part of the faith or no is a question on which all are not agreed. (See Estius, loco citato.) Sixtus of Sienna ('Biblioth. Sanct.,' Bk. v., annot. 8), commends St. Bernard's modesty in confessing ignorance and not hazarding an opinion on this question. cv. 12) : 'An Angel is influential by the good thoughts which he suggests in us, not by the good which he works in us ; he exhorts us to good, but does not create it in us. God is in us in such a way that He affects our soul expressly, that He pours into it His gifts, or rather is Himself poured into our soul, and causes us to have union and participation with and in Him, in so much that a certain one has not feared to say that He is one Spirit with our spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17). An Angel, then, is with the soul, God is in the soul ; the former dwells with it under the same roof, but God is with it as its life. ' Digitized by Google 28 9. Yet He works effects unbounded and unnumbered by the creatures corporeal or spiritual which are subject to Him ; but as commanding them, not as entreating their aid. For example, He has at this moment employed my tongue to do His work, that is, to instruct you ; whereas He could undoubtedly have done it far more easily and sweetly. But this is through His indulgence, not through His indigence. In your spiritual progress He desires not a relief for Himself but the acquiring of merit by me. This every man who is doing any good needs to know, lest he should glory in himself, and not in the Lord, with regard to the good works of the Lord. There are those who do good without intending it, as an evil man or an evil angel.

And in this case it is certain that the good which is done by his means is not done on His account, seeing that no good done can be of advantage to an unwilling doer of it. It is then only a dispensation which is entrusted to him. But (I know not how or why) we feel the good done by an evil minister to be more grateful and pleasant ; and that is the reason why God sometimes does good to the just by the means of evil men, not that He needs their assistance in doing good. 10. As for those creatures which have neither reason nor sense, who can doubt that God has still less need of them ? But when even they concur in the performance of some good work, then it appears how all things serve Him who can justly say, The world is Mine, and the fulness thereof (Ps. 1. 12). Assuredly, seeing that He knows the means best adapted to ends, He does not in the service of His creatures which are in bodies seek efficacy, but suitability. Suppose, then, that the ministry of such creatures is generally made use of in carrying on the various works of Divine Providence — as, for example, in the showers falling to vivify the seeds, or to increase the crops, or to ripen the fruits — what need of a body, I ask, has He to whom all bodies whatever, whether heavenly or earthly, are known to yield instant obedience ? Clearly He, who finds no body alien to Himself, would find a body of His own superfluous. But if I tried to include in the present discourse all that occurs to me to be said upon this subject1 it would exceed its proper limits, and perhaps would overtax the strength of some of you, therefore I reserve for another occasion what remains unsaid on this. and Free Will (c. xiii., n. 44, 45). Digitized by Google 29

OF THE SUPREME AND INFINITE SPIRIT, WHO IS GOD ; AND OF THE SENSE IN WHICH MERCY AND JUDGMENT ARE CALLED THE FEET OF GOD.

IN order that this sermon may be continuous with that which went before it, let me remind you of what was last said, that the Supreme and Infinite Spirit, and He alone, has no need of the help of any body or of the agency of any bodily organ to do whatever He wills to do. We have, then, no difficulty in saying that as God alone is truly immortal, so He alone is truly incorporeal, because He alone, of all spirits, is so raised above the entire nature of a body, and transcends it to such a degree, that He has no need of its ministry in any of His works, but when it so pleases Him, acts by the sole Fiat of His Will, and thus performs whatever is His good pleasure. It is that Divine Majesty alone, therefore, which has no need of any bodily organization, neither on its own account nor for the sake of others, because to Its omnipotent bidding obedience is swiftly rendered; every high thing bends before it, every obstacle yields, every created thing submits, and this without the intervention or help of any creature, corporeal or spiritual. He teaches or He warns without a tongue ; He gives or withholds without the use of hands ; without feet He runs, and comes

