De sancto Bernardo
The Early Life and Call of Bernard
Bernard's noble birth, his mother's prophetic vision, and his decisive entry into the Cistercian life with his brothers.
The name Bernard comes from 'ber,' meaning a pit or fountain, and 'nard,' which, as the Gloss on the Song of Songs notes, is a humble herb that is warm in nature and fragrant in scent. He was indeed warm in his fervent love, humble in his conduct, a fountain in the outpouring of his teaching, a pit in the depth of his knowledge, and fragrant in the sweetness of his reputation. His life was written by William, Abbot of Saint-Thierry, a companion of the blessed Bernard, and by Ernald, Abbot of Bonneval. Bernard was born in Burgundy, at the castle of Fontaines, to parents who were very noble and religious. His father, Tescelin, was a knight who was vigorous in the world but no less religious toward God; his mother was named Aleth. She bore seven children—six sons and one daughter—and she had promised that all the sons would be monks and the daughter a nun. As soon as she had given birth to a son, she would offer him to God with her own hands, and she refused to have them nursed at the breasts of others, as if she were infusing her own nature into them along with her mother's milk. When they had grown, as long as they were under her care, she nourished them more for the desert than for the court, feeding them with coarse and common food as if they were constantly being sent off to the wilderness. When she was still carrying her third son, Bernard, in her womb, she had a dream that foreshadowed the future: she saw that she was carrying in her womb a little dog that was entirely white, with a reddish back, and barking. When she explained this dream to the man of God, he answered with a prophetic voice: "You will be the mother of a fine puppy, who will be a guardian of the house of God and will bark loudly against His enemies." For he would be an outstanding preacher, and by the grace of his healing tongue, he would cure many. When Bernard was still a small boy and was sick with a severe headache, a woman came to him to try to soothe the pain with her charms, but he shouted at her with great indignation, drove her away, and rejected her. Yet the mercy of God did not fail the boy in his good zeal, but he rose up at once and knew that he had been set free. On the most sacred night of the Lord's birth, while the boy Bernard was waiting for the morning office in church and longing to know at what hour of the night Christ had been born, the child Jesus appeared to him, as if being born again before his very eyes from his mother's womb. From that time on, for the rest of his life, he always believed that this had been the hour of the Lord's birth. From that hour, a deeper understanding and a more abundant eloquence were given to him regarding those things that pertain to that mystery; and so, later on, among the very first of his treatises, he published a remarkable little work in praise of the Mother and the Son, in which he explained that Gospel reading: "The angel Gabriel was sent." Seeing the boy's purpose to be so holy, the ancient enemy attacked his resolve for chastity and set many snares of temptation before him. Once, when he had kept his eyes fixed on a certain woman for some time, he immediately felt ashamed of himself. Acting as a most severe judge against himself, he jumped into a pool of freezing water and stayed there until, nearly bloodless, he was pulled out, having been completely cooled of the heat of carnal desire by the grace of God. Around that same time, at the devil's prompting, a certain girl threw herself naked into the bed of the sleeping Bernard. Sensing her, he yielded the part of the bed she had occupied with complete peace and silence, and turning to the other side, he went back to sleep. The wretched girl, after waiting and hoping for a while, then feeling and prodding him, finally realized that he remained motionless. Though she was most shameless, she felt ashamed, and filled with great horror and wonder, she got up and fled. When he was staying again in the house of a certain matron, she noticed the young man’s handsome appearance and was inflamed with a fierce desire for him; when she had a bed prepared for herself separately, she got up impudently and silently in the night and came to him, but as soon as he sensed her, he immediately shouted, "Thieves! Thieves!" At this cry, the woman fled, the household got up, a lamp was lit, and the thief was searched for but could not be found; the others went back to their beds and rested, but that miserable woman did not rest, for she got up again and went to Bernard’s bed, but he shouted again, "Thieves! Thieves!" The thief was searched for again, but he was not revealed by the only one who knew; the wicked woman, having been repelled in this way until the third time, finally gave up, overcome by fear or despair; but when he was traveling the next day, his companions questioned him, asking why he had dreamed of thieves so often. He said to them, "I truly suffered the ambush of a thief last night, because the hostess was trying to steal from me the unrecoverable treasure of chastity." Considering, therefore, that it was not safe to live with a serpent, he began to think about fleeing and decided from that moment to enter the Cistercian order. When his brothers found out about this and tried in every way to stop him from his purpose, the Lord granted him such grace that not only was he not prevented from his conversion, but he also won over all his brothers and many others to the religious life for the Lord. However, his brother Gerard, a tough soldier, thought these words were empty and rejected his warnings entirely. Then Bernard, already on fire with faith and stirred up in a wonderful way by brotherly love, said, "I know, my brother, I know; only trouble will give understanding to the ear." Placing his finger on his side, he added, "The day will come, and it will come soon, when a lance will pierce this side and will open a way to your heart for the advice you are rejecting." A few days later, Gerard was captured by enemies and dragged away with a lance stuck in the very place where his brother had placed his finger, and he was bound in prison. Bernard came to him, and since he wasn't allowed to speak with him, he called out: "I know, Brother Gerard, that we're about to leave and enter the monastery." That same night, the shackles fell from his feet and the door opened on its own; he escaped, happy, and told his brother that he had changed his mind and wanted to become a monk. In the year 1112 from the Lord's incarnation, fifteen years after the founding of the Cistercian house, the servant of God Bernard, then about twenty-two years old, entered the Cistercian order with more than thirty companions. As Bernard was leaving home with his brothers, Guido, the eldest, saw their youngest brother, Nivard, playing in the square with other children and said, "Hey, Brother Nivard, all the land of our inheritance is yours alone." The boy, not acting like a child, replied, "So you're going to have heaven, and you're leaving me only the earth?" This was not a fair division. He stayed with his father for a short time, but followed his brothers soon after.
Asceticism and Interior Recollection
Bernard's intense focus on God, his rigorous monastic discipline, and his detachment from worldly comforts and sensory pleasures.
