Praises of the Virgin Mother by St Bernard : Homily III : §5-6/14

St Bernard, by Juan Correa de Vivar,
c. 1540-45. Museo del Prado.
(Public domain)

The following posts present the text of four homilies by St Bernard (1090-1153) frequently given the title of Missus est but which he himself called Praises of the Virgin Mother.

 

He was the first Cistercian monk to be placed on the calendar of saints and was canonized by Alexander III on the 18th January 1174. Pope Pius VIII bestowed on him the title of Doctor of the Church, “Doctor mellifluus,” on the 20th of August 1830. 

I offer this annotated presentation of St Bernard’s Homilies as a small gift to our gentle Queen and Mother in gratitude for her multitudinous graces and favours, requesting her continued help and protection for the author and his family.

The Latin text and references are based upon De laudibus Virginis Matris (Patrologia latina, vol. 183. J. P. Migne). The English text is based upon the version compiled and translated at St. Mary's Convent, York, and published by Washbourne in 1909.

Homily III : §5-6/14

 §5.   “Blessed art thou amongst women.” 

“Blessed art thou among women and blessed is 
the fruit of thy womb.” The Visitation, by Rogier
 van der Weyden (1436-40). Museum of Fine Arts,
Leipzig. Public domain.

These are the words of Elizabeth and it is worth adding what she said next: 

“Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”[1] 

It is not because you are blessed that the fruit of your womb is therefore blessed; it is because of His prevenient blessings of sweetness that you are blessed. 

Truly blessed is the fruit of your womb, in whom all nations are blessed and from whose fullness you too received[2], along with the rest, though in a different way than others. For this reason, therefore, blessed art thou,  but blessed “amongst women.” He is called blessed not amongst men, nor amongst angels, but “over all,” as the Apostle says[3]: 

“Christ . . . is over all things, God blessed for ever.”  

It is possible to speak of a man as blessed, bread as blessed, a woman as blessed, the earth as blessed – or anything else among created things as blessed; but the fruit of your womb is blessed in a unique way, since He is God, “over all things, God blessed for ever.”

 

Footnotes

[1] Luke i. 42.

[2] And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace: John i. 16.

[3] Rom. ix. 5.

 §6.   “Blessed,” therefore, “is the fruit of thy womb.” Blessed in fragrance, blessed in sweet savour and blessed in beauty. The fragrance of this odoriferous fruit was perceived by him who said[1]: 

“The smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed”; 

Is not he truly blessed who is blest by the Lord? 

King David in prayerful meditation. Willem
Vrelant (early 1460's). Getty Museum, L.A. 

Of the sweet relish of this fruit, someone who had tasted of it exclaimed, saying[2]: “O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet;” and elsewhere[3]: “O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!” Again, it is written[4]: “If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet.” And the Fruit says of Himself while inviting us all to Him[5]: 

“They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.” 

He said this because the sweet savour of this fruit, when once tasted, excites a greater appetite. 

Blessed is this fruit which is the food and drink of those who hunger and thirst after justice. You have heard of its fragrance and you have heard of its savour; hear now of its beauty. For if the fruit which brought death into the world was not only sweet to the taste, but fair to the eyes and delightful to behold, as the Scripture testifies[6], how much more ought we to seek out the life-giving beauty of this life-sustaining fruit – “upon whom,” as another verse in Scripture testifies[7], “the Angels long to gaze”? His beauty was seen in the spirit, and desired to be seen in the flesh by the royal Prophet who said[8]: 

“Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.” 

And, lest you should think lightly of the beauty here commended, remember what is said in another Psalm[9]: 

“Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.” 

Footnotes

[1] Gen. xxvii. 27.

[2] Psalm. xxxiii. 9.

[3] Psalm. xxx. 20.

[4] 1 Pet. ii. 3.

[5] Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 29.

[6] Gen. iii. 6.

[7] 1 Pet. i. 12.

[8] Psalm. xlix. 2.

[9] Psalm. xliv. 3.

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The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen. 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.30-31.