Bernard Song of Songs 35
35
“If you do not know yourself, go forth." What a hard and bitter reproof: "Go forth." This is the kind of language that slaves hear from masters smarting with anger, or slave-girls from mistresses they have gravely offended: "Get out of here, get away from me, clear out of my sight, away from this house." And this kind of harsh and bitter expression, extremely reproachful, is now used by the Bridegroom against his beloved, but with this condition: if she does not know herself. Nothing he could say was more warranted to frighten her than the threat that she should go forth. And you can see this if you think well on the place she is to go forth from and where she is told to go. From where and to where, if not from the spirit to the flesh, from things that are the soul's delight to desire of earthy pleasures, from the inward repose of the mind to the world's clattering bustle where worry allows no peace; in all of which there is nothing but toil and sorrow and spiritual suffering. The soul has been taught by the Lord and received the power to enter into itself, to long for the presence of God in its inmost depths, to seek his face continually -- for God is a spirit, and those who seek him ought to walk by the promptings of the Spirit rather than of the flesh, lest they live according to the flesh. Would that soul regard a temporary experience of hell as more horrible, more punitive, than having once tasted the sweetness of this spiritual desire, to have to go out again to the allurements or rather the irksome demands of the flesh, and be involved as before in the insatiable prurience of the body's senses? Ecclesiastes says: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." Listen to a man who has experienced the things I speak of: "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him." To attempt to turn this holy man away from that good, would cause him to feel as if driven out of Paradise, from the very gateway to glory. Listen to another man with a similar experience: "My heart says to you: `My face has sought you;' your face, O Lord, I shall seek." Whence he said: "It is good for me to adhere to God;" and he addresses his soul with the words: "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." Therefore I say to you: There is nothing so feared by a man who has once received this favor, than, abandoned by grace, to have to go out again to the fleshly consolations, which are really desolations, and to endure once more the tumult of physical desire.
2. "Go forth and pasture your kids:" it is a terrible, an awe-inspiring threat. As much as to say: know yourself unworthy of that familiar and sweet contemplation of things heavenly, things of the spirit, divine things. Therefore go forth from that heart of yours which has been my sanctuary, where it was your custom to drink sweet draughts from the secret, holy teachings of truth and wisdom; be like a woman of the world, become entangled in pandering to the nourishment and delights of your flesh. Since through them sin enters the soul like death through the windows, he calls the restless, wanton senses of the body kids, which signifies sin -- at the judgment they are to be placed on the left. The words that follow in the text, "beside the shepherds' tents," agree suitably with this interpretation. For unlike lambs, kids are fed not above but beside the shepherds' tents. Even though during the days of their service here below they dwell in tents set upon the earth and made of earth, namely, their own bodies, shepherds who are worthy of the name are accustomed to feed the flocks of the Lord with food from the heavenly pastures, not from the earth; it is the Lord's will that they preach, not their own. The kids however, the bodily senses, do not need heavenly things, but staying beside the shepherds' tents, they choose their foods from all the material goods of this world, which is the body's sphere; but desire, far from being satisfied, is but stimulated by these foods.
3. What a shameful change of occupation! Her previous occupation was to nourish her exiled pilgrim soul with holy meditations, feeding on heavenly truths, to seek after God's good-pleasure and the mysteries of his will, to penetrate the heavens by the power of her love and wander in thought through the abodes of the blessed, to pay homage to the patriarchs and apostles and throngs of prophets, to admire the triumphs of the martyrs and be lost in wonder at the superb beauty of the angel choirs. Now she has to abandon all these, and subject herself to the shameful task of serving the body, of obeying the flesh; she must satisfy stomach and palate, and beg throughout the world, this world whose form is passing away, for the means to gratify in some degree her perpetually ravenous curiosity. My tears flow like streams for a soul in this plight: she who once fed so delicately now lies grovelling on the dunghill. One may say with the blessed Job that she fed the barren, childless woman and did no good to the widow.
