The Sweetness of God's Grace According to Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard's concept of grace may be studied primarily in his early works, such as
in The Steps of Humility and Pride (c. 1118-19), On the Love of God (1126), and
On Grace and Free Choice (from the late 1120s or the 1130s). In the latter he
writes: "Free choice constitutes us willers; grace, willers of the good. Because
of our willing faculty [a gift of creation], we are able to will; but, because
of grace, to will the good."[1] Although Bernard does not say here by grace
"alone" we are able to will the good, he means exactly that, and Luther will
quote him on this.[2] Bernard concludes his train of thought as follows: "Thus
we have received from God as part of our natural condition how to will, how to
fear and how to love. In this we are creatures. But how to will the good, and
how to fear God, and how to love God, we receive with grace's touch (in
visitatione gratiae)."[3]

In the following I will not investigate any further Bernard's treatises, but
will concentrate on his later sermons, which the Reformer Martin Luther found
more interesting than anything else in Bernard's works. He even preferred them
over Augustine's sermons, as he exclaimed in a table talk: 'With his sermons
Bernard excels all the other teachers, and even Augustine himself."[4] I will
investigate here in particular but not exclusively Bernard's Sermons on the Song
of Songs (SCs) which he began in about 1135, and which will occupy him for the
rest of his life (+ 1153).[5] In these sermons the primacy of grace is apparent,
as it is the case also in his First Sermon on Psalm 90, one of seventeen which
are to be dated for Lent 1139. Bernard warns with a rhetorical question and in
reference to Luke 6:49: "Does anyone think one can build a solid building on a
shaky foundation? So the dwelling of those who place their hope in their own
merits is dangerous."[6]

1. Grace - Sweetness - Love
In his Advent Sermons which are part of the final, corrected version of his
liturgical sermons (sermones per annum), dated at some time after 1150,[7] he
preaches on Christ the Bee Without Sting:

[Christ] came to us he brought only honey and no sting, that is mercy and not judgment... . This bee has no sting. It is as though he left it aside when he suffered so much insult and he reacted with mercy and not with judgment. ... He is truly man and without sin; he is a merciful God who does not show himself a judge.[8]

Bernard associates here the advent of Christ the Bee with the sweetaess of honey
as an expression of divine mercy. In the Third Sermon for Advent he recalls,
mindful of Ps 33:9 (Vulgate), " that the Lord is sweet, and kind, and full of
mercy, and faithful."[9] Here, we find his explicit correlation of God's mercy
and sweetness. We see here that the primacy of God's grace, love, and sweetness
is Bernard's spiritual and theological basis from which everything else in his
sermonizing appears to develop. In SC 20 he speaks of the incarnation in terms
of "sweetness", introducing first, however, Saint john's words on the prevenient
love of God: "Not that we had loved him, but that he first loved us" (1 john
4:10).[10] In the following quotation from that sermon I keep the Latin words
for "sweet":
His love was dulciter, and wise, and strong. 1 call it dulce because he took on
a human body... . Sweetness of sweetness (omni suavitatis dulcedine) it is to
see the Creator of humanity as a human himself. He is a dulcis friend. ... He
took to himself a true body .... giving a dulcis consolation to the weak. ...
His divine majesty would not have sought me in chains unless he had loved me so
dulciter. [11]

Luther will speak in similar ways of "the most sweet and gracious enfleshinent
of God" in his explanation of the Seven Penitential Psalms of 1517.[12] In SC
61.5, Bernard uses dulcedo, gratia, and virtus as synonyms, as he praises the
merits of the Lord for our salvation at the occasion of reflecting on Cant 2:13f
("Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! 0 my dove in the clefts of the
rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff ). [13] This synonymous use is found
also in his SC 64.10 on the companionship of Christ and humanity through the
incarnation, when he reflects on Cant 2:15 ("Catch us the foxes") in combination
with Phil 2:7 on Christ's loftiness and humility, where he also includes amor.
You see how he speaks, as though to equals - he who has no equal. He could have
said 'me', but he preferred to say 'us', for he delights in companionship. What
suavitas! What gratia! What mighty amor! [14]

In his First Sermon for Epiphany, we find him engaging in serious Latin play on
words: desolatio and consolatio; miseria and misericordia, saying that those who
do not feel desolation and misery do not reach out for consolation, mercy, and
grace. Shortly afterwards he plays with the words exsilium and auxilium, saying
that those who know exile all too well should learn that from heaven will come
help. In between those wordplays Bernard reminds his audience that they should
"empty themselves and see that the Lord is sweet," quoting again Ps 33:9, and
then also Titus 3:5.[15]

