St. Bernard

Monday was the feast of St. Bernard.

No, not that St. Bernard, this 1, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot, last of the Church Fathers, & the Mellifluous Doctor of the Church.

Born 1090 into French nobility, at 22 yrs of age he, along with four of his brothers, and 25 friends joined the abbey of Citeaux. Soon his father & another brother also joined. In 1115 he founded a monastery at Clairvaux (in the Champagne region) which soon had over 700 monks and 160 daughter houses. 1 of his monks became Pope Eugenius III.

His preaching & teaching was built on the foundation of Sacred Scriptures. He was known for his preaching against the Albigensian heresy. He supported the claims of Pope Innocent II against anti-Pope Anacletus II (Pietro Pierleone). After Anacletus' death Anacletus' schismatic supporters elected another anti-Pope, Victor IV (Gregorio Conti). St. Bernard convinced him to renounce his claims & submit to Innocent II. St. Bernard also attended the 2nd Lateran Council. Under orders from Pope Eugene III, he helped organize & preached the 2nd Crusade. He also successful prosecuted the philosopher Peter Abelard for heresy.

St. Bernard had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He died 20/21 August 1153. Dante had St. Bernard be his last spiritual guide in the Paradiso part of The Divine Comedy. Dante has St. Bernard pray to Mary for Dante to grant him the vision of the true nature of God.

Every morning Bernard would ask himself, "Why have I come here?", and then remind himself of his main duty - lead a holy life.

From the annals of Clairvaux:

St. Bernard asked Our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and Our Lord answered, "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit and in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer remember their mortal sins."

Bernard's prayer: '"O Loving Jesus, Meek Lamb of God, I miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen."

On Mary:

In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; 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.

On love:

Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the practice. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return. The sole purpose of his love is to be loved, int he knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.

DOCTOR MELLIFLUUS Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on St. Bernard of Clairvaux

PS. The St. Bernard dog was named after the Great St. Bernard Pass in the Alps between Italia & Switzerland that was actually named after a Benedictine monk, St. Bernard of Menthon (Bernard of Montjoux).