By Leon Bent –
The feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist.
St Bernard was a French abbot and a major leader in the reform of Benedictine monasticism that, caused the formation of the Cistercian order.
Bernard soon saw one of his disciples elected Pope, Eugene III. He was the first Cistercian placed on the calendar of saints, and was canonized by Pope Alexander III on 18 January 1174. In 1830 Pope Pius VIII bestowed upon Bernard the title “Doctor of the Church”. St. Bernard was mystic, founder and abbot of the abbey of Clairvaux, and one of the most influential churchmen of his time.
Under the care of his pious parents he was sent at an early age to a college at Chatillon, where he was conspicuous for his remarkable piety and spirit of recollection. At the same place he entered upon the studies of theology and Holy Scripture. After the death of his mother, fearing the snares and temptations of the world, he resolved to embrace the newly established and very austere institute of the Cistercian Order, of which he was destined to become the greatest ornament. It is said that his mother, Aleth, exerted a virtuous influence upon Bernard only second to what St. Monica had done for St. Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century. Aleth’s death, in 1107, so affected Bernard that he claimed that this is when his “long path to complete conversion” began.
Bernard’s struggles with the flesh during this period may account for his early and rather consistent penchant for physical austerities. He was plagued most of his life by impaired health, which took the form of anaemia, migraine, gastritis, hypertension, and an atrophied sense of taste.
Under pressure from his ecclesiastical superiors and his friends, notably the bishop and scholar William of Champeaux, he retired to a hut near the monastery. It was here that his first writings evolved. They are characterized by repetition of references to the Church Fathers and by the use of analogues, etymologies, alliterations, and biblical symbols, and they are imbued with resonance and poetic genius. It was here, also, that he produced a small but complete treatise on Mariology, “Praises of the Virgin Mother.” Bernard was to become a major champion of a moderate cult of the Virgin, though he did not support the notion of Mary’s Immaculate Conception.
Bernard struggled and learned to live with the inevitable tension created by his desire to serve others in charity through obedience and his desire to cultivate his inner life by remaining in his monastic enclosure. His more than 300 letters and sermons manifest his quest to combine a mystical life of absorption in God with his friendship for those in misery and his concern for the faithful execution of responsibilities as a guardian of the life of the church.
It was a time when Bernard was experiencing what he apprehended as the divine in a mystical and intuitive manner. He could claim a form of higher knowledge that is the complement and fruition of faith and that reaches completion in prayer and contemplation. He could also commune with nature and say:
“Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters.”
As the confidant of five popes, he considered it his role to assist in healing the church of wounds inflicted by the antipopes (those elected pope contrary to prevailing clerical procedures), to oppose the rationalistic influence of the greatest and most popular dialectician of the age, Peter Abelard, and to cultivate the friendship of the greatest churchmen of the time.
Now, this gold nugget! Much is owed to Bernard for fearlessly condemning some of his contemporaries who scorned the Sacrament of Marriage. He is to be given credit for the solid groundwork he laid for the future recognition of the sanctity of this Rite, both in the Church and Juris Prudence.
And, this final flourish! This brief biography of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux highlights the life of a great saint. Almost every historian writing about the 11th and 12th Centuries includes Bernard’s name and accomplishments, both ecclesiastical and political. He was recognized as an outstanding preacher and orator, and many of his sermons have been preserved and excerpted in Holy Liturgy.
The Last word! He founded one hundred and sixty-three monasteries in different parts of Europe; at his death they numbered three hundred and forty-three. Pope Pius VIII bestowed on him the title of Doctor of the Church. St. Bernard was eminently endowed with the gift of miracles. He died on August 20, 1153, which is celebrated as his Feast.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.