August 20
St. Bernard, Doctor Of The Church
Preparation. - St. Bernard was the honor of his Order, of the Church and of his age, first, by his eminent sanctity, and secondly, by his immense services. Let us, after his example, have the most humble opinion of ourselves, especially in the midst of honors, so that we may resemble our Model, the Head of the predestined. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2. 5).
I. St. Bernard’s Eminent Sanctity
St. Bernard, the wonder of his age, left the world for the cloister, when twenty-three years old, taking along with him almost his whole family and more than thirty persons whom he had won by his eloquence. In his solitude he would frequently ask himself: “Bernard, for what has thou come here?” And these words inflamed his heart with a fervor that astonished the holiest religious. Ever recollected and interiorly united to the Lord, he most faithfully corresponded with grace.
Often was seen ravished in God, and seemed as a heavenly spirit in a mortal body, so greatly had mortification subdued nature in him. He saw, heard, ate without being aware of the impressions made on his senses; he even happened to drink oil instead of water, without being aware of it. Though punctual in keeping silence and severe towards himself, he was kind and condescending towards others. He never spared himself when there was question of obliging and serving his neighbor, and, though extremely fond of solitude, he never hesitated to leave it, when charity called him elsewhere.
Great were his trials, especially after the failure of the crusade his preaching had prepared. He bore without complaining the unjust criticisms and the bitter reproaches that then poured upon him from every quarter, and thus showed how firm and unwavering was his virtue.
The humble and peaceful bearing of tribulations is, in fact, a most unequivocal proof of genuine holiness. “Our merit and progress,” says the Imitation, “do not consist in the abundance of spiritual joys and consolations, but rather in enduring with constancy many contradictions and afflictions.” Do we always understand true piety in this manner? Do we not place it in the absence of crosses, humiliations, trials and combats, as if our divine Saviour had not “said to all: If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9. 23).
O Jesus, penetrate me always more and more with these maxims of a lasting perfection. Like St. Bernard, I will daily ask myself: “Why am I in this world?” Is it not solely to obey, love and imitate Thee, and, consequently, to deny myself, to be resigned and to practice every virtue?
II. The Service Rendered By St. Bernard
Not content with keeping the fervor among the six hundred religious entrusted to his care, our saint also multiplied himself so far as to render the most eminent services to Christendom. He founded one hundred and sixty houses of his Order, which, by the number and regularity of their subjects, rivaled the mother-house of Clairvaux. The weakness of his body, extenuated by penance, did not prevent him from undertaking long voyages to combat heresies, to preside over councils, to appease schisms, to pacify kingdoms, to stifle wars between sovereigns.
How often was he not called upon to defend the Church and her head! As counsellor of Popes, bishops and kings, he combated vice, supported virtue, opposed license, maintained good order and pacified quarrels. He was as the general physician of every disease, the universal arbiter to whom all the victims of might and injustice had recourse.
But how could he suffice for so many affairs and bear so many labors and hardships, though ever suffering, ever so occupied in preaching and writing? How was he able to reprove the great, console the lowly, govern his monasteries, call all Europe to arms against the infidels, and, in a word, perform so well all the difficult and important affairs with which he was charged? This is, indeed, a mystery. The intimate union of our saint with God can alone explain it. Humble, mortified and depending on grace, he was never isolated in his undertakings, for the Lord worked in him and with him. and in such cases of how many prodigies is not one capable? Hence amid his labors, Bernard cured the sick, drove out devils, penetrated into the secret of hearts. He was truly the glory and edification of his age.
Were we more detached from the earth and from ourselves, and did we live more closely and constantly united to God, what good would we effect in us and around us! And how powerful would our prayers both for ourselves and others be with the Lord!
O clement, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary, inspire me with St. Bernard’s confidence in thee. Obtain for me what he received through thy mediation, that is, a most intimate union with the Supreme Good, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and holiness. Enable me in all things to depend on Jesus, on His light and grace.