II. It is worth noting that he did not simply tell her to go forth, but to go after the flocks of her companions and to feed her kids. It seems to me that here he is warning us of something very important. What is that? Alas! that one who was so excellent, at one time a member of the flock and now, in wretched decline from bad to worse, is not permitted to remain with the flocks but commanded to go behind them. You ask what I mean. You yourselves can read: "When man was being honored, he did not understand; and now he is compared to senseless beasts and becomes like them." That is how one so excellent is made one of the flock. And the brutes, if they could speak, would surely say: "See, Adam has become like one of us." He who was being honored! "How honored? " you ask. His dwelling was in Paradise, he spent his days in the midst of delights. His food the sweet-smelling apples, his bed the flowered banks, he was crowned with glory and honor, made keeper of the things his Creator had made, and knew neither trouble nor want. A gift still more sublime was the divine likeness he bore, that destined him for companionship with the angel hosts, with the multitudes of heaven's armies.
4. But he "exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass." That is why the bread of angels became like grass in the manger, set before us for the beasts that we are. For the Word was made flesh, and according to the Prophet, all flesh is grass. But the grass of the Word has not been withered nor has its bloom turned pale, because the Spirit of the Lord has rested upon him. And even though the grass may wither and the flower fade, the Word of the Lord remains forever. Therefore if the grass is the Word, and the Word remains forever, the grass too of necessity remains forever. How could it bestow eternal life if it did not itself remain forever?
5. Let us ponder together on the voice of the Son addressing the Father in the words of the Psalm. "You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption." He is obviously speaking of the body that lay lifeless in the tomb. This is that same Holy One of whom the angel spoke when he announced to the Virgin Mary: "The Holy One to be born of you will be called the Son of God.” How could it be possible for that holy grass to see corruption, sprouting as it was in the spring-like meadows, perpetually green, of an incorruptible womb? It can even hold fast the eager eyes of the angels in a joy that will never grow weary. The grass will lose its freshness only if Mary will lose her virginity. And so he who is food for man has changed himself into fodder for beasts, because man has been changed into a beast. Alas! a sad and pitiable change, that man, a native of Paradise, lord of the earth, citizen of heaven, member of the household of the Lord of hosts, a brother of the blessed spirits and co-heir of the heavenly powers, finds himself lying in a stable by a sudden transformation due to his own weakness, in need of grass because of his animal likeness, and tied to the manger because of his untamed roughness. As it is written: "Curbed by bit and bridle, the jaws of those who will not stay close to you." Acknowledge, O ox, your owner and you, ass, your Lord's crib, that God's Prophets may be found trustworthy in their foretelling of these wonderful works of God. Acknowledge, Beast, him whom in your human condition you did not acknowledge; adore in the stable him from whom you fled in Paradise; pay honor now to the crib of one whose rule you scorned; eat now as grass him for whom as bread, the Bread of angels, you lost all taste.
III. 6. You ask: "What is the cause of this debasement?" Simply that when man was in honor he lacked understanding. What did he not understand? The Psalmist does not explain, but let me explain. Placed in a position of honor, he was so intrigued by the dignity of his rank that he did not understand that he was but clay, and soon experienced in himself what a member of the captive race both wisely noted and truly expressed at a much later date: "If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." Woe to that first unhappy man that no one was then present who could say to him: "Dust and ashes, why are you proud?" From then on this fairest of creatures was reduced to the level of the herd; from then on the likeness of God was changed to the likeness of a beast; from then on association with the animals took the place of fellowship with the angels. You see how careful we must be to shun this ignorance that has brought evils by the thousands on the whole human race! For the Psalmist compares man to the senseless beasts, for the reason that he lacked understanding. We must avoid ignorance at any cost, or if we are found to be still without understanding even after chastisement, more serious evils than the former will multiply upon us and it will be said of us: "We tried to cure Babylon; she has gotten no better." And rightly so, if the chastisement has failed to make us understand what we have heard.