to the succour of those who perish. 2. Thus He was wont to do with our fathers in former ages. Men felt a continual stream of benefits, but they did not know who was their Benefactor. By His strength He did indeed order all things from the height even unto the depth ; but as He at this same time disposed them sweetly and gently, His action, though perpetual, was unfelt by men. In the good gifts of the Lord they rejoiced, but the Lord of Sabaoth was unknown to them, because all His judgments were calm and tranquil. From Him were men, but they were not with Him ; by Him they lived, but not for Him ; it was from Him that they had any wisdom, but they did not use it to gain the knowledge of Him ; they were insensate, ungrateful, and altogether alienated from Him. Thus at length it came about that they no longer attributed their being, their life, their reason, to their Creator, but to nature, or even (which was still more utterly unreasonable) to chance ; while there were many who attributed not a few of the good things which came to them to their own labour and skill. How great praise these seducing spirits thus arrogated to themselves ! How much

was given to the sun and moon ! how much attributed to earth and to water ! Even things which the hand of man had made, plants, shrubs, and the commonest of seeds, were honoured as divinities. 3. Alas! it is thus that men have degraded the object of their worship, and changed their glory into the similitude of a calf that Digitized by Google 3o eateth hay (Ps. cvi. 20). And God had pity upon their errors ; He deigned to come forth from the clouds and darkness of His holy mountain, and to set His tabernacle in the light of the sun ( Ps. xviii. 6). To those who knew only the flesh, He offered His Flesh, in order to teach them by it to know also the Spirit. For whilst He was in the Flesh, He made use of the Flesh indeed, but to do by it, not the works of the flesh, but the works of God ; commanding nature, fixing and rendering certain the uncertainty of chance, rendering the wisdom of men foolishness, and breaking down the tyranny of the demons, and thus plainly manifested that it was He by whom the same wonders were worked in earlier ages also.

He did, 1 repeat, in the flesh and by means of the flesh actions of power, plainly miraculous ; He spake words of salvation, He endured cruel indignities ; and yet He showed evidently that it was He who had created the world by His power, sovereign, though invisible ; who ruled it by His wisdom, and protected it in His love and mercy.

Lastly, when He preached the Gospel to those ungrateful ones, when He gave signs and wonders to those who were unbelieving, when He prayed even for those who crucified Him, did He not clearly declare Himself to be that High and Lofty One, who, with His Father, makes His sun to shine daily upon the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust ? (Matt. v. 45). As He Himself said \ If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not (John x. 37). 4. Behold Him ! He who in a deep adorable silence imparts eternal wisdom to the angels in heaven, He in the Flesh opens His Mouth and teaches His disciples upon the mount. See how the leper is healed at the mere touch of His Hands, how blindness is dispersed, hearing restored, the silent tongue set free, the disciple about to be whelmed in the deep caught by the hand and saved : and can you fail to recognise that great Being to whom David had said long before : Thou openest Thine Band and satisfiest the desire of every living thing (Ps. cxlv. 16) ; and again, Thou openest Thine Hand and they all are filled with good (Ps. civ. 28). See how the woman

that was a sinner, now a penitent and upon her knees at His Feet, hears Him say : Thy sins are forgiven (Luke vii. 48), and recognises Him of whom she may have read what had been written many ages before : The devil shall go forth from before His Feet (Hab. iii. 5, Vulg.). For where sin is remitted, there without doubt, the devil is driven forth from the heart of the sinner. Therefore it is that He speaks in general terms of all true penitents : Now is the judgment of this world ; now shall the frince of this world be cast out (John xii. 31), because God forgives sins to him who humbly confesses them ; and thus the devil loses the dominion which he had usurped in the sinner's heart. 5. Lastly, He walks with the Feet of His Flesh upon the waves (Matt. xiv. 25); He of whom the Psalmist had sung before as yet He was incarnate : Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great Digitized by Google waters (Ps. lxxvii. 19). That is to say, Thou shalt tread under foot the swelling hearts of the proud, and repress the disordered desires of carnal men ; shalt render the ungodly righteous, and lower the pride of the arrogant.

Yet because He does this invisibly, the carnal man does not recognize whose Hand it is that brings it to pass.

Wherefore also it is that the Psalmist adds : And Thy Footsteps are not known. Hence also the Almighty Father saith to the Son : Sit Thou at My Right Hand until 1 make Thine enemies Thy footstool (Ps. ex. 1), that is, Until I shall render all those who despise Thee subject to Thy will, whether unwillingly and to their destruction, or gladly and to their happiness. Now, since the flesh was not capable of comprehending this, which is a work of the Spirit (for the natural man receive th not the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. ii. 14), it was needful that the sinner should prostrate herself in the body, kneeling upon mortal knees, and with mortal lips imprinting a kiss upon the Feet of the Redeemer, and thus receive the pardon of her sins.

