MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS: SELF-KNOWLEDGE IN THE ...

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the mystery of his will, the abbot explains, depends on the eschatological consummation of the Church, for which all creation yearns and without which no single part of creation can achieve its originally intended purpose in the everlasting praise of its Creator. “Why, then, should she not glorify herself with confidence,” Bernard asks, “when mercy and truth have embraced to bear witness to her glory?” 409 In SC 69, Bernard goes further, to ask if any individual soul among the congregation of the righteous might presume to make these words of the Bride its own, to claim for itself that exclusive love the Bridegroom has promised to his Church. Yes, Bernard replies, but only a particular kind of soul may claim such an honor, a soul that has been so conformed to the Bridegroom in its affections that its only desire is for its will to be one with his. Bernard writes: Give me a soul who loves nothing but God and whatever is to be loved for the sake of God, a soul for whom to live is Christ (Ph 1:21), and for whom this has been true for a long time; who in both work and leisure strives to keep the Lord always before its eyes, whose sole desire is to walk humbly with God, and who perseveres in this. Give me, I say, such a soul, and I will not deny that it is worthy of the Bridegroom’s love, the care of his majesty, the favor of his sovereignty, the concern of his governance. And if such a soul should wish to boast, it will not be foolish (2 Cor 12:6), provided that the one who boasts, boasts in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31). 410 409 SC 68.7 (II, 200): “Quidni glorietur secura, in cuius testimonium gloriae misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi?” 410 SC 69.1 (II, 202): “Da mihi animam nihil amantem praeter Deum et quod propter Deum amandum est, cui vivere Christus non tantum sit, sed et diu iam fuerit, cui studii et otii sit providere Dominum in conspectu suo semper, cui sollicite ambulare cum Domino Deo suo, non dico magna, sed una voluntas sit, et facultas non desit, da, inquam, talem animam, et ego non nego dignam Sponsi cura, maiestatis respectu, dominantis favore, sollicitudine gubernantis; et si voluerit gloriari, non erit insipiens: tantum ut qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur.” 259
To such a soul, the abbot continues, the Word himself comes and, having prepared it by his grace, makes this soul his dwelling-place (Jn 14:23). This intimacy the Word affords the refashioned soul only further inspires the soul’s fiducia, or loving trust in him, so that, Bernard writes, “I do not think such a soul should fear to say, ‘My Beloved is mine, and I am his,’ for it senses that it loves, and loves ardently, and has no doubt that it is loved ardently in return.” 411 This soul, he explains, is indeed likened to the Word, for just as it devotes all its love, care, concern, devotion, and solicitude to him, so he devotes the same to it in equal measure. In a particularly beautiful passage concerning this mutual love between Bridegroom and Bride, Bernard addresses the Anima-Sponsa directly: “Do you keep vigil? He himself keeps vigil with you. Rise in the night for your vigil, and hasten as quickly as you can to arrive before the hour of your vigil; you will find him there awaiting you, and you will never arrive before him.” 412 When this Anima-Sponsa looks upon her Bridegroom, the abbot adds, she sees him as if he were gazing upon her alone, and sees nothing but himself and her. Yet, since the Anima-Sponsa knows well that her espousal is entirely the gift of the Word’s grace, Bernard concludes his sermon with a prayer in praise of the divine Bridegroom: “You are good, O Lord, to the soul that seeks you! You come to her, embrace her, and reveal yourself to be her Bridegroom, you who are Lord, you who are indeed God, blessed above all things, for ever and ever. Amen.” 413 411 SC 69.7 (II, 206): “Non est, ut opinor, quod iam talis anima dicere vereatur: DILECTUS MEUS MIHI, quae ex eo quod se diligere, et vehementer diligere, sentit, etiam diligi vehementer non ambigit.” 412 SC 69.8 (II, 207): “Vigilas tu? Vigilat et ipse. Consurge in nocte, in principio vigiliarum tuarum, accelera quantumvis etiam ipsas anticipare vigilias: invenies eum, non praevenies.” 413 SC 69.8 (II, 207): “Bonus es, Domine, animae quaerenti te! Occurris, amplecteris, sponsum exhibes, qui Dominus es, immo qui es super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.” 260
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MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS: SE
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MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS: SE
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To my Father, James U. DeFrancis, S
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Christ as the Model of Self-Knowled
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esearch: John Cavadini, Cyril O’R
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self-knowledge is the indispensible
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For Bernard, then, humble self-know
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likeness of charity. Within the Cis
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When Gilson asserted that by self-k
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Bernard, Sommerfeldt continues, hum
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a “false image” of himself. 26
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some newfound and joyous moment of
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ecognize that same sinfulness in hi
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foundations of man’s return to Go
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the descent of humility begins the
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saving work of Jesus Christ in the
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the humility, obedience, and love C
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Of particular importance to Bernard
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and second, “what it is like in i
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In his ground-breaking study of med
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direct links between the two. 52 It
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swells in one’s heart that it mov
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pride as “the desire for a perver
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The knowledge of self and God in th
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mercy until you renew all that is i
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CHAPTER 1: THE SCOPE OF BERNARD’S
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Prior to its first conversion, Bern
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Origen, Bernard here and elsewhere
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of God, they will grow ever more un
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and love as she is loved, and the B
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In the interim or “meanwhile” o
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Why do you judge yourself worthy to
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For Bernard, the lesson to be drawn
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warning and why should it compel he
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worldly things her flesh and senses
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aspired to seize a kind of parody o
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thousands of evils upon our entire