7. And see if perhaps it was not for this reason that the Bridegroom, in order to fill his beloved with a fear of this ignorance by the thunder of his threatening, did not say "Go forth with the flocks," or "go forth to the flocks," but "Go forth after the flocks of your companions." Why does he speak in this manner? Surely for the purpose of showing that the second ignorance was more to be feared, to be ashamed of, than the first, for the first brought man to a level with the beasts, the latter made him lower. Because men, unaccepted or reprobated on account of their ignorance, have to stand before the dreaded judgment seat and be committed to the unquenchable fire, but not so the beasts. Men of this type will fare worse in relation to the beasts than if they did not exist at all. "It would have been better for that man," he said, "if he had not been born." He does not mean if he had not been born at all, but if he had not been born a man; better to have been a beast or any other irrational creature, which, since it lacks the faculty of judging, will not be brought to judgment, nor through this to punishment. The rational soul then, that is ashamed of its first ignorance, should remember that though it has beasts for companions in the enjoyment of earthly goods, it will not have their company in its endurance of hell's torments; that it will ultimately be banished with shame even from the flocks of its bestial companions; that it will not travel with them but plainly after them; for when they shall have ceased to feel any evil, it will be exposed to evils of all kinds from which it will never be set free, if indeed it has added the second ignorance to the first. Accordingly man goes forth and walks alone after the flocks of his companions, since he alone is thrust into the pit of hell. Does he not seem to you to hold the last place who is bound hands and feet and thrown out into the dark? The last state of that man will obviously be worse than the former, for then he was on terms of equality with the beasts, now he is reduced to a lower condition.
IV. 8. If you pay close attention, I think you will decide that even in this life man has a lower position than the beasts. Do you not think that man endowed with reason but failing to live reasonably is more of a beast than the beasts themselves? For if the beast does not control himself by reason he has an excuse based on his very nature, for that gift was totally denied to him; but man has no excuse, because reason is a special prerogative of his nature. A man then in this condition is rightly judged to go forth from the company of other living creatures and drop to a lower level, since he is the only creature who violates the laws of his nature by a degenerate way of life. Gifted with reason, he imitates those who lack it in what he does and in what he loves. It is demonstrably clear therefore, that man is inferior to the herds, in this life by the depravity of his nature, in the next by they severity of the punishment.
9. That is how a man becomes accursed when he is found to be ignorant of God. Or should I say ignorant of self? I must include both: the two kinds of ignorance are damnable, either is enough to incur damnation. And do you want to know why? It should be perfectly obvious about ignorance of God if you can see that there is only one eternal life: to acknowledge the Father as true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Therefore hear the Bridegroom plainly and openly condemning the soul's ignorance of itself. For what does he say? Not "if you do not know God," but "if you do not know yourself." It is clear therefore that he who does not know will not be known, whether the ignorance refers to himself or to God. If God gives us help, it will be to our profit to speak again about this twofold ignorance. But not now: you are tired, we have not prefaced it with the customary prayers, and either I shall treat so important a matter carelessly, or you will listen with less attention to truths that should be absorbed with ardent desire. If you try to take a meal when already full and without appetite, not only is it useless but very harmful. All the more so if the food of the soul is taken with disrelish: instead of increasing knowledge it will merely trouble the mind. May Jesus Christ, the Church's Bridegroom, who is blessed forever, preserve us from this. Amen.
36
Here I am as I promised; here I am, both in compliance with your request and to give to God the service I owe him. Three reasons therefore compel me to speak to you: fidelity to my promise, brotherly love, and the fear of the Lord. If I refuse to speak, my own mouth condemns me. But what if I do speak? Then I dread a similar judgment, that my mouth will condemn me as one who speaks but fails to accomplish. Help me therefore with your prayers that I may always speak as I ought, and act in accord with my words. You are aware that I propose to speak today of ignorance, or rather of different kinds of ignorance. You remember I mentioned two kinds, one with regard to ourselves, the other with regard to God. And I warned that we must beware of these two, because both are reprehensible. It remains for me now to expound this more clearly and at greater length. But first I think we must try to discover if all ignorance is reprehensible. It seems to me that this is not true - nor does all ignorance occasion loss - since there are various and countless things of which one may know nothing without detriment to salvation. If you are ignorant of the craftsman's art, for example that of the carpenter or mason, or any other craft practiced by men for the purposes of the present life, does this prevent your being saved? But while unacquainted with any of the liberal arts— though not denying that they may be learned and practiced for honorable and useful ends - how many people are saved by living well and doing good, those whom the Apostle mentions in the Epistle to the Hebrews, men who were dear to God not because of knowledge of literature but because of a good conscience and a sincere faith? They all pleased God in their lives by the merits of their lives, not by their knowledge. Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, and all the other disciples, were not chosen from a school of rhetoric or philosophy; and yet through them the Savior made his salvation effective throughout the world. Unlike a certain holy man who made this claim for himself, it was not because their wisdom surpassed that of all other living men, but because of their faith and meekness, that he made them his friends, sanctified them, and appointed them teachers. And when they revealed to the world the paths of life, it was not with sublime language or the polished words of human wisdom. Rather it pleased God, since the world in its wisdom did not recognize him, that through the foolishness of their preaching believers should be saved.
