Homily for the Memorial of
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Aug. 20, 2024
Collect
Christian Brothers, St.
Joseph’s Residence, N.R.
St. Bernard Preaching (Emile Signol)
The collect notes that St. Bernard of Clairvaux was
a man consumed with zeal for God’s house and a light shining and burning in Christ’s
Church. He was the ecclesiastical giant
of the 12th century, Europe’s citizen of the century, if you will.
Early in that century, at around 21 years old, Bernard
decided to join a new monastery that was experimenting with a reform of the
Benedictine tradition. This monastery
was in a place called Citeaux, whose name means “reeds”; the place was a
swamp. Bernard didn’t show up alone but came
with 30 other young men, including 4 of his brothers, relatives, and
friends. He should be the patron saint
of vocation directors!
And suddenly, Citeaux began to flourish. When the monastery became crowded, Abbot St. Stephen
Harding (an Englishman—they, too, can be holy[1])
started sending out monks to found daughter houses. So the Cistercian Order—the monks of
Citeaux—was born.
St. Stephen designated Bernard in 1115 to lead a
band of monks to establish a new monastery.
He’d been at Citeaux no more than 5 years, and perhaps as little as 3
years, and he was just 25 years old! So
Bernard and his group settled in a place called the Valley of Wormwood,
apparently not a very hospitable place. In
the Middle Ages, new monasteries tended to be established in places that no one
wanted as farmland or a center of trade or military defense; rather, in swamps,
deserts, or other wilderness areas.
Bernard proved to be an effective leader. Benedict XVI says, “Bernard firmly recalled
the need for a sober and measured life, at table as in clothing and monastic
buildings, and recommended the support and care of the poor.”[2] Soon the monastery became known as Clairvaux,
“the Valley of Light.” Hence 2 allusions
to light in our collect today. It grew,
and soon was founding its own daughter houses.
Besides that, over the course of the next
generation Bernard became renowned as a preacher, letter writer, theologian,
mediator of disputes both civil and ecclesiastical, and a man widely consulted
for his wisdom, prudence, and learning.
He defended the Church’s doctrine against several
heresies of the day. He defended the
Jews against the violence that broke out sporadically against them out of
ignorance, prejudice, and avarice. All this
is the background for the collect’s describing the saint as “a man consumed
with zeal for [God’s] house and a light shining and burning in [Christ’s]
Church.”
In his writing and preaching St. Bernard defended
the Church’s traditional way of doing theology, relying entirely on the Sacred
Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers of the Church. The key to all his teaching is Jesus. Pope Benedict again: “Jesus alone—Bernard insists …--is ‘honey in
the mouth, song to the ear, jubilation in the heart. The title Doctor
Mellifluus [honey-flowing], attributed to Bernard by tradition, stems
precisely from this; indeed, his praise of Jesus Christ ‘flowed like honey.’ .
. . ‘All food of the soul is dry’ he
professed, ‘unless it is moistened with this oil; insipid, unless it is
seasoned with this salt. What you write
has no savor for me unless I have read Jesus
in it.’” Benedict continues: “For Bernard, in fact, true knowledge of God
consisted in a personal, profound experience of Jesus Christ and of his
love. And, dear brothers and sisters
[Benedict is giving a Wednesday audience], this is true for every
Christian: faith is first and foremost a
personal, intimate encounter with Jesus; it is having an experience of his
closeness, his friendship, and his love.”[3]
Where shall we find Jesus, the Light of the World,
who transformed the Valley of Wormwood into the Valley of Light? What was the source of the light that Bernard
brought to his monks, to the Church, and to all who read or study his life? There are 3 sources that lead us to
Jesus: the Scriptures, the Fathers, and
prayer.
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