2. The "Sweetness of the Lord"
Bernard's theological notions are biblical terms (Vulgate) frequently drawn from
the christological reading of the Latin Psalter, the prayerbook of the monks, in
combination with verses of Saint Paul. They include - as strange as it may sound
- "sweetness". As to the specific expression " sweetness of the Lord" (dulcedo
Domini) Bernard often relies also on Vulgate Ps 30:20 (dulcedo), and Ps 33:9
(suavis est Dominus),[16] and also on other Psalms, such as Ps 67:11 (In your
dulcedo, 0 Lord), Ps 24:8 (dulcis et rectus Dominus),[17] and Ps 144:9 (The Lord
is suavis to all). [18] On Cant 2:4, "He has set love in order in me", i. e. in
his SC 50, he writes on God's mercy on us for our salvation: "Nobody will be
justified in God's sight by the works of the law", speaking with Rom 3:19-20. We
shall know that God "has saved us, not because of any righteous deeds we had
done, but because of his mercy" (misericordia), speaking again with Tit 3:5. One
must realize that the latter phrase is a fragment of a longer biblical quotation
which is introduced with the clause (Tit 3:4): "But when the kindness and love
of God our Savior appeared", which Bernard does not quote explicitly, but which
he evidently presupposes to be known to his audience; and which is further
introduced with Tit 2:11, "The gratia of God our Savior has appeared to all".
[19] Having said this in the introductory paragraphs of his SC 50, he reflects
then on the three-fold love of the flesh, of reason, and of wisdom, and then
also on the sweetness of the Lord, when he again combines a Pauline thought (Col
4:5f) with certain Psalm verses that speak of God's sweetness (Ps 30:20 [dulcedo
Domini] and Ps 33:9 [suavis est Dominus]). He concludes with quoting 1 John 3:18
as follows:
The third [wisdom], however, is far from either of them [flesh, reason],
because it 'tastes' and experiences 'that the Lord is sweet' (Ps 33:9); it
banishes the first and rewards the second. The first is dulcis, of course, but
shameful; the second is emotionless but strong; the last is rich and suavis.
Therefore by the second good deeds are done, and in it love reigns: not that
of the feelings, which, growing richer with the seasoning of wisdom's salt
(see Col 4:5f), fills the mind with a mighty abundance of the sweetness of the
Lord (dulcedo, Ps 30:20), but that rather which is practical ... : 'Do not
love in word or speech,' he [Christ] said, 'but in deed and in truth' (1 John
3:18).[20]

Wisdom's seasoning salt fills the mind with sweetness! What a paradox! Thus,
according to Bernard, the sweetness of the Lord's salvific mercy leads a person,
who experiences it, to practical love in deed and in truth. In all this
sermonizing, the Vulgate Psalm verse 3 3:9, "taste and see that the Lord is
sweet", is central. This verse is quoted also in his serrnon to clerics, On
Conversion, dated sometime around 1140, where he points out that the "sweetness
of the Lord" (suavitas domini) is not found in the land of those who lead the
sweet life. It is hidden: "Yes, it is the Lord's sweetness; and unless you taste
it, you shall not see it. Has it not been said 'Taste and see that the Lord is
sweet' (Ps 3 3:9)? This is hidden manna."[21] When Bernard speaks again on
conversion in SC 37.4, in the context of reflecting on the knowledge of God and
of self, he again uses Ps 33:9.[22] This biblical insight, that the Lord is
suavis (Ps 33:9) permeates not only his incarnation theology, as we have seen,
but also his theology of the cross, as we shall see now.

3. The Lord's Sweetness on the Cross -Suavis in Cruce
Constantly using biblical phrases in his sermonizing, including again several
psalm verses, Ps 33:9, Ps 30:20 (the Lord's abundant dulcedo), and Ps 85:5 (the
Lord is suavis and mitis), Bernard arrives in his SC 61 (on Cant 2:13f, "my dove
in the clefts of the rock") at the insight that Christ is the rock, that the
clefts are his wounds, and that the contemplation of his "back" (Ex 33:22-23) is
no small favor. Christ embodies the "abundance of sweetness". Thus Christ is
"sweet on the cross" (suavis in cruce). "Sweet" (suavis) and "salvific"
(salutaris) are synonyms to Bernard, and are thus exchangeable theological
terms. Here is a longer excerpt of that sermon (from which Luther quoted!):

(1) He [the Bridegroom, Christ] shows his concern for the salvation of
souls...
(3) Christ is the rock... And really where else is there any safe sure rest
for the weak except in the Savior's wounds? I have sinned gravely, my
conscience is disturbed, but not perturbed, because I shall remember the
wounds of the Lord...
(4) As for me, whatever is lacking in my own resources appropriate for myself
from the heart of the Lord, which overflows with mercy (misericordia). And
there is no lack of clefts by which they are poured out. They pierced his
hands and his feet, they gored his side with a lance, and through these
fissures I can suck honey from the rock and oil from the flinty stone (Deut 3
2:13) - I can 'taste and see that the Lord is sweet' (Ps 33:9) ....
(5) My merit therefore is the mercy of the Lord. Surely I am not devoid of
merit as long as he is not of mercy. ... Where failings abounded, grace
abounded all the more (Rom 5:20). [A wealth of goodness] is stored up for me
in the clefts of the rock. How vast in them the store of your abounding
dulcedo (Ps 30:20)... What an abundance of dulcedo (Ps 30:20) is here, what
fulness of gratia, what perfection of virtus!
(6) The contemplation of his back (Ex 33:22-23) is no small favor... For this
view of the Lord's back holds something that delights. ... But meantime may he
go bef�re us with blessings of sweetness (praeveniet nos in benedictionibus
dulcedinis, Ps 20:4).... One day he will show his face in its integrity and
glory, now let him show'his back' of his gracious concern (dignationis). He is
great in his kingdom, but so suavis on the cross".[23]
Bernard brings together the cruel cross with the notion of sweetness. This can
be explained only if we understand "sweetness" as a spiritual/theological term
that belongs to his theology of salvation. Furthermore, we should note that the
Vulgate Ps 20:4 which is quoted in this context speaks of the "prevenient" grace
or blessings: "The Lord is prevenient with his blessings of sweetness". [24]

