HOMILY III
From Homilies in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary
HOMILY III
Whenever I see that the words of Holy Scripture suit my purpose I willingly make them my own so that what I have to say may charm my readers at least by the beauty of the vessels. That is why, for example, I now begin with this prophetic utterance, "Woe is me." Not because I have held my tongue as the prophet did, but because I dare to speak,
"for I am a man of unclean lips. "™ Alas! I cannot forget how many vain, lying, and dirty words I once vomited out of this foul mouth from which I now presume to speak about heavenly things. I am very much afraid that I shall hear said to me, "What right have you to recite my statutes or to take my covenant on your lips?" "3 Oh, if only someone would bring down to me from the altar on high not just one burning coal' but a huge fiery globe by which the ingrained and thick rust would be entirely burned out of my lewd mouth.
Perhaps then I should be worthy to repeat in my own very ordinary language those gracious and chaste words of the angel to the Virgin and of the Virgin to him.
The evangelist says: "And the angel went into her—to Mary of course—and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." "Went in" where? Into the private chamber of her modest room where, I suppose, having shut the door
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she was praying to the Father in secret." Angels are accustomed to taking their stand beside those who pray, and they delight in those whom they see lifting pure hands in prayer." They are happy to be able to carry to God in the fragrance of its sweetness the sacrifices of holy devotion. —
By going into Mary and greeting her so reverently, the angel showed just how pleasing were her prayers to the Most
High." It was not hard for the angel to enter the Virgin's private room through a closed door; it was natural to him, for so great was the subtleness of his nature that an iron gate could not have prevented him from going wherever his mission sent him.
Angelic spirits are not hindered by walls.
All visible things give way to them and every bulky mass, however thick and solid, is penetrable and pervious to them.
There is no reason to suspect that the angel found the Virgin's little door ajar. She clearly had it in mind to flee human company, to avoid conversation lest the silence of one given to prayer should be disturbed and the purity of one given to chastity be assailed. Surely then the most prudent virgin had at that time closed the door of her private room to men, but not to angels, Thus, even though the angel could go into her the way was barred to any human being.
2. "The Angel came in to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with youer ne In the Acts of the apostles we read that Stephen was full of grace and that the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit," but quite differently from Mary. The fullness of the godhead did not dwell bodily in Stephen as it did in Mary.""3 The apostles did not conceive by 1 Mt 6:6
SR 112 oa Tm 2:8 uk 1:28 p Eph 5:2
, Acts 6:8, 2:4.
"Sir 35:8.
Col 2:9.
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SELECTED SERMONS the Holy Spirit as she did. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you," said the angel. What wonder is there that she would be full of grace when the Lord was with her? But what is more astonishing is that when the angel arrived he found the person by whom he had been sent was already with the Virgin. Could God have hastened down to earth more swiftly than his winging messenger in order to get to earth before him? I should not be surprised. While the King was on his couch, the Virgin's nard was sending forth its fragrance™ and a sweet-smelling smoke was rising up in the sight of his glory, and in this way she found grace in the Lord's eyes. Those who were gathered round him exclaimed, "who is this coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankin-
39918 16 cense!
At once the King set out from. his holy place.'
He rejoiced like a giant to run his course.' ® And though he set out from the highest heaven, he was moved by so great a desire that he sped ahead of his messenger and came to the Virgin whom he loved, whom he had chosen for his own, whose beauty he ardently desired.' "9 Tt is this same lover whom the Church, looking from afar and seeing him coming," greets with joy and gladness exclaiming, "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills"?
3. The King rightly desired the Virgin's beauty. She was doing what her father David long before had advised her to do when he said, "Harken, O daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people and [your father's house and the King will desire your beauty." * She had both heard and ' "Sg LI 1715 26:21
Jn 1:9.
1:30 s. Ps 1935. tase 2:8, HS 9 3:6
°Ps 45:11
Ps 45:10
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seen, not like those piv hearing do not listen"? and ba: do not understand.""* When she heard she believed, when she saw, she understood. She inclined her ear, that is, to obedience and her heart to discipline. And she forgot her own people and her father's house. She was not anxious to increase her people by giving birth to a new generation, she did not seek to leave an heir to her father's house. Whatever honor she might have had from her father' s house was all counted as refuse that she might gain Christ." Nor was she disappointed in any way. She was able to claim a son in Christ and yet not violate her vow of chastity. Truly may we say that she was full of grace: while retaining the grace of virginity she was blessed in addition with the honor of motherhood.
4. "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you," he said. He did not say, "The Lord is in you" but "the Lord is with you."
For God, simple by nature, is equally and entirely everywhere at once. But in his rational creatures he is present in a different way than in other creatures. Again, even among his rational creatures, he is not present with the same efficacy in the bad as in the good. Though he is present in irrational creatures, they cannot be said to grasp him. And though every rational creature can grasp him by some concept [of him], it is only the good who can grasp him by love as well. Only the good, because of the union of their will with his, deserve to have it said of them that he is with them.
That they will what he wills does not demean God because they have bent their wills to his justice: there is no conflict and they are spiritually united to their God. But if this may be said of all the saints, it is especially true of Mary. Her will eM Pct Ing "CE. Ws 4:14.
Phil 3:8.
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SIBLE CTR D> sie Ri ONS was in such great harmony with God's that he joined not only her will, but even her flesh, to himself so completely that from his substance and the Virgin's He made one
Christ, or rather He became one Christ. He was neither entirely from God nor entirely from the Virgin, yet he was fully God's son and also fully the Virgin's son. Nor were there two sons, but the one son of them both. Therefore the angel said "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you." Not only the Lord, your son, is with you, whom you have clothed with your flesh, but also the Lord, the Holy Spirit by whom you conceived. The Father is with you, I say, he who makes his Son yours. The Son is with you, he who in order to bring about within you a marvelous mystery shut himself in a marvelous way in the retirement of your womb and preserved the seal of your virginity. The Holy Spirit is with you, he who being one with the Father and the Son, sanctifies your womb. Indeed "the Lord is with you"!
5. "Blessed are you among women."""" To these words of Elizabeth we must add those which she spoke immediately afterward: "And blessed is the fruit of your womb." It is not because you are blessed that the fruit is blessed as well, but you are blessed because he has come to you with the blessings of sweetness.""? The fruit of your womb is truly blessed, for in him all nations shall be blessed and of his fullness you also have received,''" as have we all, yet how differently. Therefore you are blessed, blessed among women, though he was not blessed among men or even among the angels. As the apostle says, he is "God above all, blessed forever."" 3" We are accustomed to speaking of a blessed man, blessed bread, a blessed woman, the blessed earth and to
TUK 1:28,
Gal 3:8; Jn 1316.
'e Lk 1:42
3*Rom 9:5
Ds 21 3
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remark on any other creature which we know has received a blessing, but in quite a special way is the fruit of your womb blessed because he is God above all, blessed forever.
6. Blessed then is the fruit of your womb." Blessed in his fragrance, blessed in his savor, blessed in his comeliness. It was the fragrance of this sweet-smelling fruit that [Isaac] smelled when he said, "This is the fragrance of my son, similar to the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed."
Ah! Is he not truly blessed whom the Lord has blessed? And someone else, having tasted the savor of this fruit, gave vent to his satisfaction saying, "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is.""* And in another place, "How great is the abundance of your sweetness, Lord, which you have laid up for those who fear you." And someone else said, "If only you could taste and see how sweet the Lord is.""° And the Fruit himself, inviting us to go to him, said of himself, "Those who eat me will hunger for more, and those who drink me will thirst for more."">" He was referring to the sweetness of his savor' which, once it has been tasted, whets the appetite for more.
This good fruit is both food and drink to the souls of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness."
You have heard of his fragrance; you have heard of his savor. Now listen about his comeliness. If it is true, as Scripture says," that the fruit of death was not only sweet to eat, but also beautiful to look at, how much greater must be the life-giving beauty of this living fruit upon which, according to another passage of Scripture, "even the angels longed to look"?'™*' He who said "Out of Sion comes the loveliness
'eek 1542. sit 24:29. an 27:27
Sane 16:20, a 34:8 rayon 3:10, 7:19, 5:6.
16 8 ETD . Cn 3335 t Pt 2:3
WuPt sor, | 328 |
SELECTED SERMONS :
; , ; :
; of his beauty"
* was contemplating in his mind this comeliness and desired ardently to see it also in the flesh. And, in case you think he was praising some ordinary beauty, recall that you read in another psalm, "You are the comeliest of the sons of men: grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore God has blessed you forever. ga 7. Blessed, then, is the fruit of your womb,' "4 whom God has blessed forever." And i in virtue of this blessing you too are blessed among women, 4° for a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." Blessed, I say, among women, you are free not only from the general curse which decrees that "In pain you shall bring forth children," *® but because you escape no less that other curse uttered long afterward: cursed be the childless woman in Israel.'"? Yours was an exceptional blessing. You were not childless, yet you did not bring forth your child in pain. This is the hard burden and the heavy yoke laid on every daughter of Eve. HOLIE they bear children, they are in anguish; if they are childless, then they are cursed. The pain keeps them from having children and the curse from not having them. What will you do, virgin maid, you who have heard these words and read them? Will you give birth to a child and suffer agony or remain sterile and be cursed?
Which will you choose, ae virgin? ni@n every side," she says, "I am hemmed 1 in," * yet I prefer to be cursed and to remain chaste than to conceive a child because of lust and then to bring him forth in pain deservedly. On one side I see a curse but no sin, and on the other, not only sin but anguish as well. Yet what is this curse but men's censure? There is no real reason why a childless woman should be cursed except
Ps 50:2
Lk 1:42
'a sit 40:1
SDs 45:3
Mt 7:18
Mt 25:2 ge 1:42 ae: Gn 3:16
"Dn 13:22 ed Ee
"PEX 23:26
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because she is considered shameful and contemptible as if she were barren and worthless, and this is only so in Israel. But for me it is a very small thing that I should be displeasing to men when I can present myself a pure virgin to Christ."
O wise virgin! O dedicated virgin! Whoever taught you that virginity is pleasing to God? What law, what justice, what page of the Old Testament either commands or counsels or urges you to live in the flesh yet not according to the flesh," to live on earth an angelic life? Where did you read, blessed
Virgin, that "wisdom according to the flesh is death" and to "make no provision for the flesh never gratifying its desire"?"> Where did you read that virgins will sing a new song which no other person can sing?" That they "follow the Lamb wherever he goes"? ">? Where did you read that those who make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven are praised? Where did you read, though living in the flesh, we do not war with the flesh's
F pees : weapons? ~ Or: he who gives his virgin daughter in marriage does well, but that he who does not give her in marriage does better still?" Where did you hear: "I wish that all were as 1 am myself," and, "It is good for a man if he follows my advice"? "Concerning virgins I have no command," he says, "but I give my advice"? In your case, however, I would say there is no other command, advice or example, but the anointing which taught you about everything, the living and active Word of God.'*? He was your Master long before he became your son. He instructed your mind before he a Cor 4:3; 2 Cor 11:2.
592 Cor 1033.
. Cf, Rom 8:4, 1 Cor 7:38. isckom 8:6, 13:14, "1 Cor 7:7, 40.
Ry 14:3
"1 Cor 7:26.
"Ry 14:4.
37 In 2:27; Heb 4:12, Mt 19:12
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SELECTED SERMONS clothed himself with your flesh. It was thus you resolved to present yourself to Christ as a virgin' before you knew that you would also be presented to him as his mother. You chose to be despised in Israel. You preferred to risk being cursed for barrenness in order to be found pleasing to him who searched you out. Lo, this curse is changed into a blessing: your barrenness is rewarded with child bearing.
8. Virgin maid, open up your bosom, enlarge your womb, for he who is mighty is about to do great things for you. es
According to the Law in Israel you are cursed, but henceforth all generations will call you blessed." Do not distrust your own childbearing, wise Virgin, it will not stain your integrity. You shall conceive, but without sin, You will be heavy with child and yet not bowed down. You will give birth, but not in sadness." Though you know no man you will bear a son. What sort of son? You are to become the mother of a child whose father is God himself. A son of the brightness of the Father will be the crown of your love.
The wisdom of the Father's heart shall become the fruit of your virginal womb. You are to give birth to God, you conceive by God. Take courage, pregnant Virgin, chaste maid with child, undefiled mother, for you will no longer be cursed in Israel or considered barren. And if Israel still curses you in fleshly terms, not because you are barren but because they are jealous of your childbearing, then remember that Christ also will bear the curse of the cross and it is he who blesses you, his mother, in heaven. But you are blessed on earth as well by the angel and by all generations after you. So "blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."
964 Cor 11:2
Ga 3:6
é me. 1:49
Lk 1:42
Lk 1:48
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g. "But when she heard this, she was troubled at the saying ae pondered what sort of greeting this might be." 8 Te is usual for virgins—those who really are virgins—always to be timid and never to feel safe, They are so constantly on guard against danger that they easily take fright, because they. know that they carry a precious treasure in an earthen vessel' *" and that it is very difficult to live as an angel among men, to follow the ways of heaven on earth and to lead a heavenly life while still in the flesh. Any new or unexpected thing they suspect of being harmful and they think they see snares everywhere. That explains why Mary was troubled by what the angel said to her. She was troubled, but not distressed. It is written, "I am troubled and do not speak, but I consider the days of old, I remember the years long past. »7" And so it was with Mary. She was troubled, she did not speak, but she pondered what sort of greeting this might be.' *? That she should be troubled is only virginal reserve. Not to be distressed shows courage. That she was silent and pondered shows prudence. But she pondered what sort of greeting this might be. This wise Virgin knew only too ee that Satan's angel often disguises himself as an angel of light" and because she was all humility and simplicity she had never hoped to hear such words coming from a holy angel. That was why she pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
10, Then the angel, looking at the Virgin, immediately realized that she was turning over in her mind varied thoughts, and allayed her fears, cleared away her doubtfulness. He called her familiarly by her name, gently comforted her with soothing words saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.""*" It is as if he wanted to say, There is no ruse here, no trickery. You need not suspect any harm, or any trap. I am
I inek ibe ik 77°45:
¥ "733 Cor 11: 14, 12:7.
2 Cor 4:7.
Lk 1:29. mee 1:30.
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SELECTED SERMONS not a man, but a spirit, an angel of God not of Satan. Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. Oh, if you only knew how pleasing your humility is to the Most High and what greatness has been prepared for you close to himself, you would not consider yourself too unworthy of this greeting and this homage. Why should you not find favor with angels when you have pened favor with God? You have found what you were seeking," you have found what no one before you has ever been able to find, you have found favor with God. What is this favor? Peace between God and men, the destruction of death, the restoration of life. This is the favor you have found with God. And this will be a sign for you: "behold you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ee
Wise Virgin, understand by the name of this promised son what great and special favor you have found with God.
"And you shall call his name Jesus," said the angel. Another evangelist gives the reason for this name. He records the interpretation given by the angel: "he will save his people for their sins.""""
11. I have read of two Jesuses who prefigured the one we are dealing with here. Both were leaders of their nations.
One of them led his people out of Babylon and the other took them into the promised land. Both defended the people against the enemy, but did they save them from their sins?
Yet this Jesus, our Jesus, not only saves his people from their sins, he leads them into the land of the living." * It is he who will save his people from their sins."""? Who is this who even forgives sins?" " Ah, if only the Lord Jesus would deign to count me, asinner, among his people that he might save "Mt oh ai. 116:9, 27:13. waar' 7:49.
BP LK 2:12, 1331.
Met 1:21.
Cf. Lk 18:13.
"77M x21, [ 333 |
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me from my sins. How blessed is the people whose God is the Lord Jesus,'"" for he will save his people from their sins. I am afraid that a good many say they belong to his people whom he himself does not count as his people. I am afraid that to many of those who appear to be the most religious among his people he will one day say, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." * The Lord Jesus knows his own. He knows them and he has chosen them from the beginning. Does he not say, "Why do you call me
'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?" Do you want to know whether or not you belong to his people? Or rather, do you want to be among his people? Do what Jesus says, and he will count you among his people. Do what the Lord Jesus commands in the Gospel, what he commands in the law and the prophets; what he commands by his ministers who are in the Church," Be subject to his vicars, your leaders, not only to those who are modest and gentle, but also to the overbearing," and learn from Jesus himself that he is meek and humble of heart," then you will be numbered among that blessed people of his whom he has chosen as his heritage," you will be one of the praiseworthy people whom the Lord blessed when he said, "You are the work of my hands, Israel my heritage.""" And for fear that you should strive to imitate the carnal Israel, he bears witness" saying, "A people whom I have not known have served me, as soon as they heard of me they obeyed me."