Thus is this change which the Right Hand of the Most High hath wrought (Ps. lxxvii. 10), by which He marvellously, yet invisibly, justifies the unrighteous, made apparent even to carnal men. 6. But I must not omit to refer to those spiritual Feet of God which it behoves the penitent, first of all, in a spiritual and mystical sense, to kiss. I know the inquiring temper of your minds, which will not, with its own goodwill, pass over the least detail without thorough examination. Nor is it a matter to be neglected as of . small importance to know what is meant by the Feet of God so frequently referred to in Scripture. At one time He is represented as standing, as in this : We will worship in the place where His Feet have stood (Ps. exxxii. 7) ; at another as walking, as in the verse: I will dwell in them and walk in them (Lev. xxvi. 12, and 2 Cor. vi. 16) ; at another even as running, as here : He rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race (Ps. xix. 5). If it seemed right to the Apostle to speak of the Head of Christ as the Deity (i Cor. xi. 3), then I think that we may not unfitly speak of His

Feet as the Humanity, and call the one mercy, the other judgment These two words are well known to you, and if you reflect, many passages of Scripture will occur to you in which they are each so employed. That God has taken the Foot of mercy in assuming the Flesh which He united with Himself, is taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews, whence we learn that Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, though without sin, that He might be compassionate and merciful (Heb. iv. 1 5). And as for that other, which has been named the foot of judgment, does not He who is God and Man plainly signify that it belongs to Himself as Incarnate, where He declares that the Father hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man f (John v. 27). 7. With these two Feet, then, fitly conjoined under the one Divine Head, it was that the invisible Emmanuel was born of a woman, made under the Law, was seen upon earth, and had converse among men (Baruch iii. 37). It is, again, on these two Feet that He passes Digitized by Google 32 to and fro even now, but spiritually and invisibly, benefiting and healing all those who are oppressed by the

devil. On these, I repeat, He traverses the souls of those vowed to His service, enlightening and penetrating constantly the hearts and reins of the faithful. These are, it may be, the legs of the Bridegroom which are so strikingly commended by the Bride in a later passage of this book, where she likens them, if I do not mistake, to pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold (Cant. v. 15). And this is very beautifully phrased, for it is in the Incarnate wisdom of God, which is represented as gold, that mercy and truth have met together (Ps. lxxxv. 10), and elsewhere it is said that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth (Ps. xxv. 10). 8. Happy is the soul1 in which the Lord Jesus has once set these His Feet ! There are two signs by which you may recognise the soul in which this is the case, and such a soul bears of necessity the prints of those Divine footsteps. These are fear and hope : the one bearing the print of judgment, the other of mercy. With reason it is that God takeih pleasure in them that fear Himy in them that hope in His mercy (Ps. cxlvii. 11); since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

(Prov. i. 7) ; hope, the progress in it ; and charity its consummation and perfectness. And since that is the case, the benefit (functus) is of no small value which is derived from that first kiss2 which is imprinted upon the Feet of Christ, provided only that neither the one nor the other of them be neglected. For if you are deeply touched with grief for your sins and with fear of God's judgment, then you have pressed your lips upon the footprints of truth and of judgment If you temper that fear and that grief by a consideration of the Divine goodness, and by a hope of obtaining pardon, then you may know that you are embracing the foot of mercy. But to embrace the one without the other is not expedient, for the remembrance of judgment alone precipitates the soul into the abyss of despair, and a deceptive assurance of mercy wherewith a mind flatters itself, generates a most pernicious security. 9. It has been given even to me, a miserable sinner, sometimes to sit at the Feet of the Lord Jesus, and to embrace now the one, now the other, with a devotion as full and complete as His benignity deigned to enable me to feel. But if it ever happened that, being pressed by the

