Bridal Mysticism
In the Christian faith, and particularly the Catholic Church, an important transgender spiritual practice evolved - bridal mysticism. In this practice, Christ is considered the bridegroom while practitioners envision themselves as brides of Christ, even if they happen to be male. This practice is similar to the Hindu madhura bhâva or gopi bhâva where the goal is to experience blissful, ecstatic union with God as one's beloved.
Bridal mysticism has never been in the mainstream of Christian practice, but it was and is practiced by those seeking the experience of union with God. Philosopher Ignacio Gotz writes in CrossCurrents Magazine -
Typical of this mysticism was the conception of the union of the soul and God in terms of the love between lover and beloved. In Europe, this mysticism became known as Braumystik (bridal mysticism). 1
This practice has a solid theological basis, supported by both Old and New Testament scriptures. In the Hebrew Bible, the prophet Isaiah's words are recorded -
For your Maker is your husband, the LORD Almighty is his name... (Isaiah 54:5)
...as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
(Isaiah 62:5)
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul addressed the faithful of Corinth, telling them -
... I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. (2 Corinthians 11:2)
And in the Book of Revelations, bridal symbolism is employed in this metaphoric verse -
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
Song of Songs
The Bible's most striking use of bridal symbolism is found in the Song of Solomon, also known as Song of Songs. This book is comprised of a passionate, metaphoric conversation between God and Man. In this dialogue, God is represented as a bridegroom and Man as a bride.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,
for Your love is more delightful than wine.
Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes;
Your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens love You!
Take me away with You—let us hurry!
Let the King bring me into His chambers.
(Song 1:2-4)
Later, the bride describes a tender moment -
He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and His banner over me is love.
Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
His left arm is under my head,
and His right arm embraces me. (Song 2:4-6)
The bride, finding her lover missing one night, searches for her bridegroom and returns with him to the bridal chamber -
All night long on my bed
I looked for the one my heart loves;
I looked for Him but did not find Him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for Him but did not find Him.
The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
"Have you seen the one my heart loves?"
Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held Him and would not let Him go
till I had brought Him to my mother's house,
to the room of the one who conceived me. (Song 3:1-4)
The bridegroom later sings the praises of his bride's dazzling beauty, using surprisingly sensuous language -
How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon. (Song 4:1,9-11)
Catholic interpreters of the Song of Songs, from the third-century theologian Origen onwards, have always understood the bridegroom to represent Christ and the bride to represent all his believers collectively as the Church. This is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the authoritative standard for Roman Catholic doctrine) -
The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. 2
Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city" of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 3
This bride/groom relationship was not just a conceptual, philosophical doctrine. For some Christian mystics, it formed the experiential framework for their main spiritual practice. In prayerful meditation and contemplation, such mystics became the brides of Christ, entering into a spiritual marriage to help them experience passionate, mystical union with their bridegroom, Jesus.
Many of those mystics were male (and presumably not homosexual), so they had to grapple with being "male brides." They did so by understanding their souls to be neither male nor female, and thus they transcended gender itself. According to scholar Hildegard Elisabeth Keller,
For it is Origen, the exegete of the Song of Songs, who - with his spiritualized concept of the bride - lays the foundations of a Christian bridal mysticism in which a suprasexual soul (i.e. the soul of either a man or a woman) could take the position of a bride. 4
Either a female or a male human being can envisage an erotic relationship with God; thus, the motif of the bride of God is supra-sexual. 5
Declaring his bridal status, the great Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591) said, "And I gave myself to Him, keeping nothing back; There I promised to be His bride." And the pre-Renaissance mystic, Symeon the New Theologian (970-1040), wrote in his Love Songs to God -
He Himself is present and shines in my poor heart, clothes me in immortal splendor and shines through all my limbs, embraces me wholly, kisses me wholly, and gives Himself entirely to me, unworthy as I am; and I take my fill of His love and beauty and am filled with the rapture and sweetness of the Godhead. 6