12. Let us now hear what this same angel thinks about this child to whom, even before his conception, he has given so great a name. He says, "He will be great and will be called way 33:12 et Cor 6:4. ae 19:25.
= Mt 15:8, a Pt 2:18.
: Jn 1:15, me: 6:46.
Mt 11:29, "Ps 18:43-44.
Lk 24:44.
"Ps 33:12.
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SELECTED SERMONS the Son of the Most High." Is he not great when there is no end of his greatness?
And he says, "Who is great like our God?"""® He is clearly great, he is as great as the Most
High, for he is himself none other than the Most High. Nor, being the Son of the Most High, did he count it robbery to be equal to the Most High." The one who must be thought to have premeditated robbery is he who, having been called out of nothing into the form of an angel, likened himself to his
Maker and snatched at what belongs to the Son of the Most High, to him who in the form of God was not made by God but begotten. The Most High Father, although he is almighty, could neither fashion a creature equal to himself nor beget a Son unequal to himself. He made the angel very great then, but not as great as himself, and therefore not most high. That the only-begotten Son whom he did not make but begot, the Almighty from the Almighty, the Most High from the Most High, coeternal with the eternal, claimed to be compared to him in every way, he thought neither robbery nor effrontery. How rightly then will he be called great: he is the Son of the Most High.
13. But why does the angel say "He will be" and not "he is" great? His greatness, forever unvarying, is not subject to growth. He will not be greater after his conception than before. Is it possible the angel meant to say that he who is a great God will become a great man? In that case he was right to say "He will be great," for he will be a great man, a great teacher, a great prophet. We do in fact read in the Gospel of him, "A great prophet has risen up among us."" "
In the past there were lesser prophets who foretold the 18937 m2 Phil 2:6. tps 14533.
Lk 7:16.
Ps 11335, [335 ]
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coming of this great prophet: "Behold, a great prophet shall come and he shall restore Jerusalem." You, however, virgin maid, will give birth to a little child, you will feed a little child and suckle a little one. But as you gaze at this little one, think how great he is. He will bideed be great, for God will magnify him in the sight of kings, * and all kings will come to adore him, all nations shall serve him." So let your soul magnify the Lord," for he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. He will be great and he who is mighty will do great things in you, holy is his name.""
What holier name could he have than to be called the Son of the Most High? May this great Lord be magnified by us little ones as well; that he might make us great, he was made a little child. "Unto usa child is born," someone said, "For us a son is given." For us, I repeat, not for himself. He who was born of the Father before all ages was of more noble birth and had no need to be born in time from a mother.
And he was not even born for the angels. They had him great among them and had no need of a little child. He was born for us, therefore, and given to us because we need him.
14. Now that he has been born and given to us, let us accomplish the purpose of this birth and this donation. He came for our good, let us use him to our good, let us work out our salvation from the Savior.
""* Look, a little child is put in our midst.'"" O little child so desired by your children! You are indeed a little child, but a child in evildoing," not a child in wisdom, Let us make every effort to become like this little child.'"' Because he is meek and 1898 Advent I Antiphon veo ek 1:46.
Mt 18:2. at None.
4 ™Lk 1: 49.
°° Cor 14:20. sooo 45:3.
Is 9:
"7M 18:3.
Poivasr ti wpe itd,
SELECTED SERMONS humble in heart,' let us learn from him, lest he who is great, even God, should have been made a little man for nothing, lest he should have died to no purpose,
"" and have been crucified in vain. Let us learn his humility, imitate his gentleness, embrace his love, share his sufferings, be washed in his blood."""" Let us offer him the propitiation for our sins because for this he was born and given for us. Let us offer him up in the sight of the Father, offer him too to his own, for the Father did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.'"'? And the Son emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.'"* He freely poured out his soul in death and was numbered with brigands and he bore the sins of many and interceded for transgressors that they might not perish.'"? How can they perish whom the Son prayed might not perish, and for whose life the Father gave up his
Son to death?' We equally may hope therefore for forgiveness from them both for they are equally merciful in their steadfast love, united in a single powerful will, one in the substance of the Godhead, in which together with the Holy Spirit, they live and reign, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Met 11:29.
Rom 8:31.
Gal 2:21.
2Phil 27k "7 Pt 4:13; Rv 1:5. ods 53:12.
Jn 2:2.
Jn 10:10.
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ee a ee PART III Selected Letters
49itodk bojool er in Sager Mie dey ' be Sal eS se tt eee nt rete ae
-- Ty th *e hee
TO BRUNO,
'"'? ARCHBISHOP ELECT
OF COLOGNE
(A.D. 1131)
Bernard having been consulted by Bruno as to whether he ought to accept the See of Cologne, so replies as to hold him in suspense, and render him in awe of the burden of so great a charge. He advises him to seek counsel of God in prayer.
1. You seek counsel from me, most illustrious Bruno, as to whether you ought to accept the episcopate, to which it is desired to advance you. What mortal can presume to decide this for you? If God calls you, who can dare to dissuade you, but if He does not call you, who may counsel you to draw near? Whether the calling is of God or not who can know, except the Spirit, who searches even the deep things of God, or one to whom God Himself has revealed it? That which renders advice still more doubtful is the humble, but still terrible, confession in your letter, in which you accuse your own past life gravely, but, as I fully believe, in sincerity and truth. And it is undeniable that such a life is unworthy of a function so holy and exalted. On the other hand, you are very right to fear (and I fear the same with you) if, because of the unworthiness you feel, you fail to make profitable use of the talent of knowledge committed to you, unless you could, perhaps, find another way, less abundant, perhaps, but also less perilous, of making increase from it. I tremble, I confess it, for I ought to say to you as to myself what I feel: I tremble,
I say, at the thought of the state whence, and that whither, you are called, especially since no period of penitence has intervened to prepare you for the perilous transition from '7Bruno, son of Englebert, Count of Altena, was consecrated in 1132.
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the one to the other. And, indeed, the right order requires that you should study to care for your own conscience before charging yourself with the care of those of others. That is the first step of piety, of which it is. written, To pity your own soul is pleasing unto the Lord. "Tt is from this first step that a well-ordered charity proceeds by a straight path to the love of one's neighbor, for the precept is to love him as ourselves.
But if you are about to love the souls that would be confided to you as you have loved your own hitherto, I would prefer not to be confided rather than be so loved. But if you shall have first learned to love yourself then you will know, perhaps, how you should love me.
2. But what if God should quicken His grace and multiply His mercy upon you, and His clemency is able more quickly to replace the soul in a state of grace than daily penitence? Blessed, indeed, is he unto whom the Lord will not impute sin," for who shall bring accusation against the elect of God? If God justifies, who is he that condemns?
This short road to salvation that holy thief attained, who in one and the same day both confessed his iniquities and entered into glory. He was content to pass by the cross as by a short bridge from the religion of death unto the land of the living, and from this foul mire into the paradise of joy.
This sudden remedy of piety that sinful woman happily obtained, in whose soul grace of a sudden began to abound, where offenses had so abounded. Without much labor of penitence her sins were pardoned, because she loved much," and in a short time she merited to receive that amplitude of charity which, as it is written, covers the multitude of sins." This double benefit and most rapid goodness also
°"'Ecel 30:23.
"Lk 9:37-50.
= PS 32t2) 7 Pr 4:8.
"MLK 23:43
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I am not greatly reassured, though St. Ambrose was taken from the judge's tribunal to the priesthood, because he had from a boy led a pure and clean life, though in the world, and then he endeavored to avoid the episcopate even by flight and by hiding himself and many other means. Again, if Saul also was suddenly changed into Paul, a vessel of election, the Doctor of the Gentiles, and this be adduced as an example, it entirely destroys the similarity of the two cases to observe that he, therefore, obtained mercy because, as he himself says, he sinned ignorantly in unbelief. Besides, if such incidents, done for good and useful purposes, can be cited, it should be, not as examples, but as marvels, and it can be truly said of them, "This is the change of the right hand of the Highest."'""
4. In the meantime let these provisional replies to your queries suffice. If I do not express a decisive opinion, it is because I do not myself feel assured. This must needs be the case, for the gift of prophecy and of wisdom only could
'°3Mk 16:15.
'Ps 79:10.
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resolve your doubt. For who could draw clear water out of a muddy pool? Yet there is one thing that I can do for a friend without danger, and with the assurance of a good result; that is to offer to God my petition that He will assist you in this matter, Leaving, therefore, to Him the secret things of His
Providence, of which we are ignorant, I will beg Him, with humble prayer and earnest supplication, that He will work in you and with respect to you that which shall be for His glory, and at the same time for your good. And you have also the Lord Norbert," whom you may conveniently consult in person on all such subjects. For that good man is more fitted than I to explain the mysterious acts of Providence, as he is nearer to God by his holiness.
TO THE PRIOR AND MONKS OF
THE GRAND CHARTREUSE
He commends himself to their prayers.
To the very dear Lord and Reverend father Guigues, Prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and to the holy brethren who are with him, Brother Bernard of Clairvaux offers his humble service.
In the first place, when lately I approached your parts, I was prevented by unfavorable circumstances from coming to see you and to make your acquaintance; and although my excuse may perhaps be satisfactory to you, I am not able, I confess, to pardon myself for missing the opportunity. It is a 1925, .
The founder of the Premonstratensian Order, | 344 ]
SELECTED LETTERS vexation to me that my occupations brought it about, not that I should neglect to come to see you, but that I was unable to do so. This I frequently have to endure, and therefore my anger is frequently excited. Would that I were worthy to receive the sympathy of all my kind friends.
Otherwise I shall be doubly unhappy if my disappointment does not excite your pity. But I give you an opportunity, my brethren, of exercising brotherly compassion toward me, not that I merit it. Pity me not because I am worthy, but because
I am poor and needy. Justice inquires into the merit of the suppliant, but mercy only looks to his unhappiness. True mercy does not judge, but feels; does not discuss the occasion which presents itself, but seizes it. When affection calls us, reason is silent. When Samuel wept over Saul it was by a feeling of pity, and not of approval.'"" David shed tears over his parricidal son, and although they were profitless, yet they were pious. Therefore do you pity me (because I need it, not because I merit it), you who have obtained from God the grace to serve Him without fear, far from the tumults of the world from which you are freed. Happy those whom He has hidden in His tabernacle in the day of evil men; they shall trust in the shadow of His wings until the iniquity be overpast. As for me, poor, unhappy, and miserable, labor is my portion. I seem to be as a little unfledged bird almost constantly out of the shelter of its nest, exposed to wind and tempest. I am troubled, and I stagger like a drunken man, and my whole conscience is gnawed with care. Pity me, then; for although I do not merit pity I need it, as I have said.
192 *; Sm 15:13.
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TO THE SAME
(c. A.D. 1127) He protests against the reputation for holiness which 1s attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written.
1. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed toward you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express toward my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honor which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything I have accomplished, but only an opinion of my merit which has brought me this favor. I should be greatly ashamed to permit myself in vain complacency when I feel assured that what is loved or respected in me is not, indeed, what I am, but what I am thought to be; for when I am thus loved it is not then I that am loved, but something in me, I know not what, and which is not me, is loved in my stead. I say that I know not, but, to speak more truly, I know very well that it is nothing. For whatever is thought to exist, and does not, is nothing. The love and he who feels it is real enough, but the object of the love does not exist. That such should be capable of inspiring love is wonderful, but still more it is regrettable. It is from that we are able to feel whence and whither we go, what we have lost, what we find, By remaining united to Him, who is the real Being, and who is always happy, we also shall attain a continued and happy existence. By remaining united to Him,
I said; that is, not only by knowledge, but by love. For certain of the sons of Adam when they had known God, glorified
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LETTERS imaginations." Rightly, then, were their foolish hearts darkened, because since they recognized the truth and despised it, they were justly punished for their fault by losing the power to recognize it. Alas! in thus adhering to the truth by the mind, but with the heart departing from it, and loving vanity in its place, man became himself a vain thing. And what is more vain than to love vanity, and what is more repugnant to justice than to despise the truth? What is more just than that the power to recognize the truth should be withdrawn from those who have despised it, and that those who did not glorify the truth when they recognized it should lose the power of boasting of the knowledge? Thus the love of vanity is the contempt of truth, and the contempt of truth the cause of our blindness. And because they did not like, he says, to retain God in their knowledge, He gave them over unto a reprobate mind."
2. From this blindness, then, it follows that we frequently love and approve that which is not for that which is; since while we are in this body we are wandering from Him who is the Fullness of Existence. And what is man, O God, except that You have taken knowledge of him? If the knowledge of God is the cause that man is anything, the want of this makes him nothing. But He who calls those things which are not as though they were, pitying those reduced in a manner to nothing, and not yet able to contemplate in its reality, and to embrace by love that hidden manna, concerning which the apostle says: "Your life is hidden with Christ in God."""" But in the meantime He has given us to taste it by faith and to
" 'Rom E21, 192 Rom 1:28.
¥ t.Cor.3:2.
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seek for by strong desire. By these two we are brought for the second time from not being, to begin to be that His (new) creature, which one day shall pass into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That, without doubt, shall take place, when righteousness shall be turned into judgment, that is, faith into knowledge, the righteousness which is of faith into the righteousness of full knowledge, and also the hope of this state of exile shall be changed into the fullness of love. For if faith and love begin during the exile, knowledge and love render perfect those in the Presence of God. For as faith leads to full knowledge, so hope leads to perfect love, and, as it is said, "If you will not believe, you will not understand,"'"" so it may equally be said with fitness, if you have not hoped, you will not perfectly love.
Knowledge then is the fruit of faith, perfect charity of hope.
In the meantime the just lives by faith, "* but he is not happy except by knowledge; and he aspires toward God as the hart desires the water-brooks; but the blessed drinks with joy from the fountain of the Savior, that is, he delights in the fullness of love.
3. Thus understanding and love, that is, the knowledge of and delight in the truth, are, perhaps, as it were, the two arms of the soul, with which it embraces and comprehends with all saints the length and breadth, the height and depth, that is the eternity, the love, the goodness, and the wisdom of God. And what are all these but Christ? He is eternity, because "this is life eternal to know You the true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."'"" He is Love, because
He is God, and God is Love.' He is both the Goodness of God and the Wisdom of God, "* but when shall these things ds 7:9, ACC, tO 70, 9331 Jn 4:6. sat 2:4, 41 Cor 1:24 jn 1753;
SELECTED LETTERS be? When shall we see Him as He is? For the expectation of the creature waits for the revelation of the sons of God.
For the creature was subjected unto vanity, not willingly.
It is that vanity diffused through all which makes us desire to be praised even when we are blamable, and not to be willing to praise those whom we know to be worthy of it. But this too is vain, that we, in our ignorance, frequently praise what is not, and are silent about what is. What shall we say to this, but that the children of men are vain, the children of men are deceitful upon the weights, so that they deceive each other by vanity." We praise falsely, and are foolishly pleased, so that they are vain who are praised, and they false who praise. Some flatter and are deceptive, others praise what they think deserving, and are deceived; others pride themselves in the commendations which are addressed to them, and are vain. The only wise man is he who says with the apostle: "I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he sees me to be or that he hears of me."""
4. For the present I have noted down these things too hastily (because of this in not so finished a way), rather than dictated them for you, perhaps also at greater length than I should, but to the best of my poor ability. But that my letter may finish at the point whence it began, I beg you not to be too credulous of uncertain rumor about me, which, as you know well, is accustomed to be wrong both in giving praise and in attaching blame. Be so kind, if you please, as to weigh your praises, and examine with care how far your friendship for me and your favor are well founded, thus they will be the more acceptable from my friend as they are fitted to my humble merit. Thus when praise shall have proceeded from | 349 |
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grave judgment, and not from the error of the vulgar, if it is more moderate it will be at the same time more easy to bear.
I assure you that what attaches me (humble person as I am), to you is the zeal, industry, and sincerity with which you employ yourself, as they say, in the accomplishment of your charge in holy things. May it be always thus with you that this may be said of you always with truth. I send you the book which you desire to have in order to copy; as for the other treatises of mine which you wish that I should send, they are but few, and contain nothing which | should think worthy of your attention, yet because I should prefer that my want of intelligence should be blamed rather than my goodwill, and I would rather endanger my inexperience than my obedience in your sight, be so good as to let me know by the present messenger which of my treatises you wish that I should send you, so that I may ask for them again from those persons to whom they have been lent, and send them wherever you shall direct. That you may know what you wish for, I may say that I have written a little book on Humility, four Homilies on the Praises of the Virgin Mother
(for the little book has this title), upon that passage of St. Luke where it is said the angel Gabriel was sent." Also an Apology dedicated to a certain friend of mine, in which I have treated of some of our observances, that is to say, those of Citeaux, and those of Cluny. I have also written a few Letters to various persons, and finally, there are some of my discourses which the brethren who heard them have reproduced in their own words and keep them in their hands.
