Vigils Reading

CONCERNING FOUR WAYS

OF LOVE

By St Bernard of Clairvaux

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There are two loves, carnal and spiritual, from which four ways of loving

are derived: to love the flesh carnally, love the spirit carnally, love the flesh

spiritually, and love the spirit spiritually. A certain progress and ascent from

the lower to the higher occurs in these. For God was made flesh in order for

human beings to make progress, so that humans (who had only known how to

love the flesh carnally) could also love God spiritually. By speaking and keeping

company with human beings, God made himself first loved carnally by them.

Moreover, when he was willing to lay down his life for his friends, they

were already loving the spirit, but still in a carnal way. So even Peter responded

thus to Christ when he spoke about his passion: Far be it from you! Look out

for yourself! But when they recognized that through the same passion the

mystery of redemption takes place, then in that passion they were already loving

the flesh spiritually. When, however, he rises again and ascends, they love the

spirit spiritually, and joyfully they sing: And if we have known Christ

according to the flesh, now we know him so no longer.

We also love our flesh carnally when we carry out its desires; the spirit

carnally with weeping, sighing and grieving in prayer; the flesh with good deeds,

we watch over it with discretion. [We love] the spirit spiritually when out of

charity we postpone even our spiritual pursuits for fraternal benefit.