Liber Secundus, Caput VI. Quale debeat esse procerum Ecclesiae studium.
Ministry, Not Dominion
Bernard warns that leadership in the Church is a ministry of labor and obedience, not a throne of arrogance, and he grounds this in the prophet's commission to uproot and build.
We can't hide what was done before; but it must be watched carefully at every point, for the sake of what comes next. I don't think you were given this role to lord it over others. For when the prophet, in like manner, was being raised up, he heard: 'You shall uproot and destroy, and demolish and tear down, and build and plant.'✦ Which of these carries an air of arrogance? Spiritual work is pressed out under a form of toil that is, if anything, more sweaty than the farmer's. And so we, too, should reflect deeply on ourselves, since we have perceived that what was laid upon us is a ministry, not dominion. I am not greater than the prophet; and even if I am perhaps his equal in power, there is no comparison in merits. Speak these things to yourself, and teach yourself — you who teach others.
Content with a Prophet's Measure
The leader should be content to stand in the prophetic line, receiving identity from grace rather than reaching beyond the measure God has given.
Think of yourself as one of the prophets. Or isn't that enough for you? And that's already too much. But by the grace of God you are what you are. What? Be what a prophet is — surely not more than a prophet? If you are wise, you will be content with the measure God has measured out to you. For whatever goes beyond that comes from evil.
The Hoe, Not the Scepter
Prophetic leadership means laboring in God's field with humble tools, joining a work that stretches across generations and will never be finished in one lifetime.
Learn from the prophet's example that leading is less about issuing commands than about doing what the moment demands. Learn that what's called for is a hoe in your hands, not a scepter—so that you do the work of a prophet. And indeed he did not ascend to reign, but to root out. Don't you think you'll find plenty to work at in the field of your Lord? More than enough. The Prophet couldn't completely clear everything: he left his sons, the Apostles, something to do; and your predecessors left something for you. But neither will you manage everything. You'll certainly leave something undone for your successor, and he for others, and others for still others, right up to the end.
Heirs Sent into the Vineyard
As sons and heirs of the apostles, leaders must claim their inheritance by diligent labor in the plentiful harvest rather than standing idle.
Around the eleventh hour, the idle laborers are reproached and sent into the vineyard. Your predecessors, the apostles, heard that the harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Claim your paternal inheritance. For if you are a son, then you are an heir. So that you may prove to be an heir, be watchful for your care; and do not grow numb with idleness, lest it be said to you: "Why do you stand here idle all day?"
The Bishop's Watchtower
The episcopal chair is not a seat of luxury but a watchtower of duty, where the bishop inherits care and effort rather than glory and riches.
Still less should you be found dissolved in pleasures or sprawled in pomps. None of these things are assigned to you in the testator's will. But what then? If you are content with the tenor of those things, you will inherit care and effort rather than glory and riches. Does the chair flatter you? It is a watchtower.✦ From there, finally, you oversee — the title of bishop sounding for you not as dominion, but as duty. Why shouldn't you be placed on high, to look out over all things, you who have been established as a watchman over all things?✦
Anxiety for the Churches
The watchtower allows no leisure, since the apostolic inheritance is anxious care for the churches, not wealth or self-indulgence.
Because that kind of outlook produces readiness, not leisure. How can anyone take pride in a position where rest isn't allowed? There's no room for leisure where the diligent anxiety for all the churches presses in. For what else did the holy Apostle leave to you? What I have, he says, I give to you. What is that? One thing I know: it isn't gold or silver, since he himself says, 'Silver and gold have I none.'✦ If you happen to have them, don't use them for your own pleasure, but as the times demand.
Having Nothing, Giving Care
Worldly goods are morally neutral in themselves, but the apostle passed on not wealth or domination, only anxious care and the call to be a model, not a master.
