De conversatione Militum Christi
The Call to Holy Discipline
Bernard introduces the life of Christ's knights, grounding their way of life in radical obedience, communal simplicity, and detachment from all personal possessions.
But now — whether to imitate our own soldiers or to put them to shame, those who fight not for God at all but for the devil — let me speak briefly about the character and life of Christ's knights, how they conduct themselves in battle and at home, so that it may become plain just how different the service of God is from the service of the world. First of all, no matter what discipline is in place, obedience is never treated with contempt, because, as Scripture testifies, the undisciplined son will perish (Eccli. XXII, 3); and to refuse obedience is the sin of one who practices divination, and to decline submission is like the crime of idolatry (I Reg. XV, 23). They go and return at the command of the one in charge; they wear whatever he has given them, and they don't presume to obtain clothing or food from any other source. And in food and clothing every excess is avoided; provision is made for necessity alone. They live plainly in community, with a joyful and sober way of life, without wives and without children. And so that nothing may be lacking from evangelical perfection, they live with no personal possessions, all of one way of life in a single house, careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.✦
Life Together in One Heart
The knights live as one heart and soul, giving themselves to humble, useful labor, mutual honor, and careful correction of even the smallest faults.
You would say the whole community had one heart and one soul: so much so that no one at all follows their own will entirely, but each one strives instead to obey the one in command.✦ At no time do they sit idle or wander about as busybodies: but always, when they are not advancing (which indeed rarely happens), so that they may not eat bread for nothing, they either mend torn weapons or garments, or repair worn-out ones, or put disordered things in order, and whatever finally must be done the master's will and the common need declares.✦ Favoritism is not shown among them: what is bestowed goes to the better person, not the more noble one. They outdo one another in honor; they carry each other's burdens, so as in this way to fulfill the law of Christ.✦ An unusual word, a useless deed, immoderate laughter, a murmur however slight, or a whisper — once detected, none of these is left uncorrected. They detest chess and dice; they shrink from hunting: nor do they take delight in those sports with birds of prey, as people usually do. Mimes, magicians, storytellers, scurrilous songs, and the spectacles of games they reject and abhor as vanities and empty madness. They cut their hair short, knowing that according to the Apostle it is a disgrace for a man to grow his hair long.✦
The Mark of Neglected Flesh
Their rough, dusty, uncombed appearance bears witness to a life set on heaven rather than on the adornment of the body.
Never combed, rarely washed, and more often than not with rough, neglected hair, filthy with dust: darkened by the breastplate and the heat.
Armed with Faith, Not Gold
In the face of war the knights arm themselves inwardly with faith and outwardly with steel, choosing strength and prudence over show, and in battle they become fierce instruments of God's holy zeal.
When war threatens, they arm themselves with faith within and steel without — not with gold — so that, equipped rather than adorned, they strike fear into their enemies without provoking greed. They want horses that are strong and fast, not colorfully decked out or caparisoned — since they're thinking of battle, not display, and of victory, not glory, and they aim more to inspire fear than admiration. Then, they are not reckless or headlong, impetuous as if driven by thoughtlessness — but with every caution and foresight they arrange and draw themselves up in battle formation, just as it is written of their fathers. Truly, they are Israelites who go out to war as peacemakers. But when it comes to actual combat, then at last laying aside their former gentleness, they speak as if to say: Did I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and waste away over your enemies? (Psalm 138:21.)
The Lord's Marvelous Army
Trusting not in numbers but in the Lord of hosts, the few rout the many, uniting the gentleness of monks with the courage of soldiers in a work that can only be called the Lord's own doing.
They charge into their adversaries, counting their enemies as nothing more than sheep — not in the least intimidated, even if they are very few, whether by savage barbarity or by a massive army. For they know not to rely on their own strength, but to hope for victory from the power of the Lord of hosts — to whom, they are confident, it is easy to shut up many into the hands of a few, and that there is no difference in God's sight between delivering with many and delivering with few, since victory in battle does not depend on the size of the army, but strength comes from heaven (1 Macchab.1 3:18, 19). And they have very often proved this to be so, to the point that usually it was as if one had pursued a thousand, and two had put ten thousand to flight.✦ And so in a strange and remarkable way they are seen to be both gentler than lambs and fiercer than lions, so that I can hardly decide which name fits them better — monks or soldiers — except that I would perhaps more fittingly call them both, since neither quality is found lacking in them: not the monk's gentleness, nor the soldier's courage. What can be said about this, except that this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?✦ Such are the ones God chose for himself, gathering from the ends of the earth servants from among the strongest of Israel — men who would watchfully and faithfully guard the true bed of Solomon, that is, the holy tomb — all of them holding swords and thoroughly skilled for battle.✦
Read the original Latin
Sed jam ad imitationem seu ad confusionem nostrorum militum, non plane Deo, sed diabolo militantium, dicamus breviter Christi equitum mores et vitam; qualiter in bello domive conversentur: quo palam fiat, quantum ab invicem differant Dei saeculique militia. Primo quidem utrolibet disciplina non deest, obedientia nequaquam contemnitur, quia, teste Scriptura, et filius indisciplinatus peribit (Eccli. XXII, 3); et, peccatum est hariolandi repugnare, et quasi scelus idololatriae nolle acquiescere (I Reg. XV, 23). Itur, et reditur ad nutum ejus qui praeest: induitur quod ille donaverit; nec aliunde vestimentum seu alimentum praesumitur. Et in victu et vestitu cavetur omne superfluum, soli necessitati consulitur. Vivitur plane in communi jucunda et sobria conversatione, absque uxoribus, et absque liberis. Et ne quid desit ex evangelica perfectione absque omni proprio habitant unius moris in domo una, solliciti servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis.
