Bernard Song of Songs 13
13
Just as the sea is the ultimate source of wells and rivers, so Christ the Lord is the ultimate source of all virtue and knowledge. For who has power to endow us with virtues if not he who is the King of Glory? And what are we told in the canticle of Anna but that God himself is the Lord of all knowledge? Hence from him as from a well-head comes the power to be pure in body, diligent in affection and upright in will. Nor is this all. From him too come subtlety of intellect, splendor of eloquence, urbanity of bearing; from him, knowledge and words of wisdom. Indeed in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Shall I add still more? Chaste thoughts, just judgments, holy desires -- are they not all streams from that one spring? If the waters that surround us inevitably return to the sea by hidden underground channels, only to gush forth again without fail and without weariness for the refreshing of our sight and the relief of our needs, why should not those spiritual streams return unerringly and without ceasing to their native source, and flow back without interruption to irrigate our souls? Let the rivers of grace circle back to their Fountain-Head that they may run their course anew. Let the torrent that springs in heaven be channeled back to its starting point, and be poured on the earth again with fertilizing power. You ask how this will be done. It will be done in accord with Paul's advice: "In all things give thanks to God." If you can credit yourself with wisdom or with virtue, realize that the credit is due rather to Christ, who is the Power and the Wisdom of God.
2. "Who is so mad,” you say, "as to presume otherwise?" Actually nobody. Even the Pharisee gives thanks, although his justice merits no praise from God. And if, as the Gospel points out, his act of thanksgiving does not increase his grace, why is this so? Because the pieties that our mouths proclaim will not justify the pride of our heart in the sight of him who is repelled by the arrogant. "God is not mocked, O Pharisee. What do you have that was not given to you?" "Nothing," he says, "and therefore I offer thanks to the giver." "But if there is really nothing, then you had no antecedent merit to warrant your reception of the things of which you boast. And if you admit this, then in the first place it is futile to give yourself airs at the expense of the publican who does not possess as much as you because he has not received as much. Secondly, make sure you realize that God's gifts are entirely his own; if you attribute to yourself some of the glory and honor that are his, you may deservedly be convicted of fraud, of attempting to defraud God. If you brazenly boast of gifts as though they were your own, I should prefer to believe you are deceived, not that you wish to defraud. It is an error I should hope to correct. But when you make thanksgiving, you manifest that you regard nothing as your own, you wisely acknowledge that your merits are really God's gifts. When you despise others, however, you betray the inner reality of your condition, you are speaking from a double heart, with one lending your tongue to a lie, with the other usurping the honor due to truth. Never would you judge the publican more despicable than yourself if you did not consider that you are more honorable than he. But how will you reply to the principle laid down by the Apostle: ‘Honor and glory to the only God?’ How reply to the angels who in their teaching distinguish between what God reserves for himself and what he is willing to share with men? Their song is: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to men of good-will.' Do you not perceive that the Pharisee, in offering thanks, honors God with his lips but in his heart pays tribute to himself? And so, through force of habit more than by intention or inclination, you will hear people of all sorts pronouncing words of thanks, for even the wickedest persons will offer a perfunctory thanks to God in achieving a sexual conquest, for any kind of crime because things fell out well and prosperous, at least according to their estimation, when their perverse will was fulfilled. For instance, when the thief has bagged the loot for which he has planned, he celebrates in the privacy of his hide-out and says: "Thank God! I have not watched in vain, the night's work has not been wasted." The murderer will brag and express his thanks for the overthrow of a rival, for having had revenge on an enemy. And the adulterer will utter an irreverent "Thank you God," as he capers with delight on having gone to bed at last with the woman he has long pursued.
