Collation 6

CONFERENCE VI.


Second conference on the gift of fortitude.

Summary.

Introduction, 1.

Repetition and application of the text, 2-4. - Threefold division of the argument, 5. - Part I. The Blessed Virgin brought forth the price of our redemption as strong and holy. Her threefold holiness. First, the holiness of uncorrupted chastity, 6. - Second, the holiness of ready obedience, 7. - Third, the holiness of full benevolence, 8.

Six figures of the Virgin, three in history, three in words: these signify six properties of divine love, 9-11.

We ought to imitate the Blessed Virgin in these things, but not Eve: a rebuke of sin, especially of lust; one must beware of women, 12-14.

Part II. She herself paid that price as strong and devout. She offered her Son beneath the cross to pay the price of the world, 15.

On the devotion of the Blessed Virgin: this is threefold, 16.

She paid the price first by the devotion of divine veneration; hence she is praiseworthy above all: the impiety of men is rebuked, 17. - Second, by the devotion of compassion toward Christ: suffering with Christ, 18. 19.

Third, by the devotion of mercy toward the world: the Blessed Virgin, devout mother of Christians: devotion is commended to all, 20. 21.

Part III. She herself possesses that price as strong and valiant. She was valiant in three ways: first, fighting manfully by crushing the head of the serpent, 22.

Second, nobly triumphing over the devil, as Judith over Holofernes, 23.

Third, reigning sublimely, as Esther crowned, 24.

1. Who shall find a valiant woman? etc.

Pray for us, for you are a holy woman. The last word was the word of the priests to Judith: and it can be our word to the most glorious Virgin, who is full of holiness and grace, that she may pray for us to obtain grace and wisdom: wisdom for knowing the truth, and grace for doing the truth. These two things we ought to seek from God. For this purpose we come to the sermon, that we may have good understanding and carry away the affection of penance. But we need prayer for this; and because we are dull and slow, therefore we need the intercession of the glorious Virgin, that through her intercession we may implore the divine assistance, that we may be able to say something, etc.

2. Who shall find a valiant woman, etc. In the evening we touched upon that word, which is Solomon's word applied to the glorious Virgin, in which he commends her for three things: first, for the strength of spiritual fortitude: second, for the fruitfulness of supernatural conception: and third, for the discernment of salutary counsel.

And rightly are these three joined together: because the strength of fortitude spiritual was the beginning of the supernatural conception, and the gift of counsel was as it were the complement, because that Virgin, who was to conceive Christ, the Son of God, the power of God and the wisdom of God, had to be strong and prudent: strong in virtue and prudent through wisdom. And therefore the Wise Man, wishing to explain the conception of the Virgin, sets forth first the spirit of fortitude and then adds the gift of counsel; because she, upon whom the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety and the spirit of the fear of the Lord was to rest, had to be filled with the sevenfold spirit of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but especially with the spirit of fortitude and counsel.

3. Moreover, in that he says: Her price is from afar and from the uttermost boundaries, the glorious Virgin is understood to be commended for the supernatural fecundity of her conception. This I do not have from myself, but Bernard says: "If our salvation and that of all, if the restoration of innocence is placed in the hand of a woman: it is necessary that a strong woman be sought, who is needed for so great a work"; and he adds: "Not from the earth, not from the nearby heaven, but from the highest heaven is his going forth ."

Her price therefore is from afar and from the uttermost boundaries. This is the price of which the Apostle says: You have been bought with a great price; bear and glorify God in your body. That the price is great, the Apostle Peter says: You were redeemed not with corruptible gold or silver from your vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood as of a Lamb unspotted and undefiled. This had to be a great price, by which the whole world and the entire human race was to be redeemed; because man could not make satisfaction, since no single man could be worth all men, nor could any creature. Nothing was sufficient to redeem the entire human race unless it possessed human nature and a nature above every creature; therefore it was necessary that it possess both a divine and a human nature.

4. Where shall that price be found? Certainly nowhere except in the womb of the glorious Virgin. Whence Isaiah: Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. — Emmanuel is interpreted God with us. It was not fitting for the Virgin to have a son unless he were God, nor for God to have a mother unless she were a Virgin. That price could not be found except in the Virgin. It is from afar and from the uttermost boundaries, because in him the highest is joined with the lowest, and the first with the last. That price is from afar, by which the entire human race is redeemed: because what is redeemed is the lowest, therefore it is the highest: because what is redeemed is the last, therefore it is the first. Man among creatures was created last.