Would that any of the simple productions of my humble powers might be of any service to you, but I do not dare to expect it. sd Be 1:26.
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TO ALEXANDER,
~~" BISHOP OF LINCOLN
(c. A.D. 1129) A certain canon named Philip, on his way to Jerusalem, happening to turn aside to Clairvaux, wished to remain there as a monk.
He solicits the consent of Alexander, his bishop, to this, and begs him to sanction arrangements with the creditors of Philip. He
Jinishes by exhorting Alexander not to trust too much in the glory of the world.
To the very honorable lord, Alexander, by the grace of god, Bishop of Lincoln, Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes honor more in Christ than in the world.
1. Your Philip, wishing to go to Jerusalem, has found his journey shortened, and has quickly reached the end that he desired. He has crossed speedily this great and wide sea, and after a prosperous voyage has now reached the desired shore, and anchored at length in the harbor of salvation. His feet stand already in the Courts of Jerusalem, and Him whom he had heard of in Ephrata he has found in the broad woods, and willingly worships in the place where his feet have stayed. He has entered into the Holy City and has obtained a heritage with those of whom it is rightly said:
"Now you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God."'"* He goes in and out with the saints and is become as one of them, praising God and saying as they: "Our conversation is in heaven." " He is become, therefore, not a curious spectator only, but a devoted inhabitant and an enrolled citizen of '93°This Alexander was bishop of Lincoln in England from 1123 to 1147.
Eph 2:19.
"Phil 3:20, [351 |
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Jerusalem; but not the Jerusalem of this world with which is joined Mount Sinai, in Arabia, which is in bondage with her children, but of her who is above, who is free, and the mother of us all."
2. And this, if you are willing to perceive it, is Clairvaux.
This is Jerusalem, and is associated by a certain intuition of the spirit, by the entire devotion of the heart, and by conformity of daily life, with her which is in heaven. This shall be, as he promises himself, his rest forever. He has chosen her for his habitation, because with her is, although not yet the realization, at least the expectation, of true peace of which it is said: The peace of God which passes all understanding."
But this is true happiness; although he has received it from above, he desires to embrace it with your good permission, or rather he trusts that he has done this according to your wish, knowing that you are not ignorant of that sentence of the wise man, that a wise son is the glory of his father.' He makes request, therefore, of your paternity, and we also make request with him and for him, to be so kind as to allow the payments which he has assigned to his creditors from his prebend to remain unaltered, so that he may not be found
(which God forbid) a defaulter and breaker of his covenant, and so that the offering of a contrite heart, which he makes daily, may not be rejected by God, inasmuch as any brother has a claim against him. And lastly, he entreats that the house which he has built for his mother upon church land, with the ground which he has assigned there, may be preserved to his mother during her life. Thus much with regard to Philip.
3. | have thought well to add these few words for yourself, Gal 4:25~-26.
SPhil 4:17.
"Pry 10:1. Bernard always quotes this passage thus, In the Vulgate, it is Filius sapiens laetificat patrem.
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Farewell.
TO RAINALD, ABBOT OF FOIGNY
Bernard declares to him how little he loves praise; that the yoke of Christ is light; that he declines the name of father, and 1s content with that of brother.
1. In the first place, do not wonder if titles of honor affright me, when I feel myself so unworthy of the honors themselves; and if it is fitting that you should give them to me, it is not expedient for me to accept them. For if you think that you ought to observe that saying, "In honor preferring one another,""*" and, "Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God,""" yet the terms one another, one to another,
1945 1 Thes 5:3.
#°Rom 12:10.
'°F ph 5:21.
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are not used at random, and concern me as well as you.
Again, if you think that the declaration of the Rule i is to be observed, "Let the younger honor their elders,""™" I remember what the Truth has ruled: "The last shall be first, and the first last," and, "He that is the greater among you, let him be as the younger," and "The greater You are, the more humble Yourself,"'"" and "Not because we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy"'" and, "Have they made you the master? Be then among them as one of them,"
'" and "Be not called Rabbi"; and "Call no man your father upon the earth."
"* As much, then, as I am carried away by your compliments, so much am I restrained by the weight of these texts. Wherefore I rightly, I do not say sing, but mourn; While I suffer your terrors I am distracted, and "You have lifted me up and cast me down."""" But I should, perhaps, represent more truly what I feel if I say that he who exalts me really humiliates me; and he who humiliates me, exalts. You, therefore, rather depress me in heaping me with terms of honor and exalt me by humbling. But that you may not humble so as to crush me, these and similar testimonies of the Truth console me, which wonderfully raise up those whom they make humble, instruct while they humiliate.
Thus this same Hand that casts me down raises me up again and makes me sing with joy. "It was good for me, O Lord, that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes; the law of Your mouth is good unto me, above thousands of gold and silver." This marvel the word of God, living and efficacious, produces. This, that Word by which all things
94° R ule of St. Benedict, chap. 63.
1 Eee! yak PM t 20:16, Mt 23:8, 9.
Lk 22:26.
Kee 88:15; Ps 102:10, "Eccl 3:18, '5°Dg T1Qi71, 72.
2 Cor 1:24
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2. We cannot but wonder how light is the burden of Truth. Is not that truly light which does not burden, but relieves him who bears it? What lighter than that weight, which not only does not burden, but even bears everyone upon whom it is laid to bear? This weight was able to render fruitful the Virgin's womb, but not to burden it. This weight sustained the very arms of the aged Simeon, in which He was received. This caught up Paul, though with weighty and corruptible body, into the third heaven. I seek in all things to find if possible something like to this weight which bears them who bear it, and I find nothing but the wings of birds which in any degree resembles it, for these in a certain singular manner render the body of birds at once more weighty and more easily moved. Wonderful work of nature! that at the same time increases the material and lightens the burden, and while the mass is greater the burden is in the same degree less. Thus plainly in the wings is expressed the likeness of the burden of Christ, because they themselves bear that by which they are borne. What shall I say of a chariot? This, too, increases the load of the horse by which it is drawn, but at the same time renders capable of being drawn a load which without it could not be moved.
Load is added to load, yet the whole is lighter. See also how the Chariot of the Gospel comes to the weighty load of the Law, and helps to carry it on to perfection, while decreasing the difficulty. His word, it is said, runs very swiftly. '95° His word, before known only in Judea, and not able, because of its weightiness, to extend beyond, which burdened and 'P7Mt 11:30.
1955p $.147:15.
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weighed down the hands of Moses himself, when lightened by Grace, and placed upon the wheels of the Gospel, ran swiftly over the whole earth, and reached in its rapid flight the confines of the world.
3. Do you, therefore, my very dear friend, cease from overwhelming me rather than raising with undeserved honors; otherwise you range yourself, though with a friendly intention, in the company of my enemies. These are they of whom I am in the habit of thus complaining to God alone in my prayers. Those who praised me were sworn against me." To this, my complaint, I hear God soon replying, and bearing witness to the truth of my words: Truly they who bless you lead you into error." Then I reply, "Let them be soon brought to shame who say unto me, There, There!"
But I ought to explain in what manner I understand these words, that it may not be thought I launch maledictions or imprecations against any of my adversaries. I pray, then, that whosoever think of me above that which they see in me or hear respecting me may be turned back, that is, return from the excessive praises which they have given me without knowing me. In what way? When they shall know better him whom they praise without measure, and consequently shall blush for their error, and for the ill service that they have rendered to their friend. And in this way it is that I say,
Turn back! and blush! to both kinds of my enemies; those who wish me evil and commend me in order to flatter, and those who innocently, and even kindly, but yet to my injury, praise me to excess. I would wish to appear to them so vile and abject that they would be ashamed to have praised such
'Ds 102:8, Vulgate.
"Is 9:16, cited from memory,
F $ 70:3.
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Therefore, against panegyrists of each kind I am accustomed to strengthen myself with those two verses: against the hostile with the former, Let them be turned back and soon brought to shame who wish me evil, but against the well-meaning, Let them be turned backward and made to blush who say over me, There, There!
4. But as (to return to you) I ought, according to the example of the apostle, to rejoice with you only, and not to have dominion over your piety, and according to the word of God we have one Father only who is in heaven, and all we are brethren, I find myself obliged to repel from me with a shield of truth the lofty name of Lord and Father with which you have intended, I know well, to honor me, not to burden; and in place of these I think it fitter that you should name me brother and fellow servant, both because we have the same heritage, and because we are in the same condition, lest perchance if I should usurp to myself a title which belongs to God, I shall hear from Him: "If I be a Father: where is my honor, and I be a Lord where is my fear?" Tt is very true, however, that if I do not wish to attribute to myself over you the authority of a father, I have all the feelings of one, nor is the love with which I embrace you less, I think, than that of a father or of a son. Sufficient, then, on the subject of the titles which you give me.
5. I wish to reply now to the rest of your letter. You complain that I do not come to see you. I could complain equally of you for the same reason, unless, indeed (which you yourself do not deny), the will of God must be preferred to our feelings and our needs. If it were otherwise, if it were not the work of Christ that was in question, would I suffer to be so 9? Mfal 1:6.
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far away from me a companion so dear and necessary to me, so obedient in labor, so persevering in studies, so useful in conference, so prompt in recollection? Blessed are we if we still remain thus until the end always and in everything, seeking not our own interests, but those of Jesus Christ.
TO THE SAME
He instructs Rainald, who was too anxious and distrustful, respecting the duty of superior which had been conferred upon him; and warns him that he must bestow help and solace upon his brethren rather than require it from them.
To his very dear son, Rainald, Abbot of Foigny, that God may give him the spirit of strength.
1. You complain, my very dear son, of your many tribulations, and by your pious complaints you excite me also to complain, for I am not able to feel that you are sorrowing without sharing your sorrow, nor can I be otherwise than troubled and anxious when I hear of your troubles and anxieties. But since I foresaw these very difficulties which you say have happened to you, and predicted them to you, if you remember; it seems to me that you ought to be better prepared to endure them, and to spare me vexation when you can. For am I not sufficiently tried, and more than suffciently, to lose you, not to see you, nor to enjoy your society, which was so pleasant to me; so that I have almost regretted that I should have sent you away from me. And although charity obliged me to send you, yet not being able to see you where you have been sent, I mourn you as if lost to me.
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SELECTED LETTERS support, belabor me as it were with the rod of your faintheartedness, you heap sorrow upon sorrow, and torment upon torment; and if it is a mark of your filial affection toward me that you do not hide any of your difficulties from me, yet it is hard to add fresh trouble to one already burdened. Why is it needful to occupy with fresh anxieties one already more than anxious enough, and to torture with sharper pains the bosom of a father, already wounded by the absence of his son? I have shared with you my weight of cares, as a son, as an intimate friend, as a trusty assistant; but how do you help to bear your father's burden, if, instead of relieving me, you burden me still more? You, indeed, are loaded, but I am not lightened of my load.
2. For this burden is that of sick and weak souls. Those who are in health do not need to be carried, and are not, therefore, a burden. Whomsoever, then, of your brethren you shall find sad, mean-spirited, discontented, remember well that it is of these and for their sakes you are father and abbot. In consoling, in exhorting, in reproving, you do your duty, you bear your burden; and those whom you bear in order to cure, you will cure by bearing. But if anyone is in such spiritual health that he rather helps you than is helped by you, recognize that to him you are not father and abbot, but equal and friend. Do not complain if you find more trials than consolations from those among whom you are. You were sent to sustain and console others, because you are spiritually stronger and better able to bear than they, and because with the grace of God you are able to aid and sustain all without needing yourself to be aided and sustained by any. Finally, if the burden is great, so also is the reward; but, on the other hand, the more assistance you receive, the more your own reward is diminished. Choose, therefore; if you prefer those who are for you a burden, your merit will be the | 359 |
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greater; but if, on the contrary, you prefer those who console you, you have no merit at all. The former are the source whence it arises for you; the second as the abyss in which it is swallowed up; for it is not doubtful that those who are partakers of the labor will be also sharers of the reward. Knowing, then, that you were sent to help, not to be helped, bear in mind that you are the vicar of Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. I could have wished to write at greater length, in order to comfort you, but that it was not necessary; for what need is there of filling a dead leaf with superfluous words, while the living voice is speaking? I think that when you have seen our prior, these words will be sufficient for you, and your spirit will revive at his presence, so that you will not require the consolation of written words, in the delight and help which his discourse will give you. Do not doubt that I have communicated to him, as far as was possible, my inmost mind, which you begged in your letters might be sent to you. For you know well that he and I are of one mind and one will.
TO THE ABBOT OF ST. JOHN AT CHARTRES
(c. A.D. 1128) Bernard dissuades him from resigning his charge and undertaking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
1. As regards the matters about which you were so good as to consult so humble a person as myself, I had at first determined not to reply. Not because I had any doubt what to say, but because it seemed to me unnecessary or even presumptuous to give counsel to a man of sense and wisdom. But considering that it usually happens that the greater number of persons of | 360 |
SELECTED LETTERS sense, or I might say that all such trust the judgment of another person rather than their own in doubtful cases, and that those who have a clear judgment in the affairs of others, however obscure, frequently hesitate and are undecided about their own, I depart from my first resolution, not, I hope, without reason, and without prejudice to any wiser opinion explain to you simply how the matter appears to me. You have signified to me, if I do not mistake, by the pious Abbot Ursus of St.
Denis, that you have it in contemplation to desert your country and the monastery over which, by the Providence of God, you are head, to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to occupy yourself henceforth only with God and the salvation of your own soul. Perhaps, if you aspire unto perfection, it may be expedient for you to leave your country, when God says, "Go forth from Your country and from Your kindred.""*? But I do not see at all on what ground you ought to risk, by your departure, the safety of the souls entrusted to you. For is it pleasant to enjoy liberty after having laid down your burden? But charity does not seek her own interests. Perhaps the wish for quiet and rest attracts you? But it is obtained at the price of the peace of others. Freely will I do without the enjoyment of any desire, even a spiritual one, which cannot be obtained except at the price of a scandal. For where there is scandal, there, without doubt, is loss of charity: and where there is loss of charity, surely no spiritual advantage can be hoped for. Finally, if it is permitted to anyone to prefer his own quiet to the common good, who is there that can say with truth: "For me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain"? ' A nd where will that principle be which the apostle declares: "No one lives to himself, and no 3G 12:1.
'4D hil 1:21.
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one dies to himself" and, "Not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many"; and, "That he who lives should not any longer live unto himself, but unto Him who died for all"? a 2, But you will say: Whence comes my great desire, if it is not from God? With your permission I will say what I think. Stolen waters are sweet; and for whosoever knows the devices of the devil, it is not doubtful that the angel of darkness is able to change himself into an angel of light, and to pour upon the thirsting soul those waters of which the sweetness is more bitter than wormwood. In truth, what other can be the suggester of scandals, the author of dissension, the troubler of unity and peace, except the devil, the adversary of truth, the envier of charity, the ancient foe of the human race, and the enemy of the Cross of Christ? If death entered into the world through his envy, even so now he is jealous of whatever good he sees you doing; and since he is a liar from the beginning, he falsely promises now better things which he does not see. For when did the Truth oppose that most faithful saying, "Art You bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed.""*" Or when did charity urge to scandal, who at the scandals of all shows herself burning with regret? He, then, the most wicked one, opposed to charity by envy, and to truth by falsehood, mixing falsehood and gall with the true honey, promises doubtful things as certain, and gives out that true things are false, not that he may give you what you vainly hope for, but that he may take away what you are profitably holding now. He prowls around and seeks how he may take away from the flock the care of the pastor, to make a prey of it when there is none to Rom 147 7 tex 9:17. si 1 Cor 10:33.
1 Cor 7:27
"2 Cor 5:15.
SELECTED LETTERS defend it from his attacks; and, besides this, to bring down upon the pastor that terrible rebuke, "Woe to him by whom scandal cometh,"""" But I have full confidence in the wisdom given to you by God, that by no cunning devices of the wicked one you will be seduced or made to renounce certain good, and for the hope of uncertain advantage to incur certain evil.
