Upcoming Saints: Bernard of Clairvaux
Collect for Bernard of Clairvaux, Monastic & Theologian, 1153
O God, by whose grace your servant Bernard of Clairvaux, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Beloved in Christ,
I’ve been wondering what I should write for my Vicar’s Reflections. I was thinking about what I can do, in a consistent manner, that explores a theme, a topic over the span of weeks.
Well, I think (by the grace of God), I’ve got it!
For the rest of the Season after Pentecost, I will be writing on one of the Saints upcoming in the week. This allows us to explore the fullness of the many blessed members of the Faith who have come before us, whose lives can tell us a little something about how to live in Christ. We can look to them to seek a fuller picture of how the faithful have lived over the millenia!
This week we observe the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and you can read more about his life in Lesser Feasts and Fasts (p. 368). Note that much of what I write below is being drawn from his entry therein!
He was born in 1090 in France, and in 113 decided to become a monk. Apparently, he convinced his siblings and friends to join him! By 1115 he was charged with starting a new monastery in Clairvaux.
Bernard was a Cistercian, a religious order which rigorously practiced the Rule of St. Benedict. He was zealous for the faith and for the ascetic life, so much so that his health declined. Despite this, he founded 60 new abbeys, all affiliated with Clairvaux. Bernard’s enthusiasm for the holy life appears to be found in this quote, “seen to be good and charitable, holding back nothing for himself, but using his every gift for the common good.”
The association of the Christian life with the good of all is something we would do well to recall in this nation. We live in a time, I think, that can be quite individualistic. We may think that our actions only concern us and God. St. Bernard (indeed, all of Scripture), would warn us against such unexamined thinking.
Interestingly, St. Bernard argued substantially with other theologians like Abelard. I always find it nice to know that theological spats are nothing new (indeed, they start early in the Christian tradition between the Apostles, and following the Resurrection, between Peter and Paul early on!). Bernard took issue with the increasingly popular approach of church doctrine and dogma to be explained by reason, rather than as a mystery. This is the era, for example, when doctrines like transubstantiation (which is not church teaching by Anglicans or Orthodox, for example) take on increasing vigor as Aristotelian metaphysics is incorporated into the mysteries of the Church.
Lastly, a number of hymns in our hymnal were written by him, including ## 168, 169, 642, 649, and 650.
Bernard’s life reminds us that enthusiasm and zeal for the Christian life can prove to have massive effects on the world around us. His life also cautions us: Bernard often worked himself into weakness, which is something that ought to be balanced by rest, sabbath, and times of restoration. Even so, St. Bernard is one of the titans of the medieval era, and I am grateful for his witness to life in Christ.
Holy Bernard, pray for us to the Lord our God!
Yours in Christ,
Alex+