Saint Bernard More Saints
From a Sermon by
Saint Bernard, abbot
(1090-1153)God's Word will come to us
We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.
Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.
In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God's word. Where is God's word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
Keep God's word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength.
If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son with the Father will come to you. The great Prophet who will build the new Jerusalem will come, the one who makes all things new. This coming will fulfill what is written: As we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly man. Just as Adam's sin spread through all mankind and took hold of all, so Christ, who created and redeemed all, will glorify all, once he takes possession of all.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours - Office of ReadingsSaint Bernard (1090-1153) was born in 1090 near Dijon in France to devout
parents of the highest nobility of Burgundy. After a religious upbringing, he joined the Cistercian monks in 1111 and later was chosen abbot of the monastery of Clairvaux. St. Bernard is acclaimed as one of the most commanding Church leaders in the first half of the twelfth century and is considered one of the greatest spiritual masters of all time. He was sought out as an advisor and mediator by the ruling powers of his age. The cloistered monastic community endured the voluntary austerities of poverty, prayer and fasting all for the salvation of souls. Bernard personally established sixty-five of the three hundred Cistercian monasteries founded during his thirty-eight years as abbot, but still found time to compose man
y and varied spiritual works still studied by theologians and spiritual writers today. Bernard directed his companions in the practice of virtue by his own good example.
Because of various schisms which had arisen in the Church, Bernard traveled throughout Europe restoring peace and unity. He had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and it was said of him that no one spoke more sublimely of the Queen of Heaven. He developed close friendships with contemporaries and even popes. He grieved at the passing of Pope Eugenius whom he considered his greatest friend and consoler. Bernard died in 1153 at the age of sixty-thee, after forty years spent in the cloister. He was the first Cistercian monk placed on the calendar of saints. He was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1174 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius VIII.