Once Bernard, the servant of God, had entered the order, he was so completely absorbed in the spirit and so entirely occupied with God that he no longer made use of his bodily senses. He had already spent a year in the novitiate, yet he still didn't know whether the house had a vaulted ceiling. For a long time, as he went in and out of the church, he thought the three windows at the end were just one single window. The Abbot of Cîteaux sent brothers to build the house at Clairvaux and placed Bernard in charge of the abbey; he lived there for a long time in extreme poverty, often making his meals from beech leaves. The servant of God kept watch beyond human capacity, for he used to complain that he lost no time more than the time he spent sleeping, considering the comparison between sleep and death to be quite fitting, so that those who are asleep might appear dead to men just as those who are dead are asleep to God. Because of this, if he happened to hear someone snoring too loudly or saw someone lying down in a less than composed way, he could barely bear it patiently and would accuse them of sleeping in a worldly or carnal manner. His appetite was hardly drawn to eating by any pleasure; rather, he approached taking food only out of a fear of failing, as if it were a torment. After eating, he made it a habit to reflect on how much he had consumed; if he realized he had exceeded his usual measure even slightly, he wouldn't let it go unpunished. He had so mastered the allurements of gluttony that he had largely lost even the ability to distinguish between flavors. For he once drank oil that had been set before him by mistake and was completely unaware of it, nor was it discovered until someone noticed his lips were greasy; furthermore, it is known that for many days he ate raw blood that had been offered to him by mistake instead of butter, and he said that only water tasted like anything to him, because it cooled his throat and gullet as he drank it. He used to tell his friends that he had learned whatever he knew of the Scriptures primarily by meditating and praying in the woods and fields, and that he had never had any teachers other than the oaks and the beeches. Finally, he confessed that sometimes, while he was meditating or praying, the entire sacred Scripture would appear to him as if it had been laid out or explained for him. At one time, as he relates in his commentaries on the Song of Songs, while he was speaking about things the Spirit had suggested to him—relying not so much on his own faith as on a confident spirit, so that he would have something to say when he came to write again—a voice came to him saying: "As long as you hold onto this, you will not receive anything else." He always favored poverty in his clothing, but never filth; he used to say that filth was a sign of either a negligent mind, a mind vainly glorying in itself, or one that was outwardly seeking human glory. That proverb was frequently on his lips and always in his heart: "Whoever does what no one else does, everyone wonders at." For this reason, he wore a hair shirt for many years as long as he could keep it hidden, but once he realized it had become known, he immediately threw it away and turned to the common life; he never laughed in such a way that he didn't have to force himself more to laugh than to restrain it, and he had to apply more of a goad to his laughter than a bridle. He used to say there are three kinds of patience: patience regarding verbal insults, patience regarding the loss of possessions, and patience regarding bodily harm. He proved he possessed this patience through these very examples. When he wrote a friendly letter of admonition to a certain bishop, the bishop was vehemently provoked and wrote back a very bitter letter, beginning with: 'Greetings, but not in the spirit of blasphemy,' as if he had written his own letter in a spirit of blasphemy. To this he replied: 'I don't believe I possess a spirit of blasphemy, nor do I know that I have ever cursed anyone or that I wish to curse anyone, especially not the prince of my people.' A certain abbot sent him six hundred marks of silver for the construction of a monastery, but the entire sum was stolen while it was being transported; others read this as 'not unfaithful,' though they consider it 'less faithful.' It was taken away by gifts. When he heard this, he said only: 'Blessed be God, who has spared us from the burden. But for those who took it,' he said, 'it is a heavier burden to bear, both because human greed has taken it away, and because a large sum of money has brought with it a large temptation.' Furthermore, a certain canon regular came to him and urgently asked to be received as a monk. When he wouldn't agree to this, but instead persuaded him to return to his own church, the man said: 'Why, then, do you so highly commend perfection in your books, if you don't offer it to one who desires it?'
Trials, Temptations, and Spiritual Authority
Bernard faces external opposition and internal temptations, demonstrating patience, mercy, and the power of his spiritual counsel.
If only I had those books of yours, so I could tear them to pieces! He replied, 'You haven't read in any of them that you can't be perfect in your own monastery; I recommended the correction of character in all those books, not the changing of places.' The man, however, was insane; he lunged at him and struck his cheek so hard that a bruise followed the blow, and a swelling followed the bruise. Those who were present were already rising up against the sacrilegious man, but the servant of God forestalled them, crying out and adjuring them by the name of Christ that he should not be touched at all, nor should any injury be done to him. To novices who wanted to enter, he was accustomed to say: 'If you are hurrying toward what is within, leave the bodies you brought from the world outside; let only your spirits enter, for the flesh is of no use at all.'✦ His father, who had remained at home alone, went to the monastery and died there some time later at a ripe old age. His sister, however, who was married and living in the world, was in danger amidst its riches and delights. One time she came to visit her brothers at the monastery, but when she arrived with a retinue and in proud attire, he abhorred her as a snare of the devil for catching souls and would not agree to go out to see her at all. Seeing that none of her brothers would come to meet her, but that she was called a 'dung-heap wrapped in silk' by one of them who was the porter at the time, she was completely overcome with tears. 'Even if I am a sinner,' she said, 'Christ died for such as these. Because I feel that I am a sinner, I seek the counsel and conversation of good people; and if my brother despises my flesh, let the servant of God not despise my soul. Let him come and give me his orders, and whatever he commands, I will fulfill.'✦ Holding to this promise, he went out to her with his brothers; and because he couldn't separate her from her husband, he first forbade her all the glory of the world, and instructing her to imitate the example of his mother, he sent her away. She, however, returned so suddenly changed that she lived an eremitic life in the midst of the world and made herself entirely a stranger to all worldly things. At last, through the prayers of the brothers, he overcame the occasion of temptation, and being absolved by the bishop, he entered the monastery. Once, when the man of God was weakened and seemed to be drawing his final breath, he was seen to be presented before the tribunal of God in an ecstasy of mind; but Satan was also present, attacking him with wicked accusations. When the enemy had finished all his charges, and it was the man of God's turn to speak, he wasn't terrified or troubled, but said: 'I confess I am not worthy, nor can I obtain the kingdom of heaven by my own merits; but my Lord, who obtains it by a double right—by the inheritance of the Father and by the merit of His Passion—is content with one and gives the other to me; and by His gift, claiming it as my right, I am not confounded.' The enemy, confounded by this word, was dismissed, and the man of God returned to himself. He wore out his body with such abstinence, labor, and vigils that, languishing from a most severe and almost continuous illness, he could barely keep up with the community. Once, when he was very ill and the brothers were praying insistently for him, he felt himself recover a little; gathering the brothers, he said: 'Why do you hold back a miserable man? You are stronger and have prevailed; spare me, I beg you, spare me and let me go.' Although the man of God was elected bishop by many cities—especially Genoa and Milan—he neither agreed to their requests nor stubbornly refused them, saying he didn't belong to himself, but was set apart for the service of others. The brothers had provided for themselves according to the man of God's counsel and were protected by the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, so that no one could take their joy away from them. Once, when he visited the Carthusian brothers and they were greatly edified by him in every way, one thing troubled their prior: the saddle he was riding on was remarkably neglected and hardly showed any sign of poverty. When the prior mentioned this to one of the brothers, and the brother reported it to the man of God, he was just as surprised and asked what kind of saddle it was. He had traveled all the way from Clairvaux to the Charterhouse and was completely unaware of what his saddle looked like, having traveled a full day's journey along Lake Lausanne without ever noticing or seeing it at all. For when his companions were talking about that same lake late in the day, he asked them where that lake was. When they heard this, they were greatly amazed. The humility of his heart truly overcame the loftiness of his name, and the whole world could not lift him up as much as he himself sought to humble himself. He was held in the highest regard by everyone, yet