Sermons on the Song of Songs: Complete in Two Volumes
Sermons on the Song of Songs: Complete in Two Volumes
The kiss of the mouth, the fragrance of the Bridegroom, the bed of flowers, the wound of love.
Not yet released. This edition is set and in production. Write to the press and we will let you know the day it goes on sale.
On release, each volume is ordered separately, and orders are placed and shipped through IngramSpark. This page is a catalogue listing.
About this edition
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153), first abbot of Clairvaux and the most compelling voice of his age, was named by later ages the Mellifluous Doctor for the sweetness of his teaching. His Sermons on the Song of Songs are the longest and most celebrated of his works, and one of the summits of Christian mystical writing.
Beginning about the year 1135 and continuing until his death, Bernard took the Song of Songs, the marriage-song of Solomon, and read in it the whole history of the soul's love for God: the kiss of the mouth, the fragrance of the Bridegroom, the bed of flowers, the wound of love. Preached to his monks and set down sermon by sermon, the work is at once a verse-by-verse commentary, a school of contemplative prayer, and the self-portrait of a soul on fire with the love it describes. He was expounding it still, having reached only the third chapter of the Canticle, when he laid down his pen for the last time.
This Sanctified Souls Press edition presents all eighty-six sermons complete and unabridged, in Bernard's own numbering, in the public-domain English of Samuel J. Eales. The single work is issued in two volumes on account of its length.
The volumes
From the kiss of the mouth and the first opening of the Canticle through the long teaching on the Bride and the Bridegroom, on humility, on the love of God, and on the seasons of the soul. Paperback and hardcover, 366 pages.
The exposition carried to the third chapter of the Canticle, with the great sermons on the little foxes, on the beauty of the Bride, and on the search for the Beloved by night, closing with Sermon LXXXVI, left unfinished at Bernard's death. Paperback and hardcover, 364 pages.
Details
- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153), first abbot of Clairvaux, of the Cistercian Order, Doctor of the Church, the Mellifluous Doctor
- Translated from the Latin by Samuel J. Eales, London, 1895
- One work complete in two volumes: all eighty-six sermons, in Bernard's own numbering, unabridged
- Sanctified Souls, Heritage Editions · Saint Bernard, Book Three
- Paperback and hardcover, 6 × 9, cream paper
Cover: Saint Bernard Preaching the Second Crusade at Vézelay, 1146 by Émile Signol (French, 1804–1892), from the galleries of the Palace of Versailles. Public domain. The same painting carries both volumes, which are distinguished by their volume line.