II. 2. Perhaps you think that I have sullied too much the good name of knowledge, that I have cast aspersions on the learned and proscribed the study of letters. God forbid! I am not unmindful of the benefits its scholars conferred, and still confer, on the Church, both by refuting her opponents and instructing the simple. And I have read the text: "As you have rejected knowledge, so do I reject you from my priesthood;” read that the learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue as bright as stars for all eternity. But I recall reading too that knowledge puffs up, and "the more the knowledge, the more the sorrow." There are then different kinds of knowledge, one contributing to self-importance, the other to sadness. Which of the two do you think is more useful or necessary to salvation, the one that makes you vain or the one that makes you weep? I feel sure you would prefer the latter to the former, for vanity but pretends to health whereas pain expresses a need. Anyone who thus demands is on the way to being saved, because the one who asks receives. Furthermore, Paul tells us that he who heals the brokenhearted abhors the proud: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Paul also said, "By the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think more than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment." He does not forbid thinking, but inordinate thinking. And what is meant by thinking with sober judgment? It means taking the utmost care to discover what are the essential and primary truths, for the time is short. All knowledge is good in itself, provided it be founded on the truth; but since because of the brevity of time you are in a hurry to work out your salvation in fear and trembling, take care to learn, principally and primarily, the doctrines on which your salvation is more intimately dependent. Do not doctors of medicine hold that part of the work of healing depends on a right choice in the taking of food, what to take first, what next, and the amount of each kind to be eaten? For although it is clear that all the foods God made are good, if you fail to take the right amount in due order, you obviously take them to the detriment of your health. And what I say about foods I want you to apply to the various kinds of knowledge.
3. I prefer though to let you consult the Master. The doctrine I have preached is not really mine but his; though mine as well insofar as it is the word of him who is Truth. For Paul said: "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” He does not approve of the well-read man who observes no scale of values in the knowledge he possesses. See how the fruit and usefulness of knowledge is determined by the manner in which one knows. And what does that manner imply? It implies the order, the application, and the sense of purpose with which one approaches the object of study. The order implies that we give precedence to all that aids spiritual progress; the application, that we pursue more eagerly all that strengthens love more; and the purpose, that we pursue it not through vain-glory or inquisitiveness or any base motive, but for the welfare of oneself or one's neighbor.
III. For there are some who long to know for the sole purpose of knowing, and that is shameful curiosity; others who long to know in order to become known, and that is shameful vanity. To such as these we may apply the words of the Satirist: "Your knowledge counts for nothing unless your friends know you have it.” There are others still who long for knowledge in order to sell its fruits for money or honors, and this is shameful profiteering; others again who long to know in order to be of service, and this is charity. Finally there are those who long to know in order to benefit themselves, and this is prudence.
4. Of all these categories, only the last two avoid the abuse of knowledge, because they desire to know for the purpose of doing good. People with sound judgment act in this way. Let all others heed the warning: he who knows what he ought to do and fails to do it, commits sin; just as food eaten but not digested is injurious to one's health. Food that is badly cooked and indigestible induces physical disorders and damages the body instead of nourishing it. In the same way if a glut of knowledge stuffed in the memory, that stomach of the mind, has not been cooked on the fire of love, and transfused and digested by certain skills of the soul, its habits and actions - since, as life and conduct bear witness, the mind is rendered good through its knowledge of good— will not that knowledge be reckoned sinful, like the food that produces irregular and harmful humors? Is not sin a humor of evil? Are not bad habits humors of evil? Will not a man in this condition suffer in his conscience inflammations and torments, since he does not act as he knows he should? And will he not find within himself the threat of death and damnation as often as he calls to mind the saying of God, that the man who knows what his Lord wants, but fails to respond as he should, will receive many strokes of the lash? Perhaps the Prophet was lamenting in the guise of such a man when he said: "There is an anguish within me, anguish within! " Or perhaps the repetition of the woes hint at a different meaning that I ought to follow up. It is possible that the Prophet spoke these words in his own person when, filled with a knowledge and overflowing with a love that he longed with all his soul to communicate, he found no one who wanted to listen; the knowledge that he could not impart became a burden on his mind. This holy teacher of the Church therefore, bewails both those who scorn to learn how to live, and those who, knowing the truth, yet live evil lives. This could explain the prophet's repetition of those words.
