tal in dogmatising her worship by placing her side
by side with the Saviour. "It was more fitting that both sexes should
take part in the renewal of mankind," he says, "because both were
instrumental in bringing about the fall...." "Man who fell through
woman, can be raised only by her." "Humanity kneels at Thy feet, for the
comfort 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 gr