Sermons on the Song of Songs
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
St. Bernard interprets the song of songs in reference to the love between God and the soul. God is deeply in love with us, and wills our love in return. This love between the soul and God, which is the most intimate love possible, is expressed in the analogy of bride and bridegroom, where the intimacy of love is especially expressed.
These sermons or Commentary On the Song of Songs
Table of Contents
- Sermon 1 - On the title of the book
- Sermon 2 - Various meanings of the kiss
- Sermon 3 - The kiss of the Lord's feet, hands and mouth (1)
- Sermon 4 - The kiss of the Lord's feet, hands and mouth (2)
- Sermon 5 - On the four kinds of spirits
- Sermon 6 - God's infinite power, mercy and judgment
- Sermon 7 - Intimicies of the Love of God
- Sermon 8 - The Holy Spirit: the kiss of the mouth
- Sermon 9 - On the breasts of the bride and the bridegroom
- Sermon 10 - The breasts and their perfumes
- Sermon 11 - Thanksgiving for Christ's saving work
- Sermon 12 - The grace of loving-kindness
- Sermon 13 - Our thanksgiving and God's glory
- Sermon 14 - The Church of Christ and the Jews
- Sermon 15 - The name of Jesus
- Sermon 16 - Meaning of the number '7' and the qualities of true confession
- Sermon 17 - On the ways of the Holy Spirit and the envy of the devil
- Sermon 18 - The two operations of the Holy Spirit
- Sermon 19 - The loves of the angels
- Sermon 20 - Three qualities of love
- Sermon 21 - The love of the Bride, the Church, for Christ
- Sermon 22 - On the four ointments of the bridegroom and the four cardinal virtues
- Sermon 23 - In the rooms of the King
- Sermon 24 - Detraction and man's righteousness
- Sermon 25 - Why the bride is black but beautiful
- Sermon 26 - The blackness of the bride compared to the tents of kedar; bernard's lament for his brother
- Sermon 27 - The beauty of the bride compared to the curtains of solomon why she is called a heaven
- Sermon 28 - The blackness and beauty of the bridegroom and the bride
- Sermon 29 - On discord in the church and in communities
- Sermon 30 - Mystical vineyards and the prudence of the flesh
- Sermon 31 - The various ways of seeing god
- Sermon 32 - How Christ adapts his graces to personal needs
- Sermon 33 - Ends to be pursued --the mystical noontide; temptations to be avoided
- Sermon 34 - True humility
- Sermon 35 - The Bridegroom reproves the Bride -- two kinds of ignorance
- Sermon 36 - The acquiring of knowledge
- Sermon 37 - Knowledge and ignorance of god and of self
- Sermon 38 - Ignorance of God leads to despair; the beauty of the Bride
- Sermon 39 - The devil and his army
- Sermon 40 - The face of the bride
- Sermon 41 - The intellect, faith and contemplation
- Sermon 42 - Fraternal correction - two kinds of humility
- Sermon 43 - The sufferings of Christ
- Sermon 44 - The Soul's Beauty - Its Dialogue with the Word
- Sermon 45 - The Wine of Zeal and the Oil of Mercy
- Sermon 46 - The Church and its Ministers - The Virtues that Lead to Contemplation
- Sermon 47 - The Flower of the Field, of the Garden, and of the Bridal Suite
- Sermon 48 - As a Lily among Thorns, so the Soul Amid Sins
- Sermon 49 - The Wine-Cellar
- Sermon 50 - Concerning Love in the Affections and in Action
- Sermon 51 - Concerning the Flowers and Apples
- Sermon 52 - God's Esteem for the One he Loves
- Sermon 53 - The Voice of the Beloved
- Sermon 54 - If We Are to Avoid Pride
- Sermon 55 - How we Ought to Judge Ourselves Lest we be Judged
- Sermon 56 - His Presence and His Absence
- Sermon 57 - He Grants Fear to Some, Security to Others
- Sermon 58 - Why the Bride is Ordered to Make Haste
- Sermon 59 - The Reason Why the Bridegroom says: 'In Our Land'
- Sermon 60 - The Fig Tree and its Green Figs
- Sermon 61 - 'My Dove in the Clefts of the Rock'
- Sermon 62 - The Two Kinds of Heavenly Contemplation
- Sermon 63 - The Vineyard Which the Foxes Destroy
- Sermon 64 - The Different Kinds of Foxes: I Stand By My Promise
- Sermon 65 - Heretics
- Sermon 66 - These New Heretics
- Sermon 67 - My Beloved is Mine and I am His
- Sermon 68 - The Care of the Bridegroom for the Bride
- Sermon 69 - Of the Coming of the Father and the Son to the Soul
- Sermon 70 - He Feeds Among the Lilies
- Sermon 71 - The Feeding of the Bridegroom
- Sermon 72 - 'Until the Day Breathes Forth Life'
- Sermon 73 - Why the Bride Says 'Return'
- Sermon 74 - The Roe and the Young Fawn
- Sermon 75 - On Seeking Him With the Whole Heart
- Sermon 76 - Through the Streets and Squares I Will Seek Him Whom My Soul Loves
- Sermon 77 - The Kind of Shepherd by which the Bride Says She was Found and the Love of Truth Which She Has Learned From Them
- Sermon 78 - How God, the Angelic Host, and Man Work Together
- Sermon 79 - The Bond of Love by Which the Bride Holds the Bridegroom and WIll not let Him Go
- Sermon 80 - A Return to the Moral Level
- Sermon 81 - Simplicity, Immortality, and Freedom
- Sermon 82 - How the Soul, Torn Between Despair and Hope, Grows in its Desire for God and to be Like Him
- Sermon 83 - The Bridegroom Loves First and More Strongly, the Bride Must Love with her Whole Being
- Sermon 84 - How the Soul is Awakened and the Will Inspired to Seek God
- Sermon 85 - Seven Reasons Why the Soul Seeks the Word
- Sermon 86 - In Praise of the Modesty of the Bride
De Diligendo Deo - by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Latin text and English translation of this work on loving God.
Introduction to and selection from St. Bernard's Sermons on the Song of Songs - by Prof. Katherine Gill.
Writings on love - teachings and reflections on love by St. Francis de Sales, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. John of the Cross, Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection, and St. Therese of Lisieux