5. Do you not see then, how truly the Apostle perceived that knowledge puffs up?
IV. I wish therefore that before everything else a man should know himself, because not only usefulness but right order demand this. Right order, since what we are is our first concern; and usefulness, because this knowledge gives humility rather than self-importance, it provides a basis on which to build. For unless there is a durable foundation of humility, the spiritual edifice has no hope of standing. And there is nothing more effective, more adapted to the acquiring of humility, than to find out the truth about oneself. There must be no dissimulation, no attempt at self-deception, but a facing up to one's real self without flinching and turning aside. When a man thus takes stock of himself in the clear light of truth, he will discover that he lives in a region where likeness to God has been forfeited and groaning from the depths of a misery to which he can no longer remain blind, will he not cry out to the Lord as the Prophet did: "In your truth you have humbled me"? How can he escape being genuinely humbled on acquiring this true self-knowledge, on seeing the burden of sin that he carries, the oppressive weight of his mortal body, the complexities of earthly cares, the corrupting influence of sensual desires; on seeing his blindness, his worldliness, his weakness, his embroilment in repeated errors; on seeing himself exposed to a thousand dangers, trembling amid a thousand fears, confused by a thousand difficulties, defenseless before a thousand suspicions, worried by a thousand needs; one to whom vice is welcome, virtue repugnant? Can this man afford the haughty eyes, the proud lift of the head? With the thorns of his misery pricking him, will he not rather be changed for the better? Let him be changed and weep, changed to mourning and sighing, changed to acceptance of the Lord, to whom in his lowliness he will say: "Heal me because I have sinned against you." He will certainly find consolation in this turning to the Lord, because he is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort."
6. As for me, as long as I look at myself, my eye is filled with bitterness. But if I look up and fix my eyes on the aid of the divine mercy, this happy vision of God soon tempers the bitter vision of myself, and I say to him: "I am disturbed within so I will call you to mind from the land of the Jordan. This vision of God is not a little thing. It reveals him to us as listening compassionately to our prayers, as truly kind and merciful, as one who will not indulge his resentment. His very nature is to be good, to show mercy always and to spare. By this kind of experience, and in this way, God makes himself known to us for our good. When a man first discovers that he is in difficulties, he will cry out to the Lord who will hear him and say: "I will deliver you and you shall glorify me." In this way your self-knowledge will be a step to the knowledge of God; he will become visible to you according as his image is being renewed within you. And you, gazing confidently on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, will be transformed into that same image with ever increasing brightness, by the work of the Spirit of the Lord.
7. You can see now how each of these kinds of knowledge is so necessary for your salvation, that you cannot be saved if you lack either of them. If you lack self-knowledge you will possess neither the fear of God nor humility. And whether you may presume to be saved without the fear of God and humility, is for you to judge. The murmuring that I hear among you shows me quite clearly that this is not your idea of wisdom, or rather not your way of being foolish, so we need not linger over what is obvious. But there are other things to attend to, or should we come to an end for the sake of those who are asleep down there? I thought that with one sermon I should fulfill my promise about the two kinds of ignorance, and I would have, but it is already too long for those who are tired of it. Some, l can see, are yawning, and some are asleep. And no wonder, for last night's vigils were prolonged; that excuses them. But what shall I say to those who were asleep then, and now sleep again? I am not now going to add to their shame, it is enough to have mentioned it. But for the future they must be on the alert, or they will have to endure the sting of further reproach. With this hope in view I pass over the matter for the moment; and though reason demands that I continue the sermon, out of charity for them I shall postpone it to another time, making an end where there is no end. And they, because of the mercy shown them, must give glory along with us to the Church's Bridegroom, our Lord, who is God blessed for ever. Amen.