3. It is clear then that God will listen only to the thanks that spring from a pure and genuine simplicity of heart. I say "pure heart," because when those who boast of their evil conduct presume to thank God for it, they bring him down to the level of their own profligacy and make him share their wicked pleasures. God says to people of this kind: "Do you really think I am like you? I charge, I indict you to your face." I have added the word "genuine" because of the hypocrites who praise God for the goods they possess, but only with their lips; the heart denies what the tongue professes, and since they act deceitfully in God's very sight, their knavery can merit only hatred." The former impiously seek to involve God in their evil doings; the latter, by a fraudulent twist, would make God's gifts their own. The vice of the former is so stupid, so worldly, and even in a sense so brutish, that I do not feel impelled to put you on your guard against it; that of the latter, however, constitutes an habitual temptation in the lives of religious and spiritual persons. Great and rare is the virtue of those who do great things without becoming conscious of their greatness, whose holiness is manifest to all but to themselves. To me there is no virtue like that, when you are universally admired, and remain contemptible in your own eyes. You are indeed a faithful servant if you do not try to grasp for yourself the manifold glory of God, which while not coming from you, nevertheless passes through you. Then, in the words of the Prophet, you reject extortionate profit and wave away bribes from your hands. Then, in accord with the Lord's command, your light shines before men, not for your own glory but for that of your Father in heaven. An imitator of Paul and of all the loyal preachers who would not preach themselves, you seek not your own interests but those of Jesus Christ. Consequently you too will be privileged to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater."
4. Although Joseph knew that he was entrusted with the care of his Egyptian master's home and all its goods, he was also aware that its mistress was an exception, and he refused to have relations with her. "My master," he said, "has handed over all his possession to me. He has withheld nothing from me except yourself, because you are his wife." He knew that woman is the reflection of man's glory, and that it would be base ingratitude on his part to tarnish the honor of the man by whose will he had been raised to honor. Gifted with the wisdom of God, he perceived that a husband is extremely concerned about his wife's honor because identified with his own; so much his own that he will not entrust her to another. Hence he would not presume to tamper with what was outside his control.
What then? Shall a man be jealous of his own glory and yet dare to wish to defraud God of his, as if God were indifferent? But God says otherwise: "I will not yield my glory to another." But what will you give to us, O Lord, what will you give to us?" "Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you." "It is enough for me; I accept gratefully what you give and I give up what you keep for yourself. This contents me, I do not doubt that it is for my advantage. I renounce all claim to glory lest by usurping what you do not permit, I may deservedly lose what you offer. I wish for peace, I yearn for it and for nothing more. The man who is not satisfied with peace is not satisfied with you. For you are our peace, you have made us both one. To be reconciled with you, to be reconciled with myself, this is necessary for me, and it suffices. For whenever you set me in opposition to you I become a burden to myself. I am on my guard, and will neither be ungrateful for the gift of peace nor intrude sacrilegiously on your glory. May your glory remain yours, O Lord, in undiminished splendor; all will be well with me if I shall have your peace."
5. After the overthrow of Goliath the people were happy to have peace restored; David alone basked in the glory of it. Joshua, Jephthah, Gideon, Samson, and even Judith who was but a woman, had glorious victories over their enemies in their day; and though their people enjoyed the hard-won peace, they did not share in the heroes' glory. Judas Maccabaeus too was renowned for the many triumphs by which his bravery in battle gained peace for a jubilant people, but were they privileged to participate in his glory? Scripture says there was very great joy, not glory, among the people. Now I ask: has the Creator of all things achieved less than these heroes, that he should not be allowed his unique glory? Alone he made all things, alone he conquered the enemy, alone he freed the captives, and then in his glory is he to be saddled with a colleague? "My own arm then was my mainstay.” he said; and again: "I have trodden the wine-press alone. Of the men of my people not one was with me." What right have I to share in the triumph if I stood outside the battle? It would be sheer impertinence on my part to lay claim to glory without victory, or to victory without a fight. But let the mountains bring a message of peace for the people, a message of peace for us rather than glory. To him who alone both fought and conquered is glory reserved. This is how I desire it to be: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to men of good-will." But an evil will rather than a good one characterizes the man who refuses to be content with peace, whose haughty looks and proud heart are bent on grasping at the glory that is God's. He is therefore ever devoid of peace, never within reach of glory.
Who would believe the wall if it said it produced the ray of light that falls on it through the window? Or if the clouds should proclaim that they create the showers, what would they merit but ridicule? It is utterly clear to me that the channels do not beget the rivers that run between their banks, nor lips and teeth the words of wisdom that proceed from them, although my bodily senses may tell me that and no more.
