Praises of the Virgin Mother by St Bernard : Homily II : §5-6/17

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 II : §5-6/17

 §5.   

The valiant woman: Our Lady of Expectation, by Diego
de Siloé and Juan de Balmaseda (1530). Museo de
 Santa Cruz  (Toledo).José Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY 4.0

What other woman was Solomon looking for when he said[1]: 

“Who shall find a valiant woman?” 

This wise man understood the frailty of that sex, in particular the weakness of their bodies and the inconstancy of their minds. He had read what God had promised and saw how fitting it was that the enemy who had been victorious over the human race by means of a woman should himself be overcome by another woman. Pondering earnestly, Solomon wondered: “Who shall find a valiant woman?” This is as though he were thinking that, if upon a woman depends

⁃ the salvation of our race, 
⁃ the restoration of innocence and 
⁃ victory over our common enemy,

 

then such a woman must indeed be valiant who was chosen for such a great undertaking.

The Tree of Jesse, Cathedral of Santa Maria, Burgos.
© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro. CC BY-SA 3.0.

“Who shall find a valiant woman?” he asks, and lest he should be accused of asking the question despairingly, he adds in prophecy[2]: “far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.” 

Her value is not small, nor mean, nor of little account, nor is it from earth but from Heaven – and not even from the Heaven nearest the earth, for its “going out is from the end of heaven”[3]. When Moses saw the bush on fire but not being burned[4], what else did that represent other than Mary giving birth without the pains of labour? What, I ask, was that rod of Aaron flowering without moisture[5] if not Mary conceiving even though she knew not man[6]? 

The mystery of this great miracle is indicated even more clearly by Isaias when he says[7]: 

“There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.” 

By the rod is to be understood the Virgin and by the flower the Child she brought forth. 

Footnotes

[1] Prov. xxxi. 10.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Psalm. xviii. 7.

[4] Exod. iii. 2.

[5] Num. xvii. 8.

[6] Luke i. 34.

[7] Isaia xi. 1.

§6. 

Moses Strikes the Rock, by James Tissot (c. 1896-1902).
The Jewish Museum, N.Y. Public Domain.

But if the fact that Christ is now said to be signified by the flower seems to conflict with the earlier view – according to which He was said to be represented not by the rod’s flower but by the flower’s fruit – you should understand how in that same rod of Aaron (which not only bloomed blossoms but also spread leaves and produced fruit[1]), He is signified not only by the flower blossom and the fruit but also by the leaves themselves. 

You should also know that, in the case of the references made by Moses, it is not by the rod’s fruit or its blossom that He is signified, but by the rod itself – that very rod used to part the waters so the people might cross on dry land[2] or to strike the rock so the people might drink[3]. There is nothing unfitting in Christ being represented under different figures for different reasons. In the rod, indeed, may be seen His power; in the flower, His fragrance; in the fruit, His sweet taste; and in the leaves, His watchful protection – for He never ceases to shelter the little ones who flee to Him beneath the shadow of His wings, whether from the heat of carnal desires or from the assaults of the wicked who pursue them. How good and desirable is the shade beneath the wings of Jesus where may be found safe refuge for those who flee, and welcome refreshment for the weary. 

“Have mercy on me,” Lord Jesus, “have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee; and in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.”[4]  

If we return to the testimony of Isaiah, however, the flower represents the Son and the rod represents the Mother; for just as the rod blossomed without a seed-bearing shoot, so the Virgin conceived knowing not man; and just as the blossoming of the flower did not harm the freshness of the rod, neither did the bringing forth of the holy Infant Jesus harm the Virgin’s purity.

Footnotes

[1] Num. xvii. 8.

[2] Exod. xiv. 16.

[3] Exod. xvii. 6.

[4] Psalm. lvi. 2.

+       +        +

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.