an examination of the lives of some saints for Lent (21/40 (deo volente))
Bernardus comes from ‘ber’, meaning a well or a spring, and ‘nardus’, meaning nard, which is an herb humble, warm in nature, and sweet-smelling. Saint Bernard was warm in his fervent love, humble in his dealings with others, a spring in the outflow of his doctrine, a well in the depth of his knowledge, and sweet-smelling in the fragrance of his good renown.
Saint Bernard was born to noble and very religious parents. His father was a valorous knight. His mother bore seven children, six sons and a daughter, who were all to enter the religious life. She nursed all the children herself. When they grew older, she would feed them coarse, common food to train them for the wilderness. While she was carrying her third son, Bernard, she had a dream. She saw in her womb a little dog, white except for its red back, and the puppy was barking. A priest told her this meant that she would be the mother of a very good dog, who would be the watchman of the house of God and will bark against its foes, for he will be a renowned preacher and will cure many by grace of the medicine of his tongue.
Him being the third child symbolises his burning love, for the seven children represent the seven planets and the third planet is Venus, which is connected with love. The dog symbolises here especially fidelity. The whiteness of the dog represents purity, and the red spot either symbolises the heart, which is the centre of man and the found of love, or represents how Bernard suffered many of the ills of martyrdom, but was never actually martyred nor did he think himself equal to the martyrs. The barking, as the priest already said, represents his preaching and teaching.
When Bernard was still a small boy, he suffered from severe headaches. When some woman came to cure him with incantations, he shouted at her and drove her away. The child’s zeal did not go unrewarded, for he found that the headaches were immediately gone. On Christmas Eve he was at the church, and asked those with him what hour of the night Christ was born. Then and there the Infant Jesus appeared to him as though being born again from his mother’s womb. The time at which this happened he then believed to have been the time when Jesus was born.
The headache represents the impotence of the rational faculty. The incantations are the sweet words of the sophists which try to pull reason down. But if we reject their honeyed mouths our mind will be enlightened by God, for this is symbolised by the curing of the headaches. Bernard asking at what time the Christ was born recalls to my mind the saying of Angelus Silesius that it was worth nothing for Christ to be born at Bethlehem if he is also not born into your heart. For I think Saint Bernard realised here that Christ was not only born at a certain time in Bethlehem, but is also born eternally out of the Father and is also born into the hearts of men whenever their hearts are softened and opened up. And I think this must have been the meaning of the appearance, and in this way he used it often in his sermons.
The ancient Enemy, seeing the boy’s salutary resolution, attacked his determination to live a chaste life, and set many tempting traps in his path. Once, for example, Bernard was gazing at a woman until suddenly, blushing at what he was doing, he rose as a stern avenger against himself and jumped into a pool of ice-cold water. There he lay until he was almost frozen, but by God’s grace the heat of fleshly lust was wholly cooled in him. About that same time a girl, egged on by the devil, jumped into the bed where he was sleeping. When he became aware of her presence, he moved over calmly and silently, leaving to her the side of the bed he had been occupying, and, turning to the other side, went back to sleep. The woman put up with this expectantly for some time, then began touching and teasing him, but he remained motionless. Finally, impudent though she was, she blushed with shame, felt a flood of horror mixed with admiration, got out of bed, and hurried away.
Here we see how the devil especially attacks those who have the greatest ambitions for spiritual progress. For those who live contently in sin he needs not attack, for they are already under his dominion. But those who are intent on escaping this world he wishes to keep here with all his power. We know that practically cold water cures the affliction of lust from the example of the saint, but it also symbolises how the passions are taken away if we immerse ourselves in the holy teachings of the fathers, which are symbolised by water here. And learn from the example of St. Bernard and the woman crawling into his bed, for by neither attending to her will nor sending her away, he made this shameless whore feel ashamed at last, and thus made what was first an agent of the devil into a servant of God. For shame, followed by repentance, brings us away from the father of sin and takes us towards the Father of light, who is able to bring good out of all evil, and especially through his saints. And of course the honourable chastity of St. Bernardus is shown here.
