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Saint Narcisa de Jesús

August 9, 2023

Saint Narcisa de Jesús

Dear Friends,

“The Saints are the true expression and the finest fruits of America’s Christian identity. In them, the encounter with the living Christ is so deep and demanding that it becomes a fire which consumes them completely and impels them to build his Kingdom”, wrote St. John Paul II in the apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America (January 22, 1999, no. 15). This was the fire that burned in the heart of St. Narcisa de Jesús, the “Niña Narcisa” of Ecuador.

Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán was born in 1832, on a farm called Nobol in the hamlet of San José in Daule, a coastal area of Ecuador which is part of the archdiocese of Guayaquil. She was the sixth child in a family of nine. Her landowner father and mother, Pedro and Josefa, both illiterate, were blessed with a keen intelligence and their hard work earned them considerable wealth. Narcisa de Jesús learned the first rudiments of the catechism with great ease. Her love for God, whose presence she sensed through nature, and for the Blessed Virgin Mary, was her defining trait. Her mother died when she was only six years old. With the help of a traveling teacher and one of her older sisters, she learned reading, writing, cooking and sewing, an art in which she attained true mastery. She also had a talent for music and played the guitar. In her rural and patriarchal family, everyone learned to work and pray together: family evening prayers were never skipped.

Good and expert priests

Narcisa de Jesús was confirmed on September 16, 1839. “In receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, she felt clearly in her heart the call to live a life of holiness and devotion to God. To sustain the Holy Spirit’s action in her soul with docility, she always sought the counsel and guidance of good and expert priests, considering spiritual direction as one of the most effective means to arrive at holiness.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the canonization, October 12, 2008). Hers was an artistic soul, gentle and sensitive, but far from indulging selfishly in her many talents, she always strove to help others. She enjoyed nothing more than to sing religious songs accompanied by the guitar, especially the poems of St. Teresa of Avila set to music, or to recite the Hail Marys of the Rosary. In the morning, she would get up before the rest to devote herself to prayer and meditation. It was easy for her to recollect herself and she did all she could to remain in the presence of God, yet she never became a misanthropist.

“Strive as often as possible through the day to place yourself in God’s presence”, advises St. Francis de Sales… “Consider what God does, and what you are doing—you will see His Eyes ever fixed upon you in Love incomparable…” (Introduction to the Devout Life, XII, 2). In his Rule, St. Benedict writes: “Let a man consider that God is always looking at him from heaven, that his actions are everywhere visible to the divine eyes… The Lord is always looking down from heaven on the children of earth to see if there be anyone who understands and seeks God” (chapter 7, 1st degree of humility).

From a very early age, Narcisa de Jesús was granted mystical graces but also afflicted with sufferings. The local priest was her first spiritual guide. During the day, her inclination to prayer could only be satisfied by the precious little moments that her duties allowed her. She fled from certain festive or social gatherings, particularly balls and dances; her siblings and her parents could not understand why, and they called her the “montubia”, the “little native”, a rather disparaging term. However, she helped her family prepare for the parties, and would discreetly slip away as soon as the guests began to arrive, retiring under a fruit tree to pray in a place that has since become a place of pilgrimage.

Of course, it is normal to take part in festive events and it can even be virtuous when done out of love for God and neighbor. But in Narcisa de Jesús, the avoidance of these feasts was the fruit of a special inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, God attracts certain souls to solitude, according to the words of the prophet Hosea: I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart (2, 16). When she was praying there, Narcisa de Jesús lost track of time and nothing could disturb her; she was not even aware of the torrential rains that sometimes hit the country. One day, during a heavy storm, her father, Don Pedro, sent his men to go and look for her. They returned soaking wet, but with nothing to show for their trouble. Then Narcisa de Jesús showed up, her clothes completely dry…

Associating with the Redeeming Sacrifice

Narcisa de Jesús felt herself called upon by God to do penance for the world that rejects it. When anyone attempted to convince her to soften her many penances, she would reply: “I came into the world to suffer”, that is, to prove her love for God by sharing in Christ’s sufferings.

“Jesus freely offered his life as an expiatory sacrifice, that is, he made reparation for our sins with the full obedience of his love unto death”, teaches the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “This love to the end (Jn13:1) of the Son of God reconciled all of humanity with the Father… By calling his disciples to take up their cross and follow him Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who are to be its first beneficiaries” (Nos.122 and 123).