TO THE SAME
(A.D. 1137)
He expresses his regret at his very long absence from his beloved Clairvaux and his desire to return to his dear sons. He tells them of the consolations that he feels nevertheless in his great labors for the Church.
1. My soul is sorrowful until I return, and it refuses to be comforted till it see you. For what is my consolation in the hour of evil, and in the place of my pilgrimage? Are not you in the Lord? Wherever I go, the sweet memory of you never leaves me; but the sweeter the memory the more I feel the absence. Ah, me! that the time of my sojourning here is not only prolonged, but its burden increased, and truly, as the prophet says, they who for a time separate me from you have added to the pain of my wounds.'""' Life is an exile, and one that is dreary enough, for while we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. To this is added the special grief which almost makes me impatient, that I am forced to live without you. It is a protracted sickness, a wearisome waiting, to be so long subject to the vanity which possesses everything here, to Mt 18:7.
'97"Ds 69:26.
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be imprisoned within the horrid dungeon of a noisome body, to be still bound with the chains of death, and the ropes of sin, and all this time to be away from Christ. But against all these things one solace was given me from above, instead of His glorious countenance which has not yet been revealed, and that is the sight of the holy temple of God, which is you.
From this temple it used to seem to me an easy passage to that glorious temple, after which the prophet sighed when he said: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will require, even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit His temple."
2. What shall I say? How often has that solace been taken from me? Lo, this is now the third time, if I mistake not, that my children have been taken from me. The babes have been too early weaned, and I am not allowed to bring up those whom I begot through the Gospel. In short, I am forced to abandon my own children and look after those of others, and I hardly know which is the more distressing, to be taken from the former, or to have to do with the latter. O, good Jesu! is my whole life thus to waste away in grief, and my years in mourning? It is good for me, O Lord, rather to die than to live, only let it be among my brethren, those of my own household, those who are dearest to my heart. That, as all know, is sweeter and safer, and more natural. Nay, it would be a loving act to grant to me that I might be refreshed before I go away, and be no more seen. If it please my Lord that the eyes of a father, who is not worthy to be called a father, should be closed by the hands of his sons, that they may witness his last moments, soothe his end, and raise
Ps 26:4.
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SELECTED LETTERS his spirit by their loving prayers to the blissful fellowship, if you think him worthy to have his body buried with the bodies of those who are blessed because poor, if I have found favor in Your sight, this I most earnestly ask that I may obtain by the prayers and merits of these my brethren. Nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done. Not for my own sake do I wish for either life or death.
3. But it is only right, that as you have heard of my grief, you should also know what consolation I have. The first solace for all the trouble and misfortune that I undergo is the thought that the cause I strive for is that of Him to whom all things live. Whether I will or no, I must live for Him who bought my life at the price of His own, and who is able, as a merciful and righteous judge, to recompense us in that day whatever we may suffer for Him. But if I have served as His soldier against my will, it will be only that a dispensation has been entrusted unto me, and I shall be an unprofitable servant; but if I serve willingly I shall have glory. In this consideration, then, I breathe again for a little. My second consolation is that often, without any merit of mine, grace from above has crowned me in my labors, and that grace in me was not in vain, as I have many times found, and as you have seen to some extent. But how necessary just now the presence of my feebleness is to the Church of God, I would say for your consolation were it not that it would sound like boasting. But as it is, it is better that you should learn it from others.
4. Moved by the pressing request of the emperor, by the apostolic command, as well as by the prayers of the Church and the princes, whether with my will or against my will, weak and ill, and, to say truth, carrying about with me the pallid image of the King of terrors, I am borne away into Apulia. Pray for the things which make for the Church's peace and our salvation, that I may again see you, live with [ 365 |
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you, and die with you, and so live that ye may obtain. In my weakness and time of distress, with tears and groanings, I have dictated these words, as our dear brother Baldwin'? can testify, who has taken them down from my mouth, and who has been called by the Church to another office and elevated to a new dignity. Pray, too, for him, as my one comfort now, and in whom my spirit is greatly refreshed. Pray, too, for our lord the Pope, who regards me and all of you equally with the tenderest affection. Pray, too, for my lord the Chancellor, who is to me as a mother; and for those who are with him—my lord Luke, my lord Chrysogonus, and Master
Ivo ''4_who show themselves as brothers. They who are with me—Brother Bruno and Brother Gerard'?"?—salute you and ask for your prayers.
TO THOMAS, PRIOR OF BEVERLEY
This Thomas had taken the vows of the Cistercian Order at Clairvaux. As he showed hesitation, Bernard urges his tardy spirit to fulfill them. But the following letter will prove that it was a warning to deaf ears, where it relates the unhappy end of "Baldwin, first cardinal of the Cistercian Order, was created by Innocent,
A.D, 1130, ata council held at Claremont. He was afterward made archbishop of Pisa; cf, Life of St. Bernard (lib. ii. n. 49): "In Pisa was Baldwin born, the glory of his native land, and a burning light to the Church." So great a man did not think it beneath him to act as Bernard's secretary, and his praises are sung in Ep. 245; cf. Ep. 201.
All these were cardinals. Luke, of the title of SS. John and Paul, was created A.D, 1132; Chrysogonus, of the title of St. Maria de Porticu, A.D. 11343 Ivo, a regular canon of St. Victor of Paris, A.D. 1130, of the title of St. Laurence in Damascus; to him Ep. 193 was written.
"Bruno is called (Ep. 209) the father of many disciples in Sicily. Gerard seems to be Bernard's brother. For Bruno, see also Ep. 1654.
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LENTERS Thomas. In this letter Bernard sketches with a master's hand the whole scheme of salvation.
Bernard to his beloved son Thomas, as being his son.
1. What is the good of words? An ardent spirit and a strong desire cannot express themselves simply by the tongue. We want your sympathy and your bodily presence to speak to us; for if you come you will know us better, and we shall better appreciate each other. We have long been held in a mutual bond as debtors one to another; for I owe you faithful care and you owe me submissive obedience. Let our actions and not our pens, if you please, prove each of us. I wish you would apply to yourself henceforth and carry out toward me those words of the Only Begotten: "The works which the Father has given Me to finish, the same works bear witness of Me."'" For, indeed, only thus does the spirit of the Only Son bear witness with our spirit that we also are the sons of God, when, quickening us from dead works, He causes us to bring forth the works of life. A good or bad tree is distinguished, not by its leaves or flowers, but by its fruit.
So "By their fruits, He says, you shall know them."""" Works, then, and not words, make the difference between sons of God and sons of unbelief. By works, accordingly, do you display your sincere desire and make proof of mine.
2. I long for your presence; my heart has long wished for you, and expected the fulfillment of your promises. Why am
I so pressing? Certainly not from any personal or earthly feeling. I desire either to be profited by you or to be of service to you. Noble birth, bodily strength and beauty, the glow iste 5:36.
'77M 7:16,
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of youth, estates, palaces, and sumptuous furniture, external badges of dignity, and, I may also add, the world's wisdom—all these are of the world, and the world loves its own. But for how long will they endure? Forever? Assuredly not; for the world itself will not last forever; but these will not last even for long. In fact, the world will not be able long to keep these gifts for you, nor will you dwell long in the world to enjoy them, for the days of man are short. The world passes away with its lusts, but it dismisses you before it quite passes away itself. How can you take unlimited pleasure in a love that soon must end? But I ever love you, not your possessions; let them go whence they were derived. I only require of you one thing: that you would be mindful of your promise, and not deny us any longer the satisfaction of your presence among us, who love you sincerely, and will love you forever. In fact, if we love purely in our life, we shall also not be divided in death. For those gifts which I wish for in your case, or rather for you, belong not to the body or to time only; and so they fail not with the body, nor pass away with time; nay, when the body is laid aside they delight still more, and last when time is gone. They have nothing in common with the gifts above-mentioned, or such as they with which, I imagine, not the Father, but the world has endowed you. For which of these does not vanish before death, or at last fall a victim to it?
3, But, indeed, that is the best part, which shall not be taken away forever. What is that? "Eye has not seen it, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man.""?"
He who is a man and walks simply according to man's nature only, he who, to speak more plainly, is still content with flesh and blood, is wholly ignorant what that is,
t Cor 2:9.
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SELECTED LETTERS because flesh and blood will not reveal the things which God alone reveals through His Spirit. So the natural man is in no way admitted to the secret; in fact, he receives not the things of the Spirit of God.'"" Blessed are they who hear His words. I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known to you." O, wicked world, which will not bless Your friends except You make them enemies of God, and consequently unworthy of the council of the blessed. For clearly he who is willing to be
Your friend makes himself the enemy of God. And if the servant knows not what his Lord does, how much less the enemy? Moreover, the friend of the Bridegroom stands, and rejoices with joy because of the Bridegroom's voice; whence also it says, "My soul failed when [my beloved] spoke."
And so the friend of the world is shut out from the council of the friends of God; who have received not the spirit of this world but the spirit which is of God, that they may know the things which are given to them of God. I thank You, O
Father, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes; even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight," not because they of themselves deserved it. For all have sinned, and come short of Your glory, that You may freely send the Spirit of Your Son, crying in the hearts of the sons of adoption: Abba, Father. For those who are led by this Spirit, they are sons, and cannot be kept from their Father's council.
Indeed, they have the Spirit dwelling within them, who searches even the deep things of God. In short, of what can they be ignorant whom grace teaches everything?
4. Woe unto you, you sons of this world, because of your wisdom, which is foolishness! You know not the spirit of
aE OGY RIA.
onSg 5:6. omen 15:15.
Mt 11:25, 26.
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salvation, nor have share in the counsel, which the Father alone discloses alone to the Son, and to him to whom the Son will reveal Him. For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor? 5 i Not, indeed, no one; but only a few, only those who can truly say: The only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Woe to the world for its clamor! That same Only
Begotten, like as the angel of a great revelation, proclaims among the people: He who has ears to hear let him hear.
And since He finds not ears worthy to receive His words, and to whom He may commit the secret of the Father, He weaves parables for the crowd, that hearing they might not hear, and seeing they might not understand. But for His friends how different! With them He speaks apart: "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God";'™* to whom also He says: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Who are these? These are they whom He foreknew and foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The Lord knows who are His. Here is His great secret and the counsel which He has made known unto men. But He judges no others worthy of a share in so great mystery, except those whom He has foreknown and foreordained as His own. For those whom He foreordained, them also He called. Who, except he be called, may approach God's counsel? Those whom He called, them also He justified. Over them a Sun arises, though not that sun which may daily be seen arising over good and bad alike, but He of whom the prophet speaks when addressing himself to those alone who have
"Rom 11:34. f Lk 8:8-10.
Lk 12:32.
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SELECTED LETTERS been called to the counsel, he says: "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise." '9*° So while the sons of unbelief remain in darkness, the child of light leaves the power of darkness and comes into this new light, if once he can with faith say to God: I am a companion of all them that fear You.'*" Do you see how faith precedes, in order that justification may follow? Perchance, then, we are called through a3 and justified by love. Finally, the just pnall itive by faith," that faith, doubtless, which works by love."
5. So at his call let the sinner hear what he has to fear; and thus coming to the Sun of Righteousness, let him, now enlightened, see what he must love. For what is that saying:
"The merciful goodness of the Lord endures from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him."'"" From everlasting, because of predestination, to everlasting, because of glorification. The one process is without beginning, the other knows no ending. Indeed, those whom He predestines from everlasting, He glorifies to everlasting, with an interval, at least, in the case of adults, of calling and justification between. So at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, the mystery, hidden from eternity, concerning souls that have been predestined and are to be glorified, begins in some degree to emerge from the depths of eternity, as each soul, called by fear and justified by love, becomes assured that it, too, is of the number of the blessed, knowing well that whom
Mal 4:2. So all texts, except a few, in which the reading is: "Indeed, that Sun is promised to those who have been called," and so on. In the first edition, and many subsequent ones, it is: "For the Sun which arises is not that which is daily to be seen rising over good and bad, but one promised by the prophetic warning to such as fear God, to those only who have been called," and so on.
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He justified, them also He glorified." What then? The soul hears that it is called when it is stricken with fear. It feels also that it is justified when it is surrounded with love, Can it do otherwise than be confident that it will be glorified? There is a beginning; there is continuation. Can it despair only of the consummation? Indeed, if the fear of the Lord, in which our calling is said to consist, is the beginning of wisdom, surely the love of God—that love, I mean, which springs from faith, and is the source of our justification—is progress in wisdom. And so what but the consummation of wisdom is that glorification which we hope for at the last from the vision of God that will make us like Him? And so one deep calls another because of the noise of the water-pipes," when, with terrible judgments, that unmeasured Eternity and Eternal Immensity, whose wisdom cannot be told, leads the corrupt and inscrutable heart of man by Its own power and goodness forth into Its own marvelous light.
6. For instance, let us suppose a man in the world, held fast as yet in the love of this world and of his flesh; and, inasmuch as he bears the image of the earthly man, occupied with earthly things, without a thought of things heavenly, can anyone fail to see that this man is surrounded with horrible darkness, unless he also is sitting in the same fatal gloom? For no sign of his salvation has yet shone upon him; no inner inspiration bears its witness in his heart as to whether an eternal predestination destines him to good.
But, then, suppose the heavenly compassion vouchsafes sometime to have regard to him, and to shed upon him a spirit of compunction to make him bemoan himself and learn wisdom, change his life, subdue his flesh, love his
1991 Rom 8:30.
Ps 62:9.
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SELECTED LETTERS neighbor, cry to God, and resolve hereafter to live to God and not to the world; and suppose that from then on, by the gracious visitation of heavenly light and the sudden change accomplished by the Right Hand of the Most High, he sees clearly that he is no longer a child of wrath, but of grace, for he is now experiencing the fatherly love and divine goodness toward him—a love which hitherto had been concealed from him so completely as not only to leave him in ignorance whether he deserved love or hate, but also as to make his own life indicate hatred rather than love, for darkness was still on the face of the deep—would it not seem to you that such a one is lifted directly out of the profoundest and darkest deep of horrible ignorance into the pleasant and serene deep of eternal brightness?
7. And then at length God, as it were, divides the light from the darkness, when a sinner, enlightened by the first rays of the Sun of Righteousness; casts off the works of darkness and puts on the armor of light.
His own conscience and the sins of his former life alike doom him as a true child of hell to eternal fires; but under the looks with which the Dayspring from on high deigns to visit him, he breathes again, and even begins to hope beyond hope that he shall enjoy the glory of the sons of God. For rejoicing at the near prospect with unveiled face, he sees it in the new light, and says: "Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us;
You have put gladness in my heart";'""* "Lord, what is man that You have such respect for him, or the son of man that You so regard him?"''""* Now, O good Father, vile worm and worthy of eternal hatred as he is, he yet trusts that he is loved, because he feels that he loves; no, because he has a '3Ds 4:7, "PDs 144:3.
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foretaste of Your love he does not blush to make return of love. Now in Your brightness it becomes clear, Oh! Light that no man can approach, what good things You have in store for so poor a thing as man, even though he is evil! He loves not undeservedly, because he was loved without his deserving it; and his love is for everlasting, because he knows that he has been loved from everlasting. He brings to light for the comfort of the sorrowful the great design which from eternity had lain in the bosom of eternity, namely, that God wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live. As a witness of this secret, Oh! man, you have the justifying Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you yourself also are the son of God. Acknowledge the counsel of God in your justification; confess it and say, "your testimonies are my delight and my counselors."
For your present justification is the revelation of the Divine counsel, and a preparation for future glory. Or rather, perhaps, predestination itself is the preparation for it, and justification is more the gradual drawing near unto it. Indeed, it is said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.""™
And hear also of predestination that it is the preparation:
"Come, inherit," He says, "the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."'?"
8. Let none, therefore, doubt that he is loved who already loves. The love of God freely follows our love which it preceded. For how can He grow weary of returning their love to those whom He loved even while they yet loved Him not? He loved them, I say; yes, He loved. For as a pledge of His love you have the Spirit; you also have Jesus, the faithful witness, and Him crucified. Oh! double proof, and that most sure, of Mh, 119:24.
'Mt 25:34.
Mt 3:2.
