| Animabit Multimedia Editions (WWW) | Nr. 1 (1998) | Nr. 2 (1998) | Nr. 3 (1998) |

				The Sweetness of God's Grace According to Bernard of Clairvaux - The Bridge Between Augustine and Luther by Franz Posset

Contents

1. Grace - Sweetness - Love
2. The "Sweetness of the Lord"
3. The Lord's Sweetness on the Cross - Suavis in Cruce
4. The Sweetness of God's Grace is Prevenient and Subsequent
5. Mercy Alone - Grace Alone
6. "Men of grace"
7. The Sweetness of "Faith Alone"

Notes

Franz Posset: Pater Bernhardus (forthcoming)

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:

When he [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]

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 beföre 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]

]

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

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]

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 Daniélou 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 ïd (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981 [CF 251]) 122; as to the dating of the sermon, see Sa ïd'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:ünes 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 Böhmisch (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 süeze market), see Friedrich Ohly, "Süße Nägel der Passion," Collectanea Philologica. Festschrift für 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 füll, 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 schließen zu dürfen (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 Einfluß auf das Denken Bernhards von Clairvaux," Höre mein Sohn, eds. A. K. Frenz, F. Staudiger, and G. Jehnek (Heiligenkreuz: Studienreihe 2, 1982), and most recently by Irénée 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 Gesprächspartner Bernhards. In: "Die Bedeutung der Trinität für 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 Daniélou, "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

PUBLICATIONS

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