6. If I discern in the saints something that is worthy of praise and admiration, and proceed to examine it in the clear light of truth, I become aware that what makes them appear praiseworthy and admirable really belongs to another, and I praise God in his saints. Both Elisha and the great Elijah raised the dead to life, but not by any power of their own. They were the ministers of a power that became manifest to us in these new and wonderful deeds, the power of God who lived in them. By his own nature invisible and inaccessible, he becomes somehow visible and a source of wonder in the lives of those who love him. But he alone is worthy of admiration, for he alone performs the marvels that merit it. We do not praise the pen or the brush when we judge a script or painting, nor do we attribute fame for eloquence to the lips and tongue of the orator. Listen for a moment to the Prophet: "Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it, or the saw more strength than the man who handles it ? It would be like the cudgel controlling the man who raises it, or the club moving what is not made of wood!" Thus everybody who boasts is against the Lord unless his boasting is in the Lord. If I am to boast, then I learn from Paul why and in what: "Our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience."
I may boast securely if my conscience tells me that I in no way detract from the glory of my Creator, because I shall be speaking in the Lord rather than against him. Not only are we not forbidden to boast in this fashion, we are even encouraged by the words: "You seek glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God." This ability to glory in God alone can come solely from God. Nor is this glory a small thing; it is as real as the truth which is its object, and is a truth so rare, that only an exceptional few even of the perfect can glory in perfectly possessing it. Off with them then, those men who are but a breath, men who are but a delusion; let them deceive each other in their vanity. For the man who makes a wise boast will put his work to the test, he will carefully scrutinize it in the light of the truth, and then his reason for boasting will be in himself and not in the patronage of his neighbor. I am but a fool if I entrust my reputation to the casket of your lips, and then begin to beg it of you when I feel the need for it. Am I not simply putting myself in your power, to be praised or blamed as you please? But I am determined to be responsible for myself, I shall be loyal in my own regard. And yet not entirely to myself; rather have I put my trust in him who can take care of all that I have committed to him until that Day. It is safe in his hands, it will be given back in full. Then all those who set no store by the praise of men will receive the sure praise of God. For those whose glory is in earthly loves will find confusion at the end," even as David said: "Those who please men are confounded, because God has rejected them."
7. Dear brothers, if you can grasp these truths none of you will hanker after praise in this life, because if you win any favor here below and fail to thank God for it, you are defrauding him. How is it possible for you to glory, you who are but stinking dust? Will you dare glory in holiness of life? But it is the Spirit who makes holy; that Spirit who is God's, not yours. Even if you are resplendent with prodigies and miracles it is still God's power working through your hands. Or have you made an elegant speech that wins the plaudits of the crowd? But it is Christ who has given you the eloquence and wisdom. For what is your tongue but the pen of a writer? And it is yours only on loan, a talent committed to you, to be demanded again with interest. If you work willingly and persevere in producing results, you will receive the reward of your labor. If you do otherwise your talent will be taken from you, but the interest will still be demanded, and you will suffer the fate of a dishonest and lazy workman. All praise, therefore, for the manifold gifts of grace with which you are endowed, must be given to him who is the author and giver of all that is praiseworthy. Make sure your thanks are not the pious cant of the hypocrite, nor the empty gesture of the worldling, nor yet the constraint imposed on beasts of burden; but, as one has a right to expect of dedicated men, let it be full of confident sincerity, of meaningful devotion and of becoming, well-regulated cheerfulness. Therefore, while offering up the sacrifice of praise and fulfilling our vows from day to day, let us make every endeavor to put meaning into our observance, to fill the meaning with love, our love with joy and our joy with realism; let that realism be tempered with humility and our humility be buoyant with liberty. Then we shall advance toward our goal with the untrammeled passions of a purified mind. We may even find ourselves at times living beyond our normal powers through the great intensity of our affections and our spiritual joy, in jubilant encounters, in the light of God, in sweetness, in the Holy Spirit, all showing that we are among those envisioned by the Prophet when he said: "Lord, they will walk in the light of your favor; they will rejoice in your name all day and exult in your righteousness."
8. But perchance one of you will say to me: "What you say is good, but your words ought to be relevant to your theme." Just wait a little while; I am not unmindful. Have I not undertaken to expound that text: "Your name is oil poured out"? This is my set task, at this I must toil. Whether what I have so far said is necessary you will see; my purpose now is to explain to you briefly that it is not irrelevant. Do you not remember that the last commendation of the breasts of the bride concerned the sweet-smell of the ointments? Is it not becoming then that the bride should acknowledge this fragrance to be the Bridegroom's gift rather than claim it as her own? It is along these lines that all I have hitherto said must be understood. "If my breasts exhale this sweet perfume," she says, "if they are so attractive, it is not because of any art or merit of mine, O my Bridegroom, but because of your generosity, because the oil of your name has been poured out." So much for the relevance of my text.
