The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Bernard (1090-1153), Abbot of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, Poet (source):
O merciful redeemer,
who, by the life and preaching of thy servant Bernard,
didst rekindle the radiant light of thy Church:
grant that we in our generation
may be inflamed with the same spirit of discipline and love
and ever walk before thee as children of light;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:1-8
The Gospel: St. John 15:7-11
Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the most influential monastic figures and ecclesiastical leaders of the High Middle Ages. A key architect of the Cistercian order’s expansion, Bernard shaped 12th-century Western Christendom through his theology, monastic reform, political involvement, and leadership in church affairs.
Born into a noble family in Burgundy, Bernard entered monastic life with intense conviction. Around 1112, he joined the Cistercian monastery at Cîteaux, bringing with him thirty companions, including several members of his own family. He was drawn to the Cistercians’ commitment to a strict, literal adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which emphasised manual labor, poverty, and austerity.
The community at Cîteaux grew rapidly after their arrival. In 1115, Abbot Stephen Harding sent the young Bernard, then about twenty-five, with twelve monks to establish a new foundation in a remote valley in northeastern France. The site was renamed Clairvaux (“Clear Valley”). Bernard became its first abbot and remained so for the rest of his life.
Under his guidance, Clairvaux became one of the most prominent monasteries in Europe. By the time of his death the Cistercian order had grown from a handful of houses to several hundred, with roughly sixty to seventy foundations stemming directly or indirectly from Clairvaux. Bernard’s austere personal practices contributed to chronic ill health that plagued him throughout adulthood.
Bernard’s influence extended well beyond monastic life. He became a trusted advisor to bishops, nobles, and several popes. During a period of division within the Church, he strongly supported Pope Innocent II during the papal schism of 1130, travelling widely to persuade rulers and church leaders to recognise Innocent’s authority. Bernard also took part in theological controversies, most notably opposing the teachings of Peter Abelard, whose methods of theological reasoning Bernard believed placed excessive confidence in human logic over divine revelation.
In 1145, one of Bernard’s former monks at Clairvaux was elected Pope Eugene III. At the pope’s request, Bernard preached the Second Crusade, delivering a famous sermon at Vézelay in 1146 that helped recruit King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany. The crusade ended in failure in 1148; Bernard later attributed the defeat to the sins of the participants.
Bernard was also a prolific writer. His sermons, letters, and theological works circulated widely during his lifetime and continued to influence Christian thought for centuries. Among his best-known writings are On Loving God, On Grace and Free Choice, and his sermons on the Song of Songs. These works reveal both his intellectual ability and his commitment to monastic theology.
Bernard died at Clairvaux on 20 August 1153. He was canonised by Pope Alexander III in 1174 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius VIII in 1830.
Artist: Juan Correa de Vivar, The Virgin Appears to Saint Bernard, 1540-45. Oil on panel, Prado, Madrid.