Following the footsteps of Mariana de Jesúsde Paredes (a hermit known as the “Lily of Quito”, 1618-1645, who was canonized in 1950), Narcisa de Jesús heard God’s call to associate herself especially as a victim with the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, for herself and for the salvation of all. However, the penitential life of this beautiful, strong, tall and agile young woman with blue eyes, did not make her sad but kind and happy; her gentle and serene character made her especially good and obedient, generous and compassionate towards the poor. She lived and worked like any other young country woman, but she carried out her tasks out of love for God and with great self-denial. In addition to her domestic duties, Narcisa de Jesús worked as a seamstress. Her kindness endeared her to all, both in her home and in the neighborhood. When there was a call for help, she was always available. An excellent catechist, she could not fail to communicate the fire of divine love. She was especially inspired by a local miraculous image of Christ on the Cross, the “Lord of Miracles”, that was the source of many graces. When her father died in 1851 or 1852, she grieved deeply. She was twenty years old when Our Lord invited her to go and live in Guayaquil. Leaving the family circle to go to the unknown caused her much pain.

Mrs. Silvania Gellibert, an intellectual woman of the upper bourgeoisie who lived near the cathedral in Guayaquil, owned a rural property near the Martillo farm. She was deeply devout, and she had formed a profound spiritual friendship with Narcisa de Jesús, whom she took to the big city. The main port of Ecuador, Guayaquil had been elevated as a diocese in 1838, but at the time, the see had been vacant for several months. A small steamer allowed to cover by water the 35 miles (55 km) that separate the region of Daule from the large port. When Narcisa de Jesús first came into contact with the bustling city, she felt bewildered, but her intense interior life soon helped her to adjust. She desired with all her heart to remain unnoticed, and to occupy a very humble place. She was given lodgings in a small room in an attic, with a hammock for a bed. Now she could go to Mass every day and receive the sacraments frequently. Among the priests of the place, the young girl particularly noticed Canon Luis de Tola, rector of the diocesan seminary and a future bishop, who had visited the Daule region several times. This priest became her first spiritual director, and Narcisa de Jesús showed great docility to his instructions. His first concern was to dispel the young woman’s fears, having discerned in her spiritual ways the work of the Holy Spirit. Canon Tola soon associated Canon José Tomás de Aguirre, also a future bishop of the harbor town, with the guidance of this uncommon penitent. Narcisa de Jesús recited the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin in private every day and joined some of the hours of the Great Office celebrated by the cathedral Canons. In the evenings, she prayed the rosary with the Gellibert family, before slipping quietly away to her attic, while all the others stayed together for the family gathering.

Paris fashion

Her main occupation was sewing. At that time there were no sewing machines in Guayaquil, and making clothes demanded a lot of work. Narcisa de Jesús’ first client was her hostess, Doña Silvania, but her reputation as a seamstress spread rapidly and orders poured in. She was even asked to make haute couture garments inspired by the latest Paris fashion. In her work, she strove to apply the advice of St. Teresa of Avila: “Make every stitch an act of love.” But at the same time, she increased her penances, as much as her director would allow, to conform herself more to Christ in his Passion. Her meals were very limited. She devoted herself, moreover, to the care of the sick, with great delicacy and love. Soon she won the love of both her hostess’s household and the neighborhood.

But her popularity contradicted to her desire to remain unnoticed, and she looked for another place to live. Doña Silvania reluctantly let her go. Narcisa de Jesús found a job in the large patriarchal house of Colonel Camille Landin. She was offered a fine room on the second floor, but she refused and instead chose to live in a storeroom in the attic. She practiced her trade as a seamstress, making both humble clothes for the servants and beautiful gala dresses for the lady of the house, Doña Carmen. The latter, however, was not easily satisfied, and when a dress was not entirely to her taste, she did not hesitate to let it be known. Narcisa de Jesús’ days were governed by the sound of the bells of the church of St. Francis belonging to the Franciscans, on the other side of the street. She daily attended the first Mass there, at five o’clock on weekdays and at four o’clock on Sundays. Following the example of St. Mariana of Jesús, she acquired a large cross with protruding nails. She would place her arms in rings fixed to the horizontal part, and pray in this position for many hours the better to resemble Christ. “In her passionate love for Jesús, who led her on a path of intense prayer and torment and to identify herself increasingly with the mystery of the Cross, she offers us an attractive witness and a perfect example of a life totally dedicated to God and to her brothers and sisters” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the canonization).

