On Loving God
by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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Chapter III. What greater incentives Christians have, more than the
heathen, to love God
The faithful know how much need they have of Jesus and Him crucified; but
though they wonder and rejoice at the ineffable love made manifest in Him, they
are not daunted at having no more than their own poor souls to give in return
for such great and condescending charity. They love all the more, because they
know themselves to be loved so exceedingly; but to whom little is given the
same loveth little (Luke 7:47). Neither Jew nor pagan feels the pangs of love
as doth the Church, which saith, 'Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples;
for I am sick of love' (Cant. 2:5). She beholds King Solomon, with the crown
wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals; she sees the
Sole-begotten of the Father bearing the heavy burden of His Cross; she sees the
Lord of all power and might bruised and spat upon, the Author of life and glory
transfixed with nails, smitten by the lance, overwhelmed with mockery, and at
last laying down His precious life for His friends. Contemplating this the
sword of love pierces through her own soul also and she cried aloud, 'Stay me
with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love.' The fruits which
the Spouse gathers from the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden of her
Beloved, are pomegranates (Cant. 4:13), borrowing their taste from the Bread of
heaven, and their color from the Blood of Christ. She sees death dying and its
author overthrown: she beholds captivity led captive from hell to earth, from
earth to heaven, so 'that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth' (Phil. 2:10). The
earth under the ancient curse brought forth thorns and thistles; but now the
Church beholds it laughing with flowers and restored by the grace of a new
benediction. Mindful of the verse, 'My heart danceth for joy, and in my song
will I praise Him', she refreshes herself with the fruits of His Passion which
she gathers from the Tree of the Cross, and with the flowers of His
Resurrection whose fragrance invites the frequent visits of her Spouse.
Then it is that He exclaims, 'Behold thou art fair, My beloved, yea pleasant:
also our bed is green' (Cant. 1:16). She shows her desire for His coming and
whence she hopes to obtain it; not because of her own merits but because of the
flowers of that field which God hath blessed. Christ who willed to be conceived
and brought up in Nazareth, that is, the town of branches, delights in such
blossoms. Pleased by such heavenly fragrance the bridegroom rejoices to revisit
the heart's chamber when He finds it adorned with fruits and decked with
flowers--that is, meditating on the mystery of His Passion or on the glory of
His Resurrection.
The tokens of the Passion we recognize as the fruitage of the ages of the past,
appearing in the fullness of time during the reign of sin and death (Gal. 4:4).
But it is the glory of the Resurrection, in the new springtime of regenerating
grace, that the fresh flowers of the later age come forth, whose fruit shall be
given without measure at the general resurrection, when time shall be no more.
And so it is written, 'The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the
flowers appear on the earth' (Cant. 2:11ff); signifying that summer has come
back with Him who dissolves icy death into the spring of a new life and says,
'Behold, I make all things new' (Rev. 21:5). His Body sown in the grave has
blossomed in the Resurrection (I Cor. 15:42); and in like manner our valleys
and fields which were barren or frozen, as if dead, glow with reviving life and
warmth.
The Father of Christ who makes all things new, is well pleased with the
freshness of those flowers and fruits, and the beauty of the field which
breathes forth such heavenly fragrance; and He says in benediction, 'See, the
smell of My Son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed' (Gen.
27:27). Blessed to overflowing, indeed, since of His fullness have all we
received (John 1:16). But the Bride may come when she pleases and gather
flowers and fruits therewith to adorn the inmost recesses of her conscience;
that the Bridegroom when He cometh may find the chamber of her heart redolent
with perfume.
So it behoves us, if we would have Christ for a frequent guest, to fill our
hearts with faithful meditations on the mercy He showed in dying for us, and on
His mighty power in rising again from the dead. To this David testified when he
sang, 'God spake once, and twice I have also heard the same; that power
belongeth unto God; and that Thou, Lord, art merciful (Ps. 62:11f). And surely
there is proof enough and to spare in that Christ died for our sins and rose
again for our justification, and ascended into heaven that He might protect us
from on high, and sent the Holy Spirit for our comfort. Hereafter He will come
again for the consummation of our bliss. In His Death He displayed His mercy,
in His Resurrection His power; both combine to manifest His glory.
The Bride desires to be stayed with flagons and comforted with apples, because
she knows how easily the warmth of love can languish and grow cold; but such
helps are only until she has entered into the bride chamber. There she will
receive His long-desired caresses even as she sighs, 'His left hand is under my
head and His right hand doth embrace me' (Cant. 2:6). Then she will perceive
how far the embrace of the right hand excels all sweetness, and that the left
hand with which He at first caressed her cannot be compared to it. She will
understand what she has heard: 'It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing' (John 6:63). She will prove what she hath read: 'My memorial
is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than the honey-comb' (Ecclus.
24:20). What is written elsewhere, 'The memorial of Thine abundant kindness
shall be showed' (Ps. 145:7), refers doubtless to those of whom the Psalmist
had said just before: 'One generation shall praise Thy works unto another and
declare Thy power' (Ps. 145:4). Among us on the earth there is His memory; but
in the Kingdom of heaven His very Presence. That Presence is the joy of those
who have already attained to beatitude; the memory is the comfort of us who are
still wayfarers, journeying towards the Fatherland.
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