Desire And Longing

Ardorem desiderii Patrum suspirantium Christi a carne praesentiam frequentissime cogitans, compungor et confundor in memetipso; et nunc vix contineo lacrymas, ita pudet teporis torporisque miserabilium temporum horum. Cui namque nostrum tantum ingerat gaudium gratiae hujus exhibitio, quantum sanctis veteribus accenderat desiderium promissio? Ecce enim quam multi in hac ejus, quae proxime celebranda est, Nativitate gaudebunt! sed utinam de nativitate, non de vanitate! Illorum ergo desiderium flagrans et piae exspectationis affectum spirat mihi vox ista: Osculetur me osculo oris sui. Senserat nimirum in spiritu, quisquis tunc spiritualis esse poterat, quanta foret gratia diffusa in labiis illis. Propterea loquens in desiderio animae aiebat, Osculetur me osculo oris sui; nimirum omnimodis cupiens tantae suavitatis participio non fraudari. Dicebat enim perfectus quisque: Quo mihi ora haec seminiverbia prophetarum? Ipse potius speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, ipse me osculetur osculo oris sui. Non audio jam Moysen: impeditioris siquidem linguae factus est mihi. Isaiae labia immunda sunt: Jeremias nescit loqui, quia puer est: et Prophetae omnes elingues sunt. Ipse, ipse quem loquuntur, ipse loquatur: ipse me osculetur osculo oris sui. Non in eis jam, aut per eos loquatur mihi, quoniam tenebrosa aqua in nubibus aeris: sed ipse me osculetur osculo oris sui, cujus gratiosa praesentia, et admirandae fluenta doctrinae fiant in me fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. Quem unxit Pater oleo laetitiae prae consortibus suis, nunquid non ex ipso mihi uberior infunditur gratia? si tamen dignetur me osculari osculo oris sui. Cujus utique sermo vivus et efficax osculum mihi est, non quidem conjunctio labiorum, quae interdum pacem mentitur animorum; sed plane infusio gaudiorum, revelatio secretorum, mira quaedam et quodam modo indiscreta commixtio superni luminis et illuminatae mentis. Adhaerens quippe Deo, unus spiritus est. Merito proinde visiones et somnia non recipio, figuras et aenigmata nolo; ipsas quoque angelicas fastidio species. Quippe et ipsos longe superat Jesus meus specie sua et pulchritudine sua. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, In Cantica Canticorum, Sermo II, De Incarnatione Christi per patriarchas et prophetas nuntiata, et ardentissime ab eis exspectata. Source: Migne PL 183.789d-790c

Frequently thinking on the burning desire with which the patriarchs longed for the incarnate Christ, I am struck and confused in myself, and even now I can scarcely hold back my tears, so ashamed am I by the tepidity and torpor of these miserable times. For to which of us does the revelation of this favour bring as much joy as the promise of it inflamed the desire of the holy men of old? Behold how many will rejoice in this His nativity, the celebration of which is so near now, but how I wish it were inspired by His birth and not by vanity! Therefore their intense desire and longing of pious expectation is breathed in me by this voice: 'Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.' 1 Whoever was spiritual then sensed in his spirit how great was the grace that would be poured upon those lips. Because of which, speaking in the desire of his soul, he said: 'Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth,' desiring that he should not be deprived of participation in such great sweetness. For whoever was perfect would say: 'What to me are these verbose mouths of the prophets? Rather let him who is the fairest among the sons of men, let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Now I do not hear Moses, for he has become slow of tongue to me. 2 The lips of Isaiah are unclean. 3 Jeremiah does not know how to speak, because he is a child. 4 All the prophets lack eloquence. The one whom they proclaim, let him speak to me, 'let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.' Let Him not speak in them or through them anymore, because they are 'dark waters in the clouds of the air,' 5 but 'let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth,' whose presence is full of grace, and let those wondrous streams of teachings flow in me, a spring inside me, welling up to eternal life. 6 Shall I not be more abundantly infused with grace from Him whom the Father has anointed with the oil of joy above His associates, 7 if He finds me worthy of the kisses of His mouth? For His living and active word is a kiss to me, not indeed a joining of lips that can sometimes feign the peace of friends, but a full pouring in of joys and revelations of mysteries, and a wondrous and indistinguishable mixing of the Divine light and the illuminated mind. Certainly, when joined to God, the spirit is one. 8 Rightly, then, I reject visions and dreams and care not for parables and figures, I am even averse to the beauty of angels. For my Jesus far surpasses these in His splendour and beauty. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Sermon 2, On The Incarnation of Christ announced through the Patriarchs and the Prophets, and their burning hope. 1 Song 1.1 2 Exod 4.10 3 Isaiah 6.5 4 Jerem 1.6 5 Ps 17.12 6 Jn 4.14 7 Ps 44.8 8 1 Cor 5.17