he considered himself the lowest of all; while everyone else looked up to him, he didn't consider himself superior to anyone. Finally, as he often admitted, even amidst the highest honors and the favor of the people, he felt as though he had borrowed someone else's life; he considered himself absent, as if he were living through a dream. But whenever he was with the simpler brothers, he rejoiced to find himself again, enjoying that familiar, constant humility and returning to his true self. He was always found either praying, reading, writing, meditating, or uplifting the brothers with his words. Once, while he was preaching to the people and everyone was listening to his words with such attention and devotion, a temptation crept into his mind: "You’re truly preaching well now, and people are listening to you gladly, and everyone thinks you’re wise." But the man of God, feeling himself struck by such a temptation, paused for a moment and began to consider whether he should continue or stop. Immediately strengthened by divine help, he answered the tempter silently: "I did not begin for your sake, and I will not stop for your sake." Secure in this, he finished his sermon to the end. A certain monk, who had been a rogue and a gambler in the world, was stirred by an evil spirit and wanted to return to the world. When blessed Bernard couldn’t hold him back, he asked him how he intended to make a living. He replied, "I know how to play dice, and I’ll be able to live from that." And he said, "If I give you the starting capital, will you be willing to return to me every year and share the winnings with me?" . Hearing this, he was glad and promised he would happily do it; he ordered twenty shillings to be given to him, and he left with them. The holy man did this so he could call him back later, just as it happened. So he left, lost everything, and returned to the gate in confusion. Hearing this, the man of God went out to him happily and held out his lap so they could divide the profit together. He said to him, 'Father, I haven't gained anything; in fact, I've even been stripped of our capital. If you're willing, take me back in place of our capital.' Bernard answered him kindly, 'If that's how it is,' he said, 'it's better that I take you back than lose both at once.' Once, while the blessed Bernard was riding on a beast, the subject came up with a certain peasant, and he complained about the instability of the heart during prayer. Hearing this, the man immediately looked down on him and claimed he had a firm and stable heart in his own prayers. But Bernard, wanting to convince him and check his rashness, said, 'Step aside for a moment and begin the Lord's Prayer with all the focus you can muster. If you can finish it without any distraction or wandering of the heart, you'll surely have the beast I'm riding on right away.' 'But you must give me your word that if you think of anything else while you're doing it, you won't hide it from me at all.' Rejoicing and thinking he had already won the beast, he boldly stepped aside, collected his thoughts, and began to say the Lord's Prayer. He had barely finished half the prayer when, suddenly, an annoying thought about the saddle forced its way into his heart: whether he should keep it along with the beast. Realizing this, he hurried back to Bernard, confessed what he had been so anxiously thinking about during his prayer, and after that, he didn't presume to be so reckless with himself again. Brother Robert, his monk and a relative of his in the world, had been deceived in his youth by the persuasion of others and had gone off to Cluny; but the venerable father, after waiting for some time, decided to call him back by letter. While he was dictating it out in the open and another monk was writing it down from his lips, a sudden, unexpected rainstorm broke out, and the one who was writing wanted to fold up the parchment. Bernard said to him, "It is the work of God; don't be afraid to write." So he wrote the letter in the middle of the rain, without getting wet. For even though it was raining all around them, the power of charity kept the annoyance of the rain away from that spot.
Miracles and Divine Power
Bernard exercises authority over demons and reconciles powerful figures to the Church through the power of Christ.
In the morning, however, they found them all dead together. When he had been sent by the Supreme Pontiff to Milan to reconcile them with the Church, and had already returned to Pavia, a man brought his wife, who was possessed by a demon, to him; and immediately the devil, through the mouth of the wretched woman, broke out into insults against him, saying, 'My little grandmother here, eating leeks and devouring cabbages, won't drive me out.' But the man of God sent her to the church of the blessed Syrus. Syrus, however, wished to defer to his guest and did not provide any healing for her, so she was brought back again to the blessed Bernard. Then the devil began to chatter through her mouth, saying, 'Little Syrus won't drive me out, nor will Bernardin.' To this, the servant of God replied, 'Neither Syrus nor Bernard will drive you out, but the Lord Jesus Christ.' As soon as he poured out his prayer, the evil spirit said, 'How gladly I would leave this little old woman, for I am being severely tormented in her!' 'How gladly I would leave!' 'But I cannot, because the great Lord does not want me to.' To which the saint said, 'And who is the great Lord?' He replied, "Jesus of Nazareth." The man of God asked him, "Have you ever seen him?" When he answered, "Yes," he said, "Where did you see him?" He replied, "In glory." And the saint said, "And were you in glory, too?" When he answered, "Certainly," he said, "How did you fall from there?" He replied, "Many of us fell with Lucifer." He was saying all this in a mournful voice through the mouth of the old woman, while everyone listened, and the man of God asked him: "Would you like to return to that glory?" But he laughed strangely and said, "It's too late now." Then, as the man of God prayed, the demon left the woman; but after the man of God had left, the devil attacked her again, and her husband ran after him to report what had happened. He ordered a note to be tied around her neck containing these words: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you, demon, not to dare to touch this woman from now on." Once this was done, he did not dare to approach her again. In Aquitaine, there was a miserable woman being tormented by a wanton demon, an incubus. For six years, he had abused her and tormented her with incredible lust. But when the man of God arrived there, the demon threatened the woman fiercely so that she would not approach him, because he could do nothing for her, and if he left, the one who had been her lover would become her most cruel persecutor. But she approached the man of God safely and recounted with much groaning what she was suffering. He said to her: "Take this staff of mine and place it in your bed, and if he can do anything, let him do it." Once he had done this and lay down in his bed, the spirit appeared immediately; but it didn't dare approach his usual work or even the bed itself, though it fiercely threatened that once he left, it would take cruel revenge on her. When she reported this to Bernard, he gathered the people and ordered everyone to hold a lit candle in their hand; he then excommunicated the demon and all the company that was with it, forbidding it from ever having access to her or anyone else again, and so she was completely freed from such an illusion. While the holy man was in that same province on a mission to reconcile the Duke of Aquitaine to the Church, and the Duke refused to be reconciled by any means, the man of God went to the altar to celebrate, while the Duke himself waited outside the doors like an excommunicated man. But when he said the 'Peace of the Lord,' he placed the Lord's Body on the paten, took it with him, and went outside with a fiery face and flaming eyes, and with terrible words he confronted the count. 'We asked you,' he said, 'and you spurned us.' 'Look, the Son of the Virgin, who is the Lord of the Church you are persecuting, has come out to you.' 'Your Judge is here, in whose name every knee must bow.' 'Your Judge is here, into whose hands your soul will fall.' Will you despise him, too, just as you despise his servants? Resist him, if you can. Immediately the duke was completely overcome, and with all his strength gone, he threw himself at his feet. The holy man nudged him with his foot and told him to get up and listen to God’s judgment. Trembling, he stood up and immediately did everything the holy man commanded. When the servant of God had entered the kingdom of Germany to settle a great dispute, the Archbishop of Mainz sent a venerable cleric to meet him. When the cleric told him that he had been sent to meet him by his own master, the servant of God replied, “Another master sent you.” Astonished, the man insisted he had been sent by no one but his master, the archbishop; but the servant of Christ replied, “You’re mistaken, my son, you’re mistaken. The master who sent you is greater—it is Christ.” The cleric, understanding this, said, "Do you think I want to become a monk?" God forbid! I have never thought of it, nor has it ever crossed my mind. What more is there to say? On that very journey, he said goodbye to the world and received the habit from the man of God. After he had received a certain very noble knight into the order, and the man was following the man of God for a time, he began to be struck by a most severe temptation. When one of the brothers saw him so sad, he asked the cause of such great sadness; he replied, "I know," he said, "I know that I will never be happy again." When that brother reported this to the man of God, he prayed more intently for him, and immediately the brother, who had been so severely tempted and so sad, appeared as much more joyful and cheerful to the others as he had previously been sadder than the rest.