5. Far off and from the uttermost boundaries is her price; and whose is this price? The price of this woman, the blessed Virgin, is that by which we may be able to obtain the kingdom of heaven; or it is hers, that is, taken from her, paid through her, and possessed by her: taken from her in the incarnation of the Word; paid through her in the redemption of the human race; and possessed by her in the attainment of the glory of paradise. She herself brought forth that price, paid it, and possessed it: therefore it is hers as originating, as paying, and as possessing. This woman brought forth that price as strong and holy; paid it as strong and compassionate; and possessed it as strong and vigorous.

6. I say first that she brought forth that price, namely God and man. The blessed Virgin brought him forth as a strong and holy woman, with the holiness, I say, of uncorrupted modesty, the holiness of ready obedience, and the holiness of full benevolence.

First, I say, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy with the holiness of uncorrupted modesty. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: Grace upon grace is a holy and modest woman; and the Angel said: Hail, full of grace, because she was holy and modest: holy in flesh and modest in mind. The Apostle: The unmarried woman and the virgin thinks on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit. On that text: The Angel Gabriel was sent, etc., Bernard says: "Gabriel was sent to the Virgin, such as the Apostle describes, holy in mind and body, not newly nor by chance discovered, but chosen from eternity, foreknown by the Most High and prepared for himself, guarded by Angels, prefigured by the Patriarchs, promised by the Prophets." To this Virgin Gabriel had to be sent as a bridesman. She alone pleased the Most High. Likewise Bernard: "The royal Virgin, resplendent with the twofold beauty of her mind, drew upon herself the gaze of the citizens of heaven, so that she both inclined the heart of the King to desire of her and drew the heavenly messenger down to herself from on high."

7. Second, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy with the holiness of prompt obedience. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: Everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, and the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman. The Church had to be founded: therefore it was necessary to lay the foundations, namely the commandments of God, and it was necessary that they be placed in some person. This could not be except in the glorious Virgin; Psalm: His foundations are in the holy mountains: a man is born in her, and the Most High himself has founded her. He says: The commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman, that is, of the glorious Virgin. She was not idle, she was not one who knew and did not act, but she was obedient. Therefore in her heart these commandments of God were founded. It is said in the Gospel: Everyone who hears the word of God and does it is like one who builds his house upon a firm rock; but he who hears and does not do it is like one who builds upon sand.

First it was necessary to find a person in whom the commandments of God might be placed, namely a strong woman. This was the glorious Virgin. Whence in Luke: A certain woman from the crowd, raising her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you. And Jesus said: Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

Not only is she blessed who conceived and nursed him, but also those who follow her. And who are they? Those who hear the word of God and fulfill it. Eve, having transgressed the commandment of God, destroyed the house which God had prepared for us unto salvation; but the wise woman built the house and restored our salvation.

8. Third, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy with the holiness of full benevolence. Whence the Angel Gabriel said to her: Blessed are you among women etc. The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And therefore the holy one that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God. Augustine: The Holy Spirit is love, and although he is given with his gifts, there is no gift from which he cannot be separated except the gift of love. While the other virtues are common to the good and the wicked, the love of God and neighbor is proper to the good and the pious: it alone is what sanctifies. The Holy Spirit came upon her, because love was added to love, so that she might transcend the bounds of all others. Whence Hugo says: "Because the love of God burned singularly in the mind of the Virgin, therefore it worked wonders in her flesh."

It is said in Exodus: That the bush burned and was not consumed, that is, the glorious Virgin, bringing forth the Son of God and light, gave light to the world through the fire of divine love and was not corrupted. The love of charity preserves from corruption. And therefore that which shall be born of you, through undefiled love and keeping her unstained, shall be called the Son of God. Just as from the love of a man with a woman a carnal son is born, so from the love of the Virgin with God the Son of God was born.

