Praises of the Virgin Mother by St Bernard : Homily IV : §9/11

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 IV : §9/11

 §9.   Mary now says: 

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done unto me according to thy word.”[1] 

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” The Annunciation, by Fra Angelico
(1425-26), Museo del Prado, Madrid. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Humility is a virtue always closely allied to Divine grace, for “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”[2] She answers humbly, therefore, so that the throne of grace may be prepared, saying: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” What is this humility so sublime that it does not know how to accept honours and take pride in glory? She is the chosen Mother of God, and yet she calls herself His handmaid. Truly, it is no small sign of humility to remember it even when such great glory is offered. It is no great perfection to be humble when we are rejected, but it is a great and rare virtue to preserve humility amidst honours. 

Deceived by my apparent virtue, the Church has raised the insignificant and worthless man that I am to some small dignity. God has permitted this, either because of my own sins, or the sins of those under my charge. Do I not immediately forget what I once was and imagine myself to be that which men, who see not into my heart, have reputed me to be? I believe in the reputation I have acquired but pay no attention to my conscience. Failing to see that honour is not one of the virtues but that virtues are worthy of honour, the more highly I am esteemed the more highly I esteem myself.

You may see many in the Church who, having risen from obscurity to nobility and from poverty to wealth, suddenly become puffed up with pride and forget their lowly origins; they even blush with shame at their own background and look down upon their humble parents. You may also see wealthy men rushing to secure various ecclesiastical offices and positions. Soon they start to congratulate themselves on their holiness, but this holiness consists merely in a change of vestments, not of their hearts and minds. They deem themselves worthy of the dignity they attained through their own scheming. If I may venture to say so, they attribute to their own merit what they actually acquired with money. I am passing over those who are blinded by ambition, and who regard honour itself as a source of pride.

Footnotes

[1] Luke i. 38.

[2] James iv. 6. & 1 Pet. v. 5.

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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.