Final Testament and Heavenly Glory
Bernard leaves his final instructions on charity and humility before passing into the glory of God.
When the brother mentioned earlier kindly reproached him for the sad words he had spoken, he replied, "Though I said then that I would never be happy again, I say now that I will never be sad again." When Saint Malachy, Bishop of Ireland—whose life, full of virtues, he himself described—had happily passed on to Christ in his own monastery, and the man of God was offering the saving Host for him, he learned of his glory through a revelation from God. Inspired by this, after Communion he changed the form of the prayer, saying with a joyful voice: "O God, who have made blessed Malachy equal to the merits of your saints, grant, we beseech you, that as we celebrate the feast of his precious death, we may also imitate the examples of his life." When the cantor signaled to him that he was making a mistake, he said, "I'm not mistaken; I know what I'm saying." Then, approaching, he kissed his sacred footprints. When he was visited by many young men as Lent was approaching, he asked them to abstain from their vanities and lusts, at least during those holy days. When they wouldn't agree in any way, he ordered wine to be offered to them, saying, "Drink the cup of souls." Once they had drunk it, they were suddenly changed and left; and the time they had previously denied, they gave entirely to God for the rest of their lives. Finally, as blessed Bernard was happily approaching death, he said to his brothers, "I leave you three things to observe, which I remember having observed to the best of my ability in the race of this present life that I have run." I never wanted to cause a scandal for anyone, and if it happened at any time, I hid it as best I could. I have always trusted my own judgment less than another's; I have never sought revenge for any injury from the one who harmed me; see, I leave you charity, humility, and patience. Finally, after performing many miracles, building 160 monasteries, and writing many books and treatises, he finished his life at about 63 years of age in the year of our Lord 1153, falling asleep in the Lord in the hands of his sons. After his death, he revealed his glory to many. For he appeared to a certain abbot in a monastery and urged him to follow. When the abbot followed, the man of God said to him, "Look, we have come to Mount Lebanon, and you will stay here, but I will go up there." When asked by him why he wanted to go up, he said, "I want to learn." Amazed, he said, "What do you want to learn, Father, when we believe no one today is your equal in knowledge?" And he replied, "There is no knowledge here, no knowledge of the truth; above is the fullness of knowledge, above is the true understanding of the truth." And with that word, he disappeared. He noted the day and found that it was then that Bernard, the man of God, had departed from his body. God worked many other and nearly countless miracles through his servant.
Read the original Latin
Bernardus dicitur a ber, quod est pnteus vel fons et nardus, quae, ut dicit Glossa super cantica, herba est humilis et calidae naturae et odorifera. Fuit enim calidus in ferventi amore, humilis in conversatione, fons in doctrinae emanatione, puteus in scientiae profunditate et odoriferus in famae suavitate. Ejus vitam Wilhelmus abbas sancti Theodorici, socius beati Bernardi et :)Hernaldus abbas Bonae Vallis scripsit. — Bernardus in Burgundia castro Fontanis ex nobilibus valde et religiosis parentibus ortus est. Cujus pater )Coelestinus miles saeculo strenuus, nec minns Deo religiosus, mater vero Aaleth nuncupata est, Haec septem filios genuit, sex mares et feminam unam, mares autem omnes monachos futuros, feminam autem sanctimonialempromiserat. Mox autem, ut filium partu ediderat, manibus propriis ipsum Deo offerebat, alienis uberibus ipsos nntriri refugiebat, quasi cum lacte materno materni quodammodo boni infundens iis naturam. Cum autem crevissent, quamdiu sub manu ejus erant, eremo magis quam curiae nutriebat, cibis grossioribus et communibus pascens eos quasi continuo ad eremum transmittendos. Cum igitur tertium filium, scilicet Bernardum, adhuc gestaret in utero, vidit somnium praesagium futurorum, catellum scilicet totum candidum, totum in dorso subrufum et latrantem in utero se habere.
