But see whether Isaiah, by the weight of his thoughts and the order of his words, did not foretell all these things long before. ‘In that day,’ he says, ‘the branch of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be sublime, and great joy [shall cornel to those of Israel who have been saved. The ‘branch of the Lord’ is Christ Jesus, alone conceived of perfectly clean seed. Although in the likeness of sinful flesh nevertheless he was not in sinful flesh; although a child of Adam’s flesh, nevertheless he was not a child of Adam’s transgression. He was not by nature a child of wrath, like all the rest, who were conceived in iniquities. Therefore this branch that sprouted from Jesse’s rod with virginal greenness was ‘in magnificence’ when he rose up from the dead, since then, ‘O Lord my God, you were exceedingly great,’ arrayed in praise and beauty, ‘clothed with light as with a garment.’ How great the ‘glory’ of your ascension, when, in the midst of angels and saintly souls, you are led to the Father, and, brought into the heavens with the triumphal palm, you enclose the humanity you took on in the very identity of divinity? Who can ponder, much less utter, how ‘sublime’ is ‘the fruit of the earth’ when seated at the right hand of the Father, how he dazzles even the eyes of heavenly natures, how angelic insight quakes and does not grasp it? Therefore, let ‘the great joy’ come. Lord Jesus, ‘to those of Israel who have been saved,’ to your apostles, whom you chose before the foundation of the world.” Let your good Spirit come to wash away impurities and infuse virtues ‘in a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.’

Come then, brothers, let us consider ourselves, and the actions of the Trinity in us, from the beginning of the world until the end. Let us see how that Majesty upon whom lie both the administration and the governance of the ages has been concerned not to lose us forever. Indeed he had made all things mightily, and he was governing all things wisely. Perfectly apparent signs of both realities, his power and his wisdom, were contained in the creation and the conservation of this worldly machine. There was goodness in God, goodness great beyond measure; but it lay concealed in the heart of the Father, to be lavished at a seasonable time upon the race of the children of Adam. Yet the Lord was saying, ‘I think thoughts of peace,’ that he might send us the One who is our peace, ‘who made both one.’ If that he might now bestow peace upon peace, peace to those far away and peace to those who are near. His own kindness, then, induced the Word of God, who was on high, to come down to us; his compassion drew him; the truth by which he had promised that he would come compelled him; the purity of a virginal womb received him, while the virgin’s integrity remained intact; virtue reared him; obedience steered him in all things; patience armed him; and charity revealed him by words and miracles.

SERMONS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON, BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, SERMON 2, PENTECOST, CF 53, CISTERCIAN PUBLICATIONS