On another occasion he was a guest in the house of a certain matron, and she was so impressed by the young man’s good looks that she burned with desire for him. She had his bed made up in a separate room, but then, in the night, went to him without a sounds or a qualm. The minute he felt her presence, however, he shouted “Thieves! Robbers!”, which scared her away and awakened everyone in the house. This happened two more times in the night. The next day, his companions made fun of him, asking him what made him dream of thieves so often. He told them: “I really faced a thief’s designs on me last night, because my hostess tried to rob me of my chastity, a treasure that, once lost, can never be recovered!”
Like Bernard was a guest in the house of a certain matron, so are we all guests in the house of Nature. For the earth is not our homeland, but we are here on a pilgrimage, passing through the house of this cruel matron. And while Mother Nature deceives us by giving us our own room, i.e. our own body to inhabit, she will then sneakily attempt to take our form away, to make us dissolve into her formless mass by fornicating with her. And thus we must realise that Nature tries to steal from us our form, or our seed, because by the seed is often symbolised form. And if we realise this we must call it out, so that we will scare her away, and so that others might realise her deceptive and illusionary nature. And this is done three times, which symbolises the triple renunciation of Nature, i.e. the renunciation of the three worlds which she includes. And when this is done we are finally freed from her grasp, and we retain our chastity, i.e. our form. And it is said that chastity can never be recovered because once we let the Great Mother dominate us, we are dissolved into the mire, from which no one is saved.
It had then become clear to Bernard that there was no safety in living with the Serpent. He began to think about fleeing the world and decided to enter the Cistercian Order. His friends tried to dissuade him, but not only did Bernard convince them to let him go, he even won all of them and many others over to join him. But one of his brothers, a stalwart knight, refused. But he was won over when he was pierced in the heart by a lance, which Bernard had predicted would happen. Bernard said to his youngest brother that all his brothers would be joining the monastery, so that all the families properties would go into his hands. The youngest brother answered: “So all of you will have heaven and you leave me nothing but the earth? That’s certainly not a fair division!”” This young child continued to live with his father for a while, and eventually followed his brothers into the monastery.
Oh how great is this zeal, by which the saint not only convinces his brethren to let him go, but even to join him. For instead of losing his brothers and earning for himself the Kingdom of Heaven, he retained his brothers and earned for them all this glorious Kingdom. And even his youngest brother, who was made king of the earth by inheriting all his fathers estates, thought this heavenly kingdom to be greater than that of the earth. For even to a child it is evident that the earth is nothing compared to the heavens, and that thus having dominion over the earth is infinitely lesser than having dominion over the heavens.
Once in the Order, Bernard, the servant of God, was so completely absorbed in the life of the spirit that he hardly used his bodily senses. He did not realise his cell had a vaulted ceiling, or how many windows the apse of the church had. He hated sleeping, and compared it to death. He took no pleasure in eating, and considered it a form of torture. It is said that he lost any sense of taste. It is said that raw blood was served to him by mistake, and he is known to have used it day after day in the place of butter. He used to say that the only thing he tasted was water, and that as because it cooled his cheeks and throat.
See how his ascetism worked! For this man (or should I say superman) did not practice ascetism to mortify the body and ascend to the spiritual domain, as is the case for regular men, but from his spiritual life naturally flowed the mortification of the body. And it is true that the whole world, with its great variety, became nothing to him, for this is signified by him losing the sense of taste. And by the water that cooled his cheeks and throat is signified the true doctrine which he preached, which flowed like water from his throat, and refreshed the souls of those who heard it.
Saint Bernard had learned what he knew about the Scriptures while meditating and praying in the woods and the fields, and he sometimes said that he had no teachers except the oaks and the beeches. He also admitted that at times, as he meditated and prayed, the whole of Scripture appeared to him as though spread open and explained.
