Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Saints

has not yet been commanded to see and to provide for those who, having their eyes open, see nothing: why does he presume to attempt this, unless because he meditates vain things and pursues, as it were, empty dreams? Let us beware of this vice, brethren: let us always, so far as in us lies, choose to be cast down and to be led by the hand; learning meekness and humility from Christ the Lord, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON II.

1. Paul was converted today; or rather Saul, converted, was turned into Paul. For he became like that little child of the Gospel of whom the Lord says: Unless you are converted and become like this little child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3). For perhaps He was speaking of Himself. Surely He Himself is the great Lord and exceedingly to be praised, He Himself the little child who is given to us; and yet for the present He shows Himself not great but little, so as to make Himself a welcome and effective example of the littleness that is needful. Let your conversion, then, be to the little One, that you may learn to be little: you too, when you are converted, become little. Indeed, hear how plainly He shows you that He Himself, in whom He has set the pattern of conversion, is little, expressly setting forth in Himself the things that belong to the little one, to be imitated. Learn from Me, He says, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. 11:29). A twofold littleness, humility and meekness. The one is an inner littleness, the other an outer. Yet each is no little virtue: for it is the one teaching that the little One, so great, professes. Today therefore Paul was converted, today he ceased to be Saul. Today he was made humble and meek of heart. The confession of his mouth proves his heart's

ON THE PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED MARY. SERMON I. On the threefold mercy.

1. Today the Virgin mother brings the Lord of the temple into the temple of the Lord; Joseph too presents to the Lord a son not his own but His, the beloved, in whom He is well pleased. Simeon the just recognizes Him whom he was awaiting; Anna the widow also confesses Him. By these four was today's procession first celebrated, which afterwards was to be celebrated with the exultation of the whole earth, in every place and by every nation. Nor is it any wonder if it was small then, since He who was received was little. The sinner had no place there: all were just, all holy, all perfect. But wilt Thou save these only, Lord? Let the body grow, let mercy grow too. Men and beasts Thou wilt save, Lord, when Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God (Ps. 35:7–8). In the second procession now crowds go before, crowds follow; and it is not a virgin who carries Him, but a little ass. He disdains no one, therefore, not even those who have rotted like beasts in their own dung: He does not disdain them, I say, but if the apostolic garments are not lacking, if their teaching, if justice of conduct, if obedience, if charity covers the multitude of sins, from this He will not then judge them unworthy of the glory of His

humiliation, when he cries out: Lord, what do You want me to do? Still more does the very greatness of the grace conferred prove it, for so much would surely not have been given except to one very humble.

2. Meekness, moreover, since it is, as we have said, a kind of outward littleness, and for this reason more evident, is commended to us in threefold manner in this conversion. For our meekness is battered as by a threefold ram: by injuries of words, by losses of goods, by hurt of the body. In these three lies every display of patience, every exercise of meekness. That virtue is proved which none of these seems to have been able to shake. It is pleasing to consider how Paul, tried in all these things at the very moment of his conversion, was found truly Paul already, truly meek and patient already in this respect. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad. A hard word indeed, a word of rebuke, full of threatening. As for what concerned the body, he was struck and thrown to the ground. But was he also proved by loss? Very much so; for the very light of his eyes was taken from him, and, as it is written, with his eyes open he saw nothing (Acts 9:1–8). The patience of Job was tested and exercised in these three, whom God gave as a pattern most renowned in this virtue. But this we leave for your diligence to trace out. It suffices to remind you that the pattern of true conversion is in great part set in this meekness: so that those who ought to have been converted may be ashamed to be found utterly perverse and turned away, whether in hurt of the body, or in loss of goods, or, what is more unworthy, in injuries of words.

procession. Indeed even that [mercy] itself, which seems to have been conferred on so few, we find reserved by Him for us also. Why should He not reserve for those who came after the mercy which He bestowed beforehand on the men of old?

2. David, king and prophet, rejoiced that he might see this day: he saw it and was glad. Otherwise, if he had not seen it, whence did he sing: We have received, he says, O God, Thy mercy in the midst of Thy temple? (Ps. 47:10). David received this mercy of the Lord, Simeon received it, we too have received it, and all who are foreordained to life: since Christ is yesterday, and today, and for ever. For the mercy is in the midst of the temple, not in a corner or an inn, because there is no respect of persons with God. It is placed in common, it is offered to all, and no one is without a share in it except him who refuses. Thy waters are drawn off abroad, Lord God: yet Thy fountain is nonetheless Thine own, and the stranger does not drink from it. He who is Thine will not see death until he has seen the Christ of the Lord, so that he may be dismissed in peace, free from care. Why should he not be dismissed in peace who has the Christ of the Lord in his breast? For He is our peace, who dwells through faith in our hearts. And you, wretched soul, how [will you go] hence, out of these things, you who do not know Jesus, the guide of the way? For some have no knowledge of God.