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SELECTED LETTERS God's love toward us. Christ dies, and deserves to be loved by us. The Spirit works, and makes Him to be loved. The One shows the reason why He is loved: the Other how He is to be loved. The One commends His own great love to us; the Other makes it ours. In the One we see the object of love; from the Other we draw the power to love. With the One, therefore, is the cause; with the Other the gift of charity. What shame to watch, with thankless eyes, the Son of God dying— and yet this may easily happen, if the Spirit is not with us. But now, since "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto tise having been loved we love; and as we love, we deserve to be loved yet more. For if, says the apostle, while we were yet enemies, we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved through His life.'"" For He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? g. Since, then, the token of our salvation is twofold, namely, a twofold outpouring, of the Blood and of the Spirit, neither can profit without the other. For the Spirit is not given except to such as believe in the Crucified, and faith avails not unless it works by love. But love is the gift of the Spirit. If the second Adam (I speak of Christ) not only became a living soul, but also a quickening spirit, dying as being the one, and raising the dead as being the other, how can that which dies in Him profit me, apart from that which quickens? Indeed, He Himself says: "It is the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing."""" Now, what does
"quicken" mean except "justify"? For as sin is the death of the soul" (The soul that sins shall die; Ez 18:4), without °Rom 55.
Jn 6:63.
Rom 8:32.
"Ez 18:4.
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doubt righteousness is its life; for "The just shall live by faith."""" Who, then, is righteous, except he who returns to God, who loves him, His meed of love? And this never happens unless the Spirit by faith reveals to the man the eternal purpose of God concerning his future salvation. Such a revelation is simply the infusion of spiritual grace, by which, with the mortification of the deeds of the flesh, man is made ready for the kingdom which flesh and blood cannot inherit. And he receives by one and the same Spirit both the reason for thinking that he is loved and the power of returning love, lest the love of God for us should be left without return.
10. This, then, is that holy and secret counsel which the Son has received from the Father by the Holy Spirit. This by the same Spirit He imparts to His own whom He knows, in their justification, and by the imparting He justifies. Thus in his justification each of the faithful receives the power to begin to know himself even as he is known: when, for instance, there is given to him some foretaste of his own future happiness, as he sees how it lay hid from eternity in God, who foreordains it, but will appear more fully in God, who is effecting it. But concerning the knowledge that he has now, for his part, attained, let a man glory at present in the hope, not in the secure possession of it. How must we pity those who possess as yet no token of their own calling to this glad assembly of the righteous. Lord, who has believed our report? Oh! that they would be wise and understand.
But except they believe they shall not understand.
11. But you, too, you unhappy and heedless lovers of the world, have your purpose far from that of the just. Scale sticks close to scale, and there is no airhole between you.
"Rom M17; "meg 53:1.
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SELECTED LETTERS You, too, oh! sons of impiety, have your purpose communicated one to another, but openly against the Lord and against His Christ." For if, as the Scripture says, "The fear of God, that is piety,"""" of course anyone who loves the world more than God is convicted of impiety and idolatry, of worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator. But if, as has been said, the holy and impious have each their purpose kept for themselves, doubtless there is a great gulf fixed between the two. For as the just keeps himself aloof from the purpose and council of evil men," so the impious never rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the purpose for the just." For there is a purpose for the just, a gracious rain which God has set apart for His heritage. There is a purpose really secret, descending like rain into a fleece of wool—a sealed fount whereof no stranger may partake—a Sun of Righteousness rising only for such as fear God.
12. Moreover, the prophet, noting that the rest remain in their own dryness and darkness, being ignorant of the rain and of the light of the just, mocks and brands their unfruitful gloom and confused perversity. This is a nation, he says, that obeys not the voice of the Lord their God." You are not ready, oh! miserable men, to say with David, "I will hearken what the Lord God will say with regard to me," for being exhausted abroad upon [the quest of] vanity and false folly, you seek not for the deepest and best hearing of the truth.
"APs 2:2, *Tb 28:28. The Septuagint has [dou theosebeia esti Sophia. The Vulgate reads
Ecce timor Domini iosa est sapientia, with which the Authorized Version coincides. "Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom." Does Bernard quote from memory?
EGER s 10.
*-7T his must be the reading, not "congregation" (concilio), as in Psalm 1, for the sense demands "purpose" (consilio), and the MSS. so read, er 7:28.
Ds 85:8.
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Oh! you sons of men, how long will you blaspheme my honor, and have such pleasure in vanity and seek after leasing." You are deaf to the voice of truth, and you do not know the purpose of Him who thinks thoughts of peace, who also speaks peace to His people, and to His saints, and to such as are converted in heart. Now, he says, you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Therefore, they who do not hear this word are unclean.
13. But you, dearly beloved, if you are making ready your inward ear for this Voice of God that is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, flee from outward cares, that with your inmost heart clear and free you also may say with Samuel,
"Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears." This Voice sounds not in the marketplace, and is not heard in public. It is a secret purpose, and seeks to be heard in secret. It will of a surety give you joy and gladness in hearing it, if you listen with attentive ear. Once it ordered Abraham to get out of his country and from his kindred, that he might see and possess the land of the living.
°"' Jacob left his brother and his home, and passed over Jordan with his staff, and was received in Rachel's embrace.' Joseph was lord in Egypt," having been torn by a fraudulent purchase from his father and his home. Thus the Church is bidden, in order that the King may have pleasure in her beauty, to forget her own people and her Father's house." The boy Jesus was sought by His parents among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, and was not found." Also flee from your brethren, if you wish to find the way of salvation. Flee, I say, from the midst of Babylon, flee from before the sword of the northwind. A bare
2010.
Ps 4:2.
Fe Gn 32: 10} 29:11, ad ied * "Gn 37 and 41, M 3:9.
"Dg 45:11, 12,
PBC 12:1.
cer ip 2: 4455
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SELECTED LETTERS sustenance I am ready to offer for the help of everyone that flees. You call me your abbot; I refuse not the title for obedience's sake—obedience, I say, not that I demand it, but that I render it in service to others, even as "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many." But if you deem me worthy, receive as your fellow disciple him whom you choose for your master.
For we both have one Master, Christ. And so let Him be the end of this letter, who is the end of the law for righteous- .
ness to everyone that believes."
TO THOMAS OF ST. OMER, AFTER HE HAD
BROKEN HIS PROMISE OF ADOPTING
A CHANGE OF LIFE
He urges him to leave his studies and enter religion and sets before him the miserable end of Thomas of Beverley.
To his dearly beloved son, Thomas, Brother Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, that he may walk in the fear of the Lord.
1. You do well in acknowledging the debt of your promise, and in not denying your guilt in deferring its performance.
But I beg you not to think simply of what you promised, but to whom you promised it. For I do not claim for myself any part of that promise which you made, in my presence, indeed, but not to me. Do not fear that I am going to reprove you on account of that deceptive delay: for I was summoned
2018 Mt 20:28, 201 *Rom 10:4.
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as the witness, not as the lord of your vow. I saw it and rejoiced; and my prayer is that my joy may be full—which it will not be until your promise is fulfilled. You have fixed a time which you ought not to have transgressed. You have transgressed it, What is that to me? To your own lord you shall stand or fall. I have determined, because the danger is so imminent, to deal with you neither by reproofs nor threats, but only by advice—and that only so far as you take it kindly. If you shall hear me, well. If not, I judge no man; there is One who seeks and judges; for He who judges us is the Lord." And I think for this cause you ought to fear and grieve the more, inasmuch as you have not lied unto men, but unto God. And though, as you wish, I spare your shame before men, is that shamelessness to go unpunished before God? For what reason, pray, is there in feeling shame before the judgment of man and not fearing the face of God?
For the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." Do you, then, fear reproaches more than torments; and do you, who tremble at the tongue of flesh, despise the sword which devours the flesh? Are these the fine moral principles with which, as you write, you are being stored in the acquisition of knowledge, the ardor and love for which so heats and excites you that you do not fear to slight your sacred vow?
2. But, I pray you, what proof of virtue is it, what instance of self-control, what advance in knowledge, or artistic skill, to tremble with fear where no fear is needful, and to lay aside even the fear of the Lord. How much more wholesome the knowledge of Jesus and Him crucified—a knowledge,
"Bernard regards as a vow that kind of promise by which a man had determined in his presence to enter the religious state. See Letter 395 and Sermons on Canticles, 63n6, in which he mourns the lapse and fall of novices.
1 Cor. 4:4,
SELECTED LETTERS of course, not easy to acquire except for Him who is crucified to the world, You are mistaken, my son, quite mistaken, if you think that you can learn in the school of the teachers of this world that knowledge which only the disciples of Christ, that is, such as despise the world, attain; and that by the gift of God. This knowledge is taught, not by the reading of books, but by grace; not by the letter, but by the spirit; not by learning, but by the practice of the commandments of God: Sow, says the prophet, to yourselves in righteousness, reap the hope of life, kindle for yourselves the light of knowledge.' You see that the light of knowledge cannot be duly attained, except the seed of righteousness [first] enter the soul, so that from it may grow the grain of life, and not the mere husk of vainglory. What then? You have not yet sown to yourself in righteousness, and therefore you have not yet reaped the sheaves of hope; and do you pretend that you are acquiring the true knowledge? Perchance for the true there is being substituted that which puffs up. You err foolishly, spending your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies not." *
I entreat you, return to the former wish of your heart, and realize that this year of delay which you have allowed to yourself has been a wrong to God; is not a year pleasing to the Lord, but a seed plot of discord, an incentive to wrath, a food of apostasy, such as must quench the Spirit, shut off grace, and produce that lukewarmness which is wont to provoke God to spew men out of His mouth."
3. Alas! I think that, as you are called by the same name, so you walk in the same spirit as that other Thomas, once, I *°3Cf. Hos 10:12.
Ts 5532.
CF, Rv 3:16.
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mean, provost of Beverley. For after devoting himself, like you, to our Order and House with all his heart, he began to beg for delay, and then by degrees to grow cold, until he openly ended by being a secular, an apostate, and, twofold more, a child of hell, and was cut off prematurely by a sudden and terrible death"""'—a fate which, if it may be, let the pitiful and clement Lord avert. The letter which I wrote to him in vain still survives." I simply freed my own mind, by warning him, so far as I could, how it must soon end. How happy would he have been if he had taken my advice! He cloaked his sin. I am clean from his blood. But that is not enough for me. For though in so acting I am quite at ease on my own account, yet that charity which seeks not her own' urges me to mourn for him who died not in safety, because he lived so carelessly. Oh! the great depth of the judgments of God! Oh! my God, terrible in Your counsels over the sons of men! He bestowed the Spirit, whom he was soon again to withdraw, so that a man sinned a sin beyond measure, and grace found entrance that sin might abound; though this was the fault, not of the Giver, but of him who added the transgression. For it was the act of the man's own free will
(whereby, using badly his freedom, he had the power to grieve the free Spirit) to despise the grace instead of bringing to good effect the inspiration of God, so as to be able to say:
"His grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain."
4. If you are wise, you will let his folly profit you as a warning; you will wash your hands in the blood of the sinner, and take care to release yourself at once from the snare of perdition, and me from horrible fear on your account. For, I confess, I | 382 |
SELECTED LETTERS feel your erring steps as the rending of my heart, because you have become very dear to me, and I feel a father's affection for you. Therefore, at every remembrance of you that sword of fear pierces through my heart the more sharply, as I consider that you have too little fear and uneasiness. I know where I have read of such: "For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape."""" Yea, I foresee that many fearful consequences threaten you if you still delay to be wise. For I have had much experience; and Oh! that you would share and profit by it. So believe one who has had experience; believe one who loves you. For if you know for the one reason that I am not deceived, for the other you know also that I am not capable of deceiving you.
TO GUIGUES, THE PRIOR, AND TO THE
OTHER MONKS OF THE GRAND CHARTREUSE
(c. A.D, 1125) He discourses much and piously of the law of true and sincere charity, of its signs, its degrees, its effects, and of its perfection which is reserved for Heaven (Patria).
Brother Bernard, of Clairvaux, wishes health eternal to the most reverend among fathers, and to the dearest among friends, Guigues, Prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and to the holy Monks who are with him.
1. I have received the letter of Your Holiness as joyfully as I had long and eagerly desired it. I have read it, and the letters
3° Thes 5:3.
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which I pronounced with my mouth, I felt, as it were, sparks of fire in my heart, which warmed my heart within me; as coming from that fire which the Lord has sent upon the earth.' How great a fire must glow in those meditations from which such sparks fly forth! This, your inspired and inspiring salutation, was to me, I confess, not as if coming from man, but like words descending surely from Him who sent the salutation to Jacob. It is not for me, in fact, a simple salutation given in passing, according to the custom and usage of men, but it is plainly from the very bowels of charity, as I feel, that this benediction, so sweet and so unhoped for, has come forth. I pray God to bless you, who have had the goodness to prevent me with benedictions of such sweetness, that confidence is granted to me, your humble servant, to reply, since you have first written; for though
I had meditated writing, I had hitherto not presumed to do so. For I feared to trouble, by my eager scribbling, the holy quiet which you have in the Lord, and the religious silence which isolates you from the world. I feared, also, to interrupt, even for a moment, those mysterious whispers from God, and to pour my words into ears always occupied with the secret praises of heaven. I feared to become as one who would trouble even Moses on the mountain, Elias in the desert, or Samuel watching in the temple, if I had tried to turn away ever so little, minds occupied with divine communion. Samuel cries out: "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears." And should I presume to make myself heard? I feared, I say, lest presenting myself out of season before you, as it were to David engaged in flight, or abiding in solitude, you might not wish to listen, and might say, "Excuse me, I "S"Lk 12:49, 377 Sm 3:10.
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SELECTED LETTERS cannot hear You now; I prefer rather to give ear to words sweeter than thine." I will hear what the Lord God will say unto me; for He shall speak peace unto His people, and to His saints, and to those who are converted at heart.' Or, at least, this: "Depart from me, you evil-disposed, and I will study the commandments of my God.""" For could I be so rash as to dare to arouse the much-loved spouse sweetly resting in the arms of her bridegroom as long as she will?
Should I not hear from her on the instant: "Do not be troublesome to me; I am for My Beloved, and My Beloved is for Me; He feeds among the lilies"?"""
2. But what I do not dare to do, charity dares, and with all confidence knocks at the door of a friend, thinking that she ought by no means to suffer repulse, who knows herself to be the mother of friendships; nor does she fear to interrupt for an instant your rest, though so pleasant, to speak to you of her own task. She, when she will, causes you to withdraw from being alone with God; she, also, when she willed, made you attentive to me; so that you did not regard it as unworthy of you, not merely to benignantly endure my speaking, but more, to urge me to break the silence. I esteem the kindness, I admire the worthiness, I praise and venerate the pure rejoicing with which you glory in the Lord, for the advances in virtue which, as you suppose, I have made. I am proud of so great a testimony, and esteem myself happy in a friendship so grateful to me as that of the servants of God toward me. This is now my glory, this is my joy and the rejoicing of my heart, that not in vain I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains whence there has now come to me help of no *33Ps 84:9, Vulgate.
*°34Ds 119:115.
*°3°S 9 2:16.
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small value. These mountains have already distilled sweetness for me; and I continue to hope that they will do so until our valleys shall abound with fruit. That day shall be always for me a day of festival and perpetual memorial, in which I had the honor to see and to receive that worthy man, by whom it has come about that I should be received into your hearts. And, indeed, you had received me even before, if I may judge by your letter; but now with a more close and intimate friendship, since, as I find, he brought back to you too favorable reports concerning me which, doubtless, he believed, though without sufficient cause. For, as a faithful and pious man, God forbid that he should speak otherwise than he believed. And truly I experience in myself what the Savior says: "He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward,""° I have said, the reward of a righteous man, because I am regarded as righteous, only through receiving one who is righteous. If he has reported of me something more than that, he has spoken not so much according to the truth of the case as according to the simplicity and goodness of his heart. You have heard, you have believed, you have rejoiced, and have written, thereby giving me no little joy, not only because I have been honored with a degree of praise and a high place in the estimation of Your Holiness, but also because all the sincerity of your souls has made itself known to me in no small measure. In few words, you have shown to me with what spirit you are animated.
3. I rejoice, therefore, and congratulate you on your sincerity and goodness as I congratulate myself on the edification which you have afforded to me. That is, indeed, true and sincere charity, and must be considered to proceed from a heart
2036 Mt 10:41.
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SELECTED LETTERS altogether pure and a good conscience and faith unfeigned, with which we love our neighbor as ourself.
For he who loves only the good that himself has done, or, at least, loves it more than that of others, does not love good for its own sake, but on account of himself, and he who is such cannot do as the prophet says: "Give thanks unto the Lord, because He is good."""" He gives thanks, indeed, perhaps, because the Lord is good to him, not because He is good in Himself.
