Sponsa Verbi

For purposes of health, Dom Columba was ordered by doctors to take some weeks of rest during the summer of 1918. He went to Luxembourg, and there he enjoyed the beauties of nature. As a companion for his long, solitary walks, he took the Commentary of Saint Bernard upon the Canticle of Canticles.

In this Commentary he saw the marvellous condescension of the Word toward His privileged creatures: the theme of the Canticle itself. Consequently, on his return, he gave a series of conferences to the nuns at the Abbey of Saint Scholastica at Maredret, Belgium, commenting on a text of Saint Bernard that had specially struck him; in this passage the great Doctor indicates the conditions necessary for the soul aspiring to become the spouse of the Word, Sponsa Verbi.

Although these conferences were given to Benedictine Nuns, they are not specifically monastic, as all souls are called to become spouses to the Divine Word! The conferences were first published a few months after the death of Blessed Columba Marmion.