Medieval authors such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux saw in the Bride of the biblical book of the Song of Songs an image of the the Church, the Virgin Mary as well as the individual soul. We have been reading Saint Bernard's Commentary on the Song of Songs, and were struck by these lines that remind us that the Lord Jesus, as Bridegroom of the soul, is always searching after us.
You would not seek him or love him unless you had first been sought and loved. Not only in one blessing have you been anticipated but in two: being loved as well as being sought. Love is the reason for the seeking, and the seeking is the consequence of the love as well as the proof...Since I love, I cannot doubt that I am loved, anymore than I can doubt that I love. Nor can I fear to look upon his face, since I have sensed his tenderness.
Photograph by Justin Munroe. Excerpt from Sermon 84 On the Song of Songs by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
Photograph by Justin Munroe. Excerpt from Sermon 84 On the Song of Songs by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