4. The Sweetness of God's Grace is Prevenient and Subsequent
The grace and love of God is sweet, condescending, and "prevenient", which means
that grace precedes or anticipates repentance, as it disposes the human heart to
seek God.[25] This concept obviously draws from Vulgate Ps 78:8 and Ps 58:11
with the help of Pauline (Rom 11:35 et al) and Johannine (1 Jn 4: 10) teachings
on which Bernard relies in his SC 67 (on Cant 2:16, "my beloved is mine and 1 am
his"). In this sermon he gradually builds up his train of thought toward his
explanation of grace as all-embracing, prevenient and subsequent, stating first
that this verse is not a conclusion, not a prayer, but a "belch". The odor of
this belch causes the memory of the Lord's abundant sweetness to arise (speaking
with Ps 144:7). In the verse, Cant 2:16, one finds the ineffable sweetness of
the Lord's condescending love. The word of the prophet "He has poured out his
soul unto death" (Is 53:12), becomes the "most sweet fragrance of mercy and
redemption." [26] The sinner receives its foretaste in waiting for the sweetness
of the Lord to be tasted. [27] This verse, "My beloved is mine and 1 am his"
(Cant 2:16), is an expression of "marvellous condescension", as this is "no
betrothal or union of equals here": [28]

But it is the Bride who speaks more directly, for she does not pretend to any
merit, but mentions first the kindness she has received, acknowledging that the
grace of the Beloved goes before her. She does well. For'who has first given a
gift to him, and been recompensed by him?' (Rom 11:3 5). Now hear John's
reflections on this: In this is love', he says, 'not that we loved God, but that
he first loved us' (1 John 4: 10).... Now listen in another passage to an even
clearer statement on this subject: 'Your mercy will follow me all the days of my
life' (Ps 22:6). And there is an equally emphatic statement about prevenient
[grace]: 'My God, his mercy shall go before me' (Ps 5 8,11) and again to the
Lord [he saysl: Tet your mercies speedily go before us, for we have been brought
very lov0 (Ps 78:8).
[29]

5. Mercy Alone - Grace Alone
After having demonstrated grace as being prevenient and subsequent, Bernard in
the same sermon SC 67 declares the impossiblity of human merits: "Whatever you
impute to merit you steal from grace. 1 want nothing to do with the sort of
merit which excludes grace." [30] He reiterates that the true Bride recognizes
the two graces, "first that which is first because it goes before, then that
which follows." [31] That this grace or mercy is exclusive is taught by Bernard
also in his Second Sermon for Pentecost: The Holy Spirit causes those whom he
has filled to recognize that it is "mercy alone" which anticipates and guides
them.[32] Bernard demonstrates his axiom with several psalm references that
contain the notion misericordia, to which he adds the exclamation: "How sweetly
(dulciter), Lord Jesus, did you deal with people!"[33] He concludes his
Pentecost sermon with the conviction that it is the "sweet and gentle
Spirit',[34] who bends our will and straightens it out so that we may be able to
understand God's will, love it fervently, and fulfill it effectually. He teaches
this same doctrine also in his famous Aqueduct Sermon where we find him
articulate explicitly the axiom of "grace alone". We hear him quote Ps 33:9
again, that the 'Tord is sweet".[35] Bernard presents this exclusiveness of
grace also in his Sermons on the Annunciation, the third of which is datable for
March 25, 1150.[36] In it he exclaims that "in the mercy of God alone do we
breathe."[37] The more famous First Sermon is more elaborate and quoted several
times by Martin Luther and other Reformers of the sixteenth century. [38] Here
is a small portion of what Luther quoted from it in his Lectures on Romans in
1515/16:
He [Bernard] says: 'Now it seems to me that this testimony consists in three
convictions. For one ought to believe, in the first place, that you cannot
obtain the pardon of sins otherwise than through the mercy (indulgentia) of God;
secondly, that you are powerless to do any good work whatever except that He
would give it, too; thirdly, that by no works of yours can you merit (promereri)
eternal life unless it, too, is given you as a free gift (gratis).[39]

Luther may have read this same message about the free gift of grace also in Bernard's Advent Sermons from which he also quoted several times.[40] In Bernard's Third Advent Sermon we read once more that God "will justify us gratis, so that his grace may be praised".[41] Here Bernard alludes to Rom 3:23, "All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified gratis by his grace
through the redemption in Christ Jesus."