9. Finally, the explanation of the little verse that has been the occasion of this prolonged sermon on the abominable vice of ingratitude, must wait for another time and another sermon. Now it suffices to remind you that if the bride -would not in the least dare to attribute to herself any virtue or any grace, how much less should we, who are mere youths? Let us therefore imitate this attitude of the bride and say: "Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory." Let us assert this not merely in word and in speech but in deed and in truth lest something that I fear very much may be said even of us: "But though they outwardly loved him and used their tongues to lie to him, in their hearts they were not true to him, they were unfaithful to his covenant." Let us cry out therefore with a voice that comes more from the heart than from the lips: "Save us, O Lord, our God, and gather us from among the pagans, that we may praise your holy name rather than our own, and find our happiness in praising you instead of ourselves, for ever and ever."
14
"God is renowned in Judah, his name is great in Israel." The pagan people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, a light that shone in Judah and Israel, and filled them with longing to draw near and be enlightened. Those who once were not a people at all would now be formed into a people, and the two, converging like walls, would be joined as one by the one corner-stone. This union's fruit is peace. For confidence was imparted in the very utterance of the invitation already proclaimed: "Rejoice, pagans, with his people." Hence their desire to draw near; but the synagogue stood in their way, insisting that a church gathered from among the pagans would be both unclean and unworthy, taunting them as idolaters of the lowest type, blinded by the darkness of ignorance. "By what right do you come here?" the Jews challenged. "Do not touch me." "Why?" asked the pagans. "Is God the God of the Jews alone and not of the pagans too? And though it be true that we have no right, he is not lacking in tender mercy. Surely he is not merely just? He must be merciful too. O Lord, deal with me tenderly and I shall live; your mercies are manifold; give me life according to that justice of yours that can be gentle as mercy itself." What will the just and merciful Lord do when he discovers the Jews boasting of the law and flattering themselves on their own righteousness, blind to their need for mercy and scorning the pagans who feel that need? The pagans on the other hand, in their consciousness of sin, admit their unworthiness, and implore mercy rather than judgment. What, I ask, will the judge do, that judge in whom judgment and mercy are so equally immanent that neither precedes the other? What can be more fitting than that he should deal with each according to their dispositions, judgment for the one, mercy for the other? If the Jew wants judgment, let him have it; and let the pagans give due honor to God for his mercy. And the judgment is this, that those who despise God's loving righteousness and make self-righteousness their norm, merit censure rather than approval; left to their own righteousness they are fettered, not liberated.
2. The Jews' position is a consequence of the law, which has never led anyone to perfection; it is a burden which neither they nor their ancestors were strong enough to support. But the synagogue is stubborn, and looks with disdain on the easy yoke and the light burden. It is in good health, it has no need of a doctor, of the grace of the Spirit. It puts its trust in the law: let the law give it what freedom it can. But no law has yet been made that could impart life; rather does it kill, for the written letters bring death. Hence the words of Christ: "I have told you already, you will die in your sins." And this, O Synagogue, is the judgment you have demanded. Blind and quarrelsome, you will be abandoned to your error until the whole pagan world that your pride has spurned and your envy obstructed, shall have entered the fold and bowed to the God who is renowned in Judah, whose name is great in Israel. It is for judgment that he has come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind. Yet this will not be total blindness, for the Lord will not entirely reject his people, but will reserve for himself survivors such as the Apostles and the multitude of believers who in heart and mind are one. He will not cast them off forever, a remnant will be saved. Mindful of his mercy he will come again to the aid of Israel his servant, so that mercy may still accompany judgment even where it finds no occasion for exercise. For if the Jews were dealt with according to their deserts there would be judgment without mercy to those who had not themselves been merciful.
Judah possesses in abundance the oil of the knowledge of God, but like a miser keeps it bottled up for his own benefit. Though I intercede with him he shows no compassion, he will not lend. For himself alone the worship of God, for himself alone the knowledge of God, the custody of God's great name. Far from being zealous for his own welfare, he is jealous of me.