reproaches of conscience, I was forgetful of mercy, and attached myself too long to judgment, I was soon cast down by incredible fear and pitiable shame, and surrounded by the darkness of horror, so that trembling in the shadow, I could only cry : Who knoweth the power of Thine anger ; even according to Thy fear, so is Thy wrath (Ps. xc. 1 1 ). But if, on the other hand, leaving that, I had embraced the other, the foot of Mercy, more than was meet, I was dissolved in negligence and indifference so great that I speedily became less earnest in prayer, less prompt in action, more inconsiderate in speech, more given to idle laughter — in short, less Digitized by Google 33 steady and stable in every part of my nature, whether of the inward or outward man. Therefore, having learned from that best of teachers, experience, I no longer dwell upon judgment alone, any more than upon mercy alone ; but unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing of mercy and judgment (Ps. ci. i). Those two sources of righteousness for ever I will not forget ; they shall both equally be my songs in the house of my pilgrimage ; until mercy having been exalted high above judgment, my unhappy condition shall cease and come

to a full end, and the glory which shall be granted to me shall alone inspire my hymns of praise to Thee, without the least mingling of pain or grief, for ever.

OF THE ARDENT LOVE OF THE SOUL FOR GOD ; AND OF THE CARE I HAVE undertaken a new labour in inviting, of my own accord, your questioning. For, since on the first occasion I took pains to make clear to you, over and above indeed what was needed, the names and the meanings, spiritual and mystical, of the Feet of God, you are proceeding to inquire similarly what is the meaning of the Hand of God, which, as we said, was in the second place to be kissed Well, I consent ; I will meet your wishes — nay, I will do more than you have asked, for I will show you not one Hand only, but two, and each bearing its distinct name. I call the one Liberality, and the other Force ; because God gives liberally, and preserves powerfully that which He has given. Now, he who is not ungrateful will, in recognising and confessing that God, as He is the liberal Bestower of all good things, so He is their powerful Preserver, will, I say, kiss each of these. Enough, I think, has been said of these two ; let us go on now to speak of the third. 2. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth. Who is it speaks these words

? It is the Bride. Who is the Bride ? It is the Soul thirsting for God. But I first specify the dispositions of men in various relations to each other, so that those which belong properly to a bride may appear more clearly. If a man is a slave, he fears the face of his lord ; if he is a hireling, he looks for wages from his lord's hand ; if a disciple, he gives attention to his teacher ; if a son, he renders honour to his father ; but she who asks this is held by the bond of love to him from whom she asks it. Of all the sentiments of nature, this of love is the most excellent, especially when it is rendered back to Him who is the principle arid fountain of it — that is, God. Nor are there found any expressions equally sweet to signify the mutual affection between the Word of God and the soul 3 Digitized by Google 34 as those of Bridegroom and of Bride ; inasmuch as between individuals who stand in such a relation to each other, all things are in common, and they possess nothing separate or divided. They have one inheritance, one dwelling-place, one table; and they are, in fact, one flesh. On this

account it is that a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh (Gen. ii. 24). A woman also on her part is bidden to forget her own people and her father's house, that her husband may have pleasure in her beauty (Ps. xlv. 11, 12). If, then, mutual love is especially befitting to a bride and bridegroom, it is not unfitly that the name of Bride is given to a soul which loves.

It is a sign of her love that she makes this request. She asks neither for liberty, nor for wages, nor for an heritage, nor, finally, for knowledge, but only for this ; and she does this as a chaste and modest bride, who does not deny or dissimulate the sacred affection which she feels. Notice how abruptly she breaks into her discourse.

She has a great favour to ask of one who is great, yet she does not have recourse, as is too often the case, to caresses or flatteries ; she does not wind her way to her request by gradual approaches. She employs no preface, nor makes any attempt to win goodwill or favour ; but her request bursts forth openly and abruptly out of the abundance of her heart, and, even, as it were, with a sort of effrontery. 3. Does it not appear to you that she wished to say : Whom have I in heaven but T/iee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee (Ps. lxxiii. 25) ? Without doubt the love is chaste which seeks the object of its love alone, without care for anything he may possess. And that love is sacred which dwells not in fleshly concupiscence, but in purity of the spirit. That love is ardent which is so absorbed and, as it were, inebriated with its own affection that it loses all thought of the greatness of its object. What ! He looketh upon the earth, and it trembleth (Ps. civ. 32), and from Him she presumes to ask this ? Is she inebriated ? Undoubtedly it is so with her ; and perhaps, when she burst forth thus passionately, she had come forth from the banqueting-house, into which, at a later time, she gloried so greatly to have been led (Cant. i. 3, and ii. 4). For this is what David also said of certain saints in addressing the Holy One : They shall be inebriated with the fatness of Thy House : and Thou shall make them to drink of the rushing river of Thy pleasures (Ps. xxxvi. 8).