6. "Men of grace"
Bernhard uses this same Pauline passage ("All have sinned and are deprived of
the glory of God," Rom 3:23) [42] also in his Third Sermon for the Solemn Feast
of the Apostles Peter and Paul. He applies Sirach 44:10, viri misericordiae, in
the Vulgate version, i.e. "the men of mercy", to the two Apostles and invites us
to "consider the mercy they received". [43] In this context, he also evokes the
Lord's "sweet yoke".[44] He thus shows again his theological concept of the
proximity if not synonymity of the sweet ness of God and the mercy and grace of
God. This sermon (PP 3) was so impressive to the Cistercians at the Altenberg
Abbey in Germany at the beginning of the sixteenth century, that they
commissioned a glass window which depicts exactly this sermon, with the second
half of its section 4 written into the glass panel. Here is the translation of
the first half of section 4, followed by the text of the glass window:
You have heard how our apostles received mercy, so that now none of you need
be unnecessarily confounded about [his] past sins, and pricked by them on the
bed of his conscience (see Ps 4:4).
[the following text is found on the glass window:]
Why not? Perhaps you sinned in the world, but did you sin more extensively
than Paul? If you have sinned in the religious life, die you sin more tan
Peter? Yet by doing penance with all their heart they received not only
salvation, but also sanctity, they even atteined both the ministerium of
salvation and the magisterium of sanctity. Do likewise (see Lk 10:37).[45]

7. The Sweetness of "Faith Alone"
Bernhard preaches in his SC 22 on the sweet ointments of the Bride and declares
in his opening paragraph with words of Ps 144:9: "For although the 'Lord is
suavis to all', he is especially kind to those who live in his house." [46]
Bernhard then pays himself the compliment that day after day he "draws waters
from the open streams of Scriptures" in order to provide for the needs of his
monks.[47] Here he uses what he calls the "pipe of St. Paul's mouth" [48]
quoting Rom 3 and 9, with the message that "righteousness comes from faith" (Rom
9:30) and that "the sinners are justified by God's free gift" (Rom 3:24).[49]
This fragrant message leads to the "experience of inward grace" as a very
liberal and imprecise translation has it. Literally he writes: "It leads to the
experience of the unction, to the reward of vision." [50] In Bernard's original
text, the notion "grace" does not occur.
Therefore the person who through sorrow for sin hungers and thirsts for
righteousness, let him trust in the One who changes the sinner into a just
person (Rom 4:5), and judged righteous in tenns of faith alone (et solam
iustificatus per fidem), that person will have peace with God (Rom 5: 1).
[Speaking now to Christ:] Your holiness, for its part, is suavissime and
richly radiated not only by your mode of life, but even by your conception....
Finally, how many are inspired to run by the sweet odor of your redemption!
... Your Passion is the ultimate refuge, a remedy that is unique. When our
wisdom lets us down, when our righteousness falls short, when the merits of
our holiness founder, your Passion becomes our support. Who would presume that
his own wisdom, or righteousness or holiness suffices for salvation? [51]
At the end of this sermon, he reiterates his christocentric vision that true
righteousness comes from Christ's mercy, and true strong action from Christ's
Passion:
Only those are just who have had their sins pardoned through his mercy....
Vainly therefore will anyone strive to acquire the virtues, if he thinks they
may be obtained from any source other than the Lord of virtues, whose teaching
is the seed-bed of prudence, whose mercy is the well-spring of justice (1
Thess 4:7). ... To him be honor and glory for evermore. Amen. [52]
Let me summarize: According to the sermons of the elder Bernard, the sweetness
of God's grace is exclusive, prevenient, subsequent, and thus omnipresent -
received in faith alone. This result stands in contrast to what an older
Catholic theologian, Robert Linhardt, declared in his doctoral disseration in
the 1920s, that Bernard had spoken the just quoted passage of Serrnon 22.8 on
'faith alone" in an einotionally charged situation and it therefore may not be
understood in terms of Luther's teaching about "faith alone".[53] I beg to
differ, and I conclude:
Bernard moves in the tracks of Augustine as the "Doctor of Grace" (a thesis
presupposed here, but demonstrated by others elsewhere).[54] Augustine spoke of
the "sweetness of grace" in his Confessions [55] and in his On the Spirit and
Letter.[56] This Augustinian message has been picked up by Bernard, whom Adolf
Harnack rightly called Augustinus redivivus.[57] With Jean Dani�lou we may point
out that the same experience of the gracious sweetness of God is found in both,
Augustine and Bernard, [58] and, I may add now, also in Martin Luther. The
Reformer explicitly spoke in German of the "grace and sweetness of God" (Gottes
gnade und suessickeit), [59] and of the "most sweet and gracious incarnation"
[60] and in Latin he spoke of his "most sweet savior" (dulcissimus
salvator).[61] All this is little known. But what is very well known, of course,
is that Luther spoke of "grace alone", "faith alone", and "Christ alone" - in
the Augustinian and Bernardine tradition. Bernard's biblical-monastic theology
turned out to be the bridge between Augustine and Luther.

