To Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen
SELECTED LEI
I Iks
and studying all the divine Scriptures so as to give life to their meaning and apply it to the present day. For have you not 'dispersed and given to the poor'? But it is money you have given. And what is money in comparison with the justice for which you have exchanged it? 'His justice remaineth for ever and ever'. Can the same be said of money?
It is certainly a desirable and worthy sort of commerce to exchange what passes for what lasts for ever. O admirable and praiseworthy Master, may you always be able to do business in this way!
It only remains for you to finish the good work you have begun, so that the tail of the victim may be joined to the head.
I gladly accept -^/^^ your blessing, especially as it comes recommended by the joy I take in your high perfection. Although the bearer of this letter is a most worthy person in himself, vet I wish him to be acceptable to you for my sake as well, because he is very dear to me by reason of his integrity and piety.
[26] To Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen Hugh was elected Archbishop of Rouen 111 the year
1 130. Before his election he had been a monk of Cluny and then Abbot of Reading.
THE evils of our time may grow worse every day, but they cannot prevail. They may disturb us, but they should not dismay us. 'Wonderful is the surging of the waves', but more wonderful is the Lord on high. If you are frank with yourself you must admit that God has been very good to you. The care of Providence has seen to it that you were not put in charge of sinners before you had associated with good people, so that in 1. This is a favourite metaphor of St. Bernard, taken from Lev.
3-7, to signify perseverance.
ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
their company and by their example you might become good enough to lead a good life among evil people. We save our souls by living a good life amongst good people, but we deserve praise as well by living a good life amongst evil people^ The first is safe and easy, the second all the more virtuous for being more difficult. It is as difficult to do this as it is to touch pitch without being sullied, to put one's hand into the fire without being burned, to live in darkness without losing the light. There was once darkness over the land of Egypt so thick that it might be felt, but 'wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt there was light'. David was a true Israelite and therefore he was careful to say that he did not live in Cedar, but 'with the inhabitants of Cedar', as if to imply that although the dwelling place of his body was with the people of Cedar, yet he dwelt always in the light. And he rebuked some who were not true Israelites because
'they mingled with the heathen and were a stumbling-block to them'.
2. So I say to you that according to the words, 'With the innocent man thou wilt be innocent', it was enough for you when you were at Cluny to have kept yourself innocent, but now that you live amongst the people of Rouen you must also have patience according to the words of the Apostle:
'The servant of God must not wrangle, he must be mild to all men, ready to teach them, and be patient'. And you must not only be patient so as not to be overcome by evil, you must also be peaceable so as to overcome evil by good. By being patient you will bear with evil people, by being peaceable you will heal them of their evil. In your patience you will possess your soul, but you must also be peaceable so as to possess the souls committed to your care. What is more glorious than to be able to say: 'With them that hated peace, I was peaceable'? So be patient because you are with evil people; and be peaceable too because you have to rule over them. By all means let your charity be zealous, but for the time moderate your severity.
You must never condone evil, but sometimes it is well to defer