Vigils Reading – Memorial of BVM
THE HUMILITY OF
GOD’S HANDMAIDEN
By St Bernard of Clairvaux
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You can be saved without virginity; without humility you cannot be.
Humility which deplores the loss of virginity can still find favor. Yet I dare say
that without humility not even Mary’s virginity would have been acceptable.
The Lord says, “Upon whom shall my Spirit rest, if not upon him that is humble
and contrite in spirit?” On the humble, he says, not on the virgin. Had Mary not
been humble, then the Holy Spirit would not have rested upon her. Had he not
rested upon her, she would not have become pregnant. How indeed could she
have conceived by him without him?
It seems evident then that she conceived by the Holy Spirit because, as she
herself said, God “regarded the humility of his handmaiden” rather than her
virginity. And even if it was because of her virginity that she found favor, she
conceived nevertheless on account of her humility. Thus there is no doubt that
her virginity was found pleasing because her humility made it so.
What have you to say to that, haughty virgin? Mary, making no account of
her virginity, was happy in her humility. Yet you, heedless of humility, preen
yourself on your virginity? “God has regarded the humility of his handmaiden,”
she says. Who is she? A holy virgin, if ever there was one! A sober virgin, a
devout virgin. Would you be more chaste than she? More devout? Do you fancy
that your modesty is so much more pleasing than Mary’s chastity that you on
your own can do without the humility she needed to find favor with God? If so,
to the extent that you are more worthy of respect because you have received a
singular gift of chastity, you do yourself more harm, because you tarnish its
beauty by the adulteration of pride.
It is better for you not to be a virgin than to be puffed up over your
virginity. Not everyone is a virgin, but there are still fewer who join humility to
virginity. So if you can do no more than admire Mary’s virginity, try to imitate
her humility and for you this will be enough. But if you are both a virgin and
humble, then whoever you are, you are great.