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Q: Can you comment on St.
Bernard’s comparison of Mary to a channel?
A: Though he is called the Marian Doctor
of the church, St. Bernard’s authentic Marian writings amount only to about
3½ % of his writings. Perhaps the name of his place of birth, St. Bernard
was born in 1090 in Fontaines near Dijon, France, has something to do with
Bernard’s extensive writings about the spiritual meaning of water and
fountains.
In his "Sermon for Christmas day: On the Fountains of the Savior,"
St. Bernard explains that, though Christ ‘has come to us now as a little
One, not little but great are the blessings He has brought and bestowed upon
us'. These blessings manifest themselves in Christ, the fountain,
in which
we may wash ourselves clean, as it is written Who hath loved us and washed
us from our sins. But this is not the only use of water: it can serve us in
more ways than by washing our stains. Thus it can also quench our thirst. …
A third use of water is irrigation, of which young plants especially have
the greatest need. … Whoever, therefore, has sown the seeds of good works
should seek for the water of devotion, so that irrigated from the fountain
of grace, the garden of his virtuous life may not wither but may flourish in
a never fading bloom. … Do you think it possible to find … a fourth
fountain, so that we may be able to cover paradise, which was watered and
beautified by a four-branched stream? … In this living paradise we have now
discovered three of the fountains, and the fourth is yet to seek. We have
the
(1)
waters of pardon from the fountain of mercy to wash away our sins;
(2)
waters of prudence from the fountain of wisdom to slake our thirst;
(3)
waters of devotion from the fountain of grace to irrigate the plants
of our good works. Let us now seek for the
(4)
heated waters of ardent zeal with which to cook our food. For these
waters serve both to spiritualize and to warm our affections, and they flow
from the fountain of charity.… and see if the Prophet Isaiah is not
alluding to these fountains when he says: You shall draw waters with joy
from the Savior’s fountains.
Although,
St. Bernard does not yet refer in any way to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Mother of Christ, the Fountain, we may nevertheless apply this homily to her
who was the first one who has received the waters from the Savior’s
fountains. Having been conceived immaculately, she was washed with the
fountain of mercy. Having carried him in her womb and lived with him for 30
years she was able more than anyone else to quench her thirst from the
fountain of prudence. Having been educated by her Son in doing the Father’s
will at all times, she was bathed in the fountain of grace which made every
moment of her life fruitful in the service of her Son’s kingdom, manifested
in the
fourth fountain of charity. Likewise, we can also rightfully
allege that since the ultimate source of Christ’s fountain originates in the
Father, Mary was chosen as channel between the Father and the Son.
St. Bernard’s meditation on
Christmas Day continues as he elaborates on the functions of these
fountains.
Furthermore, of these four fountains, the second, third and fourth appear to
belong to the three orders in the Church, one to each. The first is common
to all, ‘for in many things we all offend’, and consequently have need of
the fountain of mercy to wash away the defilement of our transgressions. …
Therefore, since no one is free from stain, the fountain of mercy is
necessary for all, and all alike, Noah, Daniel and Job
ought to run to its waters with the same eagerness. With regard to the other
three fountains, let Job seek especially that of wisdom, because, he, more
than others, walks in the midst of snares, so that it will be a wonderful
thing if he avoids all evil. Daniel must have recourse to the fountain of
grace, for he needs to irrigate his penitential labors and the austerity of
his abstinence with the grace of devotion. … But to Noah belongs in a special
manner the fountain of zeal because the zeal of charity is looked
for particularly in prelates.
In an organic way it follows that Mary is
involved in providing these waters for God’s children, since she is the one
who is the life giver of the four-fold fountain. This becomes especially
evident on Christmas itself. Next, St. Bernard leads his audience from the
crib to the cross,
Therefore, my
brethren, to us who are still living in the flesh, Christ exhibits in
Himself four fountains. And he promises, after this our exile, to give us a
fifth, namely, the fountain of life…. Perhaps it was to designate the first
four fountains that Christ was wounded in four places whilst he hung yet
living on the cross; and the opening of His side after He had yielded up His
Spirit, may have been intended to signify the fifth. He was still alive when
they pierced His hands and His feet, so that He might allow four fountains
to flow forth from Himself unto us, who are also still living. The fifth
wound was inflicted after He had expired, in order that for us, after our
death, the fifth fountain may be opened.
Mary, standing beneath the cross is
sometimes depicted collecting in a chalice the blood and water from Christ’s
pierced side. In the Liturgy of the Hours’ Morning Prayer in the ‘Common of
the Blessed Virgin Mary’ we pray for instance:
Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!
Clearly, Mary is seen here as the channel of
the fifth life-giving fountain. At the same time she is also the first one
to enjoy the fullness of this fountain after her Assumption into heaven.
Hence, St. Bernard encourages us to
run with
thirsty souls to this fountain of mercy, let our misery have recourse with
all the eagerness of desire to this treasury of compassion. Behold, O most
blessed One, such are the affections with which we have striven to accompany
thee today on thy heavenward path to reunion with thy Son.
On the Sunday following the
Feast of the Assumption St. Bernard draws the parallel between Eve and Mary,
calling Mary explicitly the channel of redemption:
A most
cruel Mediatrix was our mother Eve, through whom the old serpent
communicated the mortal poison of sin even to the man; but Mary is faithful.
Mary offers the remedy of salvation both to men and women. The former became
the means of our seduction, the latter co-operated in our reconciliation;
the former was made the instrument of temptation, the latter the channel of
redemption.
At another occasion, Bernard
appeals to Mary, who is full of grace; we may also say that she is full of
the waters of her Son’s five-fold fountain. This gift and privilege is also
her eternal mission as Mother and Mediatrix of all of God’s children as she
nourishes us with these waters of our salvation.
Thou, O
Virgin, art full of grace, full of the dew of heaven, flowing with delights,
leaning upon the Beloved. Feed us today, O great Lady, feed us, thy poor
mendicants, with the food of the spirit; let the whelps also eat of the
crumbs that fall from the table; give not alone Abraham’s servant but his
camels also to drink from thy overflowing pitcher because thou art the true
Rebecca chosen and predestined for the Son of the Most High, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen.
We shall yet appraise
another homily of St. Bernard exclusively dedicated to the Blessed Virgin
Mary as channel or aqueduct. St. Bernard does not tire in proclaiming the
glories of Mary as the well of living waters.
A never-failing
fountain, which irrigates the whole extent of the paradise of God! And not
merely does it irrigate: it floods, that fountain of gardens, the well of
living waters which run with a strong stream from Lebanon; it is the river
stream whereof maketh the city of God joyful.
At this point Bernard explains Mary’s mission to be the channel, which
provides the fountain of life giving waters. She is the aqueduct connecting
the Father, 'the heavenly
source’, to the Son, who is the fountain. The
aqueduct in itself cannot do anything but because of its connectedness, the
aqueduct is always filled and ready to give. The aqueduct moreover is never
as strong as the fountain or the original source, yet it is able to provide
enough moisture for the needy. This indeed is the function of a well to be
empty of self and constantly available to be used and consumed in the
service of others.
Now what is this
fountain of life if it be not Christ the Lord? … For the ‘Fountain is
conveyed abroad’ in a stream even to us; its waters flow ‘in the streets’
although ‘the stranger partake not of them’. This stream from the heavenly
source descends to us through an Aqueduct; it does not indeed exhibit all
the fullness of the Fountain but it serves to moisten our dry and withered
hearts with some few drops of the waters of grace, giving more to one, less
to another. The Aqueduct itself is always full, so that all may receive of
its fullness, yet not the fullness itself. You have already divined,
dearest brethren, unless I mistake, to whom I allude under the image of an
Aqueduct which, receiving the fullness of the Fountain from the Father’s
heart, has transmitted to us, if not as it is in itself, at least in so far
as we could contain it. Yea, for you know to whom it was said: “Hail, full of
grace.”
At this point St. Bernard clearly makes a
doctrinal statement, explaining that only the one who is ‘full of grace’
would be worthy to be so interwoven in the economy of salvation by being
fused to the heart of God the Father as well as to that of her Son, Jesus
Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and not through any human
intervention.
But shall
we not wonder how such and so great a Conduit could have been formed, the
top of which-- like the ladder which Jacob saw in vision – was to reach
heaven, nay, to be lifted higher than the heavens, and to touch that Living
Fountain of ‘the waters that are above the heavens…? In fact the reason why
the streams of heavenly grace did not begin to flow down upon the human race
for so long a time was this: that the precious Conduit whereof I speak did
not as yet mediate between God and man. … But how did this Conduit of ours,
this ‘Valiant Woman’, attain to the loftiness of the Fountain?
You
perceive now, my brethren, that in this manner likewise our Aqueduct reached
up to the Fountain of grace; that it was not by her prayer alone that Mary
penetrated the heavens, but also by her incorruption, which according to the
Wise Man "bringeth near to God.” The Virgin is in truth ‘a garden
enclosed, a fountain sealed up; the living temple of the Lord, the sanctuary
of the Holy Spirit .…
The
Fountain of Wisdom is the Word of the Father Who dwelleth on High. … This
Divine Word will become man, O Virgin, through thy co-operation so that He
Who can say ‘I am in the Father and the Father is in me' may be able to say
also ‘From God I have proceeded and come' … Even then Wisdom’s Well was
full, but as yet not only to Itself.
St. Bernard
concludes this extraordinary sermon by encouraging his audience to make good
use of these waters offered to us through the intercession of Our Lady who
not only
channels the divine waters to us but wants to be an aqueduct
also between us and the ultimate heavenly source; God, the Father.
For the
rest, most dearly beloved, let us strive with all diligence that the Word
Who came forth unto us from the mouth of the Father and through the Virgin’s
womb shall not return to Him void, but through the same holy Virgin
let us render Him back ‘grace for grace’. … For unless they (the rivers of
grace) revert to their fountain head they shall be dried up; if we are found
unfaithful in that which is little we shall not deserve that which is
greater.
As we have seen, for St.
Bernard the symbol of fountain and water refers above all to Jesus Christ
who brought us the five-fold waters necessary for our redemption. Implicitly,
Mary’s role can be seen as the source from which these waters flow. St.
Bernard refers more directly to Our Lady in his homily about Mary as channel
or aqueduct. He calls her the channel of redemption and well of living
waters as Mother of the Redeemer and as our mother, too. As never-failing
fountain, Bernard refers to Mary’s sinlessness as commonly understood in his
time. Encouraging the faithful to ‘run to this fountain of mercy’ on the
feast of the Assumption, Bernard points to Mary’s cooperation in the economy
of salvation.
Sr. M. Danielle
Peters
Leo Scheffczyk, Tendenzen und Entwicklungslinien der Marienlehre im
Mittelalter. In. German Rovira, ed. Das Zeichen des
Allmächtigen. Die jungfräuliche Gottesmutterschaft
Mariens in ihrer Verbindlichkeit für das christliche Leben.
Marianische Schriften des Internationalen Mariologischen Arbeitskreises
Kevelaer e.V. Würzburg 1981, p. 126.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Seasons and Principal
Festivals of the Year, volume 1, The Carroll Press-Westminster, MD
1950. Here: "First Sermon for Christmas Day: On the Fountains of the
Savior," 381-389.
These three holy men are taken as types of the three orders referred to,
Noah representing the prelates (Gen 7:20), Daniel the virgins and Job
those engaged in the married state. Ibid. p.388.
Quoted from: Frederick M. Jelly OP, Madonna, Huntington, Indiana,
1986, p. 168.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Seasons and Principal
Festivals of the Year, volume 1, The Carroll Press-Westminster, MD
1950. Here: Fourth Sermon for the Feast of the Assumption--On the
resurrection of Lazarus and on the Dignity and Virtues of Mary, p.
256.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Seasons and Principal
Festivals of the Year, volume 1, The Carroll Press-Westminster, MD
1950. Here: Sermon for the Sunday within the Octave of the
Assumption: On the Dignity of Mary and on the Mystical Stars that
constitute her crown, p. 258.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Seasons and Principal
Festivals of the Year, volume 1, The Carroll Press-Westminster, MD
1950.
Ibid. p.280.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux,
Sermons for the Seasons and Principal Festivals of the Year,
volume 3,
The Carroll Press-Westminster, MD 1950. Here: Sermon for the Feast
of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p. 284ff. Also called
On the Aqueduct or Channel Of Divine Grace.
See also: St. Bernard, The
Glories of the Virgin Mother and Channel of Divine Grace.
Boston, 1867, 102-106.
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