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edemptive work is suitably adapted
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emains forever, this grass too rema
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graciously condescending to assume
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Thus the abbot resolves his spiritu
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of self-knowledge enabled self-dece
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humbles himself will be exalted”
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Church, enabling scholars to instru
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Through this unflinching self-exami
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soon tempers my bitter vision of my
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edeem him, sanctify him, and offer
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As observed above, in the second ha
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modeled and effected by the Word-ma
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Ignorance of self breeds pride when
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consideration of others and their a
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consideration of his treatise as a
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symmetry between these two parts an
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Though this discrepancy at first ap
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self, God, and neighbor. Since it i
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estored in this divine likeness as
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eturn to his suffering brothers and
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much more should the monk not exalt
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for your brother’s misery and not
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sinful weakness and nothing of thei
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Finally, we should note that Bernar
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journey to which the monk will comm
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and judge others or to see how they
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condemned. Lifting his eyes in humi
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will contrary to both the law of Go
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in him by her obedience to his will
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contempt not only for herself and h
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his rule over the reprobate he woul
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in misery rather than to be subject
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descending these early steps of pri
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pleases them and avoid what makes t
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knows.” 201 Should the topic of c
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Here abbot Bernard figures the prou
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ut believe in his inmost heart that
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Asserting Self-Will Against Superio
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As so often in his narrative of the
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who he is, everyone judges him, and
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monk’s descent into this deepest
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God in heaven. He will acknowledge
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Consumed by this self-centered love
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their hearts. Hence Bernard’s fre
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done…by whoever would walk in the
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In recognizing the two distinct mom
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experience, lamenting how he has ma
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inward movement in the soul. In any
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share with them in that divine merc
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Operating inwardly within this judg
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the Truth in his own nature? Matter
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arguing from both allusions in text
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upon the “stage” of the soul an
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(Is 46:8). For Bernard, this first
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desperate need for the healing grac
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consolations afforded it by the lif
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thoroughly diseased: reason now see
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Reason’s rebuke is powerful, and
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In this vision, reason is permitted
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conscience she enjoys through the m
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Word of God, “that living and eff
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knowledge and contempt of himself,
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The Self-Awareness of the Bride in
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When the brightness of this beauty
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For Bernard, then, the soul that ha
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figure of this Ecclesia-Sponsa. On
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Conclusion Having considered three
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self-awareness as his own Bride, ra
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CHAPTER 4: SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND THE M
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Christ’s incarnate, crucified, an
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indeed to the entirety of his theol
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Page 219 and 220: The foregoing elements of Bernard
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Page 227 and 228: excursus has been labeled a “digr
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Page 231 and 232: To resolve this question, Bernard r
Page 233 and 234: You see, therefore, that Christ is
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Page 241 and 242: conformed to him. Then, through the
Page 243 and 244: Modeling this laudabilis curiositas
Page 245 and 246: The theme of Word’s example of vo
Page 247 and 248: equally deadly, extreme of despair.
Page 249 and 250: and humbled by God, so that there w
Page 251 and 252: as essential elements of the Word I
Page 253 and 254: led astray. Their amor carnalis Chr
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Page 259 and 260: death to bring about a real, inward
Page 261 and 262: sins,” “justification,” and
Page 263 and 264: these life-giving virtues, we must
Page 265 and 266: precisely through, a careful approp
Page 267: perhaps she means, “My Beloved in
Page 271 and 272: gradually assuming the figure of Ch
Page 273 and 274: to judge themselves in Truth, and s
Page 275 and 276: ejoice with those who rejoice and w
Page 277 and 278: love of himself in the glory of div
Page 279 and 280: I. Works of Bernard of Clairvaux BI
Page 281 and 282: ------. Sermo 29A. Edited by C. Lam
Page 283 and 284: Courcelle, Pierre. Connais-toi toi-
Page 285 and 286: ------. “Le premier traité authe
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