Quod cum cnidam viro Dei exposuisset, ille prophetica voce respondit: optimi catelli mater eris, qui domus Dei custos futurus magnos contra inimicos dabit latratus, Erit enim praedicator egregius et multos medicinalis linguae gratia curaturus, Cum autem Bernardus adhuc puerulus esset et gravi dolore capitis aegrotaret, venientem ad se mulierculam , ut dolorem suis carminibus mitigaret, cum indignatione nimia exclamans repulit et abjecit. Pueruli autem bono zelo misericordia Dei non defuit, sed tunc continuo surgens liberatum se esse cognovit. In sacratissima dominicae nativitatis nocte cum puer Bernardus matntinale officium in ecclesia exspectaret, et qua hora noctis Christus natus fuisset, scire cuperet, apparuit ei puerulus Jesus, quasi iterum ante oculos suos nascens ex ulero matris. Unde, quamdiu vixit, hanc fuisse horam nativitatis dominicae semper putavit. Ab illa ergo hora in his, quae ad illud pertinent sacramentum, et sensus ei profundior et sermo copiosior datus est, unde et postmodum in laudem genitricis et geniti inter ipsa suorum tractatuum initia insigne opnsculum edidit, in quo illam lectionem evangelicam: missus est angelus Gabriel, explanavit. Videns antiquus hostis propositum pueri tam salubre, ejus castitatis proposito incidit multosque sibi laqueos tentationis opposuit. Cnm enim aliquando in quandam feminam oculos defixos aliquamdiu tenuisset, continuo de se ipso erubescens in semet ipsum severissimus ultor insurgit ac in stagnum gelidarum aquarum insiliens tamdiu ibidem permansit, donec paene exsanguis ellectus per gratiam Dei a calore carnalis concupiscentiae totus réfriguit. Circa idem tempus instinctu daemonis puella quaedam in lectum dormientis se nuda injecit, quam ille sentiens cum omni pace et silentio partem ei lectuli, quam occupaverat, cessit et in latus alterum se convertens dormivit, misera vero illa aliquamdiu sustinens et exspectans, deinde palpans et stimulans, novissime, cum immobilis ipse persisteret, illa licet impudentissima esset, erubuit et horrore ingenti atque admiratione perfusa surgens aufugit.
Cum iterum in domo cujusdam matronae hospitaretur, illa adolescentem aspectu decorum considerans, vehementer in concupiscentiam ejus exarsit, cum autem seorsim lectum sibi sterni fecisset, ipsa impudenter et silenter de nocte surgens ad eum accessit, Quam ille sentiens protinus exclamavit: latrones, latrones. Ad quam vocem mulier fugit, familia surgit, lucerna accenditur, latro quaeritur, sed minime invenitur, ad lectulos singuli redeunt, quiescunt caeteri, sed non illa misera requiescit , nam denuo exsurgit, Bernardi lectulum petit, sed ille: latrones, latrones, denuo exclamavit. Latro iterum quaeritur, sed nequaquam ab eo, qui solus noverat, publlcatur, usque tertio improba mulier sic repulsa vix tandem metu vel desperatione victa cessavit, Gum autem sequenti die iter ageret, arguentes eum socii, quod totiens latrones somniaverit, perquirebant. Quibus ille ait: veraciter hac nocte insidias sum perpessus latronis, quia hospita mihi nitebatur auferre thesaurum irrecuperabilem castitatis. Perpendens igitur non esse tutum cohabitare serpenti, fugam meditari coepit et ordinem Cisterciensium extunc ingredi deliberavit. Quod cum fratres ejus cognoscerent et eum ab hoc proposito modis omnibus prohiberent, tantam ei gratiam dominus contulit, ut non solum ipse a conversione non probiberetur, sed omnes fratres suos et multos alios ad religionem domino lucraretur. Gerardus tamen frater ejus miles strenuus haec fratris verba vana putabat et ejus omnino monite repellebat; tunc Bernardus fide jam igneus et fraterno caritatis zelo mirum in modum exasperatus: scio, inquit, frater mi, scio, sola vexatio intellectum dabit auditui, Digitumque lateri ejus apponens: veniet, inquit, dies et cito veniet, quando lancea latus hoc perforabit et ad cor tuum consilio , quod abjicis, viam dabit. Post paucos dies Gerardus ab inimicis capitur et in loco, cui frater digitum imposuerat, infixam lanceam gestans trahitur et in custodia vincnlatur.
Ad quem Bernardus veniens, cum sibi loqui non permitteretur, ad eum exclamavit: scio, frater Gerarde, quia in proximo ituri sumus et monasterium intraturi. Eadem nocte compedes de ejus pedibus ceciderunt et osíio per se aperlo laetus aufugit indicavitque fratri, se mutasse propositum et fieri velle monachum. Anno ab incarnatione domini MCXII a constitutione domus Cisterciensium XV servus Dei Bernardus annos naclus circiter XXII cum sociis amplius quam XXX ordinem Cisterciensium ingressus est. Cum autemBernardus cum fratribus suis domum. paternam egrederetur, Guido primogenitus videns Nivardum fratrem suum minimum puerum ludentem in platea cum pueris: eya, inquit, frater Nivarde, ad te solum respicit omnis terra possessionis nostrae. Qui non pueriliter puer respondit: vos ergo coelum habebitis et mihi solum terram relinquitis? Non ex aequo divisio facta est haec. Modico igitur tempore cum patre remansit, sed fralres postmodum secutus est.
Ingressus igitur ordinem servus Dei Bernardus ita totus in spiritum absorptus est et Deo totaliter occupatus, ut jam nullis sensibus corporis uteretur. Jam quippe annum in cella novitiorum exegerat et adhue, an domus haberet testudinem, ignorabat. Multo tempore ecclesiam intrans et exiens in capite, ubl )tres erant, unam tantam putabat esse fenestram. Abbas autem Cisterciensium fratres ad aedificandum domum Claraevallensem misit et iis Bernardum in abbatia praefecit, qui multo ibidem tempore in nimia paupertate degebat et pulmenta saepius ex foliis fagi conficiebat — Vigilabat autem servus Dei ultra possibilitatem humanam, nullum enim tempus se magis perdere conqueri solebat, quam qno dormivit, idoneam satis reputans comparationem somni et mortis, ut sic dormientes videantur mortui apud homines, quomodo apud Deum mortui dormientes. Unde etiam, si quem forte durius sterlentem audierit, seu minus composite viderit jacentem, patienter ferre vix potuit et carnaliter seu secnlariler eum dormirecausabatur. Ad comedendum vix aliqua voluptate trahebattr appetitus, sed solo timore defectus sic accedebat ad sumendum cibum, quasi ad tormentum.