So you'll use them as if you weren't using them. In themselves, regarding the soul's good, they're neither good nor bad; yet their use is good, their abuse is bad, anxiety over them is worse, and profit from them is most shameful. So be determined to claim these things for yourself by any other means you can — but not by apostolic right. For he couldn't give you what he didn't have. What he had, he gave: anxiety, as I mentioned, over the churches. Domination? Listen to him himself. 'Not lording it,' he says, 'over the clergy, but being a model for the flock.'
The Lord Forbids Lordship
Christ's own words in the Gospel make clear that domination is forbidden to the apostles, unlike the rulers of the nations.
And so you don't think this was said only with humility in mind and not truth as well, the Lord's voice in the Gospel says: 'The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who hold power over them are called benefactors' — and then he adds: 'But not so with you.'✦ It's clear: domination is forbidden to the apostles.
Forbidden to Reign, Called to Serve
To grasp both rule and apostolic authority is to lose both; instead, the greatest must become as the youngest, following Christ who came not to be served but to serve.
Go, then — yes, you — and dare to claim for yourself either the apostleship by ruling, or apostolic authority by dominating. Clearly, you are forbidden from the other alternative. If you try to hold onto both at once, you'll lose both. Otherwise, don't think yourself excepted from the number of those about whom God complains: 'They reigned, but not from me; rulers arose, but I did not know them.'✦ Now if it pleases you to reign without God, you have glory—but not before God. But if we hold to the prohibition, let us hear the decree. Whoever is the greatest among you should become as the youngest, and whoever leads as one who serves.✦ This is the apostolic pattern: domination is forbidden, ministry is enjoined—and ministry is commended by the very example of the Lawgiver himself, who adds as he follows after: 'But I am among you as one who serves.'✦
The Glory of Apostolic Labor
The ministry of the cross is more glorious than worldly rule, as Paul's catalogue of sufferings reveals a ministry marked by labor, not softness.
Who would now think himself unsuited for a title like this, by which the Lord of glory himself was first marked out beforehand? Paul rightly takes pride in this, saying, 'They are ministers of Christ, and I am too.'✦ And he adds, 'I speak more, though I have less wisdom.'✦ In many labors, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes beyond measure, in deaths frequently.✦ O glorious ministry! By what rule is this ministry not more glorious than rule itself? If you must glory, the pattern of the saints is set before you; the glory of the Apostles is proposed to you. Does that glory seem insignificant to you?
Longing to Share the Saints' Honor
Bernard longs for a share in the honor of the saints, where true boasting is found not in power but in the cross of Christ.
Who would grant me a share in the glory of the saints? The prophet cries out to me: Your friends are held in exceeding honor by me, God; their leadership is strengthened exceedingly. The apostle cries out to me: Far be it from me to glory in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!
The Cross as Inheritance
The leader's true inheritance is the cross of Christ: labor in a fallen field where even the most diligent worker leaves room for others.
My prayer is that you may always boast in this way — in the finest kind of glory, the kind that the apostles and the prophets claimed for themselves and handed on to you. Recognize your inheritance in the cross of Christ: in very many labors. Happy is the one who could say: I have labored more than all of them. It is glory, but there's nothing empty in it, nothing soft, nothing self-indulgent. If the labor frightens you, let the reward invite you. For each one will receive a reward according to his own labor. And even if someone has labored more than all others, he still hasn't accomplished everything — and there's still room left. Go out into the field of your Lord, and consider carefully how many thorns and thistles are still growing wild today from the ancient curse.
Stewards Sent into the Field
Leaders are stewards sent into the world-field with anxious discernment, to see how much that looks like fruit is really barren and withered.
Go out, I say, into the world: the world is a field, and it has been entrusted to you. Go out into it, not as a master, but as a steward, to see and to manage the place from which you will be required to give an account. Go out, I would say, with steps stretched out by a certain anxious care, and by a troubled purpose. For not even those who were told to go into the whole world traveled around the entire world in person, but by the foresight of their minds.✦ And you, lift the eyes of your consideration, and look at the regions, to see whether they are not more parched for fire than white for harvest.✦ How many things that you had taken for grain, when carefully examined, will turn out to be thorns instead? Indeed, not even thorns: they are aged and withered trees, but certainly not fruit-bearing; unless perhaps bearing acorns or pods, which pigs eat. How long will they occupy the land?