We are shown here that the reading of Scripture was for this holy man not even necessary for understanding it. For by his prayer and his meditation in the wilderness the truths of the holy books were revealed to him. And the oaks and beeches that were his teachers must symbolise the axis mundi. For there, in his prayers, he retreated into the heart, to the central state, and received via the Ladder of Jacob the truths of Scripture, and this is also what is meant that the whole of Scripture appeared to him spread open and explained.
In matter of dress, poverty always pleased Bernard, slovenliness never. For he thought that the latter would attract other people’s attention. He often repeated a proverb that he always had at heart: “Anyone who does what no one else does, all men will wonder at him.” He wore a hair shirt for many years, as long as he could keep it a secret, but when it became known he stopped wearing it. He never laughed, except when he forced himself to when he felt it required.
Saint Bernardus did not want people to marvel at his penitence, as this would cause them to honour him, which would be an occasion of pride for him, something which he wished to avoid at all costs, for pride is the mother of all sin. He did not laugh, like Dante, because he had seen heaven, and was now residing on earth.
He used to say three kinds of patience were needed. To bear insults, to put up with damage to one’s goods, and to submit to bodily injury. For the first, one time a bishop send a letter to Bernard accusing him of blasphemy, and he replied to this letter with great reverence for the bishop. For the second, one time a certain abbot had sent Bernard six hundred silver marks for the construction of a monastery, but the whole sum was stolen by brigands. Bernard then thanked God, who had spared them the burden of building this monastery, and prayed for the brigands, saying that they should not be blamed too severely, both because human greed drove them to the deed, and because the size of the sum imposed a very strong temptation on them. For the third, one time a canon regular came to Bernard and asked him to receive him as a monk. The saint did not consent and urged him to return to his church. “Well then”, said the canon, “why do you so strongly recommend the pursuit of perfection in your books, if you do not grant it to one who yearns for it?” Bernard: “In none of my books have you read that you cannot be perfect in your cloister. What I have commended in my books is reform of morals, not changes of place.” The canon, furious, then struck him in the face so hard that redness followed the blow and swelling followed the redness. The people who were present quickly attacked the canon, but the servant of God stopped them, calling out and adjuring them in Christ’s name not to touch him or do him any injury.
We should learn from this to repay evil with good. For the bishop did evil to the saint by unjustly accusing him of blasphemy, which he repaid with good by greatly honouring the office of the bishop. And the brigands did evil by stealing the money meant for the monastery, and the saint did good to them by praying for them to be forgiven. And the canon who had not understood the writings of the the saint did evil to him by hitting him in the face, which the saint repaid also with forgiveness. And so should we respond to all evil deeds done towards us.
To those who wanted to enter the novitiate he regularly said: “If what you are eager to lay hold of are the things that are within you, leave outside here the bodies you have brought from the world! Only spirits are allowed inside, the flesh is of no avail.”
Hereby is shown that only the death of the body can bring about the birth of the spirit. And of course not the literal death of the body is meant here, otherwise Saint Bernard would only carry corpses into his monasteries, but rather to the death to the world is meant. For only when the corporeal domain has become nothing to a man he begins to live spiritually.
One time, his sister came to the monastery to visit her brothers. She was richly dressed and came with a great retinue. None would come out to meet her, except for the porter, who called here a piece of shit in a nice dress. Then she broke into tears, and promised to do whatever the servant of God told her to. So Bernard and his brothers came out to her, and forbade her all worldly show and reminded her of their mothers virtue. Then she went home and led the life of an anchoress, alienating herself from everything worldly, and eventually separated from her husband and entered a monastery.
This shows how pride and vanity are best broken by paying it no attention. For those who love to make a great appearance have attention as their lifeblood. The only things we should then answer them with is what the porter said. For by such insults, which reveal their true nature, they may then break and come to repentance. And in this story is shown how effective this treatment was, and how great the repentance.