3. You therefore, since you are my Lord, must take up my cause, that your great name may be still more glorious, the jars of oil be multiplied still. Let it increase, let it brim over, let it be poured out and diffused in rivulets among the pagans, that every man may experience the salvation of God. Why should the ingrate Jew demand that all the oil of salvation be confined to the beard of Aaron? The source of this oil is not the beard but the head, and the head exists not merely for the beard but for the whole body. The downward flow touches first the beard but not exclusively. For all that comes from above is transmitted to the members further down. Let them descend then, these supernal unguents, down upon the breasts of the Church, who with great eagerness does not disdain to wring them from the beard till she is totally bedewed with grace. Nor does she prove ungrateful, for she proclaims: "your name is oil poured out." But let it run still further down till it reaches the very hem of her garment, even me the last of all and the least worthy, yet a part, nevertheless; of that garment. For I, a little one in: Christ, by the very right of love crave these graces from the Church's maternal breasts. And if some man, roused to envy at the sight of your goodness, should grumble at your generosity, you, O Lord, must be my security; from you let my judgment come, not from the haughty Israel. Indeed you must speak too in your own defense and tell the calumniator -- because you are calumniated for bestowing gifts gratuitously -- tell him: "I choose to pay the last-comer as much as I pay you." The Pharisee objects to this. Why does he grumble? My claim rests on the will of the judge, the most just assessment of merit that there is, and the richest source of reward. Is he not free to act according to his will? The mercy that he bestows on me does not injure you in the slightest. "Take what belongs to you and go." If it be his will to save such as I, what loss is that to you?
4. Over-rate your merits as you please, and boast of your labors -- the mercy of the Lord is better than life itself. I confess that I have not borne the burden of the day and the heat; it is the will of the Father that my yoke should be easy and my burden light. I work for scarcely an hour; and if longer, I do not notice it because of love. Let the Jew rely on his own strength; I am free to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do. This is how I make good what I lose in time and work. The Jew places his trust in the text of a covenant, I in God's good pleasure; nor shall my trust be reputed as folly, because his will is a spring of life. That will reconciles the Father to me, restores my inheritance with immense liberality, with music, songs and feasting, with the resounding joys of a whole family in celebration. If that elder brother of mine becomes indignant and chooses to eat a kid outside with his friends rather than the fatted calf in my company in my Father's house, he shall have his answer: "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found." The Jews still make merry outside with their friends the demons, who are pleased to see them swallowing down the insipid kid of their own sinfulness, to see them stowing it away, foolishly concealing it in their sluggish stomach. Meantime they despise the justice of God, and with the purpose of substituting their own, declare themselves free of sin, free of the need to kill the fatted calf, because in their own eyes they are made clean and just by the works of the law. But when the evil of the written letter that brings death is torn in two at the death of the crucified Word, the Church, led by the Spirit of liberty, daringly penetrates to his inmost depths, acknowledges and takes delight in him, occupies the place of her rival to become his bride, to enjoy the embraces of his newly-emptied arms. In the fire of her spirit, clinging to the Lord Christ who distills and pours on her whole being the oil of gladness in a measure not given to her companions, she says: "Your name is oil poured out." What wonder if she be anointed, since she embraces him who is the Anointed One?
5. Therefore the Church reclines within, but only the Church of the perfect during the present time. We too, however, have grounds for hope. Imperfect though we be, let us rest outside the doors, rejoicing in hope. Meantime the bride and Groom are within by themselves, enjoying the mystery of their mutual embraces, safe from the jarring turmoil of carnal desires, from the restless intrusion of sensible images. But the bevy of bridesmaids, who cannot as yet overcome the giddiness of youth, must wait outside. Let them wait with confidence for the fulfillment of those words they have so often read: "The virgins in her train are led into the king, her ladies-in-waiting follow." And that each may know of what spirit she is, I mean by virgins those who committed themselves to Christ before they could be stained by sinful love. Persevering steadily in this union, they are all the more happy the earlier they made choice of him. Those called ladies-in-waiting, however, are the ones who, once conformed to this world by shamefully prostituting themselves on the full tide of carnal lust to the princes of this world, whose law was lustful desire, are now at last filled with the shame that urges them to rid themselves of that deformity and to hasten to put on the form of the new man with a sincerity all the greater the more late the decision. Both classes make progress, they grow neither weak nor weary, though still far from feeling the urge to exclaim: "Your name is oil poured out." Neither have they the courage to address the Bridegroom directly. Yet if they make the effort to follow more exactly the footsteps of the bride, they will find delight in the odor at least of the overflowing oil, and so be inspired with the desire to strive for more excellent ends.
