On Loving God

In this 11th century text, St Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, gives the reader his insights and advice on Love, describing the four separate kinds of love that seekers experience on their path to Loving God: self-love, selfish love, loving God objectified, and loving one's self in God. This desire for Deity, the Saint asserts, is both a duty, because "He loved us first...miserable sinners, with a love so great and free," and a delight, as God bestows upon those who attain to the fourth stage of Love the blessed state of the Heavenly Fatherland, free from pain, sorrow and despair. St. Bernard's poetic medieval prose is surprisingly accessible, full of intriguing imagery, flashes of humor, and deep wisdom.