Weekday

A reading from
ST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX 5
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“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, as I have said, 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 orders 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.

5
(CF7: 241-242).