Post cibum, quantum comederit, semper cogilare solitus erat, si quando vel ad modicum mensuram solitam excessisse se deprehendit, impune abire non patiebatur. Sic gulae illecebras edomuerat, ut ipsam quoque saporum discretionem ex magua parte perdiderit. Nam et oleum sibi per errorem aliquando propositum bibit et penitus ignoravit nec prius id est cognitum, donec quidam ejus labia miraretur inuncta, Sanguinem crudum insuper per errorem sibi oblatum pro butyro multis diebus noscitur comedisse, solum autem aquam sibi sapere dicebat eo, quod, dum sumeret, fauces et guttur ejus refrigeraret. Quidquid in scripturis didicerat, maxime in silvis et in agris meditando et orando se confitebatur accepisse et nullos se aliquando magistros habuisse, nisi quercus et fagos, inter amicos dicere solebat. Denique confessus est, aliquando meditánti vel oranti sacram omnem velut suppositam vel expositam sibi apparuisse scripturam. Quodam tempore, sicut ipse in canticis refert, cum inter loquendum ex his, quae suggerebat spiritus, etsinon fideli nimis, tamen fidenti animo reservarct, ut haberet, quid diceret, denuo tractaturus, ecce vox ad eum venit dicens: donec istud tenueris, aliud non accipies. In vestibus ei semper paupertas placuit, sordes nunquam, nimirum animi fore judices ajebat aut negligentis aut inaniter apud se gloriantis aut foris humanam gloriam affectantis. Proverbium illud iu ore ejus frequenter, semper in corde erat: qui hoc facit, quod nemo, mirantur omnes.
Unde et cilicium pluribus annis portavit, quamdiu occultum esse potuit, sed ubi hoc cognitum esse sensit, continuo illud abjiciens ad communia se convertit, Nunquam sic risit, ut non potius ad ridendum quam ad reprimendum vim sibi facere oporteret et risui suo magis stimulum adhibere quam frenum. Cum autem patientiae genus solitus erat dicere tripartitum, videlicet ad verborum injurias, ad damna rerum, ad corporis laesionem, hanc ipse his exemplis se habere probavit. Cum enim cutdam episcopo amicabiliter admonens quandam scripsisset epistolam, ille vehementer exacerbatus amarissimam scripsit ei epistolam in principio ita dicens: salutem et non spiritum blasphemiae, tamquam ex spiritu blasphemiae illascripsisset Ad quod ille: ego spiritum blasphemiae me habere non credo nec maledixisse eniquam aut maledicere me velle scio, praesertim principi populi mei. Quidam abbas pro uno coenobio construendo sexcentas marcas eidem misit argenti, sed tota pecunia, dum deferretur, a praeD Alii: non infideli, minus tamen fideti legunt. donibus sublata est. Quo audito nihil aliud dixit nisi: benedictus Deus, qui nobis pepercit ab onere, sed et illis, inquit, qui tulerunt, levius est ferendum, tum quia hoc humana cupiditas sustulit, tum quia magna pecunia magnam iistentationem ingessit. Quidam insuper canonicus regularis ad eum venit et ut in monachum reciperetur, instanter rogavit. Cui quum ille non acquiesceret, sed ad suam ecclesiam redire persuaderet;ad quid ergo, ait ille, in libris tuis perfectionem tantopere commendasli, si eam non exhibes cupienti?
Utinam illos tuos tenerem libros, ut eos penitus lacerarem! Cui ille: in nullo eorum legisti, non posse te in tuo claustro esse perfectum; morum correctionem , non locorum mutationem in libris omnibus commendavi, llle vero insanus in eum impetum faciens tam graviter maxillam ejus percussit, ut succederet rubor ictui et tumor rubori. Jam, qui aderant, in sacrilegum insurgebant, sed praevenit eos servus Dei clamans et adjurans per nomen Christi, ut nullatenus tangeretur nec sibi quidquid injuriae inferretur. — Novitiis autem intrare volentibus dicere consueverat: si ad ca, quae intus sunt, festinatis, hic foris dimittite corpora, quae de saeculo attulistis, soli spiritus ingrediantur, caro autem non prodest quidquam. Pater ejus, qui solus domi remanserat, ad monasterium ivit et ibidem post aliquod tempns in senectute bona decessit. Soror autem ejus saeculo nupta cum in divitiis et deliciis saeculi periclitaretur, quadam vice fratres suos ad monasterium visitatura accessit, cumque venisset cum comitatu et apparatu superbo, ille eam tanquam rete dyaboli ad animas capiendas abhorruit nec ad videndam eam exire aliquatenus acquievit. Videns illa, quod nullus fratrum suorum occurreret, sed ab uno eorum, qui tunc portarius erat, stercus involutum diceretur, tota in lacrymis resoluta est. Etsi peccatrix sum, inquit, pro talibns Christus mortuus est: quia enim peccatricem me sentio, idcirco consilium et colloquium bonorum requiro, et si despicit frater meus carnem meam, ne despiciat servus Dei animam meam, veniat et praecipiat, et quidquid praeceperit, adimpleho.
Hanc ergo promissionem tenens exiit ad eam cum fratribus, et quia eam a viro separare non poterat, primo omnem ei mundi gloriam interdixit et formam matris imitandam eidem indicens illam dimisit, llla vero rediens ita repente mutata est, ut in medio saecnli vitam duceret eremiticam et ab omni saeculo prorsus se faceret alienam. Tandem precibus D Ali tentationis occasionem, Ali: nt quid, multis viram suum vicit et abeplscopo absoluta monasteriumi intravit. Infirmatus aliquando vir Dei, cum extremum jam spiritum trahere videretur, in excessu mentis suae ante tribunal Dei visus est praesentari; affuit autem et Sathan ex adverso improbis eum accusationibus pulsans. Ubi vero ille omnia fuerat prosecutus et viro Dei pro sua fuit parte dicendum nihil territus aut turbatus ait: fateor, non sum dignus ego, nec propriis possum meritis obtinere regnum coelorum; Caeterum duplici jure illud obtinens dominus meus, hereditate scilicet patris et merito passionis, altero ipse contentus alterum mihi donat; ex cujus dono jure illud mihi vindicans non confundor. Confusus in hoc verbo inimicus, conventus ille solutus et vir Dei in se reversus est. Tanta autem abstinentia, labore et vigiliis corpus suum attrivit, quod et gravissima et fere continua aegritudine languens conventum vix sequi posset. Quadam vice dum gravissime infirmaretur, fratribus pro co instanter orantibus aliquantulum convaluisse se sensit, congregatis autem fratribus dixit: quid tenetis miserum hominem? fortiores estis et invaluistis , parcite, quaeso, parcite et sinite me abire.
