Thursday, 8/20/15
In
1109 the Cistercian Monastery at Citeaux admitted Bernard, a nineteen year-old
lover of literature. Then, four years later, that Cistercian foundation sent
Bernard to found another Cistercian monastery, and for it he found a valley of
such clear air that its monks referred to it as Clairvaux.
Writing
from Clairvaux, Bernard awakened the Middle Ages to a love for Mary the Mother
of Jesus. That love had been so personal to him that from childhood it had
inspired him to mine the Old Testament for symbols of Mary, such as the Morning
Star, the Tower of Ivory, and the Ark of the Covenant.
Surprisingly,
this lover of solitude became the religious hero of many worldly men and women
who made Bernard’s sayings their own. All over Europe people were echoing
Bernard in sayings like these:
“Hell is full
of good intentions.”
“Nothing can damage me
the way I damage myself.”
“When religion brought
forth Wealth, that daughter of hers devoured her.”
“We find rest in those
we love if we provide a resting place for them.”
At age
thirty-eight, Bernard was called from the monastery to act as secretary to the
Second Lateran Council. At forty-nine, he was given the task of choosing the
rightful pope between two claimants. When the abbot of Cluny became jealous of
Bernard’s great success, Bernard won that man over by exhibiting a sincere
admiration for what he was accomplishing at Cluny.
Bernard
was forty when St. Malachy, the primate of Ireland, on a journey to Rome
stopped over at Clairvaux. Malachy found his heart so warmed by the friendship
Bernard offered him, that on his arrival in Rome, he asked, but was refused,
permission to lay aside his duties in Ireland so that he might return to
Clairvaux.
There
is an old story about St. Barnard and a man laboring in his field. Bernard was
riding up through the foothills to give a retreat to the monks of an isolated
monastery, when the man halted his mowing to admire Bernard’s horse.
“That’s
a beautiful horse, Reverend Father,” the man said.Noticing the horse for the
first time, Bernard agreed. “Yes, it is a beauty, isn’t it?”The man went on.
“You’ve got it easy, riding that wonderful mount, with no hard work, and
nothing to do but pray. How easy can it get?”
“But,
wait, Sir,” Bernard said, “Prayer is very hard work.”
The
man said, “There’s no way it can be as hard as what I’m at all day.”
Bernard
made a proposal. “I’ll tell you, sir, if you can pray the Our Father through to
the end without letting another thought interfere, I’ll give you this horse.”
Delighted,
the man began, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed-say, do I get the
saddle too?”
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