Notes
(This paper was presented at the 33rd International Congress on Medieval
Studies, at Kalamazoo, Michigan, 7-10 May 1998).
1. Gratia benevolos, Gra 6.16; SBO 3:178,3f, SBO from here on stands for Sancti
BernardiOpera , ed. Jean Leclercq et al. (Rome: Editiones Cistercienses,
1957-1977) 8 vols.; CF 19:72. The abbreviation CF from here on stands for
Cistercian Fathers series (Spencer, Washington, Kalamazoo: 1969-). See Manlio
Simonetti, "L'Agostinismo del 'De gratia et libero arbitrio' di Bernardo di
Clairvaux," Studi Medievali 17 (1976) 275-91, here 285. As to the dating of the
early works of Bernard, see Christopher Holsdworth, "The Early Writings of
Bernard of Clairvaux," Citeaux 45 (1994) 21-61.
2. Luther: Wir konnen wollen, aber nicht wol wollen, WA 9:137,19. From here on
WA stands for the critical edition Weimarer Ausgabe of Luther's works. See Theo
Bell, Divus Bernhardus: Bernhard von Clairvaux in Martin Luthers Schriften
(Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1993) 276. Franz Posset, Pater Bernhardus:
Mentor of Martin Luther - Teacher of All Christians (Kalamazoo: Cistercian
Publications, forthcoming in 1998?).
3. SBO 3:179,2. Bernard McGinn translates here with "we receive with grace's
touch", On Grace and Free Choice (Kalamazoo and Spencer: Cistercian
Publications, 1988 [CF 19a]) 73.
4. WA TR 3: 295,6-9 (no. 3370b).
5. The first 24 Sermones super Cantica were probably finished toward the end of
1136, reworked in the summer of 1138. See Jean Lerclercqs introduction in
Bernard of Clairvaux. Selected Works (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1987)
21.
6. ... periculosa, quia ruinosa, Qui Habitat Sermo 1; SBO 4:10-12; Sermons on
Conversion: On Conversion, a Sermon to Clerics, and Lenten Sermons on the Psalm
'He Who Dwells', trans. and intro. by Marie-Bernard Sa �d (Kalamazoo: Cistercian
Publications, 1981 [CF 251]) 122; as to the dating of the sermon, see Sa �d's
introduction 96.
7. See Michael Casey, The Advent Sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux (Belgrave:
Australian Benedictine Studies Series, 1979) viii.
8. ... Attamen ad nos veniens solum mel attulit et non aculeum, id est
misericordiam et non iudicium .... Non habebat aculeum apis nostra..., Adv 2.3;
SBO 4-.172,15-173,7. See the translation by a Priest of Mount Melleray, St.
Bernard's Sermons for the Seasons & Plincipal Festivals of the Year, 3 vols.
(Westminster, Md.: The Carroll Press, 1950) here 1:18.
9. nisi cognovisses et tu quia suavis est Dominus, et mitis, et multae
misericordiae, et verax? Adv 3.3; SBO 4:177,14-15. Unfortunately, the critical
edition fails to identify suavis est Dominus as a direct citation also of Ps
33:9. Only Ps 85:5 and 15 is mentioned in the critical apparatus.
10. SC 20.2; SBO 1: 115,13 -14; CF 4:148.
11. SC 20.3; SBO 1: 115,19 - 116,14; CF 4:148f.
12. WA 1:200,33-201,1.
13. SC 61.5; SBO 2:151, 19-24-, CF 31:145. See the full quotation below with
note 23.
14. SC 64.10; SBO 2:171,13-21; CF 31:177.
15. Quisquis enim desolationem non novit, nec consolationem agnoscere potest.
Quisquis consolationem ignorat esse necessariam, superest ut not habeat ei
gratiam. Inde est quod hon:�nes saeculi, negotiis et flagitiis implicati, dum
miseram non sentiunt, misericordiam non attendunt. Vos quibus non frustra dictum
est. VACATE ET VIDETE QUONIAM SUAVIS EST DOMINVS, ..., Vos qui non ignoratis
exsilium, audite quia de caelo venit auxilium. APPARUIT enim BENIGNITAS ET
HUM-ANITAS SALVATORIS NOSTRI DEI. In Epiphania 1. 1; SBO 4:2 9 2, 1 - 10.
Unfortunately, the critical edition does not identify the latter quotation as a
combination of Titus 2: 11 and 3:5, but refers to "1 Mach 16,3 " instead,
whatever that may mean. The Vulgate version of Titus 2:11 and 3:5 reads as
follows: Apparuit enim gratia Dei Salvatoris nostri omnibus hominibus. ...Cum
autem benignitas, et humanitas apparuit Salvatoris nostri Dei. Grace and
kindness are synonyms in this Vulgate version.
16. SC 5 0. 1; SBO 2:80,15 -17; CF 3 1:3 1.
17. SC 26.13; SBO 1:180,13; CF 7:72.
18. SC 22.1; SBO 1-.l0,4; CF 7:14.
19. SC 50.4; SBO 2:80,15-22; CF 31:33.
20. SC 50.4; SBO 2:80,15-22; CF 31:33.
21. Nimirum suavitas domini est, nisi gustaveris, non videbis. GUSTATE, inquit,
ET VIDETE QUONIAM SUAVIS EST DOMINUS, Conv 13.25, SBO 4:99,19-21; CF 25:61. On
the sweetness of God, see Paul Maiberger, "Zur 'Dulcedo Dei' im Alten
Testament," Trierer Theologische Zeitschrift 94 (1985) 143-57, here 155. 1 am
grateful to Franz B�hmisch (Austria) for pointing this article out to me.
22. SBO 2:11,9-11; CF 7:183.21. Further use of Ps 33:9 in Bernard is found in SC
19: The "maidens" (Cant 1:2) love the sweetness of the Lord: Gustare et sentire
quam suavis est Dominus, SC 19.7; SBO 1:112,14-15; CF 4:144. SC 67: "My beloved
is mine and I am his", Cant 2:16: this is so because the Lord is sweet: Porro
spectare gustare est, et videre quoniam suavis est Dominus, SC 67.6; SBO
2:192,7-11; CF 40:9-10. Bernard's concept of wisdom as the taste for goodness,