Wherefore let him understand that this reproach from the same prophet is directed against him: "They will praise You when You do well unto Your own soul.""* One man praises the Lord because He is mighty; another because He is good unto him; and, again, another simply because He is good.
The first is a slave, and fears for himself; the second mercenary, and desires somewhat for himself; but the third is a son, and gives praise to his Father. Therefore both he who fears and he who desires are each working for his own advantage; charity which is in him alone who is a son, seeks not her own.
Wherefore I think that it was of charity that was spoken, "The law of the Lord is pure, converting the soul,"""" because it is that alone which can turn away the mind from the love of itself and of the world and direct it toward God.
Neither fear nor selfish love converts the soul. They change sometimes the outward appearance or the actions, but never affect the heart. No doubt even the slave does sometimes the work of God, but because he does it not of his own free will he remains still in his hardness. The mercenary person does it also, but not out of kindness, only as drawn by his own particular advantage. Where there is distinction of persons, there are personal interests, and where there are personal
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interests there is a limit of willingness, and there, without doubt, a rusting meanness. Let the very fear by which he is constrained be a law to the slave, let the greedy desire, with which the mercenary is bound, be a law to him, since it is by it that he is drawn away and enticed. But of these neither is without fault or is able to convert the soul. But charity does convert souls when it fills them with disinterested zeal.
4. Now, I should say that this charity is faultless in him who has become accustomed to retain nothing for himself out of that which is his own. He who keeps nothing for himself gives to God quite certainly all that he has, and that which belongs to God cannot be unclean. Thus that pure law of the Lord is no other than charity, which seeks not what is advantageous to herself, but that which profits others, But law is said to be of the Lord, either because He Himself lives by it or because no one possesses it except by His gift. Nor let it seem absurd what I have said, that even God lives by law, since I declared that this law was no other than charity. For what but charity preserves in the supreme and blessed Trinity, that lofty and unspeakable unity which it has? It is law, then, and charity the law of the Lord, which maintains in a wonderful manner the Trinity in Unity and binds it in the bond of peace. Yet let no one think that I here take charity for a quality or a certain accident in God, or otherwise to say that in God (which God forbid) there is something which is not God; but I say that it is the very substance of God. I say nothing new or unheard of, for St. John says God is love."
It is then right to say that charity is God, and at the same time the gift of God. Therefore Charity gives charity, the substantial gives the accidental." Where the word signifies
t Jn 4:16.
**"Mabillon reads substantiva, but another reading is substantia [Ed.].
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SELECTED LETTERS the Giver it is a name of the substance, and where the thing given, it is a name of the accident. This is the eternal law,
Creator and Ruler of the Universe. Since all things have been made through it in weight and measure and number, and nothing is left without law, not even He who is the Law of all things, yet He is Himself none other than the law which rules Him, a law untreated as He.
5. But the slave and the mercenary have a law, not from God, but which they have made for themselves—the one by not loving God, the other by loving something else more than Him. They have, I say, a law which is their own and not of the Lord, to which, nevertheless, their own is subjected; nor are they able to withdraw themselves from the unchangeable order of the divine law, though each should make a law for himself. I would say, then, that a person makes a law for himself when he prefers his own will to the common and eternal law, perversely wishing to imitate his
Creator; so that as He is a law unto Himself, and is under no authority but His Own, so the man also will be his own master, will make his own will a law to himself. Alas! what a heavy and insupportable yoke upon all the sons of Adam, which weighs upon and bows down our necks, so that our life is drawn near to the grave. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death," with which I am so weighed down that unless the Lord had helped me, my soul would almost have dwelt in the grave?" '
With this load was he burdened who groaned, saying: "Why have You set me as a mark against You, so that I am a burden to myself?""'"* Where he says, "I am made a burden to myself," he showed that he was a law unto himself, and the law no *" Rom 8:24.
*8Ds 94:17.
Tb 7:20.
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other than he himself had made it. But when, speaking to God, he commenced by saying, "You have set me as a mark against You," he showed that he had not escaped from the Divine law. For this is the property of that eternal and just law of God, that he who would not be ruled with gentleness by God, should be ruled as a punishment by his own self; and that all those who have willingly thrown off the gentle yoke and light burden of charity should bear unwillingly the insupportable burden of their own will, 6. Thus the everlasting law does in a wonderful manner, to him who is a fugitive from its power, both make him an adversary and retain him as a subject; for while, on the one hand, he has not escaped from the law of justice, by which he is dealt with according to his merits, on the other he does not remain with God in His light, or peace, or glory. He is subjected to power, and excluded from happiness. O Lord, my God, why do You not take away my sin, and pardon my transgression?" So that throwing down the heavy weight of my own will, I may breathe easily under the light burden of charity; that I may not be overborne any longer by servile fear, nor allured by selfish cupidity, but may be impelled by Your spirit, the spirit of liberty, which is that of Your children, Who is it, who witnesses to my spirit that I, too, am one of Your children, since Your law is mine, and as You are, so am J also, in this world? For it is quite certain that those who do this which the apostle says owe no one anything except to love one another are themselves as God is in this world," nor are they slaves or mercenaries, but sons.
Therefore neither are sons without law, unless, perhaps, someone should think the contrary because of this which is
204 "Jb man:
Rom 13:8.
204) | 390 |
SELECTED LETTERS written, the law is not made for a righteous man." But it ought to be remembered that the law promulgated in fear by a spirit of slavery is one thing, and that given sweetly and gently by the spirit of liberty is another. Those who are sons are not obliged to submit to the first, but they are always under the rule of the second. Do you wish to hear why it is said that law is not made for the righteous? You have not received, he says, the spirit of slavery again in fear. Or why, nevertheless, they are always under the rule of the law of charity? But you have received the spirit of the adoption of sons." Listen, now, in what manner the righteous man confesses that at the same time he is and is not under the law.
I became, he says, to those which were under the law as being under the law, although I myself was not under the law: but to those who were without law, I was as being without law, since I was not without the law of God but in the law of Christ."""" Whence it is not accurately said the righteous have no law, or the righteous are without law, but that the law was not made for the righteous; that is, it is not, as it were, imposed upon unwilling subjects, but given freely to willing hearts by Him to whose sweet inspiration it is due.
Wherefore the Lord also beautifully says, "Take My yoke upon you." As if He would say, I do not impose it upon you against your will, take it if you are willing; otherwise you will find not rest, but labor, for your souls.
7, The law of charity, then, is good and sweet, it is not only light and sweet to bear, but it renders bearable and light the laws even of slaves and mercenaries. But it does not destroy
1 Cor 9:20, 21.
Mt 11:29.
1Tm 1:9, Rom 8:15.
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these, but brings about their fulfillment, as the Lord says, "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill.""* The one it moderates, the other it reduces to order, and each it lightens.
Charity will never be without fear, but that fear is good; it will never be without any thought of interest, but that a restrained and moderated one. Charity, therefore, perfects the law of the slave when it inspires a generous devotion, and that of the mercenary when it gives a better direction to interested wishes. So, then, devotion mixed with fear does not annul those last, but purifies them, only it takes away the fear of punishment which servile fear is never exempt from; and this fear is clean and filial, enduring forever." For that which is written, perfect love takes away fear," is to be understood of the fear of punishment, which is never wanting, as we have said, to slavish fear. It is, in fact, a common mode of speech which consists in putting the cause for the effect. As for cupidity, it is then rightly directed by the charity which is joined with it, since ceasing altogether to desire things which are evil, it begins to prefer those which are better, nor does it desire good things except in order to reach those which are better; which when, by the grace of God, it has fully obtained, the body and all the good things which belong to the body will be loved only for the sake of the soul, the soul for the sake of God, and God alone for Himself.
8. However, as we are in fleshly bodies, and are born of the desire of the flesh, it is of necessity that our desire, or affection, should begin from the flesh; but if it is rightly directed, advancing step-by-step under the guidance of grace, it will at length be perfected by the Spirit, because that is not first
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SELECTED LETTERS which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual; and it is needful that we should first bear the image of the earthly and afterward that of the heavenly."4 First, then, a man loves his own self for self's sake, since he is flesh, and he cannot have any taste except for things in relation with him; but when he sees that he is not able to subsist by himself, that God is, as it were, necessary to him, he begins to inquire and to love God by faith. Thus he loves God in the second place, but because of his own interest, and not for the sake of God Himself. But when, on account of his own necessity, he has begun to worship Him and to approach Him by meditation, by reading, by prayer, by obedience, he comes little by little to know God with a certain familiarity, and in consequence to find Him sweet and kind; and thus having tasted how sweet the Lord is, he passes to the third stage, and thus loves God no longer on account of his own interest, but for the sake of God Himself. Once arrived there, he remains stationary, and I know not if in this life man is truly able to rise to the fourth degree, which is no longer to love himself except for the sake of God. Those who have made trial of this (if there be any) may assert it to be attainable; to me, I confess, it appears impossible, It will be so without doubt when the good and faithful servant shall have been brought into the joy of his Lord, and inebriated with the fullness of the house of God. For being, as it were, exhilarate, he shall in a wonderful way be forgetful of himself, he shall lose the consciousness of what he is, and being absorbed altogether in God, shall attach himself unto Him with all his powers, shall thenceforth be one spirit with Him. g. I consider that the prophet referred to this when he said: "I will enter into the powers of the Lord: O, Lord, I
1 Cor 15:46, 49.
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will make mention of Your righteousness only." He knew well that when he entered into the spiritual powers of God he would be freed from all the infirmities of the flesh, and would have no longer to think of them, but would be occupied only with the perfections of God. Then, for certain, each of the members of Christ would be able to say of himself, what Paul said of their Head: "If we have known
Christ according to the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more." There no one knows himself according to the flesh, because flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God." Not that the substance of flesh will not be there, but that every fleshly necessity will be away; the love of the flesh is to be absorbed into the love of the spirit, and the weak human passions which exist at present will be absorbed into powers divine. Then the net of charity, which is now drawn through a great and vast sea, and does not cease to bring together from every kind of fish, at length drawn to the shore, shall retain only the good, rejecting the bad. And while in this life charity fills with all kinds of fishes the vast spaces of its net, suiting itself to all according to the time, making, in a sense, its own, and partaking of the good and evil fortunes of all, it is accustomed not only to rejoice with them that rejoice, but to weep with them that weep.
But when it shall have reached the shore [of eternity], casting away as evil fish all that it bore with grief before, it will retain those only which are sources of pleasure and gladness.
Then Paul will no longer be weak with the weak, or be scandalized with those who are scandalized, since scandal and weakness will be far away. We ought not to think that he will still let fall tears over those who have not repented here
5s 71:16,
*°2 Cor 5:16.
20! *71 Cor 15:50.
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below; and as it is certain that there will no longer be sinners, so there will be no one to repent. Far be it from us to think that he will mourn and deplore those whose portion is everlasting fire with the devil and his angels when in that City of God which the streams of that river make glad," the gates of which the Lord loves more than all the dwellings of Jacob," because in those dwellings, although the joy of victory is sometimes tasted, yet the combat always continues, and sometimes the struggle is for life; but in that dear country there is no place for adversity or sorrow, as in that psalm we sing: "The abiding place of all those who rejoice is in You," and again: "Everlasting joy shall be unto them."""" How, then, shall any remembrance be of mercy, where the justice of God shall be alone remembered? There can be no feeling of compassion called into exercise where there shall be no place for misery or occasion for pity.
10. I am impelled to prolong this already lengthy discourse, dearly beloved and much-longed-for brethren, by the very strong desire I have of conversing with you; but there are three things which show me that I ought to come to an end. First, that I fear to be burdensome to you; that I am ashamed to show myself so loquacious; third, that I am pressed with domestic cares. In conclusion, I beg you to have compassion for me, and if you have rejoiced for the good things you have heard of me, sympathize with me also, I pray, in my too real temptations and cares. He who related these things to you has, no doubt, seen some few little things, and has valued these little things as great, while your indulgence has easily believed what it willingly heard. I felicitate
2058. sea» Ps 46:4.
«tS 87:7, Vulgate.
*°99Ds 87:2.
* As 63:7.
SAINT BERNARD OF
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you, indeed, on that charity which believes all things." But I am confounded by the truth which knows all things. I beg you to believe me in what I say of myself rather than another who has only seen me from without. No man knows the things that are in a man save the spirit of man which is in him.' T assure you that I do not speak of myself by conjecture, but out of full knowledge, and that I am not such as | am believed and said to be. I feel assured of this, and confess it frankly; that so I may obtain your special prayers, and thus may become such as your letter sets forth, than which there is nothing I desire more.
1 Cor 13:7.
1 Cor 2:11.
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APPENDIX
DOCTOR
MELLIFLUUS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON ST. BERNARD
OF CLAIRVAUX, THE LAST OF THE FATHERS, TO
OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS,
PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER
LOCAL ORDINARIES IN PEACE AND COMMUNION
WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
Health and Apostolic Benediction.
The "Doctor Mellifluus," "the last of the Fathers, but certainly not inferior to the earlier ones," was remarkable for such qualities of nature and of mind, and so enriched by God with heavenly gifts, that in the changing and often stormy times in which he lived, he seemed to dominate by his holiness, wisdom, and most prudent counsel. Wherefore, he has been highly praised, not only by the sovereign pontiffs and writers of the Catholic Church, but also, and not infrequently, by heretics. Thus, when in the midst of universal jubilation, our predecessor, Alexander III, of happy memory, inscribed him among the canonized saints, he paid reverent tribute when he wrote: "We have passed in review the holy and venerable life of this same blessed man, not only in himself a shining example of holiness and religion, but also shone forth in the whole Church of God because of his faith and of his fruitful influence in the house of God by word and example; since he taught the precepts of our holy religion even to foreign and barbarian nations, and so recalled a countless multitude of sinners...to the right path of the spiritual
1Mfabillon, Bernardi Opera, Praef. generalis, n. 23; Migne, Patrologia Latina, {hereafter PL. | 182:26.
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life""°® "He was," as Cardinal Baronius writes, "a truly apostolic man, nay, a genuine apostle sent by God, mighty in work and word, everywhere and in all things adding luster to his apostolate through the signs that followed, so that he was in nothing inferior to the great apostles ... and should be called ... at one and the same time an adornment and a mainstay of the Catholic Church.""""
2. To these encomiums of highest praise, to which almost countless others could be added, we turn our thoughts at the end of this eighth century when the restorer and promoter of the holy Cistercian Order piously left this mortal life, which he had adorned with such great brilliance of doctrine and splendor of holiness. It is a source of gratification to think of his merits and to set them forth in writing, so that not only the members of his own Order, but also all those who delight principally in whatever is true, beautiful, or holy may feel themselves moved to imitate the shining example of his virtues.
3. His teaching was drawn, almost exclusively, from the pages of sacred Scripture and from the Fathers, which he had at hand day and night in his profound meditations: and not from the subtle reasonings of dialecticians and philosophers, which, on more than one occasion, he clearly held in low esteem." It should be remarked that he does not reject that human philosophy which is genuine philosophy, namely, that which leads to God, to right living, and to Christian wisdom.
Rather does he repudiate that philosophy which, by recourse to empty wordiness and clever quibbling, is overweening enough to climb to divine heights and to delve into all the eerie Apost. Contigit olim, 15 Kal. Feb., 1174, Anagniae d. es Annal.,, t. 12, An. 1153, p. 385, D-E; Rome, ex Tipografia Vaticana, 1907.
'Cf. Sermon in Festo SS. Apost. Petri et Pauli, n. 3; Migne, P, L., 183:407, and Sermon 3, in Festo Pentec., n. 5; Migne, P. L., 183:332-b.
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secrets of God, with the result that, as often happened in those days, it did harm to the integrity of faith and, sad to say, fell into heresy.
4. "Do you see..." he wrote, "how St. Paul the Apostle" makes the Eni and the utility of knowledge consist in the way we know? What is meant by 'the way we know'?
Is it not simply this, that you should recognize in what order, with what application, for what purpose and what things you should know? In what order—that you may first learn what is more conducive to salvation; with what zeal—that you may learn with deeper conviction what moves you to more ardent love; for what purpose—that you may not learn for vainglory, curiosity, or anything of the kind, but only for your own edification and that of your neighbor. For there are some who want knowledge for the sole purpose of knowing, and this is unseemly curiosity. And there are some who seek knowledge in order to be known themselves; and this is unseemly vanity . . . and there are also those who seek knowledge in order to sell their knowledge, for example, for money or for honors; and this is unseemly quest for gain.