Moral authority

Before long, her saintly life had earned her the respect and love of all. Despite her humility, she even enjoyed a certain moral authority with respect to Doña Carmen: servants caught in error often sought refuge with Narcisa de Jesús in order to obtain mercy. After a year and a half, having consulted her director, she felt that she must move again. She found an uncomfortable and damp room in the house of María Orias, a widow. It was probably at this time that the first open attacks of the devil against her began. In 1859, Canon Tola undertook a long journey to Lima, Peru, to attend to his failing health. Narcisa de Jesús sorely felt the absence of her spiritual director. Before leaving, he entrusted her to a young but excellent priest, Don José Millán, who completed her formation and confirmed her in the spiritual path on which she was progressing. Don José put her in touch with a young lady in high society, Mercedes Molina, who had renounced everything in order to live only for Jesús (she later founded a religious order, and was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1985). Both girls used to attend the first morning Mass in the cathedral.

That same year, Narcisa de Jesús was approached to run the house of Canon Pedro Pinto. After consulting her director, she accepted the position as a true apostolate. She took over the management of this large household, but she was troubled by the importance of such an honorable position. After a few weeks, she resigned and moved to the family of Mercedes Molina, where she found lodgings under the stairs. Together with Mercedes, one of her sisters and another girl, they lived a quasi-religious life in great unity of heart; they were called the four “blesseds”, or “Beatas”. Josefa, a niece of Narcisa de Jesús who worked as a seamstress with her aunt, also lived there. She later testified to several mystical graces received by her aunt. Narcisa also had the gift of prophecy: for example, she suggested to a niece of Mercedes who was entering the Carmel that she should take the name of Sister Mercedes of the Cross, because she would have much to suffer. Her forty years of religious life would indeed prove to be a prolonged martyrdom.

In 1862, the Jesuit Fathers arrived in Guayaquil and settled near the house of the Beatas. One of them, Father Segura, soon became Narcisa de Jesús’ confessor and introduced her to the spirituality of St. Ignatius, especially through The Practice of Christian Virtue by Father Alfonso Rodriguez, which became her favorite book. From then on, she no longer signed her surname as Martillo, but as Narcisa de Jesús, to signify that she had married Christ. In 1865, another Jesuit, Father García, founded the association of the Daughters of Mary, which Narcisa de Jesús happily joined. The following year, she agreed to accompany Don Millán to Cuenca (southeast of the capital) where tuberculosis of the lungs was forcing him to withdraw. After an epic journey, she worked to save his precious life for the Church. But less than a year later, the disease took the life of this good priest, and Narcisa de Jesús found herself alone in lands that were almost foreign. Bishop Estévez of Cuenca urged her to stay in his city to become the cornerstone of a strict observance Carmel that he intended to found. She declined the offer because she felt that her mission was to strive for holiness while preserving her lay status in the world. Returning to Guayaquil in 1867, she for a time offered her help to Mercedes Molina who had just founded an orphanage. She then returned to doña Silvania Gellibert’s house and resumed her life of prayer, penance and work. Her income allowed her to feed and care for five beggars.

Eight hours a day

In 1868, a Franciscan Father called on her to follow him to Lima, Peru, to join other Beatas who had formed a community according to the spirit of the Dominican Third Order, which the local archbishop wanted to reform. Narcisa de Jesús was uprooted once again: she joined these women and began the reform according to a precise set of rules. She helped in the infirmary and ran the linen room. Her director of conscience was Don Medina, the future bishop of Trujillo. He was younger than she was, but he was endowed with an exceptional spiritual maturity that allowed him to understand and help her. The extraordinary graces that adorned the life of Narcisa de Jesús made her fear that she was being deceived by the devil. The priest reassured her and instructed her more thoroughly on the discernment of spirits. Narcisa de Jesús systematically and humbly reported to him the graces she received. With his approval, she spent eight hours in prayer every day, four during the day and four at night.

