Vigils Reading

THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTERS

From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux1

◊◊◊

“Our bed is covered with flowers; the beams of our houses are of cedar,

the paneling of cypress.” She is singing her marriage-song, describing in

beautiful language the marriage bed and bridal suite. She invites the

bridegroom to repose: for the better thing is to remain at ease and be with

Christ; but necessity drives one forth to help those who are to be saved. So now

when she feels that the opportunity presents itself, she announces that the

bridal suite has been furnished, and pointing to the bed with her finger she

invited…the Beloved to rest there. Like the disciples on the way to Emmaus she

cannot contain the ardor in her heart, but entices him to be the guest of her soul,

compels him to spend the night with her. With Peter she says: “Lord it is good

for us to be here.”

Let us now seek the spiritual content of these words. And indeed, in the

Church the ‘bed’ where one reposes is, in my opinion, the cloisters and

monasteries, where one lives undisturbed by the cares of the world and the

anxieties of life. This bed is seen to be adorned with flowers when the conduct

and life of the brothers brightly reflect the examples and rules of the Fathers, as

if strewn with sweet smelling flowers. By ‘houses’ understand the ordinary

communities of Christians. Those who enjoy high office, the Christian leaders

of both orders, strongly bind them together with laws justly imposed, as beams

bind the walls, lest living by their own law and will, they should fall apart from

each other like tilting walls and tottering fences, and thus the whole building

fall to the ground and be destroyed. The paneling however, which is firmly

attached to the beams, and impressively adds to the beauty of the house, seems

to me to designate the courteous and disciplined behavior of a well-trained

clergy, who carry out their duties correctly. For how shall the clerical orders9

stand and fulfill their duties unless they are sustained, as by beams, by the

beneficence and munificence of those who govern and protect by their power?

Since the beams are described as cedar and the paneling as cypress, these

timbers must possess natural properties that liken them to the aforesaid orders.

The cedar, an incorruptible and fragrant wood of great height, sufficiently

indicates the qualities of the men who ought to be selected for the role of beams.

Hence it is necessary that those who are appointed over others should be strong

and reliable, tenacious in hope, their mind directed to supernatural truths,

radiating everywhere the good odor of their faith and conduct. With the Apostle

they can say: We are the incense offered by Christ to God in every place. The

cypress too, a wood that is equally incorruptible and fragrant, shows that every

cleric ought to be of unblemished life and faith, that he may be seen as an

ornamental paneling for the beauty of the house. For it is written: “Holiness

befits your house, O Lord, for evermore,” which expresses both the beauty of

virtue and the constancy of unfailing grace. It is necessary therefore that the

man who is chosen for the adornment and beauty of the house should have an

excellent moral character, and though living always within, nevertheless be well

thought of by those outside.