felt by the "palate of the heart" (in following Augustine) is essentially
derived from the sweetness of the Lord, as Bernard declares "to taste and see
that the Lord is sweet - that is wisdom." Gustare et videre quoniam suavis est
Dominus, sapientiae est, SC 85.9; SBO 2:313,18-22; CF 40:205. The sweetness of
the Lord is identical with the unutterable sweetness of the Logos: suavitas
Verbi and ineffabilis Verbi dulcedo, SC 85:13; SBO 2:315-16; CF 40:209. On this,
see Maiberger 155. The Word is experienced in a "sweet exchange" (dulce
commercium), a gift which is granted briefly and rarely. In a Middle High German
translation of this concept, one reads of "the sweet market" (der s�eze market),
see Friedrich Ohly, "S��e N�gel der Passion," Collectanea Philologica.
Festschrift f�r Helmut Gipper (Baden-Baden: Verlag Valentin Koerner, 1985) 463.
Dulce commercium has nothing to do with "sweet intercourse" (CF 40:209) in a
sexual sense. Commercium means the "merchandise" given in exchange, i. e.
profit, gain, or returns.
23. SC 61.1-6; SBO 2:148,12-152,15; CF 31:140-46. This sermon was used by Luther
(see Bell, Divus Bernhardus, 58-60; 23 1; 247; 253; 260; 333f; 352; Posset,
Pater Bemhardus , forthcoming) and by the Lutheran Reformer Martin Chemnitz.
24. Vulgate version: Sed interim praeveniat nos in benedictionibus dulcedinis.
25. See the definition in Webster's Dictionary, "prevenient grace, theol."
26. Bene Isaias; nam suavissimum redimentis misericordiae odorem dedit ... , SC
67.5; SBO 2:191,20-21; CF 40:8.
27. SC 67.6; SBO 2:192,6-11; CF 40:9-10.
28. Neque enim inter pares est consensio seu complexio haec, SC67.8;SBO
2:193,23-26; CF 40:12.
29. SC 67.10; SBO 2:194,18-29; CF 40:13-14.
30. Deest gratiae quidquid meritis deputas. Nolo meritum quod gratiam excludat,
SC 67.10; SBO 2:195,9-10; CF 40:14.
31. Quae vere sponsa est, agnoscit ista, et utramque gratiam confitetur. primo
quidem eam quae prima est, quia et praeventa est, postea vero et subsequentem,
SC 67.12; SBO 2:195,27 - 196,1; CF 40:15.
32. Quia sola misericordia est quae eos et praeveniet et perducit, Pent 2.7; SBO
5:169,18; CF 53:78 (= Bernard of Clairvaux Sermons for the Surnmer Season.
Liturgical Sermons from Rogationtide and Pentecost. trans. Beverly Mayne
Kienzle, additional translations by James Jarzembowski (Kalamazoo: Cistercian
Publications, 1991).
33. Quam dulciter, Domine Jesu, cum hominibus conversatus es! Bernard quotes in
this context among others the following Psalms: Ps 22:6: et misericordia tua
subsequitur me omnibus diebus vitae mea. Ps 25:3: Quoniam misericordia tua ante
oculos meos est. Ps 5 8:11: Deus meus misericordia eius praeveniet me. Ps 5
8:18: Deus meus misericordia mea. SBO 5:169:19-23. See also SC 84.4 on the use
of Ps 78-.8.
34. Spiritus dulcis et suavis, Pent 2.7; SBO 5:170,21-22; CF 53:80.
35. Nat BVM 2, quoting Ps 33:9; SBO 5:276,10-11. Nimirum sola est gratia, qua
salvamur, Nat BVM 7; SBO 5:279,26-27. Bernard's sermons on the Annunciation are
part of his collection sermones per annum.
36. See Dieter Knoch, "Die Gnadenlehre Bernhards von Clairvaux im Lichte der
Heiligen Schrift," Cistercienser Chronik 85 (1978) 57-63, here 63.
37. In sola Dei misericordia respiramus, Ann3.3; SBO5:56,21.
38. See Franz Posset, "Bernardus Redivivus: The Wirkungsgeschichte of a Medieval
Sermon in the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century," Cistercian Studies 22
(1987) 239-49. Concerning Calvin's use, see Anthony N. S. Lane, Calvin and
Bernard of Clairvaux (Studies in Reformed Theology and History, New Series, no.
1; Princeton Theological Seminary, 1996) 106.
39. Luther's quotation fromAnn 1 is reprinted in f�ll, length in Franz Posset,
"Divus Bernhardus: Saint Bernard as Spiritual and Theological Mentor of the
Reformer Martin Luther," Bernardus Magister: Papers Presented at the
Nonacentenary Celebration of the Birth of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Kalamazoo,
Mchigan, Sponsored by the Institute of Cistercian Studies Western Michigan
University 10 -13 May 1990, ed. John R. Sommerfeldt (Cistercian Publications &
Citeaux: Commentarii Cistercienses, 1992) 521-23; see also Bell, Divus
Bernhardus 93f.
40. On Luther's use of Bernard's Advent Sermons, see Franz Posset, "Bemard of
Clairvaux as Luther's Source: Reading Bernard with Luther's 'Spectacles"',
Concordia Theological Quarterly 54 (1990) 281-304, here 290-99.
41. In the Vulgate version, Rom 3:23-24 reads as follows: Omnes enim
peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei. Iustificati gratis per gratiam ipsius. Bernard
writes: Et iustificabit nos gratis, ut gratia conunendetur, Adv 3.7; SBO
4:181,3-4. Unfortunately, Michael Casey's translation of this Advent sermon
avoids any literal allusion to "justification": "He will graciously put us right
so that his grace may be praised." The Advent Sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux
(Australian Benedictine Studies Series, Belgrave 1979) 25. - We note that
Bernard qualifies his statement by presupposing human self accusation: 'Tor he
