5 December 2024

From the ‘Discourses’ of St Bernard, Abbot.

(Disc. 5 on Advent, 1-3; Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 4 [1966], 188-190).

 

We know a threefold coming of the Lord. A hidden coming is in fact placed between the other two that are manifested. In the first, the Word was seen on Earth and dwelt with men, when, as He Himself states, they saw Him and hated Him. In the last coming «all people will see God’s salvation» (Lk 3:7) and they will look on the One they have pierced (cf. Jn 19:37). Hidden, on the other hand, is the intermediate coming, in which only the elect see Him within themselves, and their souls are saved.

In the first coming therefore He came in the weakness of the flesh, in this intermediate coming He comes in the power of the Spirit, in the last coming He will come in the majesty of glory.

Hence, this intermediate coming is, as it were, a way connecting the first coming to the last: in the first coming Christ was our redemption, in the last coming He will manifest Himself as our life, in this one He is our rest and consolation.

But lest what we are saying about this intermediate coming should seem to anyone to be invented, listen to Him: Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them (cf. Jn 14:23). But what does it mean: Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching? For I have read elsewhere: Whoever fears the Lord, will do good (Sir 15:1), but more is said of those who love: that they shall keep the word of God. Where is it to be preserved? Undoubtedly in the heart, as the Prophet says: «I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you» (Ps 119:11).

Since blessed are those who keep the word of God, cherish it so that it descends into the depths of your soul and infuses itself into your affections and customs. Nourish yourself with this good, and your soul will derive delight and strength from it. Do not forget to feed on your bread, lest your heart become arid and your soul be well nourished with nourishing food.

If you preserve the word of God in this way, there is no doubt that you too will be preserved by it. The Son will come to you with the Father, the great Prophet will come who will renew Jerusalem and make all things new. This intermediate coming of His will ensure that «just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man» (1 Cor 15:49). As the old Adam spread throughout mankind, occupying it entirely, so now will Christ occupy it entirely, who created it all, redeemed it all, and will glorify it all.