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From a Sermon by
Saint Bernard, abbot
1090-1153
"Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Saint Bernard" Painted by Lippi in 1486
On the search for wisdom
Let us work for the food which does not perish - our salvation. Let us work in the vineyard of the Lord to earn our daily wage in the wisdom which says: Those who work in me will not sin. Christ tells us: The field is the world. Let
us work in it and dig up wisdom, its hidden treasure, a treasure we all look for and want to obtain.
If you are looking for it, really look. Be converted and come. Converted from what? From your own willfulness. "But," you may say, "if I do not find wisdom in my own will, where shall I find it? My soul eagerly desires it. And I will not be satisfied when I find it, if it is not a generous amount, a full measure, overflowing into my hands." You are right, for blessed is the man who finds wisdom and is full of prudence.
Look for wisdom while it can still be found. Call for it while it is near. Do you want to know how near it is? The word is near you, in your heart and on your lips, provided that you seek it honestly. Insofar as you find wisdom in your heart, prudence will flow from your lips, but be careful that it flows from and not away from them, or that you do not vomit it up. If you have found wisdom, you have found honey. But do not eat so much that you become too full and bring it all up. Eat so that you are always hungry. Wisdom says: Those who eat me continue to hunger. Do no think you have too much of it, but do not eat too much or you will throw it up. If you do, what you seem to have will be taken away from you, because you gave up searching too soon. While wisdom is near and while it can b e found, look for it and ask for its help. Solomon says: A man who eats too much honey does himself no good: similarly, the man who seeks his own glorification will be crushed by that same renown.
Happy is the man who has found wisdom. Even more happy is the man who lives in wisdom, for he perceives its abundance. There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying. Man believes with his heart and so he is justified. He confesses with his lips and so he is saved. In the beginning of his speech the just man is his own accuser, next he gives glory to God and thirdly, if his wisdom extends that far, he edifies his neighbor.Source: The Liturgy of the Hours - Office of Readings
Saint Bernard 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 saw to the establishment of sixty-five of the three hundred Cistercian monasteries founded during his thirty-eight years as abbot, yet he found time to compose many and varied spiritual works still studied by theologians and spiritual writers today. He directed his companions in the practice of virtue by his own good example.
Cistercian Abbey at Senaque
Because of various schisms which had arisen in the Church, Bernard traveled throughout Europe restoring peace and unity. He also 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. The passing of Pope Eugenius was one 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 and was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1174 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius VIII.
