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| Ave Maria. [JJ Tissot, Brooklyn Museum] |
*SERMONS OF ST. BERNARD ON ADVENT & CHRISTMAS
Compiled and translated at St. Mary s Convent, from the Edition (1508), in black-letter of St. Bernard s Sermons and Letters. R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., 2 & 4 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON MANCHESTER : 74 BRIDGE ST. GLASGOW : 248 BUCHANAN ST. BENZIGER BROS. \ NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO 1909
Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
Chaste and beautiful colloquies
“Woe is me,” says the Prophet [1], “because I have held my peace, because I am a man of unclean lips.”[2] I, too, will say “Woe is me,” not because I have held my peace, but because I have spoken, for I, too, “am a man of unclean lips.” How many vain, erroneous, and unbecoming words hath not this my vile mouth uttered, which now presumes to speak of the things of heaven! Would that there were brought to me from the altar above, not one “live coal”[3] only, but a great ball of fire to touch and cleanse my unworthy lips, and make me fit to repeat the chaste and beautiful colloquies between the angel and the Virgin.
[1] Isaias, the holy prophet, the great prophet, and faithful in the sight of God; 8th century BC. The name Isaias signifies "Yahweh is salvation".
[2] [5] And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts.
Et dixi : Vae mihi, quia tacui, quia vir pollutus labiis ego sum, et in medio populi polluta labia habentis ego habito, et regem Dominum exercituum vidi oculis meis.
[3] [6] And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.
Et volavit ad me unus de seraphim, et in manu ejus calculus, quem forcipe tulerat de altari,
[7] And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed.
et tetigit os meum, et dixit : Ecce tetigit hoc labia tua, et auferetur iniquitas tua, et peccatum tuum mundabitur. [Isaiah 6]
The Evangelist says: “And the angel being come in to her” (that is, to Mary), “said, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” [Luke 1, 28]
Where did the angel find Mary?
Where did he come in to her? I think into the secrecy of her virginal chamber, where perchance, having closed the door upon her, Mary was praying to her Father in secret.[1] And it was not difficult for the angel to penetrate through the closed door into the inner chamber of the Virgin. Neither bolts nor bars could oppose the subtlety of his nature, to which all solid substances yield, and which bears him whither the impetus of his spirit leads him.[2] We cannot suppose that he found her door unclosed, who so studiously avoided the company and conversation of men, lest her recollection should be disturbed or her virtue threatened. Closed, therefore, at that hour was the dwelling of that most prudent Virgin, but to men, not to angels. For the angels are wont to be near those who pray; they delight in beholding them raise their pure hands to heaven;[3] and with glad service they present to God the sacrifices of devotion which they offer in the odour of sweetness.[1] [6] But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
Tu autem cum oraveris, intra in cubiculum tuum, et clauso ostio, ora Patrem tuum in abscondito : et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi [Matt 6]
[2] [7] And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him: and a light shined in the room: and he striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands.
Et ecce angelus Domini astitit : et lumen refulsit in habitaculo : percussoque latere Petri, excitavit eum, dicens : Surge velociter. Et ceciderunt catenae de manibus ejus.
(...)
[10] And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them. And going out, they passed on through one street: and immediately the angel departed from him.
Transeuntes autem primam et secundam custodiam, venerunt ad portam ferream, quae ducit ad civitatem : quae ultro aperta est eis. Et exeuntes processerunt vicum unum : et continuo discessit angelus ab eo. [Acts 12]
[3] [10] See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Videte ne contemnatis unum ex his pusillis : dico enim vobis, quia angeli eorum in caelis semper vident faciem Patris mei, qui in caelis est. [Matt 18]
Full of grace
How pleasing to the Most High were the prayers of Mary is well shown by the reverence with which the angel saluted her. Being come in to her, he said: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”
In the Acts of the Apostles we read that Stephen was full of grace[1], and that the Apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost [2], but their measure of grace was far other than Mary’s. In her dwelt the fullness of the Godhead corporally.
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” What wonder that she was full of grace when the Lord was with her? Rather, is it not wonderful that He Who had sent the angel was already found by him with the Virgin? Had, then, God been swifter than the angel, and reached the earth before His messenger? Oh yes; for while the King was on His couch the spikenard of the Virgin gave forth its sweet perfume [3], and ascending into His glorious presence, found favour in His sight, while His ministers around exclaimed: “Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense.”[4] And straightway the King, going forth from His holy place, “rejoiced as a giant to run his way”;[5] and though His going out is from the height of heaven [6], yet through exceeding desire He hastened on His way, and anticipated His messenger with the Virgin, whom He had loved, whom He had chosen for Himself, whose beauty He had desired.
Beholding Him from afar, the Church exclaims exultingly: “Behold, He cometh leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills.”[7] Rightly had the King been desirous of the Virgin’s beauty, for she had long before attended to the words of her father David: “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and thy father’s house, and the king shall desire thy beauty.”[8]
She heard and saw, but not as those who, hearing, hear not, and seeing, do not understand. She heard and believed, she saw and understood. She inclined her ear to obedience and her heart to discipline, and forgot her people and her father’s house. She cared not to multiply her people by offspring. The honour that might have been hers among her people, and the wealth that might have accrued to her from her family, she counted as dross that she might gain Christ. Not even the wish to call Christ her Son could lead her to violate her promised virginity. Truly, then, is she full of grace who clung to the grace of virginity, and also obtained the glory of fecundity.
[1] [8] And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Stephanus autem plenus gratia et fortitudine, faciebat prodigia et signa magna in populo. [Acts 6]
[2] [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.
et repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto, et coeperunt loqui variis linguis, prout Spiritus Sanctus dabat eloqui illis. [Acts 2]
[3] [11] While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.
Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.[Cant of Cant 1]
[4] [6] Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?
Quae est ista quae ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhae, et thuris, et universi pulveris pigmentarii? [Canticle of Canticles 3]
[5] [6] He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way:
In sole posuit tabernaculum suum; et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam;
[6] [7] His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.
a summo caelo egressio ejus. Et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus; nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus.[Ps 18]
[7] [8] The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.
Vox dilecti mei; ecce iste venit, saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. [Cant of Cant 2]
[8] [11] Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father's house.
Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam; et obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui. [Ps 44]
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