Such long hours of prayer are not within everyone’s reach, but it is good to devote time to the Lord, as St. Charles de Foucauld recommended: “For our life to be a life of prayer, two things are necessary: first, that it contain each day a sufficiently long time devoted solely to prayer ; second, that during the hours devoted to other occupations, we remain united with God, guarding the thought of his presence, and turning, by frequent elevations, our hearts and our gaze toward Him” (Spiritual Writings).

Mass was not celebrated every day in the house. When it was so, Narcisa de Jesús would remain near the door and as soon as she saw a priest passing by, she would ask him to give her Communion, without which she could not live. She took several private vows, including those of poverty, chastity and obedience to her confessor. One day, Christ took His Heart from His chest and had her kiss It, saying: “This is a grace I have not granted to anyone else!” Narcisa de Jesús’ love for the Heart of Jesus increased tenfold. She also foretold certain events such as the fate of the house of the Beatas where she lived, the Peruvian missions in the jungle, the elevation of Father Medina to the episcopate… She continued her life of penance to the astonishment of physicians; they could not understand how she managed to survive with so little food. Her robust health was indeed an exceptional gift from the Lord.

How to become a Saint?

Many people think that it is impossible to become a Saint, because they only consider the extraordinary graces of the Saints: terrible mortifications, visions, ecstasies, miracles and prophecies… But that is not where sanctity lies. It consists in living united to God in charity and in the effective practice of the virtues, under the guidance of the Spirit of God. St. Paul describes the effects of holiness that the Holy Spirit produces: But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:22-25).

One day, the Lord revealed to Narcisa de Jesús that her death was near. She rejoiced at the prospect of entering into Heaven. On September 24, 1869, on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, after Communion, she had an ecstasy in which Our Lord and Our Lady invited her to ask for a special grace. She asked for the most precious pearl (cf. Mt 13:45), the eternal salvation of several people, and also for her own entry into Heaven. Then she developed an inexplicable high fever. In her last letter, she thanked her friends in Guayaquil, especially Doña Silvania Gellibert, to whom she bequeathed her penitential cross. At that time, people all over the world were praying for the forthcoming Vatican Ecumenical Council, convened by Blessed Pope Pius IX, which was to open on December 8. On that day, Narcisa de Jesús dressed in white and spent the day in deep meditation. That evening, she bade farewell to the sisters, because, she said, “I am setting out on a faraway journey.” The sisters thought she was joking. Shortly afterwards, the sister in charge of blessing the cells for the night informed the superior that an extraordinary light was shining in the cell of Sister Narcisa de Jesús, and that a very pleasant smell came from it. The superior came and found that Sister Narcisa de Jesús had died. She was 37 years old. It is believed that she had offered her life for the ecumenical council that would define the dogma of papal infallibility.

Many graces were immediately obtained through her intercession. Three days after her death, her body was still supple and showed no signs of corruption. The Ecuadorian ambassador in Lima asked Bishop Medina for a report of the facts of the case for the then president of Ecuador, Gabriel García Moreno (whose cause of beatification has been introduced in Quito). A century later, in 1955, Narcisa’s body, still intact, was brought back to Guayaquil, where a shrine was dedicated to her on August 22, 1998. The small town of Nobol is also known today as Narcisa de Jesús. On October 12, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Narcisa de Jesús.

“Jesus invites each one of us to follow him, like these Saints, on the way of the Cross, so that we might then inherit the eternal life that he, dying, gave to us. May their examples be an encouragement to us; may their teachings guide and comfort us; may their intercession sustain us in our daily efforts so that we too may one day come to share with them and with all the Saints the joy of the eternal banquet in the heavenly Jerusalem. Above all may Mary Queen of All Saints, who in this month of October we venerate with special devotion, obtain this grace for us” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at the canonization, October 12, 2008).

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Saint Bernard

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September 12, 2023

Saint Bernard de Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Dear Friends,

“This is hardly a fair deal: you have chosen heaven and you have left me the earth!”, Nivard, the youngest of the family, complained to his brothers who, led by the future Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, were setting out for the abbey of Cîteaux in 1112. They explained to him: “We are entering the monastery… One day, you will inherit the title, and all the land we owned will be yours!” A few years later, however, Nivard also became a monk. He went to join his brother Bernard, who was to become a beacon of light for the Church. Pope Pius XII said of Bernard’s writing: “His style, which is lively, rich, easy flowing, and marked by striking expressions, has such pleasing function that it attracts, delights and recalls the mind of the reader to heavenly things. It incites to, nourishes and strengthens piety; it draws the soul to the pursuit of those good things which are not fleeting, but true, certain, and everlasting” (Encyclical Doctor mellifluus, May 24, 1953, no. 8).