[God] loves the soul that ceaselessly watches over itself in his presence and
frankly passes judgment on itself. Such judgment is demanded of us for our own
sake, since if we pass judgment on ourselves we will not be judge". Adv 3.7; SBO
4:181,4-6. Luther picks up the concept of self-accusation from Bernard's
sermonizing, see Posset, Pater Bernhardus, forthcoming.
42. PP 3.1; SBO 5:198,20-21; CF 53:111.
43. PP 3.1; SBO 5:197,15-17; CF 53:110.
44. Iugum suave et onus leve (see Mt 11:30), PP 3.2; SBO 5:199,5-6.
45. Latin text in the window: Quid enim? Forte peccasti in saeculo, numquid
amplius Paulo? Quod si et ipsa in religione, numquid plus Petro? Attamen illi
toto in corde paenitentiam agentes, non modo salutem, sed et sanctitatem sunt
consecuti: etiam et salutis ministerium, et magisterium adepti sunt sanctitatis.
Et tu ergo fac similiter. PP 3.4; SBO 5:200,12-15; see CF 53:112; however, 1
replaced "holiness" with "sanctity" for the original sanctitas, and I left
intact Bernard's play on the words ministerium / magisterium. My book Pater
Bernhardus (forthcoming) has a depiction of this glass window. We note that
Luther never refers to the sermons PP. However, we know that Luther was familiar
with at least some of the other Bernardine sermons for the liturgical year
(sermones per annum), that is the three sermons on the Annunciation and the
sermons on Easter, from which Luther quoted or to which he referred explicitly.
We do not know, however, which contemporary edition(s) of Bernard's sermons
Luther had at hand. On the availability of numerous printed editions, see Franz
Posset, "Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the Devotion, Theology, and Art of the
Sixteenth Century," Lutheran Quarterly 11 (1997) 308-52, here 309-15.
46. SC 22.19 SBO 1:130,3-4; CF 7:14-15.
47. SC 22.2, SBO 1:130,14-17; CF 7:15.
48. Per os Pauli fistulam suam, SC 22.4, SBO 1:131,17; CF 7:16.
49. SC 22.79 SBO 1:133,12-14; CF 7:19.
50. perducit ad unctionis experimentum, ad barvium visionis, SC 22.8, SBO 1:
13491-2; CF 7:20. Credat in te, qui iustificas impium, et solam iustificatus per
fidem pacem habebit ad Deum, SC 22.8; CF 7:20.
51. SC 22.8, SBO 1:134,15-27; CF 7:22-23. See his Sermo in Quadragesima 5.5:
Quod est autem iustum iudicium, nisi iudicium fidei? Quoniam IUSTUS EX FIDE
VIVIT (Gal 3:11); SBO 4: 3 74,19-20. In that same sermon Bernard speaks with
words of Ps 18:11 (et dulciora super mel et favum) of the spiritual sweetness
that is greater than honey; Quad 5.7; SBO 4:375,17 26.
52. SC 22:11; SBO 1:137,13-20; CF 7:24.
53. See Robert Linhardt's dissertation in Catholic Theology, Die Mystik des hl.
Bernhard von Clairvaux (Munich: Verlag Natur u. Kultur, 1923) 125, with the
polemical note 7: aus diesem vereinzelten im Affekt gesprochenen Dictum glaubte
Rietschl (sic) bei Bernhard auf die Sola fides-Lehre Luthers schlie�en zu d�rfen
(Ritschl, Geschichte des Pietismus 1:37 [1880]).
54. Augustine's impact on Bernard's Grace and Free Choice was studied by Manlio
Simonetti in 1976 (see note 1, above). Bernard as a reader of Augustine was
studied further by R. Jurgeleit, "Augustins Einflu� auf das Denken Bernhards von
Clairvaux," H�re mein Sohn, eds. A. K. Frenz, F. Staudiger, and G. Jehnek
(Heiligenkreuz: Studienreihe 2, 1982), and most recently by Ir�n�e Rigolot,
"Bernard de Clairvaux, lecteur de saint Augustin", Collectanea Cisterciensia 54
(1992) 132-44. See also Daniel K. Griggs, "Augustine's Influence on Bernard of
Clairvaux's Teaching on Memory," CSQ 32 (1997). Michael Stickelbroeck with right
points out that to Bernard the Church Father Augustine is one of the most
important theological dialog partners: einer der wichtigsten theologischen
Gespr�chspartner Bernhards. In: "Die Bedeutung der Trinit�t f�r den Heilsweg des
Menschen bei Bernhard von Clairvaux," Citeaux 46 (1995) 219-41, here 240.
55. In dulcedine gratiae, Confessiones 13.23.33; CSEL 33.372.
56. Suavitas gratiae, De spiritu et littera 29.5 1; CSEL 60.208; see Franz
Posset, "The Sweetness of God," ABR 44 (1993) 155.
57. Adolf Harnack, Outlines of the History of Dogma, trans. Edwin Knox Mitchell
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1957) 409.
58. See Dani�lou, "Suavitas Dei", Chercher Dieu (1943) 92-99, here 96f.
59. WA 21:95,24-31 (Winter Postil, 1528, sermon for Quinquagesima, Luke 18: 3
1-43). Wie szusz der herr sey ... (1 Peter 2:3; Ps 33:9) 'schmeckt unnd sehet,
wie susz ist der herr.' ... unnd ist allesz hart unnd sawr, empfindet noch
schmeckt keyn sussickeyt ynn got. Szo bald aber die bosze stund fur ubir ist,
szo wir des erharren unnd bleybenn, szo kompt die sussickeyt gottis. Da wirt
gott dem hertzen szo lieblich unnd gefeIlig unnd susz. WA 8: 379, 12-21
60. See above note 12.
61. Letter to Staupitz of May 30, 1518; WA 1: 525, 21; see Posset, "The
Sweetness of God" 172; Posset, "Christi Dulcedo:The Sweetness of Christ' in
Western Christian Spirituality," CSQ30 (1995) 245-65, here 264.
| Animabit Multimedia Editions (WWW) | Nr. 1 (1998) | Nr. 2 (1998) | Nr. 3
(1998) |

