Talks on the Song of Songs

Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the Cistercian monastic order, devoted eighteen years of his life to composing sermons on the Song of Songs, a brief, eight-chapter secular love song in the Old Testament. In his writings, St. Bernard looks beyond the obvious literal interpretations of the text, using the passionate poetry as a springboard into a major exposition of Scripture and a detailed analysis of the spiritual life. In this volume, Bernard Bangley presents a modern, accessible edition of St. Bernard's sermons, offering a glimpse of St. Bernard's personal spiritual experience as well as his theology. A list of recommended reading is included at the back of the book. Having taken an annual retreat with Cistercian monks for the past twenty years, where collections of St. Bernard's writings abound and silence prevails, Bernard Bangley notes that his book is "one of the fruits of Cistercian hospitality."