Dicas universae multitudinis esse cor unum, et animam unam: ita quisque non omnino propriam sequi voluntatem, sed magis obsequi satagit imperanti. Nullo tempore aut otiosi sedent, aut curiosi vagantur: sed semper dum non procedunt (quod quidem raro contingit), ne gratis comedant panem, armorum seu vestimentorum vel scissa resarciunt, vel vetusta reficiunt, vel inordinata componunt, et quaeque postremo facienda magistri voluntas et communis indicit necessitas. Persona inter eos minime accipitur: defertur meliori, non nobiliori. Honore se invicem praeveniunt; alterutrum onera portant, ut sic adimpleant legem Christi. Verbum insolens, opus inutile, risus immoderatus, murmur vel tenue, sive susurrium nequaquam, ubi deprehenditur, relinquitur inemendatum. Scacos et aleas detestantur; abhorrent venationem: nec ludicra illa avium rapina (ut assolet) delectantur. Mimos, et magos, et fabulatores, scurrilesque cantilenas, atque ludorum spectacula, tanquam vanitates et insanias falsas respuunt et abominantur. Capillos tondent, scientes juxta Apostolum ignominiam esse viro, si comam nutrierit.
Nunquam compti, raro loti, magis autem neglecto crine hispidi, pulvere foedi: lorica et caumate fusci.
Porro imminente bello, intus fide, foris ferro, non auro se muniunt: quatenus armati, et non ornati, 548 hostibus metum incutiant, non provocent avaritiam. Equos habere cupiunt fortes et veloces, non tamen coloratos aut phaleratos: pugnam quippe, non pompam, victoriam, sed non gloriam cogitantes, et studentes magis esse formidini quam admirationi. Deinde non turbulenti aut impetuosi, et quasi ex levitate praecipites, sed consulte atque cum omni cautela et providentia se ipsos ordinantes, et disponentes in aciem, juxta quod de patribus scriptum est. Veri profecto Israelitae procedunt ad bella pacifici. At vero ubi ventum fuerit ad certamen, tum demum pristina lenitate postposita, tanquam si dicerent. Nonne qui oderunt te, Domine, oderam, et super inimicos tuos tabescebam? (Psal. CXXXVIII, 21.)
irruunt in adversarios, hostes velut oves reputant; nequaquam, etsi paucissimi, vel saevam barbariem, vel numerosam multitudinem formidantes. Noverunt siquidem non de suis praesumere viribus, sed de virtute Domini sabaoth sperare victoriam: cui nimirum facile esse confidunt, juxta sententiam Macchabaei, concludi multos in manus paucorum, et non esse differentiam in conspectu Dei coeli liberare in multis, et in paucis; quia non in multitudine exercitus est victoria belli, sed de coelo fortitudo est (I Macchab. III, 18, 19). Quod et frequentissime experti sunt, ita ut plerumque quasi persecutus sit unus mille, et duo fugarint decem millia. Ita denique miro quodam ac singulari modo cernuntur et agnis mitiores, et leonibus ferociores, ut pene dubitem quid potius censeam appellandos, monachos videlicet, an milites: nisi quod utrumque forsan congruentius nominarim, quibus neutrum deesse cognoscitur, nec monachi mansuetudo, nec militis fortitudo. De qua re quid dicendum, nisi quod a Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris? Tales sibi elegit Deus, et collegit a finibus terrae ministros ex fortissimis Israel, qui veri lectulum Salomonis, sacrum scilicet sepulcrum, vigilanter fideliterque custodiant, omnes tenentes gladios, et ad bella doctissimi.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Eph.4.3 — Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
- ↩Acts.4.32 — Now the great number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but everything they had was held in common.
- ↩2Thess.3.10 — For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: if anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat.
- ↩Gal.6.2 — Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
- ↩1Cor.11.14 — Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace to him?
- ↩Deut.32.30 — How could one pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them over?
- ↩Ps.118.23 — This is from the LORD; it is marvelous in our eyes.
- ↩1Kgs.10.18-1Kgs.10.20;Song.3.7 — The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. 1Kgs.10.19 — Six steps led up to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; there were armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 1Kgs.10.20 — And twelve lions stood there on the six steps, on this side and on that; the like was never made in any kingdom. Song.3.7 — Behold, the bed that is Solomon's—sixty mighty men surround it, mighty men of Israel.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'Domini sabaoth' preserves the Hebrew 'Lord of hosts' (Yahweh Sabaoth), a divine title emphasizing sovereign military power over the armies of heaven.
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