Oh, how great is the power of love ! how perfect the confidence which is felt under the influence of the Spirit of liberty. How abundantly manifest it is that perfect love casteth out fear (1 John iv. 18) ! 4. It is, nevertheless, from a feeling of modesty and timidity that she directs her address, not to the Bridegroom Himself, but to others, as if He were not present. It is, indeed, a great thing that is asked, and there is every need that the petition should be accompanied with modesty, and that the petitioner should be recommended. That is wherefore she seeks, through the friends of her Digitized by Google 35 well-beloved and the dwellers in His house, to commend herself to Him. But who are these friends ? I believe that they are the holy angels who are present with human beings who pray, and offer to God their prayers and vows, since they are known to li.t up pure hands unto heaven without anger or variance. This is shown by the angel of Tobias, who said to Tobit : When thou didst fray, I did bring t/ie remembrance of thy prayers before the Holy One : and when thou didst bury the dead, I was with thee likewise (Tobit xii. 12, 15). I think you are

sufficiently persuaded of that truth from other testimonies of the Scriptures also. Furthermore, that the angels deign to be present, and to associate themselves with the praises of those who sing Psalms, is shown with great plainness by the Psalmist : * The chiefs (principes) went before, and with them were joined the players upon stringed instruments : in the midst were the maidens who played the timbrel' (Ps. lxviii. 25, Vulg.). Wherefore he says also : ' In the presence of the angels will I sing praise unto Thee ' (Ps. cxxxviii. 1, Vulg ). On this account, I greatly regret that some of you are weighed down by heavy sleep during the sacred vigils. Such persons do not pay due reverence to the citizens of heaven, but, in the presence of the * chiefs/ appear as men dead ; whereas they are, on the other hand, touched by your vigilance when you are awake, and delight to assist at your solemn services. I fear lest, revolted by your sloth, they will some time or other withdraw with indignation,1 and that then each of you should begin thus late to say to God with a lamentable voice : Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me : Thou hast made me an abomination unto them ; and again

: Lover and friend hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness (Ps. lxxxviii. 8, 18) ; and again : My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and they that seek after my life lay snares for me (Ps. xxxviii. 11, 12). For if the good spirits thus depart from us, who will be able to sustain the attacks of evil spirits ? I say, then, to those who are in the habit of thus giving way to sleep : Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently (Jer. xlviii. 10, Vulg.). To them also saith, not I, but the Lord : / would thou wert cold or hot : so then, because thou art lukewarm, L will spew thee out of My Mouth (Apoc. iii. 15, 16). When, then, you are engaged (stalls) in prayer, or the chanting of the Psalms, have some thought of your chiefs ; perform that in which you are occupied with reverence and according to the Rule, and you may glory in the thought \hdXyour angels always vations upon this passage : * Divines are in the habit of referring to words of St. Bernard in Sermon VII. in Cantic. to show that guardian Angels do sometimes abandon the charge of those of whom they

have been given the care.' Albertus Magnus, in the first volume of his * Summa,' quaes. 1-8, expounding this passage, says : ' Men are deserted by their Angel guardians, not as regards place or local guardianship, but only as regards power and efficacy ; but this is not because of any sloth on the part of the Angel, but is the fault of the man.' The Sajnt was accustomed to say in a similar manner, that a sinner departs from God [and abides in] a region of unlikeness to Him, by distance not of place, but of merit !