Born into a noble Burgundian family in the castle of Fontaine-lès-Dijon in 1090, Bernard was the third of seven children, six boys and a girl. His father, Tescelin, the lord of Fontaine, was a vassal of the Duke of Burgundy to whom his mother, Blessed Aleth of Montbard, was related. Towards the year 1100, Bernard was sent to the school of the secular canons of Saint-Vorles at Châtillon-sur-Seine. There he became well versed in the Bible, the Fathers of the Church and various Latin authors, including Horace, Cicero, Virgil and Seneca.

An arduous reform

Bernard was deeply upset by the death of his mother which occurred when he was about sixteen. He led a worldly existence, but soon felt called to the religious life. In his twenty-second year, he decided to join the fledging community of the abbey of Cîteaux, 20 miles (30 km) south of Dijon. The monastery had been founded in 1098 by Saint Robert and a few companions, originally from the abbey of Molesme. Their intention was to adhere to the letter of the Rule of Saint Benedict, focusing on the well-balanced nature of life according to the Rule, based on poverty, manual labour and communal life. Saint Robert had been obliged to return to Molesme soon afterwards, and his successor, Saint Alberic, had died. Saint Stephen Harding, the third abbot, had governed Cîteaux from January 1108, but not a single vocation had been accepted since then. When Bernard arrived in 1112, he was accompanied by some thirty young noblemen, including three of his brothers.

Despite being of noble descent, Bernard took part in all the monks’ activities, even those of a more physical nature, but he was sometimes hindered in this because of his lack of experience and poor health. He also devoted himself to studying the Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church. In 1114, he took his monastic vows. Ever since his arrival, the vocations at Cîteaux had come pouring in. As early as 1113, the abbey was able to establish a foundation at La Ferté, followed by Pontigny in 1114. In 1115, Stephen Harding sent Bernard, at the head of a group of twelve monks, to found a new monastery in Champagne, in a location that was then named Clara Vallis (clear valley), and which would later be called “Clairvaux”. Soon after, Bernard was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Chalons, Guillaume de Champeaux. He was to serve as the abbot of Clairvaux until his death. That same year, Cîteaux also established a daughter abbey in Morimond.

The beginnings of Clairvaux were by no means easy. On the one hand, the discipline imposed by the young abbot was very austere, because he was pursuing an ascetic ideal that was beyond the reach of many; little by little, Bernard came to recognize his own limitations and those of his brothers. On the other hand, the community’s income and resources were insufficient. The monks ate black bread and beech leaf soup. One day, Bernard asked his brother Gérard, who was serving as bursar, how much money the community was lacking to meet its needs. Gérard replied, “Twelve pounds.” But they had not a penny… Following the Abbot’s suggestion, they all began to pray. Not long afterwards, a woman presented herself, saying: “Please pray for my husband who is dying; here are twelve pounds.” When she returned home, her husband was cured. The abbot would go on to perform many other wonders, and soon became known as a worker of miracles; many people came to see him.

Bernard drew his entire family to the monastery: his father, Tescelin, and his two other brothers became monks at Clairvaux. One day, his sister, Ombeline, visited him, dressed in all the finery of a young noblewoman accompanied by her attendants; the abbot refused to see her, affecting not to know her. The slight prompted Ombeline to reflect on her life: changing her ways, she entered the priory of the Benedictine nuns of Jully-les-Nonnains.

In 1119, Bernard took part in the first General Chapter of the Cistercians, which gave the Order its permanent form through the adoption of the “Charter of Charity” drawn up by Saint Stephen Harding. The document spelled out the internal organization of the Cistercians, with the aim of establishing unity between the various abbeys. Bernard personally founded no less than seventy-two monasteries throughout Europe. By the time he died in 1153, one hundred and sixty abbeys, that became so many breeding grounds for saints, had sprung forth from Clairvaux.

