Vigils Reading

HOW NOAH, DANIEL, AND JOB CROSSED THE SEA

A Sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux6 ◊◊◊

This great and wide sea, and it is certain that nothing else is signified by it but this present bitter and stormy age gives passage for three types of people to cross to freedom… the first crossed on a ship, the second by a bridge, and the third by the shallows. Now these three men signify three orders in the church: Noah steered the ark so that it did not perish in the deluge, and in that I see the type of the rulers of the church. Daniel, a man of dreams,’ dedicated to abstinence and chastity and occupied only with God, represents the order of those who are penitent and chaste. Job in marriage ordered well the good things of this world, and he is the figure of the faithful people who lawfully possess the things of the world…

The continent are those who go by a bridge, which is an easier and shorter way, and everyone knows it is safer… Your path is straight, my brothers, and safer than that of married people, but it is not completely safe. For there is a threefold danger to be feared, namely, if anyone should want to compare himself to another, to look back, or to stand or even sit down in the middle of the bridge. For the narrowness of the bridge does not allow for any of these three things, and narrow is the way that leads to life.

Let us then all pray against this danger with the prophet; let not the foot of pride come against us, for they who work iniquity have fallen. For the one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back will certainly fall straightway, and the waters will cover his head. But the one who wishes to stand, not leaving the Order but pretending to advance in it, must needs fall, driven forth and tripped up by those who follow. For narrow is the way, and that is a hindrance to those who would advance and travel along it. Thus they assert themselves and are censorious and cannot bear the inactivity of tepidity but drive themselves on as though by some goad and push themselves, so that they must necessarily do one of two things, either make some progress or give up entirely. It is not right, then, to halt one’s steps; likewise, it is not profitable to look back or to compare oneself with others. Instead, let us run with all humility and make haste, so that we may not be far from him who goes forth as a giant to run a race. And if we are wise, we shall keep him before our eyes and, attracted by his aroma, we shall run more easily and quickly.

But the pathway over the bridge will not be found too narrow for those who wish to walk along it. For it is made of three kinds of wood, so that the foot of those who wish to rely on it entirely shall not slip on the path. These three are punishment of the body,” poverty of worldly goods, and the humility of obedience… When these things have been duly linked, see if you have not passed over three perils of this sea: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Duly linked, I say, so that you are sure that there is not a trace of impatience in the penance, a speck of desire in the poverty, a stain of self-will in the obedience. For those who murmured perished by serpents,’ and those who want to be rich–not those who are, but those who want to be rich–fall into the snare of the devil…

But because, according to the saying of the Savior, by the measure with which we measure out it shall be measured to us again, it is good for people to give in abundance, so that they may be of the number of those to whose breast others shall give good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over