of the wretched, the release of the prisoners, the delivery of the condemned, the salvation of the countless sons of Adam depend on a word from Thy lips.  Oh!  Virgin, hasten to reply!  Speak the word for which the earth, the nethermost hell, and the heavens even, are waiting; yea, the King and Ruler of the universe, greatly as He desires Thy loveliness, awaits Thy consent, in which He has laid the salvation of the world.”  Basing his description on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, he draws her picture as follows:  “Brilliant and white and dazzling are the garments of the Virgin.  She is so full of light and radiance that there is not the least darkness about her, and no part of her may be described as less brilliant, or not glowing with intense light.”  And with increasingly pronounced erotic emphasis, passing from the Church dogma of salvation to passionate fervour, he goes on to say:  “A garden of sacred delight art Thou, oh, Mary!  In it we gather flowers of manifold joys as often as we reflect on the fulness of sweetness which through Thee was poured out on the world....  Right lovely art Thou, oh, perfect One!  A bed of heavenly spices and precious flowers of all virtues, filling the house of the Lord with sweet perfume!  Oh!  Mary, Thou violet of humility!  Thou lily of chastity!  Thou rose of love!” etc.

St. Bernard inaugurated that extraordinary blending of eroticism with half-crazy, inconceivable allegories and fantasies, which lasted for centuries.  Here, again, we perceive the ideal of metaphysical eroticism, which in the case of a loyal son of the Church could only refer to the official Queen of Heaven, and consisted partly of the genuine emotion of love, partly of allegorically constructed connections with the Church dogma.

St. Bernard’s emotional outbursts were comprehended and admired.  His authority was sufficient to override all scruples that might have stood in the way of this downright description of Mary’s charms.  He became the model for all her later worshippers; Suso, for instance, often quotes him, and Brother Hans called him the harpist and fiddler of her praise.

The great ecstatic poet, Jacopone da Todi, sang Mary’s praise as follows: 

     Hail, purest of virgins,
     Mother and maid,
     Gentle as moonlight,
     Lady of Aid!

     I greet thee, life’s fountain,
     Fruitladen vine! 
     Infinite mercy
     Thou sheddest on thine!

     Hope’s fairest sunshine,
     Balm’s well serene! 
     I claim a dance with thee,
     All the world’s Queen!

     Gate of beatitude! 
     —­All sins forgiven,—­
     Lead us to paradise,
     Sweet breeze of heaven!

     Thou pointest us upward
     Where angels adore,
     White lily of gentleness
     Thy grace I implore.

     Mirror of Cherubim! 
     Seraphim laud thy grace,
     All things in heaven and earth
     Ring with thy praise!