St. Bernard of Clairvaux (†1153)

Today is the memorial day of one of the most astounding men of the European Middle Ages. In his homily this morning, Father said that Bernard would have been Man of the Year or even Man of the Century. Today, people are considered off their nut when they express a more-than-average joy & devotion to Christ Jesus, his Church, his Mother & his saints, even in church! We need to stir up again the fervor that once converted a continent of barbarous pagan tribes into a unity called Christendom, & reclaim the world for Christ today.

Here is an article I wrote for the bulletin, but was sadly cut to make room for a pancake breakfast announcement or something...

All Christians should feel some tension between prayer in solitude & activity in the world, one leading to the other, then back again. Bernard joined the Cistercian Order in the year 1111 & later became abbot of the monastery in Clairvaux, France. He was seeking solitude, but was continuously called into the world: to found monasteries all over Europe, to advise popes & bishops, to reconcile quarrels, to refute errors, & to end schisms. In all things, he humbly sought the will of God, entrusting the care of his soul to the Blessed Mother as a sure way of remaining a true disciple of her Son, Jesus.

"Mary means star of the sea... Rightly she is likened to a star, for as a star sends forth its ray without loss to itself, so does the Virgin bear her Son without hurt to herself... She is that noble Star of Jacob, whose Ray gives light to all the world, the Ray whose splendour shines in heaven & penetrates to hell. She is that star I say, uplifted over the ocean of this world... O you who struggle in this stormy sea, do not turn your eyes from this star, if you would escape shipwreck! When the winds of temptation arise & you run on the rocks of tribulation, look at that star, think of Mary, call on her by name. If you follow her, you will not go off course; if you cry to her, you will not give up hope; if you think of her, you will not go astray. So will you own experience teach you how rightly it is said that 'the Virgin's name was Mary.'"