Digitized by Google 36 behold the Face of the Father (Matt, xviii. 10). They are, in fact, sent to perform their ministry for our benefit, who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. i. 14) ; they bear to heaven our devotion, and bring back grace to us from thence. Let us take part in the functions of those with whom we are to be sharers in glory, that as in the mouth of babes and sucklings praise may be perfected (Ps. viii. 2). To them let us say: Sing praises unto our God, sing praises ; and let us hear their answering response : Sing praises, sing praises unto our King (Ps. xlvii. 6). 5. Associate yourselves, then, with the sweet singers of heaven to chant in common the praises of God, since you are yourselves felloivcitizens of the saints, and of the household of God ; and Sing praises with understanding (Ps. xlvii. 7). As food is sweet in the mouth, so are Psalms in the heart. Only let the soul that is faithful and prudent grind them, as it were, between the teeth of his intelligence, for fear lest if they be swallowed in great fragments, and not masticated, the palate be defrauded of their sweetness, which is above honey and the honeycomb. Let us offer a honeycomb, as did the Apostles at the banquet of heaven, at the Table of the Lord (Luke xxiv. 42). Honey in the comb — that is, spiritual devotion in the letter of Scripture.

The letter, says an Apostle elsewhere, killeth if it be swallowed down without the seasoning of the Spirit (2 Cor. iii. 6). If, then, with the Apostle, thou wilt sing with the Spirit, sing with the understanding also (1 Cor. xiv. 15), and then you, too, shall know the truth of that saying of Jesus : The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John vi. 63) ; and also of that which we read as from the mouth of wisdom : My Spirit is sweeter than honey (Ecclus. xxiv. 20, Vulg.). 6. Thus thy soul shall delight itself in fatness ; thy burnt offering shall be fat and perfect. Thus thou wilt placate the King ; thus thou wilt give pleasure to the chiefs of the heavenly hosts, and render all the dwellers above favourable to thee. At the sweet odours of thy devotion, they shall say of thee : Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, and with all powders of the merchant ? (Cant iii. 6). Replies the Psalmist : The princes ofjuda are their leaders, the princes of Zabulon and the princes of Naphthali (Ps. lxviii. 27) — that is, the princes of those who praise God, who observe continence, and who love contemplation.

For our princes know well that the praises of those who sing Psalms, the firmness of those who observe continence, and the purity of those who delight in contemplation, are accepted by their King ; and they have it much at heart to require from us the firstfruits of the Spirit, which are no other than the first and purest fruits of wisdom. For you know, brethren, that, in Hebrew, Juda signifies 'praising' or 'confessing/ Zabulon 'a settled or strong dwelling/ and Naphthali 'a hind let loose' (Gen. xlix. 21) ; for its leaps and bounds well typify the ecstasies of the speculative mind, and it is able to thread the closest thickets of forests, as those [of that disposition can penetrate] the greatest difficulties of meaning. We know, also, who Digitized by Google 37 it was that said : Whoso offereth the sacrifice of praise shall honour Me (Ps.l. 23). 7. But since 'praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner* (Ecclus. xv. 9), have you not extreme need of the virtue of continence, so that sin may not reign in your mortal body ? But continence has no merit before God when it seeks glory from man.

Wherefore there is especial need of a pure intention, so that the mind craves to please God only, and is able to attach itself simply to Him.

For to cleave to God is nothing else than to behold God ; and this is a singular felicity, and it is bestowed upon those only who are of a pure heart (Matt. v. 8). David had this pure heart, for he said to God, My soul has attached itself closely to Thee (Ps. lxiii. 8) ; and also, // is good for me to draw near to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28). In beholding God he was drawn near to Him ; and in drawing near to God he beheld Him. When, therefore, souls are in the continual exercise of these lofty virtues, the heavenly messengers converse frequently and familiarly with them, especially if they shall have perceived them to be frequent in prayer. Who shall accord unto me, O kindly chiefs of the heavenly hosts, the privilege of making known my requests before God by your means ? I do not say to God, for to Him the thoughts of man lie open, but before, and in the presence of, God ; that is to say, to those who are with God, the archangels {virtutibus\ and those blessed ones who are delivered from the burden of the flesh. Who shall raise out of the dust, and free from the dunghill, a being as poor and as helpless as I am, that I may have a place among the princes, and sit upon a throne of glory? I do not doubt that they receive with joy and affection in the palace him whom they have deigned to visit in a filthy hovel. After all, how can they, after having rejoiced in the conversion of a sinner, fail to acknowledge him in his exaltation ? 8. That is why I think that it is to them, who are the attendants and the companions of the Bridegroom, that the Bride communicates her prayer, and makes known the desire of her heart, in these words.

