What? You are going to give summaries of all 86 of Bernard's sermons on the Canticles?
Yes. Yes I am.
Sermon 1: On the Title of the Book
Before we can be properly taught about the surpassing mystery of intimacy with God through Christ, as described in beautiful metaphor in Song of Songs, we must be taught by the books that proceed it. There are two evils that attack our enjoyment of God: misguided love of the world, and excessive love of self. The remedies for these evils are presented in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The latter, by use of the enlightened reason, exposes the delusion and emptiness of hoping in the world. The former, by inculcating self-control, restrains those pernicious habits of body and mind which hinder our intercourse with God.
The title Song of Songs is appropriate because of the subject nature. This repeated formula is used in Scripture to denote the greatest or highest of a class. Thus, Christ is the "King of kings." This song, the song of intimacy with God, is greater than all other songs of the Bible. We are celebrating in this song holy love, "the sacrament of endless union with God." This is the marriage song of the soul, the highest and best pleasure of the human condition, and the life-giving hope of all who sojourn here.
Remember in your salvation, how your lips were taught to sing "a new song," the song of salvation, of being taken out of the pit and set on firm ground. This is a good song. Then there are songs of remembrance, songs that bring to mind the things of the past, even songs that remember the law, etc. But this song surpasses them all. Only the touch of the Spirit can inspire a song like this, and only personal experience can unfold its meaning. Let those who are versed in the mystery revel in it; let all others burn with desire rather to attain to this experience. For it is a song that reveals beauty only to the singer, as the joys of a husband and wife are theirs alone.
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