But there are also those who seek knowledge in order to edify, and this is charity. And there are those who seek knowledge in order to be edified, and this is prudence."
5. In the following words, he describes most appropriately the doctrine, or rather the wisdom, which he follows and ardently loves: "It is the spirit of wisdom and understanding which, like a bee bearing both wax and honey is able to kindle the light of knowledge and to pour in the savor of grace.
Hence, let nobody think he has received a kiss, neither he who understands the truth but does not love it, nor he who Oe Cor, 8:2.
91 Cantica, Sermon 36, 3; Migne, P. L., 183:968c, d.
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loves the truth but does not understand it.""'" "What would be the good of learning without love? It would puff up. And love without learning? It would go astray." "Merely to shine is futile; merely to burn is not enough; to burn and to shine is perfect."""" Then he explains the source of true and genuine doctrine, and how it must be united with charity:
"God is Wisdom, and wants to be loved not only affectionately, but also wisely ... Otherwise, if you neglect knowledge, the spirit of error will most easily lay snares for your zeal; nor has the wily enemy a more efficacious means of driving love from the heart, than if he can make a man walk carelessly and imprudently in the path of love.""'"
6. From these words it is clear that in his study and his contemplation, under the influence of love rather than through the subtlety of human reasoning, Bernard's sole aim was to focus on the supreme Truth all the ways of truth which he had gathered from many different sources.
From them he drew light for the mind, the fire of charity for the soul, and right standards of conduct. This is indeed true wisdom, which rides over all things human, and brings everything back to its source, that is, to God, in order to lead men to Him. The "Doctor Mellifluus" makes his way with care deliberately through the uncertain and unsafe winding paths of reasoning, not trusting in the keenness of his own mind nor depending upon the tedious and artful syllogisms which many of the dialecticians of his time often abused.
No! Like an eagle, longing to fix his eyes on the sun, he presses on in swift flight to the summit of truth,
*?"Tbid., Sermon 8, n, 6; Migne, P. L., 183:813-a, b.
*""Tbid., Sermon 69, n. 2; Migne, P. L., 183:1113-a, In Nat. S. Joan, Bapt., Sermon 3; Migne, P. L., 183:399-b.
"In Cantica, Sermon 19, n. 7; Migne, P. L., 183:866-d, 2072.
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7. The charity which moves him, knows no barriers and, so to speak, gives wings to the mind. For him, learning is not the final goal, but rather a path leading to God; it is not something cold upon which the mind dwells aimlessly, as though amusing itself under the spell of shifting, brilliant light.
Rather, it is moved, impelled, and governed by love. Wherefore, carried upward by this wisdom and in meditation, contemplation, and love, Bernard climbs the peak of the mystical life and is joined to God Himself, so that at times he enjoyed almost infinite happiness even in this mortal life.
8. His style, which is lively, rich, easy flowing, and marked by striking expressions, has such pleasing function that it attracts, delights, and recalls the mind of the reader to heavenly things. It incites to, nourishes, and strengthens piety; it draws the soul to the pursuit of those good things which are not fleeting, but true, certain, and everlasting. For this reason, his writings were always held in high honor. So from them the Church herself has inserted into the Sacred
Liturgy not a few pages fragrant with heavenly things and aglow with piety. "' They seem to have been nourished with the breath of the Divine Spirit, and to shine with a light so bright that the course of the centuries cannot quench it; for it shines forth from the soul of a writer thirsting after truth and love, and yearning to nourish others and to make them like to himself." g. It is a pleasure, venerable brethren, for the edification of us all, to quote from his books some beautiful extracts from this mystical teaching: "We have taught that every soul, even though weighed down with sins, ensnared in vice,
*74C£. Brev. Rom. in festo SS. Nom. Jesu; die II infra octavam Concept. immac.
B.M.V,; in octava Assumpt. B.M.V,; in festo septem Dolor. B.M.V.; in festo sacrat.
Rosarii B.M.V.; in festo S. Josephi Sp. B.M.V.; in festo S. Gabrielis Arch.
*°Cf, Fénelon, Panégyrique de St. Bernard.
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caught in the allurements of the passions, held captive in exile, and imprisoned in the body ..
. even, I say, though it be thus damned and in despair, can find within itself not only reasons for yearning for the hope of pardon and the hope of mercy, but also for making bold to aspire to the nuptials of the Word, not hesitating to establish a covenant of union with God, and not being ashamed to carry the sweet yoke of love along with the King of the angels. What will the soul not dare with Him whose marvelous image it sees within itself, and whose striking likeness it recognizes in itself?" "By this likeness of charity .
. . the soul is wedded to the Word, when, namely, loving even as she is loved, she shows herself, in her will, likened to Him to Whom she is already likened in her nature. Therefore, if she loves Him perfectly, she has become His bride. What can be more sweet than such a likeness? What can be more desirable than this love, whereby you are enabled of yourself to draw nigh with confidence to the Word, to cleave to Him steadfastly, to question Him familiarly, and to consult Him in all thy doubts, as daring in your desires as you are receptive in your understanding? This is in truth the alliance of holy and spiritual wedlock. No, it is saying too little to call it an alliance: it is rather an embrace. Surely we have then a spiritual embrace when the same likes and the same dislikes make of two one spirit. Nor is there any occasion to fear lest the inequality of the persons should cause some defect in the harmony of wills, since love knows nothing of reverence.
Love means an exercise of affection, not a showing of honor , .
. Love is all sufficient for itself. Whithersoever love comes, it keeps under and holds captive to itself all the other cia 7 Cantica, Sermon, 83, n. 1; Migne, P. L., 183:1181-c, d.
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affections. Consequently, the soul that loves, simply loves and knows nothing else except to love.""""
10. After pointing out that God wants to be loved by men rather than feared and honored, he adds this wise and penetrating observation: "Love is sufficient of itself; it pleases of itself, and for the sake of loving. A great thing is love, if yet it returns to its Principle, if it is restored to its Origin, if it finds its way back again to its fountainhead, so that it may thus be enabled to flow on unfailingly. Amid all the emotions, sentiments, and feelings of the soul, love is outstanding in this respect, namely, that it alone among created things, has the power to correspond with, and to make return to the creator in kind, though not in equality."
11. Since in his prayer, and his contemplation he had frequently experienced this divine love, whereby we can be intimately united with God, there broke forth from his soul these inspired words: "Happy is the soul to whom it has been given to experience an embrace of such surpassing delight! This spiritual embrace is nothing else than a chaste and holy love, a love sweet and pleasant, a love perfectly serene and perfectly pure, a love that is mutual, intimate, and strong, a love that joins two, not in one flesh, but in one spirit, that makes two to be no longer two but one undivided spirit, as witness St. Paul," where he says, 'He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with Him.' yea
12. In our day this sublime teaching of the Doctor of Clairvaux on the mystical life, which surpasses and can satisfy all human desires, seems to be sometimes neglected and relegated to a secondary place, or forgotten by many who,
*~Tbid., n. 3; Migne, P. L., 183:1182-c, d.
7 bid., n. 4; Migne, P. L., 183:1183-b.
*PC£..1 Cor 6:17.
»°6°m Cantica, Sermon 83, n. 6; Migne, P. L., 183:1184-c.
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completely taken up with the worries and business of daily life, seek and desire only what is useful and profitable for this mortal life, scarcely ever lift their eyes and minds to heaven, or aspire after heavenly things and the goods that are everlasting.
13. Yet, although not all can reach the summit of that exalted contemplation of which Bernard speaks so eloquently, and although not all can bind themselves so closely to God as to feel linked in a mysterious manner with the Supreme Good through the bonds of heavenly marriage; nevertheless, all can and must, from time to time, lift their hearts from earthly things to those of heaven, and most earnestly love the Supreme Dispenser of all gifts.
14. Wherefore, since love for God is gradually growing cold today in the hearts of many, or is even completely quenched, we feel that these writings of the "Doctor
Mellifluus" should be carefully pondered, because from their content, which in fact is taken from the Gospels, a new and heavenly strength can flow both into individual and on into social life, to give moral guidance, bring it into line with Christian precepts, and thus be able to provide timely remedies for the many grave ills which afflict mankind. For, when men do not have the proper love for their Creator, from Whom comes everything they have when they do not love one another, then, as often happens, they are separated from one another by hatred and deceit, and so quarrel bitterly among themselves. Now God is the most loving Father of us all, and we are all brethren in Christ, we whom He redeemed by shedding His precious Blood. Hence, as often as we fail to return God's love or to recognize His divine fatherhood with all due reverence, the bonds of brotherly love are unfortunately shattered and—as, alas, is so often evident—discord, strife, and enmity unhappily are the | 406 |
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result, so much so as to undermine and destroy the very foundations of human society.
15. Hence, that divine love with which the Doctor of Clairvaux was so ardently aflame must be re-enkindled in the hearts of all men, if we desire the restoration of Christian morality, if the Catholic religion is to carry out its mission successfully, and if, through the calming of dissension and the restoration of order, justice, and equity, serene peace is to shine forth on mankind so weary and bewildered.
16. May those who have embraced the Order of the "Doctor Mellifluus," and all the members of the clergy, whose special task it is to exhort and urge others to a greater love of God, be aglow with that love with which we must always be most passionately united with God. In our own day, more than at any other time—as we have said—men are in need of this divine love. Family life needs it, mankind needs it.
Where it burns and leads souls to God, Who is the supreme goal of all mortals, all other virtues wax strong. When, on the other hand, it is absent or has died out, then quiet, peace, joy, and all other truly good things gradually disappear or are completely destroyed, since they flow from Him who is love itself."
17. Of this divine charity, possibly nobody has spoken more excellently, more profoundly, or more earnestly than
Bernard: "The reason for loving God," as he says, "is God; the measure of this love is to love without measure."
"Where there is love, there is no toil, but delight." He admits having experienced this love himself when he writes:
"O holy and chaste love! O sweet and soothing affection!
. . .
It is the more soothing and more sweet, the more the whole =e Jn 4:8.
*"De Diligendo Deo, c. 50, Migne, P. L., 182:974-a.
*°*31 Cantica, Sermon 85, n. 8; Migne, P. L., 183:1191-d.
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of that which is experienced is divine. To have such love means being made like God. "204 A nd elsewhere: "It is good for me, O Lord, to embrace You all the more in tribulation, to have You with me in the furnace of trial rather than to be without You even in heaven.""" But when he touches upon that supreme and perfect love whereby he is united with God Himself in intimate wedlock, then he enjoys a happiness and a peace, than which none other can be greater; "O place of true rest... For we do not here behold God either, as it were, excited with anger, or as though distracted with care; but His will is proved to be 'good and acceptable and perfect.' This vision soothes. It does not frighten. It lulls to rest, instead of awakening our unquiet curiosity. It calms the mind instead of tiring it. Here is found perfect rest. God's quiet quietens all about Him. To think of His rest is to give rest to the soul."
18. However, this perfect quiet is not the death of the mind but its true life. "Instead of bringing darkness and lethargy, the sleep of the Spouse is wakeful and life-giving; it enlightens the mind, expels the death of sin, and bestows immortality. Nevertheless, it is indeed a sleep, which transports rather than stupefies the faculties. It is a true death. This I affirm without the least hesitation, since the apostle says, in commendation of some who were still living in the flesh, 'You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. is
19. This perfect quiet of the mind, in which we enjoy the loving God by returning His love, and by which we turn and direct ourselves and all we have to Him, does not make us lazy and slothful. Rather it is a constant, effective, and . _'De Diligendo Deo, c. 10, n. 28; Migne,
P. L., 183:991-a.
In Ps. go, Sermon 17, n, 4; Migne, P. L., 183:252-c.
In Cantica, Sermon 13, n, 16; Migne, P, L., 183:893-a, b.
*"'Col 3:3; In Cantica, Sermon 52, n, 3 Mibbel P.L,, 183:1031-a, [ 408 |
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active zeal that spurs us on to look to our own salvation, and, with the help of God, to that of others also. For this lofty contemplation and meditation, which is brought about by divine love, "regulates the affections, directs the actions, cuts away all excesses, forms the character, orders and ennobles the life, and lastly ... endows the understanding with a knowledge of things divine and human. It... undoes what is tangled, unites what is divided, gathers what is scattered, uncovers what is hidden, searches out what is false and deceptive. It... lays down beforehand what we have to do, and passes in review what has been accomplished, so that nothing disordered may remain in the mind, nothing uncorrected. Finally ... it makes provision for trouble, and thus endures misfortune, so to say, without feeling it, of which the former is the part of prudence, and the latter the function of fortitude."
20. In fact, although he longs to remain fixed in this most exalted and sweet contemplation and meditation, nourished by the Spirit of God, the Doctor of Clairvaux does not remain enclosed within the walls of his cell that "waxes sweet by being dwelled in? but is at hand with counsel, word, and action wherever the interests of God and Church are at stake. For he was wont to observe that "no one ought to live for himself alone, but all for all.""'"" And moreover, he wrote about himself and his followers: "In like manner, the laws of brotherliness and of human society give our brethren, among whom we live, a claim upon us for counsel and help."""' When, with sorrowing mind, he beheld the holy faith endangered or troubled, he spared neither toil,
°8°De Consid., 1, ¢. 7; Migne, P. L., 182:737-a, b.
29D Imit. Christi, 1, 20, 5.
2090 In Cantica, Sermon 41, n. 6; Migne, P. L., 183:987-b.
*°"De adventu D., Sermon 3, n. 5; Migne, P. L., 183:45-d.
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nor journeyings, nor any manner of pains to come stoutly to its defense, or to bring it whatever assistance he could. "I do not regard any of the affairs of God," he said, "as things with which I have no concern." And to St. Louis of France he penned these spirited words: "We sons of the Church cannot on any account overlook the injuries done to our mother, and the way in which she is despised and trodden underfoot . .. We will certainly make a stand and fight even to death, if need be, for our mother, with the weapons allowed us; not with shield and sword, but with prayers and lamentations to God."
21. To Abbot Peter of Cluny he wrote: "And I glory in tribulations if I have been counted worthy to endure any for the sake of the Church. This, truly, is my glory and the lifting up of my head: the triumph of the Church. For if we have been sharers of her troubles, we shall be also of her consolation. We must work and suffer with our mother." "*
22. When the mystical body of Christ was torn by so grave a schism, that even good men on both sides became heated in dispute, he bent all his efforts to settling disagreements and happily restoring unity of mind. When princes, led by desire of earthly dominion, were divided by fearful quarrels, and the welfare of nations was thereby seriously threatened, he was ever the peacemaker and the architect of agreement.
When, finally, the holy places of Palestine, hallowed by the blood of our Divine Savior, were threatened with gravest danger, and were hard pressed by foreign armies, at the command of the Supreme Pontiff, with loud voice and a still wider appeal of love, he roused Christian princes and peoples to undertake a new crusade; and if indeed it was not . Epist. 20 (ad Card. Haimericum); Migne, P. L., 182:123-b.
-Epist. 221, 3; Migne, P. L., 182:386-d, 387-a.
**Epist, 147, 1; Migne, P. L., 182:304-c, 305-a.
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brought to a successful conclusion, the fault was surely not his.
23. And above all, when the integrity of Catholic faith and morals—the sacred heritage handed down by our forefathers—was jeopardized, especially by the activities of Abelard, Arnold of Brescia, and Gilbert de la Porée, strong in the grace of God he spared no pains in writing works full of penetrating wisdom and making tiring journeys, so that errors might be dispelled and condemned, and the victims of error might as far as possible be recalled to the straight path and to virtuous living.
24. Yet, since he was well aware that in matters of this kind the authority of the Roman Pontiff prevails over the opinions of learned men, he took care to call attention to that authority which he recognized as supreme and infallible in settling such questions. To his former disciple, our predecessor of blessed memory Eugene III, he wrote these words which reflect at once his exceeding great love and reverence and that familiarity which becomes the saints: "Parental love knows nothing of lordship, it recognizes not a master but a child even in him who wears the tiara... Therefore shall I admonish you now, not as a master, but as a mother, yes, as a most loving mother.""""
25. Then he addresses to him these powerful words:
"Who are you? You are the High Priest and the Sovereign Pontiff. You are the prince of pastors and the heir of the apostles ... by your jurisdiction, a Peter; and by your unction, a Christ. You are he to whom the keys have been delivered and the sheep entrusted. There are indeed other gatekeepers of heaven, and there are other shepherds of the flock; but you are in both respects more glorious than they in "De Consid., Prologue, Migne, P. L., 182:727-a, 728-a, b.