Whence is this! Surely because the Light came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. And the Light, he says, shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). As if he were saying: The waters are drawn off even into the streets, and the stranger does not drink of them; and the mercy is in the midst of the temple: yet none of those for whom eternal damnation waits draws near [alias: yet they do not draw near]. There stands in the midst of you, O wretched ones, One whom you do not know: so that, dying before you have seen the Christ of the Lord, you are not dismissed in peace; but are rather seized by the roaring ones made ready for their food.

3. We have received, O God, Thy mercy in the midst of Thy temple. Far is this thanksgiving from that voice of one groaning: Lord, Thy mercy is in heaven, and Thy truth reaches to the clouds (Ps. 35:6). For what? Does it seem to you that the mercy was in the midst when it was possessed only by the heaven-born spirits? But when indeed Christ was made a little lower than the angels, and became the mediator of God and men, and as the corner-stone made peace through His blood between the things that are in heaven and the things upon the earth; from then on plainly we have received, O God, Thy mercy in the midst of Thy temple. For we too were by nature children of wrath, but we have obtained mercy. Children of what wrath, and what mercy have we obtained? Children, namely, of ignorance, of sloth, of captivity: and we have obtained wisdom, strength, redemption. The ignorance of the woman who was seduced had blinded us; the softness of the man, drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence, had enervated us; the malice of the devil had taken us captive, justly abandoned by God. So then we are all born, first utterly ignorant of the way of the city of our dwelling; next weak and slothful, so that, even if the way of life were known to us, we should yet be hindered and held back by our own inertia; lastly captives under a most evil and most cruel tyrant, so that, though we were prudent and strong, we should yet be weighed down by the very condition of a wretched servitude. Does not so great a misery need mercy and great compassion? Or surely, if we have now been saved from this threefold wrath through Christ, who was made for us wisdom from God the Father, and justice and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30): how much vigilance we need, dearly beloved, lest perhaps (which God forbid!) our last things be found worse than the first, if it should happen that we kindle the wrath anew, being as we are children of wrath now not by nature but by our own will?

4. Let us therefore embrace the mercy which we have received in the midst of the temple, and with blessed Anna let us not be moved away from the temple. For the temple of God is holy, which you are, says the Apostle (1 Cor. 3:17). Near is this mercy, near is the word, in your mouth and in your heart. In short, Christ dwells through faith in your hearts. This temple

is His, and this is His seat: unless perhaps it has slipped your mind that the soul of the just man is the seat of wisdom. What I desire to urge on my brethren often, or rather always, I beseech now too: let us walk in the flesh not according to the flesh, lest we displease God. Let us not be friends of this world, lest we be made enemies of God. Let us also [alias: therefore] resist the devil, and he will flee from us, so that we may now walk freely in the spirit, and our conversation be in the heart. For the body which is corrupted weighs down, and enervates, and makes womanish the soul; and the earthly habitation presses down the mind that muses on many things (Wis. 9:15), so that it does not rise to heavenly things. Hence too the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Cor. 3:19); and he who is overcome by the evil one is also made over to him as a slave. But in the heart mercy is received, in the heart Christ dwells, in the heart He speaks peace to His people, and upon His saints, and to those who are turned to the heart.

SERMON II. On the order and manner of Christ's procession into the temple.

1. Thanks be to our Redeemer, who has so abundantly gone before us with blessings of sweetness, multiplying our joys by the mysteries of His infancy. For having celebrated a little before His Nativity, Circumcision and Appearing, today the festal day of His offering has dawned for us. For today the sublime fruit of the earth is presented to the Creator; today the victim that appeases and is pleasing to God is offered in the temple by virgin hands, is carried by His parents, is awaited by the aged. Joseph and Mary offer the sacrifice of praise, the morning sacrifice; Simeon and Anna receive it. By these four the procession was celebrated, which today throughout the four regions of the world is called back to memory with solemn rejoicing. Since, then, we ourselves too are to hold a festal procession today, beyond the custom of the other solemnities, I think it not unprofitable to look more carefully at its manner and order. We are to go in procession two by two, holding candles in our hands, and those lit, and not from any fire whatever, but from one that has first been consecrated in the church by the priestly blessing. Moreover, in our procession the last will be first and the first last: and we shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.

2. Rightly indeed do we go forth two by two: for so the holy Gospels testify that the disciples were sent by the Saviour, to commend brotherly charity and the common life (Luke 10:1). He disturbs the procession who takes care to walk alone: nor does he harm himself only, but is also a trouble to the others. These are they who separate themselves, sensual men, not having the spirit, nor careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Now, just as it is not good for man to be alone, so to appear empty in the sight of the Lord is forbidden (Exod. 23:15). For when they are rebuked