9. But a figure preceded in the bush and fire, which Moses saw; a figure in the rod and flower of Aaron; a figure in the fleece and dew of Gideon; and a figure preceded in the strong woman and her price, whom Solomon desired; a figure in the woman and the man, because Jeremiah says: A woman shall encompass a man. All of this was fulfilled in the glorious Virgin. Whence Bernard says: "What was shown to Moses in the bush and fire, to Aaron in the rod and flower, to Gideon in the fleece and dew: this Solomon clearly foresaw in the strong woman and her price; more clearly Jeremiah foretold concerning the woman and the man; most clearly Isaiah declared concerning the Virgin and her son; and at last Gabriel made it manifest by greeting the Virgin."

10. Histories are touched upon here. The first history is in the bush and fire, where the mystery of the incarnation is expressed. The second history is in the rod of Aaron, which, cut off and dry, in the space of a single night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit. The third history is that Gideon asked of the Lord that the dew falling would be entirely on the fleece, and the threshing floor would remain dry; and he filled a basin with dew. — The three other words are those of Solomon, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. The word of Solomon concerns the strong woman and her price. The word of Jeremiah concerns the woman and the man: A new thing, he says, the Lord will make upon the earth; a woman shall encompass a man. The word of Isaiah concerns the Virgin and her son: Behold, he says, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. And this shall be a sign to you, etc.

11. Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is a fervent love is signified to us in the bush and fire. That he is a fruitful love is signified in the rod of Aaron, which in the space of a night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit. That he is an undefiled love is signified in the completed fleece, because the dew did not soil the fleece but cleansed it. That he is a virile love is signified to us in the woman and the man, because the woman encompassed the man, that is, enclosed him on every side. That he is an incorrupt love is signified to us in the Virgin, who conceived a son. That he is a deifying love is signified to us in the Virgin bearing God.

That price is most precious. On account of this Isaiah says: A man shall be more precious than gold, and a human being than pure gold of Ophir. This he says of Christ, who made us precious.

12. Everyone who wishes to be holy must follow the glorious Virgin in the sanctity of incorrupt purity, prompt obedience, and full benevolence. And just as by following the glorious Virgin we become precious and holy, so by following Eve we become wicked and worthless. Whence in Proverbs: The price of a harlot is scarcely one loaf of bread; but a woman captures the precious soul of a man. O foolish Eve, for the eating of one fruit you sold yourself and your husband and all of us! O son of Eve! Beware, lest you be an imitator of Eve; but for whatever pleasure you give your soul, you are an imitator of Eve. What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, yet suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For all that God has created, I would not give my soul. Christ gave His blood to redeem your soul, and for sin you sell yourself and your soul!

13. Do you know what happens through sin? The most precious becomes the most worthless. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: A fornicating woman shall be trodden underfoot as dung in the road. What then is a fornicating cleric and priest? Certainly an abomination to the Lord. Flee therefore from lusts and follow the Virgin, who believed the Archangel Gabriel, not the woman who believed the serpent. Solomon followed foolish women, therefore he laments and says in Ecclesiastes: I found woman more bitter than death, who is the snare of hunters, and her heart is a net, her hands are bonds. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but he who is a sinner shall be captured by her. A snare to those who look upon her, a net to those who lust and consent, and bonds to those who touch her.

14. I say first that she is a snare to those who look upon her; whence it is written: Many, having admired the beauty of a strange woman, have become reprobate. It is read of blessed Bernard that his sister came to see him, adorned with the most beautiful finery; he spat in her face and fled from her. She, indignant, asked why he did this; he answered: "because you come in the adornment of a harlot to capture souls and carry the devil with you." Therefore he says: She is the snare of hunters, that is, of the devil, who through her captures souls: because whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Likewise, she is a net to those who lust and consent. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: On account of the beauty of a woman many have perished. It is difficult to carry fire in one's bosom without one's garments being burned.

Likewise, the hands of a woman are bonds to those who touch her, because she holds so tightly that a man cannot be separated from her. Whence the Apostle: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

From a garment comes the moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man.

If we wish to be most precious, we must cling to the price of the most valiant woman, the incorrupt, most obedient, and most loving Virgin. That woman, namely Eve, expels us from paradise and sells us; this one leads us back and redeems us. — She therefore brought forth that price as a woman valiant and holy.

