Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

The Longing of Our Soul

A Brief Background

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was born into an aristocratic family in France in 1090. His family was very devout and raised him in the faith. As a young man, he decided to become a monk and convinced thirty of his friends and relatives to do the same! They all entered the monastery together when he was twenty-two. (Sounds like he was quite the charismatic young man with natural leader qualities!)

Saint Bernard (I feel like I’m talking about a dog here) is most well known for his commentary on the Song of Songs, which he never finished, only making it one-third of the way through before his death at age sixty-three.¹

Love for the Bridegroom

Bernard spoke of the longing our soul has as we seek God:

The soul seeks the Word, but has been first sought by the Word…Let her seek him as she can, provided she remembers that she was first sought, as she was first loved; and it is because of this that she herself both seeks and loves.²

Bernard recognizes that there are times when we feel distant from God and there are times when we feel his sweetness. We likely all have experienced (or will experience) times in our faith when our soul goes through dryness. He goes on to explain how dryness can be a means of strengthening our faith:

“Blessed are they who have not seen, yet have believed.” Jn 20:29 So, giving room for virtue, he withdraws himself from her sight, that she may not be robbed of the merit of faith.³

The exercise of faith unites us deeply with God, especially in the seasons of our life when God feels distant or faith feels dry. Bernard’s words remind us that we are able to seek only because we have first been sought and that faith is strengthened in the midst of trials.

Preparing Our Hearts

How can we learn from Saint Bernard about seeking God, our soul’s longing and desire, today?

1. Ralph Martin, The Fulfillment of All Desire, ch 9, pp 191-195

2. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, vol IV, sermon 84, no. 3-4, p 190-191

3. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, vol. IV, sermon 76, no. 2, p 110