And see with what familiarity and confidence the soul, sighing under the burden of the flesh, converses with the heavenly powers. She desires earnestly the affection of her Spouse; she asks for that which she desires; but she does not name Him whom she loves, inasmuch as she does not doubt of their knowledge, because she converses with them frequently of Him ; just as Mary Magdalene does not mention by name Him whom she sought, but said to Him whom she thought was the gardener, Sir, if thou have borne Him hence (John xx. 15). Of whom does she say Him ? It is not stated, because she believes that everyone knows Who it is that is not 'for one moment absent from her heart. So it is with the Bride'. Speaking with the companions of her Spouse, as to her confidants, to whom she is aware that every thought of her heart is known, she does not mention the name of her Beloved, but bursts forth in these words.

What is meant by this kiss I will not keep you longer to explain ; Digitized by Google 38 but you shall hear in the sermon of to-morrow what (in response to your prayers) shall be suggested to me by the goodness of Him who teacheth all things. For flesh and blood does not reveal this secret, but only He who searcheth the deep things of God ; that is, the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth from the Father and Son, with whom He liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

THAT THE KISS OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT ; AND THAT THE CHURCH ASKS FOR THIS KISS THAT SHE MAY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF O-DAY, in discharge of the promise made yesterday, I propose to consider the third and highest of these sacred A mysteries. Listen very attentively to this hallowed secret, which is indeed of consummate sweetness, but which is rarely experienced, and is comprehended with difficulty. It seems to me (to go a little farther back still) that He who saith, No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27), has here designated a certain kiss ineffable and unknown to any created being. For the Father loves the Son, and embraces Him with a love which is unlike every other — the Supreme embracing His Equal, the Eternal His Co-eternal, the One Being His Sole One. But He is united to the Son by an affection not less, proceeding from the Son, as He Himself attests when He says, That the world may knoiu that I love the Father, arise, let us go hence (John xiv. 31) ; that is, without doubt, to His Passion. Now, this cognition of mutual love between Him who Begets and Him who is Begotten, what is it but a kiss, as deeply mysterious as it is sweet ? 2. I hold it for a thing certain that even the angelic creation is not admitted to the knowledge of that arcanum of Divine Love, which is at once so august and so sacred. And, in fact, St. Paul, knowing this, speaks of that peace which passeth all understanding (Phil. iv. 7), even that of angels. On this account even the Bride, although she may be so bold as to ask much, does not dare to ask for this, which is reserved for the Father only ; her request is a lesser one. Behold the newly-made Bride receiving a new proof of the affection of her Bridegroom ; yet not that mentioned above. He breathed on them, says St. John, speaking of Jesus breathing upon His Apostles, that is, the primitive Church ; and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (John xx. 22). That was, without doubt, a kiss which He gave to them. What ? that physical breath ? Nay, but the invisible Spirit, who was thus communicated by the breathing of the Lord, so

Digitized by Google 39 that by this very action it might be understood that He proceeds from the Son equally as from the Father. It is sufficient for the Bride if she receive the gift of grace from her Bridegroom, though it be not that highest grace of all. Let no one suppose that this is a small favour, or of little value ; for this signifies nothing else than to receive the inpouring of the Holy Spirit. For if the Father is rightly understood as bestowing the kiss, and the Son as receiving it, we shall not err in understanding by the kiss the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as He is the peace unalterable, the bond indissoluble, the indivisible love, the inviolable unity, between the Father and the Son. 3. It is, therefore, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, that the Bride has the boldness to ask trustingly, under this name or figure, that the inpouring of the Holy Spirit may be granted to her. She does indeed hold, as it were, a pledge, which deprives her request of any shadow of presumption. I mean the declaration of the Son, when He said: No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son ; and then added, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27). But the Bride has no doubt that if He wills to grant this knowledge to any, it will be to her. Therefore, she prays boldly that this may be given to her \ that is, that Holy Spirit, in whom both the Son is revealed, and the Father. For the One is not made known without the Other ; according to that saying : He that hath seen Me, hath seen My Father also (John xiv. 9). Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledged the Son hath the Father also (1 John ii. 23), from which it appears plainly that neither is the Father known without the Son, nor the Son without the Father.

