This last small group of Bernards sermons to be published in translation by Cistercian Publications rightly goes by the titleDe variiin the critical edition. While most of them treat feasts on the church calendar, they do so in a somewhat hit-or-miss fashion. Three sermons also deal with Gods will, Gods mercies, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Two sermons for the feast of Saint Victor are a response to a request to Bernard from the monks of Montieramey; the BollandistLife of Saint Victorappears here as a complement to those sermons. Besides the nine sermons normally assigned to theDe varii, this volume also includes a sermon on the feast of Saint Benedict that was recently added to the collection in Sources Chretiennes. The survival of this loose assemblage of sermons outside of the organized collections of Bernards sermons provides a reminder of Bernard as preacher and writer, able despite all his other activities to turn his hand to preaching when called upon. While they treat of disparate themes, they allow us to encounter the quintessential Bernard-speaking of the life of desire, the true meaning of holiness, and the awakening of the spiritual senses in the search for God.