A multis autem civitatibus vir Dei in episcopum electus, praecipue a civitate Januensi et civitate Mediolanensi, petentibus se nec annuens nec improbe renuens dicebat, se non esse suum, sed aliorum servitio deputatum. Fratres antem ex consilio viri Dei sibi providerant et summi pontificis auctoritate muniti erant, ne quis gaudium suum ab iis tollere posset. Quodam tempore cum fratres Cartusienses visitasset et ipsi ab eo in omnibus plurimum aedificati fuissent, unum fuit, quod praedicti loci priorem aliquantulum movit, scilicet quod sella, cui equitando insidebat, mirus neglecta erat et parum praeferens paupertatem. Quod quum dictus prior uni ex fratribus et ille viro Dei retulisset, non minus ipse miratus, qualis esset sela, quaerebat, nam a Claravalle usque ad Cartusiam venerat et tamen, qualis esset sella, penitus ignorabat, Juxta lacum Lausannensem tolius diei itinere pergens penitus eum non vidit aut se videre non vidit. Cum enim sero facto de eodem lacu socii loquerentar, interrogavit eos, ubinam lacus ille esset. Quod illi audientes plurimum admirati sunt. Vincebat sane in eo sublimitatem nominis humilitas cordis nec tam poterat universus eum erigere mundus, quam se ipse dejicere solns. Summus reputabatur ab omnibus, infimus ipse se repntans, et quem sibi omnes, ipse se nemini praeferebat.
Denique, sicut saepius fatebatur, inter summos quoque honores et favores populorum alterum sibi mutuatus hominem videbatur seque potius reputabat absentem, velut quoddam somnium suspicatus, ubi vero simpliciores fratres erant, et amica semper humilitate frui ibi se invenisse gaudebat et iu propriam rediisse personam. Semper autem inveniebatur aut orans aut legens aut scribens aut meditaus aut fratres verbo aedificans. Quadam vice cum populo praedicaret et omnes verba ejus attente ac devote susciperent, ejus animo quaedam talis irrepsit tentatio: vere nune optime praedicas et ab hominibus libenter audiris et sapiens ab omnibus repntaris. At vir Dei tali tentatione pulsari se sentiens parumper substitit et an procederet vel finem faceret, cogitare coepit statimque divino confortatus auxilio tentatori silenter respondit: nec per te incepi nec per te dimittam, sicque securus praedicationem usquc ad finem prosecutus est, Monachus quidam, qui in saeculo ribaldus fuerat atque lusor, maligno stimulatus spiritu ad saeculum redire voluit. Cum autem beatus Bernardus eum retinere non posset, interrogavit eum, unde victurus esset. Qui respondit: ad taxillos ludere scio et inde vivere potero. Et ille: si tibi capitale commisero, vis singulis annis ad me redire et mecum lucrum dividere? .
Quod ille audiens gavisus est et se libenter sic acturum promisit, Viginti igitur solidos ei dari praecepit et ille cum illis abiit. Hoc autem faciebat vir sanctus, ut eum iterum revocare posset, sicut et postmodum factum est. Ille igitur abiens totum perdidit et ad portam confusus rediit, Quo audito vir Dei ad eum laetus exiit extenditque gremium, ut simul dividerent lucrum. Cui ille: nihil, pater, lucratus sum, sed etiam capitali nostro nudatus sum, si vultis, pro nostro capitali recipite me, Cui Bernardus benigne respondit: si ita, inquit; est, melius est, ut hoc recipiam, quam simul utrumque perdam. Quadam vice dum beatus Bernardus jumento insidens aliquo pergeret, cuidam rustico materia sic se offerente de cordis instabilitate in oratione est conquestus. Quod ille audiens mox eum despexit et in orationibus suis cor firmum et stabile habere se dixit. Volens autem Bernardus eum convincere et a sua temeritate coercere dixit: sequestrare paulisper à nobis et tota, qua poteris, intentione orationem dominicam inchoato, quam si absque aliqua cordis intentione et vagatione finire poteris, jumentum, cui insideo, tuum procul dubio mox habebis. Tu autem mihi in fide tua spondeas, quod, si aliud ibidem cogitaveris, hoc mihi aliquatenus non celabis.
Laetatus ille ei tamquam jumentum jam lucratum se reputans audacter secedit et se ipsum recolligens orationem dominicam dicere inchoavit. Vix orationis explevit dimidium et ecce importuna cogitatio de sella cordi suo se ingerit, utrum eam habere debeat cum jumento. Quod ille adveriens concitus ad Bernardum rediit et quid in ipsa oratione sollicite cogitaverit, indicavit et de se postea temere non praesumsit. Frater Robertus ejus monachus et secundum saeculum propinquus in adolescentia sua quorundam persuasione deceptus Cluniacum se contulerat, Venerabilis antem pater postquam aliquamdiu dissimulavit, eundem statuit per epistolam revocare, Quam cum sub divo dietaret et alius monachus eam ex ore suo conscriberet, subito inopinatus imber erupit et hic, qui scribebat, charlam complicare voluit. Cui Bernardus: opus Dei est, scribere me formides. Scripsit ergo epistolam in medio imbre sine imbre. Cum enim undique plueret, ibidem tamen molestiam imbris virtus expulit caritatis. Cum quoddam monasterium, quod vir Dei conSlruxerat, occupasset muscarum incredibilis multitudo, ita ut omnibus gravem molestiam generarent, ille dixit: ego excommunico eas.
Mane autem omnes pariter mortuas invenerunt. Cum a summo pontifice Mediolanum missus fuisset, ut ipsos cum ccclesia reconciliaret et jam Papiam rediisset, quidam uxorem suam daemoniacam ad eum adduxit moxque per os miserae mulieris dyabolus in coniumelias ejus prorupit dicens: non me deanicula mea hic porrulos edens et brassicas devorans pellet. At vir Dei ipsam ad ecclesiam beati Syri remisit, beatus antem Syrus hospiti suo deferre voluit nec eidem aliquid curationis impendit sicque iterum ad beatum Bernardum adducta est. Tune dyabolus per os ejus garrire coepit ac dicere: non me expellet Syrulus nec ejicietBernardinus. Ad haec servus Dei respondit: nec Syrus nec Bernardus te ejiciet, sed dominus Jesus Christus, Mox ut ille orationem effudit, spiritus nequam dixit: quam libenter egrederer ab hac anicnla, graviter molestatus in ea! Quam libenter egrederer! Sed non possum, quia nonvult magnus dominus. Cni sanctus: et quis est magnus dominus?
Qui ille: Jesus Nazarenus. Ad quem vir Dei: vidistine unquam eum? Quo respondente: etiam, ait: ubi eum vidisti? Et ille: in gloria, Et sanctus: el tu in gloria fnisti? Quo respondente: utique, ait: quomodo inde exiisti?