37
I presume there is no need today to remind you to stay awake, because I feel that the remarks I made as recently as yesterday, friendly remarks, will be enough to keep those concerned on the alert. You remember that you have agreed with me that no one is saved without self-knowledge, since it is the source of that humility on which salvation depends, and of the fear of the Lord that is as much the beginning of salvation as of wisdom. No one, I repeat, is saved without that knowledge, provided he is old enough and sane enough to possess it. I say this because of children and mental defectives, to whom a different principle applies. But what if you have no knowledge of God? Is hope of salvation compatible with ignorance about God? Surely not. For you cannot love what you do not know, nor possess what you do not love. Know yourself and you will have a wholesome fear of God; know him and you will also love him. In the first, wisdom has its beginning, in the second its crown, for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "love is the fulfilling of the law." You must avoid both kinds of ignorance, because without fear and love salvation is not possible. Other matters are irrelevant in this context: to know them does not guarantee salvation, nor does ignorance of them mean damnation.
2. I am far from saying however, that knowledge of literature is to be despised, for it provides culture and skill, and enables a man to instruct others. But knowledge of God and of self are basic and must come first, for as I have already shown, they are essential for salvation. This was the viewpoint of the Prophet, this was the order of precedence he inculcated when he said: "Sow for yourselves righteousness, and reap the hope of life." and then: "Set alight for yourselves the light of knowledge." He puts knowledge in the last place, because, like a picture that cannot stand on the air, it requires that the solid structure of the other two precede and support it. I may safely pursue studies if my hope of eternal life has first been rendered secure. You therefore have sown righteousness for yourself if by means of true self-knowledge you have learned to fear God, to humble yourself, to shed tears, to distribute alms and participate in other works of charity; if you have disciplined your body with fastings and prayers, if you have wearied your heart with acts of penance and heaven with your petitions. This is what it means to sow righteousness. The seeds are our good works, our good desires, our tears, for the Psalmist says:
‘They wept as they went forth, sowing their seeds." But why? Shall they always weep? God forbid! "They shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves." And so rightly do they shout for joy, since they bring back sheaves of glory. But you say: "That is for the resurrection on the last day; a long time to wait! "
II. Do not permit your will to be broken, do not yield to pusillanimity; you have in the meantime the first-fruits of the Spirit, which even now you may reap with joy. "Sow for yourselves righteousness, and reap the hope of life." These words do not postpone your triumph till the last day, when the object of your desire will be possessed, not hoped for; they refer to the time now at your disposal. But when eternal life does come, what great gladness there will be, what joy beyond imagining!
3. And can the hope of this great happiness be without happiness? The Apostle speaks of rejoicing in hope. David, when he expressed the hope of entering the house of God, said that it gave him happiness now, not in the future. Eternal life was not yet his, but his hope reached out to it; so that in his heart he experienced the Scriptural truth that the just man finds joy not only in the reward but even in the expectation of it. The assurance of pardon for sins begets this joy in the heart where the seeds of righteousness are sown, if that assurance is corroborated by a holier life inspired by the efficacy of the grace received. Everyone among you who enjoys this experience understands what the Spirit says, for his voice never contradicts his activity. This is why one understands what is said; what one hears from without he feels within. For one and the same Spirit both speaks to us and works within you, distributing gifts to each individual at will, giving to some the power to speak what is good, to others the power to do it.
4. Anyone therefore who has the happiness of being borne aloft on the wings of grace and of breathing freely in the hope of consolation after the early period of conversion with its bitterness and tears, already in this life gathers the fruit of his tears; he has had a vision of God and heard the voice that says: "Give him a share of the fruits of his hands." If he has tasted and seen that the Lord is sweet, has he not seen God: Lord Jesus, how pleasant and sweet must you be to him whom you have not merely blessed with forgiveness of sins but endowed too with the gift of holiness; and along with that, added to the treasury of his goods, the promise of eternal life. Happy the man with all this for a harvest, who now has the fruits of holiness and at the end eternal life. It was but right that he who wept when faced with the truth about himself, should rejoice on seeing the Lord, whose all-merciful eyes gave him strength to carry those precious sheaves: forgiveness, sanctification, and the hope of eternal life. It bears out the truth in the Prophet's words: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in jubilation!" We find the two kinds of knowledge within these words: that of ourselves in the sowing in tears; and that of God, in the reaping in joy.