Cistercian austerity

From the outset of his abbatial office, Bernard wrote treatises, short essays and homilies, all peppered with quotes from the Scriptures. He had a particular penchant for the Song of Songs and the works of Saint Augustine. Some consider him to be the last Father of the Church. Bernard added to his Cistercian austerity the desire to avoid anything that might appear to entertain the mind. The monks of Cluny favored beauty as an encouragement to prayer. In their vast churches, they used rich liturgical ornaments, beautiful sculptures and resplendent stained-glass windows offering an impressive image-based catechesis. In his Apology to Guillaume de Saint-Thierry (circa 1123-1125), Bernard vigorously defended the Cistercian reform against the Cluniacs. He argued that lavish decorations were likely to distract the monk’s mind from meditating on divine things. Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, sharply responded to Bernard’s criticisms in justifying the practice of Cluny, criticizing the pride of the new monks. Yet despite their disagreement, the two men became friends.

The views of Bernard and Peter the Venerable may have differed, but as Our Lord says, there are many dwelling places in the house of the Father (Jn 14:2). The Gospel describes how a woman poured a very valuable perfume on Jesus’ head and how indignant the disciples were (Mt 26, 7f). Commenting on this episode, Saint John Paul II remarked that the Church, following the example of this woman, never feared to be magnificent in worshiping her Lord, and never regarded the nobility and beauty of liturgical objects or vestments as wasteful (cf. Cardinal Robert Sarah, Catechism of the Spiritual Life, p. 83).

Bernard’s concern for the sanctification of the clergy and the faithful led him to write numerous letters, particularly to bishops, urging them to undertake a reform of discipline. From the start of his novitiate, Bernard himself had led a life of penance. His mortifications went so far as to compromise his health, causing stomach pains that would plague him for the rest of his life. Having failed to persuade him to tone down his penances, Guillaume de Champeaux arranged for Bernard to be entrusted to his care for one year. He had a modest house built for him outside the monastic enclosure, and forbade him to apply the sections of the Rule on fasting. Despite all these measures, the abbot’s health hardly improved. Blessed Guillaume, abbot of the Cluniac abbey of Saint-Thierry, near Reims, paid him frequent visits; won over by Bernard’s charismatic spirit, he convinced his superiors, against Bernard’s advice, to allow him to become a Cistercian in 1135.

Reading Jesus, hearing Jesus

Bernard’s mixture of gentleness, tenderness and passion, of ardor and sensitivity, appealed to the young. Through his example and his words, he brought a multitude of sinners back onto the straight path of spiritual life, and guided many souls towards holiness. “We have shown that every soul, though it may be burdened with sins, caught in the net of evil habits, taken captive by the allurements of sinful pleasures; though it be as a captive in exile, confined in the body as in a prison, although a soul, I say, be thus under condemnation and thus despairing, yet, as I have shown, it is able to find in itself, not only reason for breathing freely in the hope of mercy and forgiveness, but also for daring to aspire to the heavenly nuptials of the Word; nor does it fear to enter into alliance with God” (Song of Songs, sermon 83, 1). Bernard’s love for Jesus was intense. “Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart. Again, it is a medicine. Does one of us feel sad? Let the name of Jesus come into his heart, from there let it spring to his mouth… Nothing so curbs the onset of anger, so allays the upsurge of pride. It cures the wound of envy” (Song of Songs, sermon 16, 6).

Bernard had a deep affection for the Blessed Virgin, to whom all the Cistercian churches are dedicated. At the entrance to the estate of Tre Fontane, near Rome, where the apostle Saint Paul was martyred and where Bernard founded a monastery, was an image of the Blessed Virgin that Bernard greeted with an Ave Maria every time he saw it. One day, the Virgin responded with an Ave Bernarde; both parts of this moving dialogue were carved into the stone. There is a tradition that credits Bernard with the last invocations of the Salve Regina: O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria..

