So, I was sitting at my desk this morning, thinking "We ought to have a (semi-) daily feature for the saint's of the day," since they are a treasure-trove of insight and wisdom. And I thought "And Aloysius is just the guy to do it!" And further, I thought "Except for the Feasts of St. Cecilia, Michaelmas, and whenever the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is, because I totally claim those!"
Several hours later, after completing a decent amount of paperwork, I was curious, and wondered who today's saints were, and lo, listed on Catholic-forum, there on August 20th was St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Awesome.
St. Bernard first came to my attention as the author of the primitive Rule for the Templars, and as a major figure in their early years. But, this was actually only a very small part of what he did. You can find the profile for him here-- he had a great devotion to Our Lady, and his appreciation for the role of angels is why he's kept my attention. He has been called the "mellifluous", because he was so eloquent, his words so sweet, they were like honey.
On Mary, he writes:
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, he writes:
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.
And, on the subject of Guardian Angels:
In this, therefore, brethren, let us affectionately love His angels as one day our future coheirs; meanwhile, however, as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. Why should we fear under such guardians? Those who keep us in all our ways can neither be overcome nor be deceived, much less deceive. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; why do we tremble? Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide. As often, therefore, as a most serious temptation is perceived to weigh upon you and an excessive trial is threatening, call to your guard, your leader, your helper in your needs, in your tribulation; cry to him and say: "Lord, save us; we perish!"
Now, actually, my favorite passage I cannot find an entry of online, and my copy is currently unavailible to me. But in the fifth of his Five Books On Consideration, in (I think) the eleventh chapter, he gives us what I think is the most beautiful description of the roles of the 9 Choirs of Angels--yep, I'd say even better than Pseudo-Dionysius (the guy who came up with the list of the Nine Choirs). If people are interested, when my copy is availible to me, I'll post it. The whole passage is highlighted in green in my copy, and is what I used to read back when Maggie, Al, Kat and I would sit around on Friday nights in New Orleans, exchanging passages from our favorite saints (thus the self-identification of "nerds").
Anyway, St. Bernard is a Doctor of the Church, the first Cistercian to be put in the Calendar of Saints, and is not the St. Bernard that the dog breed was named for-- that was St. Bernard of Menthon. His writings have a well deserved reputation for eloquence and beauty, and I would recommend them to pretty much anyone looking for good writing on spiritual subjects.
UPDATE: And, as always, Argent by the Tiber has some great related posts as well, here and here. Go read!
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