Another practitioner of bridal mysticism was the much-revered Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a Cistercian monk. In his Sermons on the Song of Solomon, he described his experience of being mystically "penetrated" by his bridegroom -
But He is living and full of energy, and as soon as He has entered into me He has quickened my sleeping soul, has aroused and softened and goaded my heart, which was in a state of torpor, and hard as a stone....Thus, then, the Bridegroom-Word, though He has several times entered into me, has never made His coming apparent to my sight, hearing, or touch. It was not by His motions that He was recognized by me, nor could I tell by any of my senses that He had penetrated to the depths of my being. 7
Expounding on St. Bernard's mystical experiences, Walter Nigg, author of Warriors of God: The Great Religious Orders and Their Founders, writes -
In the spiritual marriage - Bernard is one of the first to use the term - the soul loses all thought of itself. Such ecstasy, doubtless, is only a foretaste of eternal happiness; nevertheless, it gives the enraptured soul the highest degree of bliss which it is capable of sustaining. Bernard's mystical life caused him to experience the reality of Jesus with an intensity and in a manner altogether novel for his times. 8
And referring to Saint Bernard's sermon on Song 1:2 (Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth), Nigg writes -
The final step is the ineffable kiss of the mouth, a gracious condescension of God which ravishes the soul. This kiss is the highest favor a human being can ask for, and represents that real mystical experience in which the soul is united to God. 9
Nuns and Priests as Brides
"Virgins who, committed to the holy plan of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church." By this solemn rite (Consecratio virginum), the virgin is "constituted . . . a sacred person, a transcendent sign of the Church's love for Christ, and an eschatological image of this heavenly Bride of Christ and of the life to come."
Nuns take their betrothal to Jesus seriously; perfect chastity is an expression of their spousal fidelity to their husband. A contemporary nun, Sister Mary Francis of the Holy Stigmata, writes eloquently in a blog -
Sublimation of the sex drive is the bedrock of bridal mysticism, not physical expression through intercourse or masturbation that is dedicated or focused on Jesus. It is an esthetical, monastic discipline--horsehair shirts and bare feet are the garb of choice to be worn in the solitude & silence of one's unheated cell. Mortification of the flesh and senses is the name of the game. Chastity is a necessary spiritual, mental, and physical discipline. So is spiritual poverty or kenosis: emptiness of desire and longing. (Full text available here .)
Roman Catholic priests, too, are celibate, though they are not necessarily practitioners of bridal mysticism. Yet, some aspects of their priestly vocation seem distinctly feminine. For example, priests dedicate themselves to serving others, nurturing them spiritually. The wispy flowing vestments they sometimes wear certainly remind one of frilly dresses.
Christianity places tremendous emphasis on the cultivation of soft, feminine values. This is clearly expressed in the tender beatitudes imparted by Jesus to the faithful gathered at the mount - "Blessed are the meek... Blessed are the merciful... Blessed are the pure in heart... Blessed are the peacemakers... " (Matthew 5:1-11). About these feminine values, well-known author and minister, Richard Wurmbrand wrote -
Male and female Christians both, all who believe, are brides of Christ. The direction for all of us must be toward acquiring more female characteristics: gentleness, quietness, submission, passive acceptance of everything the Bridegroom decides. A male, at conversion, becomes a bride of Christ, not a bridegroom. 11
Notes:
1. CrossCurrents Magazine, 9/22/04 issue. Full article available here .
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 796.
3. ibid. paragraph 1045. The entire Catechism is available online here .)
4. Hildegard Elisabeth Keller, My Secret is Mine - Studies on Religion and Eros in the German Middle Ages (Belgium: Peeters Publishing, 2000) page 25. Available online here .
5. ibid. page 60
6. Martin Buber, Ecstatic Confession (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985) pages 38-39
7. Dom Cuthburt Butler, Western Mysticism, page 101. Online version available here .
8. Walter Nigg, Warriors of God: The Great Religious Orders and Their Founders (Random House, 1959). Available at amazon.com .
9. ibid.
10. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 923.
11. Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ (1967)
Resources:
Wikipedia includes brief articles on bridal theology , Song of Songs , Origen , and St. Bernard of Clairvaux .
An easy-to-use online bible is available here .
The Catholic Encyclopedia includes a useful article on mystical marriage.