Despite his desire to live far away from the world, Bernard was sought out by other abbots, Church dignitaries, sovereigns and nobles asking for his advice and for help in resolving conflicts. He must travel the roads of Europe. Some of the clergy considered that a monk should not interfere in temporal affairs. However, he wrote: “I consider that nothing that concerns God is foreign to me” (Letter to Cardinal Aymeric, 20); and to the King of France: “We, sons of the Church… will stand up and fight for our Mother (the Church), if necessary to the death, with the appropriate weapons; not with shield and sword, but with prayer and beseeching of God” (Letter 221, 3). Bernard held the seat of Saint Peter in great veneration. In 1145, a Cistercian monk from Pisa who was also his disciple, was elected Pope under the name of Eugene III; Bernard gave him a great deal of advice. He even went so far as to rebuke the Sovereign Pontiffs or princes when he deemed it necessary, but he tempered his natural sharpness with a tone of marked humility. But when King Louis VI sought to depose the archbishop of Sens, he nevertheless called him a “new Herod”.

Recognizing the true Pope

In 1130, after the death of Honorius II, two separate groups of cardinals each elected a Pope: Cardinal Aymeric, who took the name of Innocent II, and Cardinal Pierleone, who took that of Anacletus II. The latter received the support of Roger II, Duke of Apulia and Calabria. In France, Louis VI convened a synod at Étampes and asked Bernard to attend. Bernard declared himself in favor of Innocent II, whom he considered to be the more holy and suitable, and who had been elected by the sounder group of Cardinals. The King of France and his clergy then acknowledged Innocent II, who took refuge in France, since Rome was under the control of Anacletus’ supporters. The German emperor Lothar III also recognized Innocent II, and led an expedition to install him in Rome in 1133. Bernard accompanied the group. Innocent II convened a council in Pisa in 1134, where Bernard delivered a fiery speech. His success was such that the magistrates, the clergy and the people wanted to make him their archbishop, but he refused. He worked several miracles that helped confirm the restored union. In 1137, Bernard tried in vain to bring Roger II to his senses and to persuade him to abandon the antipope. It was not until the death of Anacletus in January 1138 that the Second Lateran Ecumenical Council, convened by Innocent II, finally put an end to the schism.

Bernard also took part in theological debates. He wrote: “God is Wisdom, and He desires to be loved, not only to our own delight, but also wisely. Otherwise, if you neglect knowledge, the spirit of error will with great ease lead you astray by means of your zeal; nor has our cunning enemy any device more effectual in eliminating love from the heart than that of inducing us, if he can, to act without due prudence and caution” (Song of Songs, sermon 19, 7). Pope Pius XII wrote that for Bernard, “learning is not the final goal, but rather a path leading to God; it is not something cold upon which the mind dwells aimlessly, as though amusing itself under the spell of shifting, brilliant light. Rather, it is moved, impelled, and governed by love. Wherefore, carried upwards by this wisdom and in meditation, contemplation, and love, Bernard climbs the peak of the mystical life” (Doctor mellifluus, no. 6). Bernard opposed Abelard (1079-1142) among others. Endowed with a brilliant mind, this doctor had been appointed regent of the Paris cathedral school in 1114, and his reputation had since risen to prodigious heights. However, his teaching was marred by errors. Bernard caused these to be condemned at a council held in Sens (1140). Abelard was admitted to Cluny by Peter the Venerable and died there, at peace with the Church and with Bernard.

At the end of the 11th century, the first Crusade was launched to liberate the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem and to obtain freedom of movement for Christian pilgrims. After the Crusade, a number of Christians remained behind, founding states such as the County of Edessa. The fall of this county, which was taken by the Muslims in 1146, threatened the Frankish kingdom of Jerusalem and sparked the Second Crusade, which Pope Eugene III asked Bernard to preach. Bernard spoke on Easter Day, March 31, 1146, to a crowd gathered at the foot of the hill at Vézelay. He urged the knights to humility, obedience and sacrifice. He also preached in Speyer (now in Germany). Finally, King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III embarked on the Crusade—but it ended in defeat. All blamed Bernard, although the real reasons of the disaster lay in the division and worldliness of the crusaders. Bernard patiently bore criticism and, in submission to the Pope, agreed to work towards launching a third crusade, which would never actually be undertaken.

Free of pride and hatred

One of the obstacles to maintaining Christians in the Orient was the temporary nature of the knights’ presence: when the time for serving their suzerain was over, they would leave the Holy Land and return home. The Saracens took advantage of this to regain their positions. In order to remedy this grave problem, nine knights, including André de Montbard, Bernard’s uncle, founded an order of “soldier monks” in 1129, that would become the Order of the Temple. The Knights Templar asked Bernard to draw up a rule for them, adapted from the Rule of Saint Benedict. The Order’s beginnings were as heroic as they were beneficial to the Crusaders’ cause. In 1130, Bernard addressed a letter to the Knights Templar. He reminded them that the Templar must be a disciplined fighter, free of pride and hatred.