And it follows from this that he who said : This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (John xvii. 3), placed the highest blessedness in the knowledge, not of either Divine Person, but of Each. Finally, we read that those who follow the Lamb have His Name, and the Name of His Father, written in their foreheads ;l that is to say, that their knowledge of Each Divine Person is a glory to them. 4. But someone perhaps says : The knowledge of the Holy Spirit, then, is not necessary, since, when it>is declared that life eternal consists in knowing both the Father arid the Son, no mention is made of the Holy Spirit. That is true; but how can anyone who knows perfectly the Father and the Son be ignorant of the Goodness of the One and of the Other ? And this Goodness is the Holy Spirit. For a man does not wholly know another man, as long as he is ignorant, whether the will of that other is good or evil. And we may add to this, that when it is said : This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, have this reading; but others, which are followed by the English A.V., omit * His Name and.' The R.V. restores the words, and there can be little doubt that it does so rightly.— Ed.

Digitized by Google 4Q the only true God, and Jesus Christy tvhom TJwu hast sent ; if mention be made of that mission as showing the goodness and benignity of the Father in deigning to send the Son, and that of the Son in willingly obeying, that proves that the speaker is not wholly silent respecting the Holy Ghost, since the goodness and grace of the Father and the Son are referred to, and Their Love and Goodness is the Holy Ghost. 5. When, therefore, the Bride is praying that this gift may be conferred upon her, her entreaty is for the inpouring of the grace of this threefold knowledge, as far as it can be experienced in this mortal body. But it is the Son of whom she entreats it, since it is the function of the Son to reveal it to whom He will. The Son reveals Himself then to whom He will, and He reveals also the Father. This revealing is doubtless made by the Holy Ghost ; for such is the sense of the words spoken by the Apostle : For God hath revealed [them] unto us by His Spirit (1 Cor. ii. 10). But in giving the Spirit by whom He reveals this knowledge, He reveals also the Spirit Himself; in giving He reveals Him, and in revealing gives. Now, that revelation which is made by the Holy Ghost not only enlightens [the soul] to knowledge, but also enkindles it to love, as St. Paul says : The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. v. 5). And therefore also perhaps it is not said of those who, when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, that their knowledge was an effect of the revealing of the Spirit, because when they had knowledge of God, they did not love Him (Rom. i. 21).

It is true that you have : God hath showed it unto them (i. 1 9) ; but it is not added : ' By His Spirit/ lest those impious minds who were contented with the knowledge which puffeth up, and cared not for that which edifieth, should arrogate to themselves the having received the kiss which belongs to the Bride. Finally, the Apostle states by what means they had this knowledge : The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made (1. 20), whence it appears that they have not perfectly known Him for whom they had no love. For if they had known Him completely, they could not have overlooked that goodness which impelled Him to be born in the Flesh, and to die for our redemption. Listen, then, and learn what it was that had been revealed to them of God : His Eternal Power and Godhead (Ibid.). You see that, exalting themselves in the presumption of their own spirit, and not under the influence of the Spirit of God, they wished to peer into those things which were great and sublime in God, and have failed to discern that God [Incarnate] was meek and lowly of heart. Nor is this wonderful, for we read that Behemoth, who is their head, scorns to cast his eye upon what is humble and low ; but beholdeth all high things (Job xli. 34). Whereas, on the contrary, David did not exercise himself in great matters, nor in things too high for him (Ps. cxxxi. 1), lest the searcher out of glory should be overwhelmed with glory (Prov. xxv. 27, Vulg.).

Digitized by Google 6. And do you also, brethren, that you may conduct yourselves with prudence while searching out Divine mysteries, bear in mind the warning of the wise man : Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength (Ecclus. iii. 21). Walk among those exalted subjects in the Spirit, and not in thy own judgment. The teaching of the Holy Spirit does not sharpen curiosity, but kindles charity. Rightly thus does the Bride, when seeking Him whom her soul loveth, not trust herself to the judgment of the flesh, nor follow the futile reasonings of human curiosity, but, as here, prays for this Gift, that is, she invokes the Holy Spirit, so that through Him she may receive at once the love for knowledge, and the seasoning of grace to accompany it. Well is it said that the knowledge thus given is accompanied with love, since a kiss is the sign of love. But the knowledge which pufleth up, being without love, is not thus conveyed. Nor can they who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, arrogate this to themselves at all; but this gift conveys both the one and the other of these graces ; both the light of knowledge and the