15. Second, she paid this price as a woman strong and devout, namely when Christ suffered on the cross to pay this price, so that he might purify, wash, and redeem us; then the blessed Virgin was present, accepting and consenting to the divine will. And it pleased her that the price of her womb should be offered on the cross for us. Whence in John: There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing, whom he loved, he said to his mother: Woman, behold your son, namely, who will be handed over as the price of redemption of the human race: as if he were saying: it is necessary for you to be without me, and for me to be without you; and you yourself, as a holy woman, conceived him, and as a devout woman, you offer him; may it please you, O Virgin, that I redeem the human race and appease God. And lest she be left desolate, he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother; he gave a virgin man to the Virgin.

16. Let us hear something of her devotion. This is our hope, who paid this price, as devout with the devotion of divine veneration; second, with the devotion of compassion toward Christ; and third, with the devotion of mercy toward the world, and especially toward the Christian people.

17. First, I say, she paid this price as strong and devout with the devotion of divine veneration. Whence in Proverbs: Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain; the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. But there is no one who could restore the honor taken from God except Christ. And the blessed Virgin is venerative and restorative of the honor taken from God, and a mother consenting that Christ be offered as the price. Therefore she shall be praised. Anna was praised because she offered Samuel: whence it is said of her: The woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer changed. She offered her son to serve: but the blessed Virgin offered her son to be sacrificed. — Abraham, you wished to offer your son, but you offered a ram! But the glorious Virgin offered her own son.

The poor widow is praised because she offered all that she had: but this woman, namely the glorious Virgin, most merciful, devout, and devoted to God, offered her whole substance. — In this the impiety of men is rebuked, who do not render thanks to God for what they have received. You have received so many good things from God, namely prebends and other things; if you do anything for God, it seems great to you. But if you give yourself and everything you have for God, it is nothing. The blessed Virgin paid that price, strong and devout with the devotion of divine veneration. Devotion principally consists in the worship of God.

18. Second, the glorious Virgin, strong and devout, paid that price with the piety of compassion toward Christ. It is said in John: A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her hour has come. On account of giving birth, a woman has pain, namely preceding the delivery. But the blessed Virgin did not have pain preceding the delivery, because she did not conceive from sin, as did Eve, to whom the curse was given; rather, she had pain after the delivery. Whence she gave birth before she was in labor. On the cross she labored; whence in Luke: And a sword shall pierce your own soul. In other women there is pain of the body, in her there is pain of the heart; in others there is pain of corruption, in her there is pain of compassion and charity. Whence she invites us to consider her sorrow, in Jeremiah: All you, she says, who pass by the way, attend and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.

19. This sorrow ought to pierce through the minds of all. Christ died for you; ought you not to suffer with him? The blessed Virgin suffered with him to the utmost; but on the other hand, it pleased her that he was handed over for us. No one knows how much compassion for Christ avails. There is nothing that so extinguishes temptations and pride as that the mind be kept in compassion for the suffering of Christ. The time of Christ's passion comes, and some again are crucifying to themselves the Son of God, namely so far as it lies within them. The supreme cruelty of Christian iniquity is this: that you who are wholly of the blood of Christ, by sinning crucify him again, so far as it lies within you.

20. Third, the blessed Virgin paid that price as a woman strong and devout with the piety of mercy toward the world, and especially toward the Christian people. Isaiah: Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have mercy on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet I will not forget you. This is said of Christ. — And it can be understood here that the entire Christian people was brought forth from the womb of the glorious Virgin, which is signified to us by the woman formed from the side of the man, who signifies the Church.

Whence in Genesis: The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam, and when he had fallen asleep, he took one of his ribs and made a woman and brought her to Adam. And Adam said that she was woman, because she was taken from man. This, he said, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. And the Lord said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and sons and daughters, and shall cleave to his wife. And the Apostle said: This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.

And why, while he slept, did He take one of his ribs? Could He not have done this while he was awake? This is mystical. Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross. And just as from Adam and Eve, Abel and his successors were formed, so from Christ and the Church the whole Christian people. And just as Eve is the mother of Abel and of all of us, so the Christian people has the Virgin as mother.