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proportion as you have inherited a more excellent name.
They have assigned to them particular portions of the flock, his own to each; whereas you are given charge of all the sheep, as the one Chief Shepherd of the whole flock. Yes, not only of the sheep, but of the other pastors also are you the sole supreme Shepherd." And again: "He who wishes to discover something which does not belong to your charge, will have to go outside the world."""
26. In clear and simple fashion he acknowledges the infallible magisterium of the Roman Pontiff in questions of faith and morals. For, recognizing the errors of Abelard, who when he
"speaks of the Trinity savors of Arius; when of grace, of Pelag- "who... predicated degrees in the Trinity, measure in majesty, numbers ius; when of the person of Christ, of Nestorius," in eternity"; " and in whom "human reason usurps for itself everything, leaving nothing for faith"; he not only shatters, weakens, and refutes his subtle, specious, and fallacious tricks and sophisms, but also, on this subject, writes to our predecessor of immortal memory, Innocent IJ, these words of utmost importance: "Your See should be informed of all dangers that may arise, especially those that touch faith. For I consider it meet that damage to the faith be repaired in the particular place where faith is perfectly whole. These indeed are the prerogatives of this See . . . It is time, most loving Father, that you recognized your preeminence. Then do you really take the place of Peter, whose See you hold, when by your admonitions you strengthen hearts weak in faith; when, by your authority, you break those who corrupt the faith."
tbid., 2, c. 8; Migne, P. L., 182:751-c, d.
«Ibid., 3, c. L; Migne, P. L., 182:757-b.
*'Epist. 192; Migne, P. L., 182:358-d, 359-a.
*°°De error. Abaelardi, 1, 2; Migne, P. L., 182:1056-a.
Epist. 188; Migne, P. L., 182:353-a, b.
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27. How it was that this humble monk, with hardly any human means at his disposal, was able to draw the strength to overcome difficulties so thorny, to settle questions so intricate, and to solve the most troublesome cases, can only be understood when one considers the great holiness of life which distinguished him, and his great zeal for truth. For, as we have said, he was, above all, on fire with a most burning love of God and his neighbor (which as you know, venerable brethren, is the chief and, as it were, all embracing commandment of the Gospel), so that he was not only united to the heavenly Father by an unfailing mystical bond, but he desired nothing more than to win men to Christ, to uphold the most sacred rights of the Church, and to defend as best he could the integrity of the Catholic faith.
28. Although he was held in great favor and esteem by popes, princes, and peoples, he was not puffed up, he did not grasp at the slippery and empty glory of men, but ever shone with that Christian humility which "acquires other virtues... having acquired them, keeps them... keeping them, perfects them"; so that "without it the others do not even seem to be virtues." Wherefore "proffered honor did not even seem to be virtues."""" Wherefore "proffered honor did not tempt his soul, nor did he set his foot on the downward path of world glory; and the tiara and ring delighted him no more than the lecture platform and garden hoe."""' And while he undertook so often such great labors for the glory of God and the benefit of the Christian name, he was wont to call himself "the useless servant of the servants of God," "a vile worm," "a barren tree," "a sinner,
*"""De error, Abaelardi, Praef;; Migne, P. L., 182:1053, 1054-d. De moribus et off.
Episc., seu Epist. 42,5, 17; Migne, P. L., 182:821-a.
227 bi Vita Prima, II, 25; Migne, P. L., 185:283-b.
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ashes..." ' This Christian humility, together with the other virtues, he nourished by diligent contemplation of heavenly things, and by fervent prayer to God, by which he called down grace from on high on the labors undertaken by himself and his followers.
29. So burning was his love, particularly of Jesus Christ our Divine Savior, that, loved thereby, he penned the beautiful and lofty pages which still arouse the admiration and enkindle the devotion of all readers. "What can so enrich the soul that reflects upon it (the holy name of Jesus)? What can... strengthen the virtues, beget good and honorable dispositions, foster holy affections? Dry is every kind of spiritual food which this oil does not moisten. Tasteless, whatever this salt does not season. If you write, your composition has no charms for me, unless I read there the name of Jesus.
If you debate or converse, I find no pleasure in your words, unless I hear there the name of Jesus. Jesus is honey on the lips, melody in the ear, joy in the heart. Yet not alone is that name light and food. It is also a remedy. Is anyone among you sad? Let the name of Jesus enter his heart; let it leap then to his mouth; and lo! the light shining from that name shall scatter every cloud and restore peace. Has someone perpetrated a crime, and then misled, moved despairingly toward the snare of death? Let him but invoke this lifegiving name, and straightaway he shall find courage once more ... Whoever, all atremble in the presence of danger, has not immediately felt his spirits revive and his fears depart as soon as he called upon this name of power? There is nothing so powerful as the name of Jesus to check anger,
Epist. 37; Migne, P. L,, 182:143-b; Epist. 215; Migne, P. L., 182:379-b; Vita prima, V, 12; Migne, P. L., 185:358-d; In Cantica, Sermon 71, n. 5: Migne, P. L.,
183:1123-d.
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reduce the swelling of pride, heal the smarting wound of envy ace 30. To this warm love of Jesus Christ was joined a most sweet and tender devotion toward His glorious Mother, whose motherly love he repaid with the affection of a child, and whom he jealously honored. So great was his confidence in her most powerful intercession that he did not hesitate to write: "It is the will of God that we should have nothing which has not passed through the hands of Mary." Likewise: "Such is the will of God, Who would have us obtain everything through the hands of Mary." "
31. And here it is well, venerable brethren, to bid you all consider a page in praise of Mary than which there is perhaps none more beautiful, more moving, more apt to excite love for her, more useful to stir devotion and to inspire imitation of her virtuous example: "Mary... is interpreted to mean
'Star of the Sea.' This admirably befits the Virgin Mother.
There is indeed a wonderful appropriateness in this comparison of her with a star, because as a star sends out its rays without harm to itself, so did the Virgin bring forth her
Child without injury to her integrity. And as the ray does not diminish the brightness of the star, so neither did the Child born of her tarnish the beauty of Mary's virginity. She is therefore that glorious star, which, as the prophet said, arose out of Jacob, whose ray enlightens the whole earth, whose splendor shines out for all to see in heaven and reaches even unto hell ... She, I say, is that shining and brilliant star, so much needed, set in place above life's great and spacious sea, glittering with merits, all aglow with examples for our imitation. Oh, whoever you are who perceive yourself during *"°5In Cantica, Sermon 15, n. 6; Migne, P. L., 183:846-d, 847-a, b.
Jeg vigil. Nat. Domini, Sermon 3, n. 10; Migne, P. L., 183:100-a.
*"°7Serm. in Nat. Mariae, 7; Migne, P. L., 183:441-b.
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this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away your eyes from the splendor of this guiding star, unless you wish to be submerged by the storm! When the storms to temptation burst upon you, when you see yourself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When buffeted by the billows of pride, or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary, Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary. If troubled on account of the heinousness of your sins, distressed at the filthy state of your conscience, and terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, you are beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary. In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, see that you walk in her footsteps. With her for a guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you shall not be deceived; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection, you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal."
32. We can think of no better way to conclude this encyclical letter than in the words of the "Doctor Mellifluus" to invite all to be more and more devout to the loving
Mother of God, and each in his respective state in life to strive to imitate her exalted virtues. If at the beginning of the 2108 Hom. 2 super "Missus est," 17; Migne, P, L., 183:70-b, c, d, 71-a.
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twelfth century grave dangers threatened the Church and human society, the perils besetting our own age are hardly less formidable. The Catholic faith, supreme solace of mankind, often languishes in souls, and in many regions and countries is even subjected to the bitterest public attacks.
With the Christian religion either neglected or cruelly destroyed, morals, both public and private, clearly stray from the straight way, and, following the tortuous path of error, end miserably in vice.
33. Charity, which is the bond of perfection, concord, and peace, is replaced by hatred, enmities, and discords.
34. A certain restlessness, anxiety, and fear have invaded the minds of men, It is indeed to be greatly feared that if the light of the Gospel gradually fades and wanes in the minds of many, or if—what is even worse—they utterly reject it, the very foundations of civil and domestic society will collapse, and more evil times will unhappily result.
35. Therefore, as the Doctor of Clairvaux sought and obtained from the Virgin Mother Mary help for the troubles of his times, let us all through the same great devotion and prayer so strive to move our divine Mother, that she will obtain from God timely relief from these grave evils which are either already upon us or may yet befall, and that she who is at once kind and most powerful, will, by the help of God, grant that the true, lasting, and fruitful peace of the Church may at last dawn on all nations and peoples.
36. Such, we hope, through the intercession of Bernard, may be the rich and wholesome effects of the centenary celebration of his most holy death. Do you, all, join us in prayer for this intention, and as you study and ponder on the example of the "Doctor Mellifluus," strive earnestly and eagerly to follow his footsteps.
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Now as a pledge of these benefits, we bestow with heartfelt affection upon you, venerable brothers, upon the flocks entrusted to you, and particularly on those who have embraced the Institute of St. Bernard, the apostolic blessing.
Given at Rome, St. Peter's, on the 24th of May, on the feast of Pentecost, 1953, in the 15th year of our pontificate.
PIUS XII [418 |
SUGGESTIONS
FOR FURTHER READING
WORKS OF BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
1, Cistercian Publications of Kalamazoo, Michigan, provides the bulk of modern English-language translations of the works of St. Bernard. An incomplete list follows:
Cistercians and Cluniacs: St. Bernard's Apologia to Abbot William.
Translated by Michael Casey, OCSO. Introduced by Jean Leclercq, OSB.
Five Books on Consideration: Advice to a Pope. Translated by John Anderson and Elizabeth T. Kennan, Homilies in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Translated by MarieBernard Said, OSB. Introduced by Chrysogonus Waddell,
OCSO.
The Letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Translated by Bruno Scott James. Introduced by Beverly Mayne Kienzle.
Magnificat: Sermons in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Translated by Marie-Bernard Said and Grace Perigo. Introduced by Chrysogonus Waddell, OSCO.
In Praise of the New Knighthood. Translated by Conrad Greenia, OCSO, Introduced by R. J. Zwi Werblowsly.
On Grace and Free Choice. Translated by Daniel O'Donovan, OCSO. Introduced by Bernard McGinn.
On Loving God. Translated and introduced by Robert Walton, OSB.
On the Song of Songs. Four vols. Vol. 1, translated Kilian Walsh, OSCO; introduced by M. Corneille Halflants, OSCO. Vol. 2, translated by Kilian Walsh, OCSO; introduced by Jean Leclercq, OSB. Vol. 3, translated by Kilian Walsh, OCSO, and Irene M. Edmonds; introduced by Emero Stiegman; Vol. 4, translated by Irene Edmonds; introduced by Jean Leclercq.
Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season. Translated by Irene Edmonds, Wendy Beckett, and Conrad Greenia. Edited by Rozanne Elder.
Sermons for the Summer Season. Translated by Beverly Mayne Kienzle with James Jarzembowski.
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SUGGESTIONS
FOR FURTHER READING Sermons on Conversion. Translated and introduced by MarieBernard Said, OSB.
\ Steps of Humility and Pride. Introduced by M. Basil Pennington, OCSO.
The Life and Death of Saint Malachy the Irishman, Translated by Robert T. Meyer.
The Parables and Sentences. Translated by Michael Casey, OCSO, and Francis R. Swietek. Introduced by Michael Casey and John
R. Sommerfeldt.
Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Translated by Bruno Scott James. Introduced by Beverly Mayne Kienzle.
2. Other English translations of St. Bernard:
St. Bernard's Sermons on the Nativity. Translated by "A Priest of Mount Melleray." Devon, England: Mount Melleray Trust, 1985.
SECONDARY WORKS ABOUT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
Bredero, Adriaan H. Bernard of Clairvaux; Between Cult and History. Grand Rapids, Mich.; William B, Eerdmans, 1993.
Casey, Michael. Athirst for God: Spiritual Desire in Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1987.
Daniel-Rops, Henri. Bernard of Clairvaux. Foreword by Thomas Merton.
Translated by Elisabeth Abbott.
New York:
Hawthorne Books, 1964.
Evans, G. R. Bernard of Clairvaux. Great Medieval Thinkers series. Edited by Brian Davies. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2000, Gilson, Etienne. The Mystical Theology of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1940.
Kirk, K. E. The Vision of God. New York: HarperTorchbooks, 1966.
Lackner, Bede K. The Eleventh-Century Background of Citeaux.
Washington, D.C.:; Cistercian Publications, Consortium Press, 1972.
Lawrence, C. H. Medieval Monasticism. and ed. New York: Longman, 1989.
Leclercq, Jean. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Spirit. Kalamazoo, Mich.,: Cistercian Publications, 1976.
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SUGGESTIONS
FOR FURTHER READING . The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Translated by Catharine Misrahi. New York:
Fordham University Press, 1982.
, Francois Vandenbroucke, and Louis Bouyer. The Spirituality of the Middle Ages. A History of Christian Spirituality. Vol. 2.
New York: Desclee, 1968.
Lubac, Henri de. Medieval Exegesis. Vol. 2, The Four Senses of Scripture. Translated by E. M. Macierowski. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2000.
McGinn, Bernard, John Meyendorff, and Jean Leclercq, eds.
Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century. New York:
Crossroad, 1985.
. The Doctors of the Church. New York: Crossroad, 1999.
. The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great Through the Twelfth Century. New York: Crossroad, 1994.
McGinn, Bernard, and Patricia Ferris McGinn. Early Christian Mystics. New York: Crossroad, 2003.
Merton, Thomas. The Last of the Fathers. New York: Harvest Book, 1982; first published by Harcourt Brace, 1954.
. Thomas Merton on St. Bernard. Kalamazoo, Mich..: Cistercian Publications, 1980.
Mullins, Edwin. In Search of Cluny: God's Lost Empire. Oxford, England: Signal Books, 2006.
Posset, Franz. Pater Bernhardus: Martin Luther and Bernard of Clairvaux. Foreword by Michael Casey. Preface by Bernhard
Lohse. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1999.
Squire, Aelred. Asking the Fathers. London: S.P.C.K., 1975.
Tamburello, Dennis E., OFM. Bernard of Clairvaux: Essential Writings. New York: Crossroad, 2000.
William of St. Thierry, Arnold of Bonnevaux, Geoffrey and Philip of Clairvaux, and Odo of Deuil. St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Translated by Geoffrey Webb and Adrian Walker. Westminster, Md.: Newman Press, 1960.
WEB SITE http://www.ccel.org/b/bernard/ The Christian Classics Ethereal Library also offers a wide array of public-domain texts for downloading.
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TAILPIECE
Among the hymn texts attributed to St. Bernard are "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" and "Jesus, the Very Thought of You."
Tradition holds that he is also the author of the prayer to Mary known by its original Latin opening as the Memorare:
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, That never was it known That anyone who fled to your protection,
Implored your help or sought your intercession, Was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To you do I come, before you I stand, Sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, Despise not my petitions, but in your mercy
Hear and answer me. Amen.
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THOMAS MERTON (1915-68) was a priest and monk who spent most of his adult life in the Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, He was born in Prades, France, raised by his widower father, a painter, and after boarding school in England, studied at Cambridge University before completing his undergraduate education at Columbia University in 1939. It was in New York City at Corpus Christi Church near Columbia that he converted to Catholicism, a decision that soon grew into a vocation to the religious life when he entered the monastery in 1941.
At the urging of his abbot, he wrote his famous memoir of conversion, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). It was the best-known work of his highly prolific literary output over the two decades that followed—books, journals, essays, letters, poems, commentaries, translations, and other unpublished materials poured forth.
Indeed, so much was left behind at his death that new works have continuously been added to his bibliography to this day. In December 1968 Thomas Merton followed his interest in Eastern monasticism to a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where he died in an accidental electrocution.
On the occasion of the issuing of the encyclical letter conferring on St. Bernard of Clairvaux the title Doctor Mellifluus by Pius XII in 1953, Merton, in the following year, published a small book,
The Last of the Fathers, from which the preface to this collection of St. Bernard's writings is taken.
JOHN F. THORNTON is a literary agent, former publishing executive, and the coeditor, with Katharine Washburn, of Dumbing
Down (1996) and Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons (1999). He is chairman of the Friends of Liturgical Music at Corpus Christi Church in Manhattan, and he is currently at work on a biography of the American publishers Alfred and Blanche
Knopf.
SUSAN B. VARENNE is a New York City teacher with a strong avocational interest in and wide experience of spiritual literature. She holds an M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
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