+- The Catacombs (https://thecatacombs.org)
+-- Forum: Repository (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=10)
+--- Forum: The Saints (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=70)
+--- Thread: St. Bernard of Clairvaux: ‘Mary Is the Aqueduct’ (/showthread.php?tid=8078)
St. Bernard of Clairvaux: ‘Mary Is the Aqueduct’ - Stone - 03-16-2026
‘Mary Is the Aqueduct’
In Nat. BVM. Sermo de Aquaeductu
by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginal...cbd83b8a97]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fd5%2F41%2Fb0%2Fd541b0e4225079448ad2fc62ba38aff2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=db5d864bd6b09203d6ad644a644d5f5b84735cd4b386dadf091885cbd83b8a97)
In Nat. BVM. Sermo de Aquaeductu
by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
TIA | March 14, 2026
In a sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Bernard (1090 - 1153) calls her the Aqueduct because she is the channel of all the graces Christ has gained for us as the Fountain of Life. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a co-founder of the Cistercian Order and the Knights Templar.
Who is the Fountain of life, if not Christ the Lord? When Christ your life appears, Paul says, then you too will appear with Him in glory (Col 3:4). Surely, Fullness Itself has emptied Itself, so that righteousness might be accomplished for you, and sanctification, and forgiveness – a life not yet appearing, a glory, a joy.
The Fountain has been channeled all the way down to us, its waters have been channeled down among our streets – though the stranger may not drink of them (Prov 5: 16, 17). That heavenly stream of grace comes down through an Aqueduct, not yet displaying the abundance of its source, but spilling drops of grace on our parched hearts – more indeed to some, to others less. Full indeed is the Aqueduct, so that all may receive from its fullness, but it is not fullness itself.
You have already guessed, I think, whom I wish to call an Aqueduct. It is she who, receiving from the heart of the Father the fullness of the Fountain Itself, gave Him to us, if not as He is, at least according to our capacity. You know to whom it was said, Hail, full of grace! Or do we wonder that such an Aqueduct could have been found, whose top – truly like unto that ladder which the Patriarch Jacob saw – touches the Heavens (Gen 28:12), nay, climbs over the Heavens to tap that most lively Spring of the waters above the Heavens. …
Gaze, O man, on the purpose of God, see the counsel of His wisdom, the design of His mercy. To water the ground with dew from Heaven, He first drenched a fleece through and through. To redeem humankind, he lavished on Mary the ransom of all.
Gaze therefore more deeply, with as great a passion of devotion as He wanted her to win – He who set the fullness of all good in Mary, so that, if there is any hope in us, any grace, any salvation, we should know that it spills over from her who scales upward with down-flowing channels.
Surely, a garden of delights which that divine South Wind not only breathed on in passing, but brooding over breathed through and through, so that its sweet smells might flow and overflow – the gifts, that is, of her graces. Take away the sun that lights the world – and where is day? Take away Mary, this star of the sea, yes, of a wide and open sea – and what is left but a blanket of gloom, the shade of death, and thickest darkness? …
From our heart's core, then, with all our heart's affections, with all our prayers, let us revere this Mary; since such is His will, Who willed to possess us entirely through Mary. …
Whatever you are preparing to offer, remember to entrust it to Mary, so that – by that same Channel from which it flowed – grace may return to grace's Lavisher. God indeed was not impotent; therefore, you too allow grace to flow from this Aqueduct over you, according to the measure He wills for you; for He willed to provide this means of conveyance to you.