21. O what a loving mother we have! Let us conform ourselves to our mother and follow her loving-kindness. So greatly did she have compassion for souls that she counted temporal loss and bodily suffering as nothing. So for the salvation of our soul, let it please us to crucify our body. It is said in Matthew: When Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment, and she broke the alabaster jar and poured the ointment over the head of Jesus. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Seeing this, the disciples murmured, certain of them saying: Why this waste? For it could have been sold for much and given to the poor. And Jesus said: Why do you trouble this woman? She has wrought a good work upon me: for the poor you have always with you, but me you do not always have. Magdalene bears the type of penitents; she broke the alabaster jar of ointment out of the loving-kindness which she had toward Christ. And we ought to have loving-kindness toward the universal Church and toward the penitent soul. And just as Magdalene by sinning lost God, so when she anointed the feet and head of Christ, she found Him.

See to it that each one of you has that ointment, so that he may be devoutly disposed toward God and may repent and guard himself from sin. Some have compassion on their flesh, not on their soul. Whence in Lamentations: The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children. Such a one is not like the Virgin nor like Christ. He boils his children who has no compassion on his own soul, but exposes it to the fire of concupiscence and of infernal torments. Of such a woman it is said: Better is the iniquity of a man than a woman doing good: you cannot afflict the body too much. Let us not give our body to sin. We have been bought at a great price. Do not become servants of men nor of demons nor of sins. If I had redeemed some servant, I would not give him away for nothing. — It is now clear how the glorious Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy and paid it in full as strong and loving.

22. Third, she possesses that price glorified in heaven, because she is strong and valiant, manfully fighting, nobly triumphing, and sublimely reigning.

First, I say, the blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is strong and valiant as one valiantly fighting. In Genesis: The Lord said to the serpent: I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel. Bernard says of the glorious Virgin: "She crushed the head of the ancient serpent, when she reduced to nothing every suggestion of the evil one, both regarding the allurement of the flesh and the pride of the mind."

Do not allow the serpent to enter into your heart through suggestion; for Gregory says that when the head of the serpent has entered into any opening, then the whole body easily enters. For this reason the Psalm says: Blessed is he who shall seize and dash his little ones against the rock, that is, the first movements against Christ: and then he shall have peace. He who wishes to defend his land fears for himself, lest the enemy enter his land: for he who holds the borders of his land in strength possesses the interior more securely.

23. Second, the blessed Virgin possesses this price, because she is strong and valiant, nobly triumphing, which is signified in Judith, where it is said: One Hebrew woman has brought shame upon the house of Nebuchadnezzar. Judith cut off the head of Holofernes, and all his men fled. In the Gospel it is said: A sword shall pierce your own soul: and Judith slew Holofernes with his own sword. — How then does Judith signify the glorious Virgin? Consider the New Testament and the Old. Holy Simeon said: A sword shall pierce your own soul, that is, a living sorrow. Whence? Surely from the passion of Christ. Who inflicted the passion upon Christ? The Jew, the pagan, Pilate. These were the instruments, but who was moving them to this? Surely the devil was forging the sword by which the soul of the Virgin was pierced, and she herself was healed, and the devil was vanquished. The devil wished to have the bait of Christ's flesh; but the Divinity clung to his throat like a hook; she drove a nail into the temple of Sisera. The one who destroyed the army of the Midianites triumphed nobly.

Therefore, following her example, let us not allow ourselves to be conquered.

24. Third, the blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is strong and valiant, sublimely reigning. Whence in Esther it is said that Esther found grace before Ahasuerus above all women, and he placed a diadem upon her head and made her queen. The blessed Virgin on account of her sanctity, piety, and sublimity had a crown of precious stone. Who is this stone? Certainly Christ. Whence blessed Peter: Behold, I shall place in the foundation a precious stone. The blessed Virgin was crowned with this stone in the flesh: seeing in the flesh the glorified body of Christ, seeing in spirit his glorified soul, and in mind his Divinity. Christ was crowned first, and she afterward. Whence in the Canticle: Go forth, daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem with which his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals and on the day of the gladness of his heart, that is, in flesh and mind, because he first put on flesh, suffered, and afterward was glorified: and the whole Church was crowned through him. Whence in the Apocalypse: A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. - We shall have this crown if we wish to imitate the glorious Virgin. Whence it is written: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life: and in the Apocalypse: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life: which may he who with the Father, etc., deign to bestow upon us.