CISTERCIAN UBLICATIONS TEXTS AND STUDIES IN THE MONASTIC TRADITION
PATER BERNHARDUS
Mentor of Martin Luther
Teacher of All Christians
by Franz Posset
Foreword by Michael Casey ocso Preface by ? Bernhard Lohse
A perennial view of Lutheran antipathy towards monasticism is contradicted by a
close examination of the profound regard Martin Luther had for the
quintessential monk, Bernard of Clairvaux. While eschewing the monastic fife
style as worksrightcousness, Luther mined the sermons and treatises which issued
from the monastic lectio divina approach to Scripture. In this study, Posset
allows both Bernard and Luther to speak for themselves and points to the reasons
behind Luther's affection for "Father Bernard".
Scheduled for publication in late autumn 1998 by CISTERCIAN PUBLICATIONS. Price
not set
To order, write to: Cistercian Publications (Distribution) Saint Joseph's Abbey
Spencer, MA 01562
Vgl. Franz Posset: The Sweetness of God's Grace According to Bernard of
Clairvaux
- The Bridge Between Augustine and Luther
PART ONE:
Luther's Esteem for "Father Bernard"
Luther's "Father Bernard"
The Tradition of Monastic Theology
The Sacra Pagina Study of Scripture
'Someone with Bernard's Soul Would Understand This Verse Well'
Bernard, 'A Wonderful Artist with Catachreses'
PART TW0:
Grace Alone-Faith Alone
God's Mercy, Grace, and Free Gift
What Part Do You Play-If It Is All God's Work?'
Kissing the Feet, Hand, and Mouth
'Christ Dwelling in Our Heart Through Faith'
'Humility, Virtue of Christ' - 'Absolute Humility'
Knowledge of Self and of God
PART THREE:
Christ Alone
Affective Christocentrism
'Bernard Really Loved Christ's Incarnation'
Theology of the Cross
Christ and Mary
PART FOUR:
Evangelization Alone
'A Foul Corruption Permeates the Whole Body of the Church'
On Consideration
'Triple Feeding' Alone

Conclusion
Bibliographie