III. 5. If we have first made sure of this two-fold knowledge, we are less likely to become conceited by any other learning we may add to it. The earthly gain or honor it may confer on us is far beneath the hope conceived and the deeply rooted joy in the soul that springs from this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. It does not disappoint because love fills us with assurance. Through it the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God. What advantage can we derive from any amount of our learning that is not less than the glory of being numbered among God's sons? Small indeed; nor can the earth itself with its fullness be compared to it, even if one of us gained possession of it all. But if we are ignorant of God how can we hope in one we do not know? If ignorant about ourselves, how can we be humble, thinking ourselves to be something when we are really nothing? And we know that neither the proud nor the hopeless have part or companionship in the inheritance of the saints.
6. Let us consider therefore with what extreme care we ought to banish from our minds these two kinds of ignorance. One is responsible for the beginning, the other for the consummation of every sin, just as in the case of the two kinds of knowledge where one begets the fear of God and is the beginning of wisdom and the other begets the love that is its crown. These roles of knowledge have already been explained, now let us examine the roles of ignorance. Just as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so pride is the beginning of all sin; and just as the love of God is the way to the perfection of wisdom, so despair leads to the committing of every sin. And as the fear of God springs up within you from knowledge of self and love of God from the knowledge of God, so on the contrary, pride comes from want of self-knowledge and despair from want of knowledge of God. Ignorance of what you are contributes to your pride, because your deluded and deluding thoughts lie to you, telling you you are better than you are. For this is pride, this is how all sin originates - that you are greater in your own eyes than you are before God, than you are in truth. Hence it has been said of him who first committed a grave sin of this kind - I mean the devil - that he did not abide in the truth, but was a liar from the beginning, since what he was in his own mind was not what he was in truth. But what would be the consequences if his departure from truth consisted in thinking himself less important than he was? His genuine ignorance would excuse him and no one would call him proud; rather than his error exposing him to scorn, we should have humility leading him to grace. For if each of us could clearly see the truth of our condition in God's sight, it would be our duty to depart neither upwards nor downwards from that level, but to conform to the truth in all things. Since God's judgment however, is now in darkness and his word is hidden from us, so that no man knows whether he deserves to be loved or hated, it is certainly the better thing, the safer thing, to follow the advice of him who is truth, and choose for ourselves the last place. Afterwards we may be promoted from there with honor, rather than cede to another, to our shame, the higher seat we had usurped.
IV. 7. You run no risk therefore, no matter how much you lower yourself, no matter how much your self-esteem falls short of what you are, that is, of what Truth thinks of you. But the evil is great and the risk frightening if you exalt yourself even a little above what you are, if in your thoughts you consider yourself of more worth than even one person whom Truth may judge your equal or your better. To make myself clearer: if you pass through a low doorway you suffer no hurt however much you bend, but if you raise your head higher than the doorway, even by a finger's breadth, you will dash it against the lintel and injure yourself. So also a man has no need to fear any humiliation, but he should quake with fear before rashly yielding to even the least degree of self-exaltation. So then, beware of comparing yourself with your betters or your inferiors, with a particular few or with even one. For how do you know but that this one person, whom you perhaps regard as the vilest and most wretched of all, whose life you recoil from and spurn as more befouled and wicked, not merely than yours, for you trust you are a sober-living man and just and religious, but even than all other wicked men; how do you know, I say, but that in time to come, with the aid of the right hand of the Most High, he will not surpass both you and them if he has not done so already in God's sight? That is why God wished us to choose neither a middle seat nor the last but one, nor even one of the lowest rank; for he said, "Sit down in the lowest place," that you may sit alone, last of all, and not dare to compare yourself, still less to prefer yourself, to anyone. See how great the evil that springs from our want of self-knowledge; nothing less than the devil's sin and the beginning of every sin, pride. What ignorance of God leads to, we shall see on another occasion. We have been late in coming together here today and the shortness of the time does not permit it now. For the present it suffices that each one has been warned about want of self-knowledge, not only by means of my sermon but also by the goodness of the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, blessed for ever. Amen.
Bernard Song of Songs 35