6. I am not ashamed to admit that very often I myself, especially in the early days of my conversion, experienced coldness and hardness of heart, while deep in my being I sought for him whom I longed to love. I could not yet love him since I had not yet really found him; at best my love was less than it should have been, and for that very reason I sought to increase it, for I would not have sought him if I did not already love him in some degree. I sought him therefore that in him my numbed and languid spirit might find warmth and repose, for nowhere could I find a friend to help me, whose love would thaw the wintry cold that chilled my inward being, and bring back again the feeling of spring-like bliss and spiritual delight. But my languor and weariness only increased, my soul melted away for sorrow, even to the verge of despair. All I could do was repeat softly to myself: "Who can stand before his cold?" Then, at times when I least expected, at the word or even the sight of a good and holy man, at the memory of a dead or absent friend, he set his wind blowing and the waters flowing, and my tears were my food day and night. How can I explain this? Only by ascribing it to the odor from the oil that anointed the friend in question. For me there was no anointing, but rather the experience that came by another's mediation. And so, though made happy by this favor, I was also embarrassed and humiliated: it was a mere puff of perfumed air, not the dewy sprinkling for which I longed. Given only the pleasure of its odor and not of its touch, I saw myself as unworthy of him to whom God himself would communicate his sweetest joys. And even now, if a similar experience should happen to me, I eagerly grasp at the proffered gift, I am grateful for it, even though I feel sad beyond words that I have not won it by my own merits, that despite my urgent request it has not passed directly from his hand to mine. I feel ashamed that the remembrance of human goodness should affect me more powerfully than the thought of God. In these straits I cry out with a groan: "When shall I come and behold the face of God?" Many of you too, I feel, have had similar experiences, and have them even still. In what light then must we view them? I hold that through them our pride is shown up, our humility guarded, brotherly love fostered and good desires aroused. One and the same food is medicine for the sick and nourishment for the convalescent; it gives strength to the weak and pleasure to the strong. One and the same food cures sickness, preserves health, builds up the body, titillates the palate.
7. But let us return to the words of the bride and listen attentively to what she says, that we may learn to relish what she relishes. I have already said that the bride is the Church. She it is to whom much has been forgiven because she loves much. Hence, when her rival hurls recriminations at her, she turns them to her own advantage. Hence too we find her more gentle under correction, more patient under trial; hence the ardor in her love, the wisdom in her decisions; the humility in her self-knowledge, the attractiveness in her modesty; she is prompt to obey, sincere and thoughtful in offering thanks. Finally, while the Jews, as we have said, murmur even when calling to mind their own merits, their endurance through the burden of the day and the heat, the Church remembers only the favor received and says: "Your name is oil poured out."
8. This is plainly Israel's witness of praise to the name of the Lord, not indeed the Israel that lives by the law of the flesh, but he that lives by the law of the Spirit. For how could the carnal Israel utter such words? It is not that he has no oil, but that it is not poured out. He has it but keeps it hidden; he has it in his Scriptures but not in his heart. In the sight of men he clings to the letter of the law; he clutches in his hand a jar that is full but sealed, nor will he open it and be anointed. It is within you, deep within, that the Spirit's unction is poured out: open and be anointed and you will no longer be a rebellious house. Why store oil in jars and never apply it to your limbs? Of what use to ponder over your books on the name of our holy Savior if you exclude his love from your lives You have the oil: pour it out and experience its threefold power. The Jew scorns these monitions but you will listen to them. I wish now to tell you what I have so far left unmentioned: why the name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil. There are three reasons. But because he is called by many names, since that which is adequate to him is known to none -- for it is ineffable -- we must first invoke the Holy Spirit that he may be pleased to reveal to us that one name above all others on which he wishes us to concentrate in this instance, for he has given no written indication of it. This topic however must wait for another time. For even if I now knew all I should need to know, even if you should not feel oppressed nor I wearied, the hour-glass indicates the end. Hold fast to all that I have drawn to your attention, for tomorrow I shall not repeat it. The job I have undertaken, the task in hand, is to explain why the Bridegroom's name is compared to oil, and what this name is. And since I may not trust in my own powers for what I am to say, prayers must be offered that the Bridegroom himself, Jesus Christ, our Lord, may reveal it to us by his Spirit. To him all honor and glory for ever and ever." Amen.
Bernard Song of Songs 13