Et ille: cum Lucifero multi cecidimus. Haec autem omnia voce lugubri per os vetulae omnibus audientibus loqucbatar, dixitque ei vir Dei: numquid in illam gloriam redire velles? At ille miro modo cachinnans ait: modo tarde est, Tunc orante viro Dei daemon de muliere exiit, sed cum vir Dei inde recessisset, dyabolus iterum ipsam invasit, vir autem ejus post eum accurrens, quod acciderat, indicavit. Ille autem collo ejus alligari chartulam continentem haec verba praecepit: in nomine domini nostri Jesu Christi praecipio tibi, daemon, ne hanc mulierem amodo contingere praesumas, Quod cum factum fuisset, ad eam postea non est ausus accedere. Apud Aquitaniam quaedam mulier miserabilis erat, quae a quodam daemone petulante et incubo vexabatur. Sex enim annis abusus est ea et incredibili vexavit libidine. Adveniente autem illuc viro Dei daemon mulieri, ne ad eum accederet, vehementer minatur, quia nil ei prodesse posset, ct recedente eo ipse, qui fuit ejus amator, crudelissimus fieret persecutor. At illa secure ad virum Dei accessit et quae pateretur, cum multo gemitu enarravit, Cui ille: tolle hunc meum baculum et in tuo lectulo pone et si quid agere potest, agat.
Quod cum fecisset et in lectulo suo recumberet, adest ille continuo, sed nec ad consuetum opus nec ad ipsum cubile praesumit aecedere, sed acerrime minatur, quod illo recedente se de ea atrociter vindicabit. Quod cum illa Bernardo retulisset, ille populum convocavit et omnes candelas in manu accensas habere praecepit daemonemque cum universo, qui aderat, coetu excommunicavit ac ne ad illam vel aliam deinceps accessum haberet, interdixit sicque illa a tali illusione penitus liberata est. Cum in eadem provincia vir sanctus legatione fungeretur, ut ducem Aquitaniae ecclesiae reconciliaret et ille modis omnibus reconciliari renueret, vir Dei ad altare celebraturus accessit, ipso duce tamquam excommunicato prae foribus exspectante. Cum autem pax domini dixit, corpus dominicum super patenam ponit et secum tollit atque ignea facie et flammeis oculis foras egreditur et verbis terribilibus comitem aggreditur. Rogavimus te, inquit, et sprevisti nos. Ecce ad te processit virginis filius, qui est dominus ecclesiae, quam tu persequeris. Adest judex tuus, in cujus nomine omne genu curvatur. Adest judex tuus, in cujus manibus illa anima tua deveniet.
Numquid et ipsum sicut servos ejus contemnes? Resiste ei, si vales. Statimque dux totus irriguit et membris omnibus dissolutis ad pedes ejus protinus prosiluit. Quem vir sanctus calce pulsans surgere jubet et Dei audire sententlam. Ille autem tremebundus surrexit et quidquid vir sanctus praecipiebat, protinus adimplevit. Cum reguum Germaniae pro quadam magna sedanda discordia servus Dei intrasset, archiepiscopus Moguntinensis venerabilem quendam clericum obviam ei misit. Cui dum clericus se sibi obviam a suo domino missum fuisse diceret, vir Dei respondit: alius dominus misit te. Miratus ille se nonnisi a suo domino archiepiscopo missum fuisse affirmabat, Econtra servus Christi dicebat: falleris, fili, falleris; major dominus est, qui misit te, Christus.
Quod clericus intelligens ait: putas, quod monachus velim fieri? Absit hoc a me! non cogitavi nec adscendit super cor meum. Quid plura? In eodem itinere saeculo valefecit et a viro Dei habitum suscepit. Cum quendam militem valde nobilem ad ordinem recepisset et virum Dei quodam tempore sequeretur, gravissima coepit tentatione pulsari. Cum autem eum quidam de fratribus tam tristem videret, causam tantae tristitiae requisivit, Qui ille respondit; Scio, inquit, scio, quod nunquam amplius laetus ero. Quod verbum cum dictus frater ad servum Dei retulisset, ille pro eo attentius oravit statimque ille frater, qui tam graviter tentatus et tamtristis erat, tantum caeteris apparuit jucundior et hilarior, quantum prius caeteris tristior.
Cum autem ei dictus frater verbum moestitiae, quod loentus fuerat, amicabiliter improperaret, ille respondit et dixit:etsi tunc dixi, numquam amplius laetus ero, sed nunc dico, nunquam amplius tristis ero. Cum sanctus Malachius episcopus Hyberniae, cujus vitam plenam virtutibus ipse descripsit, ad Christum feliciter in monasterio suo migrasset et vir Dei pro eo hostiam salutarem offerret, gloriam ejus Deo revelaute cognovit el eodem inspirante post communionem formam orationis mutavit laeta voce sic dicens: Deus, qui beatum Malachium sauctorum tuorum meritis coaequasti, tribue, quaesumus, ut, qui pretiosae mortis ejus festa agimus, vitae quoque imitemur exempla. Cui dum cantor innueret, quod erraret, ait: non erro, sed novi, quod dico, Deinde accedens sacra ejus vestigia osculatur. Cum instante quadragesima a multis fuisset tironibus visitatus, rogavit eos, ut in illis saltem sacris diebus a suis vanitatibus et lasciviis abstinerent. Quibus nullo modo acquiescentibus jussit iis propinari vinum dicens: bibite poculum animarum. Quo hausto subito mntati recedunt et qni modicum tempns denegaverant, totuin tempus vitae suae Deo dederunt. Tandem beatus Bernardus morti feliciter appropinquans ait fratribus suis: tria vobis observanda relinquo, quae in stadio praesentis vitae, quo cucurri, memini me pro viribus observasse. Nemini scandalum facere volui et, si aliquando incidit, celavi ut potui.
Minus semper sensui meo, quam alterius credidi, - laesus de laedente nunquam vindictam expetii, ecce caritatem, humilitatem et patientiam vobis relinquo. Denique postquam multa miracula perpetrasset et CLX monasteria construxisset multosque libros et tractatus compilasset, consummatis vitae suae diebus circiter LXIII annis anno domini MCLIII inter filiorum manus obdormivit in domino. Post obitum suum multis gloriam suam manifestavit. Cuidam enim abbati in quodam monasterio apparuit et, ut sequeretur, admonnit. Qui abbas cum sequeretur, dixit ei vir Dei: ecce ad montem Libani venimus et tu hic manebis, ego autem illuc adscendam, )Interrogatus ab eo, ad quid vellet adscendere: discere, inquit, volo. Miratus ille: quid, inquit vis discere, pater, cui nullum hodie in scientia credimus esse secundum? Et ille: nulla hic scientia, nulla veri cognitio, sursum scientiae plenitudo, sursum vera notitia veritatis. Et in hoc verbo disparuit.
Ille autem diem notavit et tunc virum Dei Bernardum de corpore migrasse invenit. Multa autem alia et paene innumerabilia miracula per servum suum Deus operatus est,
Scripture echoes
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks