Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

SLAVE TO HIS MISTRESS

In short you adapt yourself to your purse like a slave to his mistress; he must be happy when she is happy, sad when she is sad.  And you: when your purse swells your mood expands, when it grows slack you are deflated.  When it is empty you are crushed with misery; when it is full you melt with joy, or rather become puffed up with pride. Such is the miser. 

THE GARDEN, THE STOREROOM, AND THE BEDROOM

The one who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired word, knowing that there he is certain to find the one for whom he thirsts. Let the garden, then, represent the plain, unadorned, historical sense of Scripture, the storeroom its moral sense, and the bedroom the mystery of divine contemplation.  

The Song of Songs

RESERVOIR and CANAL

The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal.  The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself.

The Song of Songs
Sermon 18

A WELL FILLED BLADDER

He is scurrilous ... always ready for a joke, any little thing quickly gets a laugh.  He is careful not to remember anything he has done which could hurt his self-esteem; but all his good points will be remembered, and added up, and if need be, touched up by imagination. He things only of what he wants and never of what is permitted.    At times he simply cannot stop laughing or hide his empty-headed merriment. He is like a well-filled bladder that has been pricked and squeezed.  The air, not finding a free vent, whistles out thorugh the little hole with squeak after squeak.  The rule of silence will not let a monk relive himself of his vain thoughts and silly jokes. they gather pressure inside until they burst out in giggles. 

The Third Step:  Giddiness
The Steps of Humility and Pride

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel

CRUMBS

All creatures are like crumbs that have fallen from God's table

MOTH

A moth is not helped much by its eyes because, blinded in its desire for the beauty of light, it will fly directly into a bonfire.  

FISH

Those who feed on their appetites are like a fish dazzled by a light that is so darkens it that the fisherman's snares cannot be seen. 

CATARACT

The appetites are like a cataract on the eye or specks of dust in it; until removed they obstruct vision.

BIRD

It makes little difference whether a birfd is tied by a thin thread or by a cord; that is, it will be impeded from flying as long as it does not break the thread.  Admittedly the thread is easier to break, but no matter how easily it may be done, the bird will not fly away without first doing so.  

REMORA

An individual's appetite and attachments resemble the remora, which, if successful in clinging to the ship, will hold it back and prevent it from reaching port, or even from sailing, even though this fish is exceptionally small.  

WINDOW

A ray of sunlight on a smudgy window is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into its own light.  It could do this if the window were cleansed and polished. The less the film and stain ae wiped away, the less the window will be illumined and the cheaner the window is, the brigher wil be its illlumination.  .... If the window is totally clean and pure, the sunlight will so transform and illumine it that to all appearances the window will be identical with the ray of sunlight and shine just as the suns ray. 

BAT

Aristotle teaches that just as the sun is total darkness to the eyes fo a bat, so the brightest light in God is total darkness to our intellect.  

MEDDLER

The devil can be a great meddler ....

What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't want.

The Dark Night

OWL

The brighter the light, the more the owl is blinded; and the more one looks at the brilliant sun, the more the sun darknens the faculty of sight, deprives and overwhelms it in its weakness.

FIRE AND WOOD

Fire, when applied to wood, first dehumidifies it, dispelling all moisture and making it give off any water it contains.  Then it gradually turns the wood black, makes it dark and ugly, and even causes it to emit a bad odor.  By drying out the wood, the fire brings to light and expels all those ugly and dark accidents that are contrary to fire.  Finally, by heating and enkindling it from without, the fire transforms the wood into itself and makes it as beautiful as it is itself. Once transformed, the wood no longer has any activity or passivity of its own, except for its weight and its quantity that is denser than the fire.  It possesses the properties and performs the actions of fire:  It is dry and it dires; it is hot and it gives off heat; it is brilliant and it illumines; it is also much ligher in weight than before.  It is the fire that produces all these properties in the wood. 

ONE WHO GOES OUT AT NIGHT

We have the metaphor of one who, in order to execute a plan better and without hindrance, goes out at night, in darkness, when everybody in the house is sleeping.  

The Spiritual Canticle

STAG

A stag wounded by a poison arrow neither rests nor remains calm, but searches everywhere for remedies, plunging now into these waters, now into those, and the effect of the poison arrow ever increases in all circumstances and with all remedies taken until finally it siezes upon the heart and the stag dies.  

DIVINE WHISTLING

Elijah at the mouth of the cave .. saw God in the cave, 1 Kings 19:11-13,  .... the whistling of a gentle breeze .... the divine whistling 

SPARROW

The sparrow ordinarily perches on the highest things ... it always turns its beak toward the wind .... it is usually alone and allows no other bird close to it, when another perches nearby, it flies away.  ... it sings very sweetly .... it possesses no definite color.  

... human life was like a sparrow that flies through a lighted hall, in one door and out the other.  The Venerable Bede in Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

FOX

As foxes pretend to be asleep when they are out to catch their prey, so all these appetites and sensory powers are tranquil and asleep until these flowers of virtue rise and blossom in the soul in an exercise of love.

PINE CONE

As a pine cone is something sturdy with many pieces, or pine kernels, firmily fastened together, so this cone or bouquet of virtues that the soul arranges for her Beloved forms one pefect whole embodying in itself many perfect and strong virtues and very rich gifts. 

NORTH AND SOUTH WIND

The north wind is very cold; it dries up and withers the flowers and plants, or at least makes them shrink ....  The south wind is a delightful breeze; it causes rain, makes herbs and plants germinate, opens flowers, and spreads their fragrance.  

SWIFT WINGED BIRDS

He calls the wanderings of the imagination "swift-winged birds' for these digressions are quick and restless in flying from one place to another. 

NIGHTINGALE

The song of the nightingale begins its song in the spring once the winters cold, rain, and changes have passed, and provides melody for the ear and refreshment for the spirit.  

The Living Flame of Love.

SOUND PALATE

Those who do not have a sound palate, but seek other tastes, cannot taste the spirit and life of God's words, his words, rather, are distasteful to them.