Ashamed to Be Idle
Seeing the field's true state, the leader should be ashamed to let the apostolic sickle lie idle.
Won't you be ashamed—if you go out and see these things—to lie there with your axe idle? Won't you be ashamed to have received the apostolic sickle for no good reason?
From Meditation to the Sword
Where Isaac went out to meditate, the leader must now go out to act, having first counted the costs and now girding the sword of the Spirit.
The patriarch Isaac once went out into this field, when Rebecca first met him, and, as Scripture tells it, he had gone out to meditate.✦ He went out to meditate; you must go out to root out. For you, meditation should have come first: the time for acting is already here. If you start to hesitate now, that will indeed be too late. Beforehand, following the counsel of the Savior, you should have sat down first, assessed the task, measured your strength, weighed your wisdom, compared the merits, and calculated the costs of the virtues.✦ Come then, suppose the time for pruning is here, if only meditation has gone before it. If you have moved your heart, your tongue must now be moved, and your hand must be moved too. Gird on your sword, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.✦
Guarding the Flock, Not Oppressing It
The leader's task is to drive out threats and guard the flock, pasturing rather than lording over sheep, knowing that knowledge without action is sin.
Glorify your hand and your right arm as you carry out vengeance among the nations and rebukes among the peoples, binding their kings in chains and their nobles in iron shackles. If you do these things, you honor your ministry, and your ministry honors you. This is no ordinary rulership. To drive out evil beasts from your boundaries is necessary so that your flocks may be safe in their pastures. You'll tame wolves, but you won't lord it over sheep. You've taken on the task of pasturing them, not oppressing them. If you've reflected carefully on who you are, you know you must do these things. Furthermore, to one who knows and does not act, sin is upon you.
The Noble Lineage of the Saints
As children of the prophets and apostles, leaders must claim their noble lineage by matching their conduct, putting on the strength of faith and obedience.
Haven't you forgotten the passage where you read: 'A servant who knows the will of his Lord and doesn't do it will be beaten with many blows'?✦ The prophets lived that way; the apostles lived that way. They were brave in war, not soft in silks. If you are a son of the apostles and the prophets, then you should do likewise. Claim your noble lineage by matching conduct: nobility comes from nothing else than the generosity of good character and the strength of faith. Through such character they conquered kingdoms, worked righteousness, and obtained the promises.✦ This is the document of your paternal inheritance, which we have unrolled for you, so that you may examine the portion that falls to you. Put on strength — you have inherited it.
Humility, the Precious Estate
The leader's true estate is virtue, above all humility, which builds a holy temple, overcomes demonic pride, and shines most splendidly in the highest pontiff.
Possess faith, possess piety, possess wisdom — but the wisdom of the saints (it is the fear of the Lord) — and you have what is yours.✦ You have the whole paternal estate without defrauding anyone. Virtue is the most precious estate. Humility is a good estate, in which every spiritual building, once constructed, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.✦ Through it, not a few have come to possess even the gates of their enemies. For which of the virtues can equally vanquish all the pride of demons and the tyranny of human beings? But since this is in every case equally a tower of fortitude against every person, facing the enemy — I don't know how — its power is nonetheless shown to be greater in greater people, and more distinguished in more distinguished people. No gem is more splendid, especially in every adornment of the highest Pontiff.
The Higher, the Humble
The higher a person rises, the more distinguished they appear through humility, and that in themselves.
For the higher a person rises above others, the more distinguished they appear through humility — and that in themselves.