There was a time when the man of God was rapt in ecstasy and saw himself being presented before God’s seat of Judgement. The Devil listed all his sins, and now it was his turn to speak. He said that he was of himself unworthy to receive the kingdom of Heaven, but that he had gained the right to the kingdom by the merit of the Lord’s Passion, which was gifted to him by Christ. These words threw the Enemy into confusion, the meeting was closed, and the man of God came to himself.
This shows how we do not become inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven by our own merits, but rather by the merit of the Lord, who bled for us. For by His death are we given the ability to become perfect. And any virtue that is in us does not come from ourselves, but from God. And if only we remember at all times that all things are granted to us by God, the ancient Enemy will be confused and will not be able to harm us.
Several cities had elected the man of God to be their bishop, but this was prevented by the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, who knew that to Bernard was given a greater office, namely that of Prophet.
It is said that Saint Bernard was considered the highest by all, and the lowest by himself; and whereas all ranked him above themselves, he considered himself above no one. He often said that when praises were showered upon him he felt like he himself was absent and that another man was being praised, or that it was a dream.
Look how the prime virtue of humility is perfectly exemplified by Saint Bernardus. For even while he was in a higher state than all men, he still considered himself the lowest, and while everyone thought him superior to them, he still considered himself to be inferior to everyone. And that he said that he felt like he was absent and another man was being praised means that he knew that all good in him was not of himself, but from Christ. So when he was being praised he knew that the praise was not due to him but due to God. And by saying that it was like a dream he indicated the illusionary nature of this world and its praises.
Saint Malachy, Primate of all Ireland, wished to join the Cistercians, and came to Bernard’s monastery. But he died there before he could enter. So the man of God celebrated his funeral mass. But by divine revelation he knew that Malachy was already in glory. So, inspired by God, he changed the form of the post-communion prayer and, in a joyous voice, said: “O God, thou has made blessed Malachy the equal of thy saints in merit. Grant, we beseech thee, that we, who celebrate the feast of his precious death, may imitate the examples of his life.” Then he went and kissed the sacred remains.
This shows how the saints are given knowledge of those who are in heaven, because they are perpetually in communion with the blessed. And it also shows how the saints may change the Liturgy as they will (as long as, of course, the essence is retained), for their authority is greater than that of the Law of the Church. And the kissing of the remains shows how greatly we should revere the saints.
At last, blessed Bernard, happily looking forward to his death, said to his brother monks: “I bequeath to you three things to be observed, three things that I, in the course of my life, have kept in mind and have done my best to observe. I have wished to give scandal to no one, and if scandal occurred, I have kept it secret as best I could: I have always trusted the opinion of others more than my own: I have never sought to avenge an injury. Charity, humility, patience – these are the three things I leave you.” Finally, after he had wrought many miracles, had built 160 monasteries, and had compiled many books and treatises, in the 63rd year of his life, with his spiritual sons around him, he went to his eternal rest in the year of the Lord 1153.
De Voragine says that God wrought many other, indeed almost innumerable miracles through this servant. He was also very active in the persecution of heresy, especially against the Cathars, and played a great role in the organising of the Second Crusade. In his final years he was most saddened by its failure. He was also exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. It is said that he was fed by her with the milk of her breast. This of course signifies the heavenly wisdom which is dispensed by God through the Virgin to the saints.
A prayer of St. Bernard to the Blessed Virgin:
O Blessed Virgin,
Grant that we may come
To Thy Son through Thee,
Who hast found grace, engendered life,
And Thou art the Mother of salvation.
Grant that He may receive us through Thee,
He to whom we were given through Thee.
May Thy wholesomeness
Excuse our corruption before Him;
May Thy humility, so agreeable to God,
Obtain pardon for our vanity;
May the abundance of Thy charity
Cover the multitude of our sins;
And may Thy glorious fruitfulness,
Cause in us the fruitfulness of merit.
Amen.
On Tradition 