SAINT POLYCARP

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

( 1153 AD )

St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church.

Saint Bernard was born of noble parentage in Burgundy, France, in the castle of Fontaines near Dijon. Under the care of his pious parents he was sent at an early age to a college at Chatillon, where he was conspicuous for his remarkable piety and spirit of recollection. At the same place he entered upon the studies of theology and Holy Scripture.

After the death of his mother, fearing the snares and temptations of the world, he resolved to embrace the newly established and very austere institute of the Cistercian Order, of which he was destined to become the greatest ornament. He also persuaded his brothers and several of his friends to follow his example.

In 1113, St. Bernard, with thirty young noblemen, presented himself to the holy Abbot, St. Stephen, at Citeaux. After a novitiate spent in great fervor, he made his profession in the following year. His superior soon after, seeing the great progress he had made in the spiritual life, sent him with twelve monks to found a new monastery, which afterward became known as the celebrated Abbey of Clairvaux. St. Bernard was at once appointed Abbot and began that active life which has rendered him the most conspicuous figure in the history of the 12th century. He founded numerous other monasteries, composed a number of works and undertook many journeys for the honor of God. Several Bishoprics were offered him, but he refused them all. The reputation of St. Bernard spread far and wide; even the Popes were governed by his advice. He was commissioned by Pope Eugene III to preach the second Crusade. In obedience to the Sovereign Pontiff he traveled through France and Germany, and aroused the greatest enthusiasm for the holy war among the masses of the population. The failure of the expedition raised a great storm against the saint, but he attributed it to the sins of the Crusaders. St. Bernard was eminently endowed with the gift of miracles. He died on August 20, 1153. His feast day is August 20. ( Catholic Online Saints )

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Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and Doctor of the Church
1st Sermon for the feast of Saint Michael

“Bless the Lord, O you his angels, … his servants that do his will.” (Ps 103:20-21)

"Today (Sep. 29) we are celebrating the feast of the holy angels… But what can we say about these angelic spirits? This is our faith: we believe that they enjoy the presence and the vision of God, that they possess endless happiness, the goods of the Lord that “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man.” (1 Cor 2:9) So what can a simple mortal say on this subject to other mortal human beings, he who is incapable of imagining such things? … If it is impossible to speak of the glory of the holy angels in God, we can at least speak about the grace and the love they show us. For they not only enjoy incomparable dignity; they are also of a most kind helpfulness… If we cannot understand their glory, we become all the more closely attached to the mercy with which these citizens of heaven, these princes of paradise who are familiar with God, are filled.

The apostle Paul himself, who contemplated the heavenly court with his own eyes and who knew its secrets (2 Co 12:2), tells us that all the angels “are ministering spirits, sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14). Don’t consider that to be incredible, since the Creator, the King of the angels himself “has not come to be served but to serve – to give his life in ransom for the many.” (Mk 10:45) So which angel would despise such a service, towards which the one whom the angels serve in heaven went forward with eagerness and joy?

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The Importance of the Saints, And Devotion to Them

St. Bernard Clairvaux

This excerpt from a sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Sermo 2: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 5 [1968], 364-368) is used in the Roman Office of Readings for the Feast (Solemnity) of All Saints on November 1. By the early 5th century, a feast in honor of all saints was celebrated in the Christian East on the first Sunday after Pentecost, as it is to this day. This festival has been celebrated in the West on November 1 since the mid 8th century. The Feast is a celebration of the "fullness" of Christ's glory made manifest in the members of his body who in their lifetime yielded to His Spirit and thus produced neither thirty nor sixty but a hundredfold. J.J. Olier, the founder of the Society of Saint Sulpice, said "The feast of All Saints seems to me to be in some sort a greater than that of Easter or the Ascension. Our Lord is perfected in this mystery, because, as our head, He is only perfectly fulfilled when He is united to all His members, the saints. The feast is glorious because it manifests exteriorly the hidden life of Jesus Christ. The greatness and perfection of the saints is entirely hte work of His spirit dwelling in them."

Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.
Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them.
Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.

When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head.
Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession.

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Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and Doctor of the Church
10th Sermon on the Song of Songs

“The house was filled with the ointment’s fragrance”

In the Song of Songs we read: “The fragrance of your perfume is exquisite.” (Song 1:3) I distinguish several kinds… There is the perfume of contrition and that of piety; there is also that of compassion… Thus there is a first perfume, which the soul makes for its own use, taken from the net of many faults as the soul begins to reflect on its past. Then it gathers together the many sins it has committed in the mortar of its conscience, compressing and grinding these; and in the pot of its burning heart, it cooks them over the fire of repentance and suffering… This is the fragrance with which the sinful soul must cover the beginnings of its conversion and anoint its recent wounds. For the first sacrifice that is to be offered to God is that of a repentant heart. So long as the poor and destitute soul does not have what it needs to make a more precious ointment, it must not neglect preparing this one, even if it is made of very worthless things. God will not spurn a heart that humbles itself in contrition (Ps 51:19)…

Moreover, this invisible and spiritual perfume cannot seem vulgar to us if we understand that it is symbolized in the perfume that, according to the Gospel, the sinful woman poured over the Lord’s feet. For we read that “the house was filled with the ointment’s fragrance”… Let us remember the perfume that fills the whole Church through the conversion of one single sinner. Every penitent who repents becomes a fragrance of life for a crowd of others, whom it awakens to life. The fragrance of repentance rises up to the heavenly dwelling places since, according to Scripture, “the repentance of one single sinner is a great joy for the angels of God.” (Lk 15:10)

Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and Doctor of the Church

Sermon 58 on the Song of Songs

Bearing fruit in abundance

I must warn each of you about his vine: for who has never cut back everything that is superfluous in himself to the point of thinking that there is nothing more to cut? Believe me, what has been cut, grows back; the vices that have been chased away return, and we see tendencies that had gone to sleep waking up again. It is therefore not enough to cut one’s vine once; rather, we have to do it again and often, and if possible, even without ceasing. For if you are sincere, you ceaselessly find in yourself something to cut… Virtue cannot grow among the vices; for virtue to develop, we must prevent the vices from increasing. So suppress what is superfluous; then the necessary will be able to spring up.

For us, Brothers, it is always the time for cutting; it is always necessary. For I am sure that we have already left winter behind us, we have left behind the fear without love, which introduces us all to wisdom, but which doesn’t let anyone grow in perfection. When love comes, it chases away that fear just as the summer chases away the winter… So may the winter rains stop, that is say, the tears of anguish that arise because of the memory of your sins and the fear of judgment… If “the winter is over” and “the rain has topped” (Song 2:11)…, the sweetness of the spring of spiritual grace shows us that the time has come to cut our vine. What else is there for us to do other than to become entirely committed to this work?

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