Read the original Latin
Factum superiorem dissimulare nequimus; sed enim ad quid omnimodis attendendum. Non enim ad dominandum opinor. Nam et propheta, cum similiter levaretur, audivit: Ut evellas et destruas, et disperdas et dissipes, et aedifices et plantes. Quid horum fastum sonat? Rusticani magis sudoris schemate quodam labor spiritualis expressus est. Et nos igitur ut multum sentiamus de nobis, impositum senserimus ministerium, non dominium datum. Non sum ego major propheta; et si forte par potestate, sed meritorum non est comparatio. Haec loquere tibi, et doce te ipsum, qui alios doces.
Puta te velut unum aliquem ex prophetis. An non satis ad te? Et nimium. Sed gratia Dei es id quod es. Quid? Esto quod propheta: nunquid plus quam propheta? Si sapis, eris contentus mensura quam tibi mensus est Deus. Nam quod amplius est, a malo est.
Disce exemplo prophetico praesidere non tam ad imperitandum, quam ad factitandum quod tempus requirit. Disce sarculo tibi opus esse, non sceptro, ut opus facias prophetae. Et quidem ille non regnaturus ascendit, sed exstirpaturus. Putasne et tu invenias aliquid elaborandum in agro Domini tui? Et plurimum. Non plane totum quivere emundare Prophetae: aliquid filiis suis Apostolis quod agerent reliquerunt; aliquid ipsi parentes tui tibi. Sed nec tu ad omne sufficies. Aliquid profecto tuo relicturus es successori, et ille aliis, et alii aliis usque in finem.
Circa undecimam denique horam operarii otii arguuntur, et mittuntur in vineam. Antecessores tui Apostoli audierunt, quia messis quidem multa, operarii vero pauci. Paternam tibi vindicato haereditatem. Nam si filius, et haeres. Ut probes haeredem, evigila ad curam; et non otio torpeas, ne et tibi dicatur: Quid hic stas tota die otiosus?
Multo minus inveniri oportet aut deliciis resolutum, aut resupinum pompis. Nihil horum tibi tabulae testatoris assignant. Sed quid? Si illarum tenore contentus sis, curam potius haereditabis et operam, quam gloriam et divitias. Blanditur cathedra? Specula est. Inde denique superintendis, sonans tibi episcopi nomine non dominium, sed officium. Quidni loceris in eminenti, unde prospectes omnia qui speculator super omnia constitueris?
Enim vero prospectus iste procinctum parit, non otium. Quo modo libet gloriari, ubi otiari non licet? Nec locus est otio, ubi sedula urget sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum. Nam quid tibi aliud dimisit sanctus Apostolus? Quod habeo, inquit, hoc tibi do. Quid illud? Unum scio: non est aurum neque argentum, cum ipse dicat: Argentum et aurum non est mihi. Si habere contingat, utere non pro libitu, sed pro tempore.
Sic eris utens illis, quasi non utens. Ipsa quidem, quod ad animi bonum spectat, nec bona sunt, nec mala: usus tamen horum bonus, abusio mala, sollicitudo pejor, quaestus turpior. Esto, ut alia quacunque ratione haec tibi vindices: sed non apostolico jure. Nec enim tibi ille dare quod non habuit potuit. Quod habuit, hoc dedit, sollicitudinem, ut dixi, super Ecclesias. Nunquid dominationem? Audi ipsum. Non dominantes, ait, in clero, sed forma facti gregis.
Et ne dictum sola humilitate putes, non etiam veritate, vox Domini est in Evangelio: Reges gentium dominantur eorum, et qui potestatem habent super eos, benefici vocantur: et infert: Vos autem non sic. Planum est: Apostolis interdicitur dominatus.
I ergo tu, et tibi usurpare aude aut dominans apostolatum, aut apostolicus dominatum. Plane ab alterutro prohiberis. Si utrumque simul habere voles, perdes utrumque. Alioquin non te exceptum illorum numero putes, de quibus queritur Deus sic: Ipsi regnaverunt, et non ex me; principes exstiterunt, et ego non cognovi. Jam si regnare sine Deo juvat, habes gloriam, sed non apud Deum. At si interdictum tenemus, audiamus edictum. Qui major est vestrum, fiat sicut junior; et qui praecessor est, sicut qui ministrat. Forma apostolica haec est: dominatio interdicitur, indicitur ministratio, quae et commendatur ipsius exemplo Legislatoris, qui secutus adjungit: Ego autem in medio vestrum sum, tanquam qui ministrat.