The heresy of the Cathars was making significant progress in the south of France at the time, and Bernard stepped in to refute its erroneous doctrines, in particular the belief in the existence of two gods, one the creator of the spirit and the other the evil author of matter. In 1145, he accompanied Alberic of Ostia, legate of Pope Eugene III, to the Languedoc region and preached there, but to no avail. It was not until the apostolate of Saint Dominic and the Friars Preachers that the heresy was defeated root and branch.

Also at that time, Gilbert de la Porrée (1076-1154), bishop of Poitiers, was trying to explain the mystery of the Trinity through human reasoning, but he ended up falling into grave error. He made an artificial distinction between God and the divinity. To help him return to the truth, his archdeacons appealed to Pope Eugene III, who referred the matter to a council held in Reims in 1148, which Gilbert himself attended. There, Bernard made a formal accusation of heresy against the bishop. Gilbert de la Porrée’s theses were condemned and he recanted publicly.

In 1152, Bernard fell seriously ill. Everyone thought his end was near. However, the Bishop of Metz urgently appealed to him to intervene in his diocese, where civil war was raging. Moved by compassion, the dying man got up from his bed and set off to Metz. His mission complete, he returned to his abbey, but he was in a state of exhaustion. His monks gathered at his bedside, begging him not to abandon them. “I do not know to which of the two I must surrender”, he replied, “either to the love of my children who are pressing me to stay here below, or to the love of my God which is drawing me up above…” These were his last words on the day he gave up his soul to God at the age of sixty-three, on August 20, 1153. He was canonized in 1174 by Alexander III. Bernard de Clairvaux was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pius VIII in 1830.

“Look to the star”

Saint Bernard magnificently sang the praises of Mary in a now-famous homily: “All of you, who see yourselves amid the tides of the world, tossed by storms and tempests rather than walking on the land, do not turn your eyes away from this shining star, unless you want to be overwhelmed by the hurricane. If temptation storms, or you fall upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star: Call upon Mary! If you are tossed by the waves of pride or ambition, detraction or envy, look to the star, call upon Mary. If anger or avarice or the desires of the flesh dash against the ship of your soul, turn your eyes to Mary.. If troubled by the enormity of your crimes, ashamed of your guilty conscience, terrified by dread of the judgment, you begin to sink into the gulf of sadness or the abyss of despair, think of Mary … Let her name be ever on your lips, ever in your heart… Following her, you stray not; invoking her, you despair not; thinking of her, you wander not; upheld by her, you fall not; shielded by her, you fear not; guided by her, you grow not weary; favored by her, you reach the goal” (Second homily on the Missus est, no. 17).

“The reason for loving God,” says saint Bernard, “is God; the measure of this love is to love without measure” (Treatise on the Love of God, ch. 50). “Yet, although not all can reach the summit of that exalted contemplation of which Bernard speaks so eloquently,” wrote Pope Pius XII, “and although not all can bind themselves so closely to God as to feel linked in a mysterious manner with the Supreme Good through the bonds of heavenly marriage; nevertheless, all can and must, from time to time, lift their hearts from earthly things to those of heaven, and most earnestly love the Supreme Dispenser of all gifts.” Moreover, “as often as we fail to return God’s love or to recognize His divine fatherhood with all due reverence, the bonds of brotherly love are unfortunately shattered and—as, alas, is so often evident,—discord, strife and enmity unhappily are the result, so much so as to undermine and destroy the very foundations of human society” (Doctor mellifluus, 13, 14).

Pope Pius XII says that the works of Saint Bernard, the “Doctor mellifluous” (from whom honey flows) “should be carefully pondered; because from their content, which in fact is taken from the Gospels, a new and heavenly strength can flow both into individual and on into social life, to give moral guidance, bring it into line with Christian precepts, and thus be able to provide timely remedies for the many grave ills which afflict mankind.” Let us draw a renewed supernatural strength from the works of Saint Bernard, by following this invaluable advice from Pope Pius XII!