St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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Feast Day: August 20
“What we love we shall grow to resemble.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard entered a monastery.
Then he convinced others to come with him.
Family members.
Friends.
Men who had known him before.
His decision was so serious that it changed not only his own life, but the lives of many people around him.
Bernard became a Cistercian monk and eventually founded the monastery of Clairvaux.
From there, his influence spread across Europe.
Popes asked for his advice.
Kings listened to him.
Bishops consulted him.
He preached.
He wrote.
He defended the Church.
He promoted reform.
And through it all, he remained deeply devoted to Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Bernard became one of the most powerful spiritual voices of the twelfth century.
Yet he never stopped seeing the monastery as the center of his vocation.
The man who withdrew from the world ended up helping shape it.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.
Who Was St. Bernard of Clairvaux?
St. Bernard was born in 1090 in Burgundy, in what is now France.
He came from a noble family.
As a young man, he received a good education and showed unusual intelligence and strength of personality.
But instead of pursuing wealth or political advancement, Bernard became drawn to monastic life.
Entering the Cistercians
Bernard joined the monastery of Cîteaux, which belonged to the relatively new Cistercian reform.
The Cistercians wanted to return to a stricter observance of the Rule of St. Benedict.
They emphasized simplicity.
Prayer.
Manual labor.
Silence.
And detachment from wealth.
Bernard embraced that life completely.
He Did Not Go Alone
One of the remarkable things about Bernard’s vocation is that he persuaded many others to join him.
Relatives and friends followed him into religious life.
His influence was already obvious before he became famous.
People believed him.
When Bernard committed himself to something, others wanted to know why.
Clairvaux
Only a few years after entering Cîteaux, Bernard was sent to establish a new monastery.
The place became known as Clairvaux.
Bernard became its abbot.
Clairvaux grew rapidly and became one of the most important monastic centers in Europe.
From there, new monasteries were founded across the continent.
A Strict Life
Bernard practiced severe asceticism.
At times, his penances harmed his health.
Like other saints, he eventually learned that zeal needed prudence.
His early austerity was intense.
But his deeper spirituality became centered less on physical severity and more on love.
Love of God
Bernard wrote beautifully about loving God.
One of his best-known works is On Loving God.
He taught that the Christian life should mature from loving God for what He gives us to loving God simply because He is God.
This was the center of Bernard’s spirituality.
Not fear alone.
Not duty alone.
Love.
Devotion to Jesus
Bernard’s writings show a deeply personal love for Jesus Christ.
He meditated on the humanity of Christ, His suffering, His mercy, and His love.
His spirituality helped shape later Western devotion by encouraging Christians to contemplate Jesus personally and affectionately.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Bernard is also one of the great medieval teachers of Marian devotion.
He preached about Mary with warmth and theological depth.
He encouraged Christians to seek her intercession and imitate her humility and obedience.
A famous prayer tradition often associated with Bernard begins with the idea:
“Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary…”
The exact authorship of the Memorare is uncertain and probably later than Bernard, but the prayer became closely associated with the kind of Marian devotion he helped spread.
“Look to the Star”
One of Bernard’s most famous Marian images compares Mary to a star guiding sailors through dangerous seas.
When life becomes confused, the Christian looks toward Mary because she points toward Christ.
For Bernard, devotion to Mary was never meant to end with Mary.
She leads the believer to Jesus.
A Preacher with Enormous Influence
Bernard became famous far beyond Clairvaux.
He preached before enormous crowds.
His letters traveled throughout Europe.
Church leaders asked for his judgment.
His ability to persuade people made him one of the most influential religious figures of his age.
Church Reform
Bernard believed the Church needed clergy who lived holy lives.
He criticized luxury and ambition among churchmen.
He urged bishops and abbots to take their responsibilities seriously.
His reforming spirit grew from monastic ideals of simplicity and discipline.
The Papal Schism of 1130
After the death of Pope Honorius II, rival claimants were elected.
The Church faced a serious schism.
Bernard strongly supported Pope Innocent II.
He traveled extensively, arguing for recognition of Innocent.
His influence helped bring important rulers and bishops to Innocent’s side.
The crisis eventually ended.
Advising Popes
Bernard did not hesitate to advise popes directly.
One of his former monks became Pope Eugene III.
Bernard wrote a major work for him called On Consideration.
In it, Bernard warned the pope not to let administrative burdens destroy his spiritual life.
A pope could become so busy governing the Church that he forgot to pray.
The warning remains surprisingly modern.
Peter Abelard
Bernard also became involved in theological disputes.
One of the most famous was with the scholar Peter Abelard.
Bernard believed some of Abelard’s theological methods and conclusions were dangerous.
Their conflict became intense.
Bernard defended the importance of faith and mystery against what he saw as excessive reliance on human reasoning.
The episode also shows that Bernard could be forceful and controversial when he believed doctrine was at stake.
The Second Crusade
One of the most complicated parts of Bernard’s legacy is his preaching of the Second Crusade.
At the request of Pope Eugene III, Bernard traveled widely calling Christians to join the expedition.
The crusade ended badly.
Military failure followed.
Bernard was deeply affected by the outcome.
His involvement reminds us that even great saints lived within the assumptions and conflicts of their historical age.
His canonization does not mean every political or military judgment he made was perfect.
Defending Jews from Violence
During the preaching surrounding the crusade, some extremists stirred up attacks against Jewish communities.
Bernard strongly opposed this violence.
He intervened against preachers encouraging such attacks and insisted that Jews should not be murdered.
This became one important aspect of his public influence during the period.
A Monk in the Middle of Europe
Bernard’s life contains an interesting tension.
He entered the monastery to leave worldly ambition behind.
Yet rulers, popes, and political crises kept pulling him into public affairs.
He never completely escaped the world.
Instead, he tried to bring monastic principles into it.
Prayer.
Discipline.
Humility.
Truth.
And love of God.
His Sermons on the Song of Songs
Some of Bernard’s most famous writings are his sermons on the Song of Songs.
He interpreted the biblical love poetry spiritually as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the soul.
These sermons became classics of Christian mystical theology.
For Bernard, Christianity was not simply obedience to laws.
It was union with the God who loves us.
Doctor of the Church
St. Bernard died in 1153.
He was canonized in 1174 by Pope Alexander III.
In 1830, Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.
He is often called the Mellifluous Doctor, meaning the “honey-sweet” doctor, because of the beauty and warmth of his preaching about Christ.
What St. Bernard Teaches Us
St. Bernard teaches us that knowledge of God should lead to love.
He also teaches us that spiritual life cannot survive on activity alone.
Even a pope needs silence.
Even a leader needs prayer.
Even a reformer needs humility.
And Bernard reminds us that devotion to Mary should always bring us closer to Christ.
His life asks us not merely:
Do I believe in God?
But:
Do I love Him?
When Is the Feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux?
The Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, on August 20.
He is remembered as a Cistercian abbot, reformer, preacher, mystic, theologian, and one of the greatest spiritual writers of the Middle Ages.
Prayer Inspired by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Lord Jesus Christ,
give us the love and devotion of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Teach us to seek You above every worldly ambition.
Help us balance work with prayer and leadership with humility.
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, keep us close to You.
Give wisdom to bishops, priests, abbots, and all who lead others.
And help us grow from simply knowing about You to truly loving You with our whole heart.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us. Amen.