Quis se jam titulo hoc inglorium putet, quo se prior Dominus gloriae praesignivit? Merito Paulus gloriatur in eo, dicens: Ministri Christi sunt, et ego. Et addit: Ut minus sapiens dico, plus ego. In laboribus plurimis, in carceribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter. O praeclarum ministerium! Quo non id gloriosius principatu? Si gloriari oportet, forma tibi sanctorum praefigitur, Apostolorum proponitur gloria. Parvane tibi illa videtur?
Quis mihi tribuat similem fieri in gloria sanctorum? Clamat propheta: Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus; nimis confortatus est principatus eorum. Clamat Apostolus: Mihi autem absit gloriari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi!
Hoc glorieris opto semper optimo genere gloriae, quod Apostoli, quod Prophetae delegere sibi, transmisere tibi. Agnosce haereditatem tuam in Christi cruce, in laboribus plurimis. Felix qui dicere potuit: Plus omnibus laboravi. Gloria est, sed nil in ea inane, nil molle, nil resupinum. Si labor terret, merces invitet. Unusquisque enim secundum suum laborem mercedem accipiet. Et si ille plus omnibus laboravit, non tamen totum elaboravit, et adhuc locus est. Exi in agrum Domini tui, et considera diligenter, quantis hodieque de veteri maledicto silvescat spinis ac tribulis.
Exi, inquam, in mundum: ager est enim mundus, isque creditus tibi. Exi in illum, non tanquam dominus, sed tanquam villicus, videre et procurare unde exigendus es rationem. Exi, dixerim, quibusdam tuae passibus intentae sollicitudinis, et sollicitae intentionis. Neque enim ipsi qui jussi sunt ire in orbem universum, orbem circumierunt praesentia corporis, sed mentis providentia. Et tu leva oculos quosdam considerationis tuae, et vide regiones, si non sunt magis siccae ad ignem, quam albae ad messem. Quam multae, quas putaveras fruges, diligenter inspectae, vepres potius apparebunt? Imo ne vepres quidem: annosae et veternosae arbores sunt, sed non profecto fructiferae; nisi forte glandium aut siliquarum, quas porci manducant. Quousque occupant terram?
Nonne, si exis et cernis ista, pudebit otiosam jacere securim; pudebit sine causa falcem apostolicam accepisse?
In hunc quondam agrum Isaac patriarcha exierat, cum primum Rebecca occurrit ei: et, ut Scriptura habet, Exierat ad meditandum. Ille ad meditandum, tu ad exstirpandum egrediaris necesse est. Tibi jam praecessisse meditatio debet: tempus faciendi prae manibus. Si nunc haesitare incipias, id quidem sero. Ante, juxta consilium Salvatoris, sedisse debueras, ante aestimasse opus, metiri vires, ponderasse sapientiam, merita comparasse, sumptus computasse virtutum. Age ergo, puta tempus putationis adesse, si tamen meditationis praeivit. Si cor movisti, movenda jam lingua, movenda est et manus. Accingere gladio tuo, gladio spiritus, quod est verbum Dei.
Glorifica manum et brachium dextrum in faciendo vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in populis, in alligando reges eorum in compedibus, et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis. Si haec facis, honorificas ministerium tuum, et ministerium te. Non mediocris iste principatus. Exturbare est hoc malas bestias a terminis tuis, quo greges tui securi in pascua educantur. Domabis lupos, sed ovibus non dominaberis. Pascendas utique, non premendas sucepsisti. Si bene considerasti quis sis, haec te oportere facere non ignoras. Porro scienti et non facienti, peccatum est tibi.
Non es oblitus ubi legeris: Servus sciens voluntatem domini sui, et non faciens, plagis vapulabit multis. Sic Prophetae, sic Apostoli factitabant. Fortes fuere in bello, non molles in sericis. Si filius es Apostolorum et Prophetarum, et tu fac similiter. Vindica tibi nobile genus similibus moribus; quod non aliunde nobile, quam morum ingenuitate, et fidei fortitudine fit. Per hanc vicerunt regna, operati sunt justitiam, adepti sunt repromissiones. Hoc chirographum paternae tuae haereditatis, quod tibi evolvimus, ubi inspicias portionem quae te contingit. Induere fortitudinem, et haereditasti.
Posside fidem, posside pietatem, posside sapientiam, sed sapientiam sanctorum (ipsa est timor Domini), et habes quod tuum est. Habes sine defraudatione integrum paternum fundum. Pretiosissimus fundus virtus est. Bonus fundus humilitas in quo omne aedificium spirituale constructum crescit in templum sanctum in Domino. Per hanc nonnulli possedere etiam portas inimicorum. Quae enim virtutum aeque potest daemonum omnem debellare superbiam, tyrannidem hominum? Caeterum cum omni indifferenter personae haec sit quaedam turris fortitudinis a facie inimici; nescio quo pacto tamen vis ejus major in majoribus, et in clarioribus clarior comprobatur. Nulla splendidior gemma, in omni praecipue ornatu summi Pontificis.
Quo enim celsior caeteris, eo humilitate apparet illustrior et se ipso.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Jer.1.10 — See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
- ↩Ezek.3.17 — Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them from me.
- ↩Ezek.33.7 — And you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them from me.
- ↩Acts.3.6 — But Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!"
- ↩Luke.22.25-Luke.22.26 — But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. Luke.22.26 — But it shall not be so among you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the one who leads as the one who serves.
- ↩Hos.13.11 — I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.
- ↩Luke.22.26 — But it shall not be so among you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the one who leads as the one who serves.
- ↩Luke.22.27 — For who is greater—the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? Yet I am among you as the one who serves.
- ↩2Cor.10.8 — For even if I boast a little too much about our authority—which the Lord gave us for building you up and not for tearing you down—I will not be put to shame.
- ↩2Cor.11.21 — To my shame, I admit that we were too weak for that. But whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast.
- ↩2Cor.11.23 — Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking as one beside myself—I am more: in labors far more, in prisons far more, in beatings beyond measure, in deaths often.
- ↩Mark.16.15 — And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
- ↩John.4.35 — Do you not say, 'There are still four months, and then the harvest comes'? Look, I say to you, lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are white for harvest already.
- ↩Gen.24.63 — And Isaac went out to walk in the field toward evening, and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming.
- ↩Luke.14.28-Luke.14.31 — For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke.14.29 — so that after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him Luke.14.30 — saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Luke.14.31 — Or what king, going to wage war against another king, will not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
- ↩Eph.6.17 — And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- ↩Luke.12.47 — That servant who knew his master's will but did not prepare himself or act according to his will will receive many blows.
- ↩Heb.11.33 — who through faith conquered kingdoms, obtained promises, and shut the mouths of lions,
- ↩Ps.111.10 — The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD; good understanding belongs to all who do his works. His praise endures forever.
- ↩Eph.2.21;1Pet.2.5 — in whom the entire building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 1Pet.2.5 — and you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
De consideratione (On Consideration) companion
Make consideration a daily appointment
Bernard told Eugene to set aside time every day. Chosen Portion holds that time for you, free.
Bernard's core prescription — a fixed daily time reserved for examining the soul — is exactly the habit Chosen Portion installs with its daily devotional portion.
- One 10-minute daily portion for self-examination and prayer
- Reflection prompts drawn from historic texts, not improvised journaling
- A visible streak that protects the daily interval Bernard insisted on