From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Let us bind ourselves to Christ   
      
   It is right that we follow the example of John the Baptist and listen   
   to the outstanding works Christ has done, even when we are bound by   
   the chains of our sins. So powerful is the word of God that we shall   
   be set free by its efficacy and sing triumphantly with the prophet:   
   Lord, you have broken my bonds; I will offer you  the sacrifice of   
   praise. Let us bind ourselves to Christ as his disciples and with   
   ardent  desire and constant prayer humbly beg him to be our teacher,   
   so that, taught by him, we may believe in him as true Messiah and, as   
   believers, may love him with pure hearts as we ought. Finally, let us   
   in every place keep our hearts focused on our king as a powerful   
   example. By word and deed he makes it clear that he is Messiah and   
   true Christ; let us  likewise show ourselves complete Christians in   
   his image by our faith that works through love, for the Lord says:   
   Behold, I am coming quickly, to render each according to his works. If   
    these works are holy, they will not leave their doers until they have   
   led them into heaven and everlasting glory, by the power of our Lord   
   Jesus Christ, who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit through   
   all ages. Amen.   
   --Alonso de Orozco, O.S.A.   
      
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   August 20th - St. Bernard of Clairvaux   
   (1090-1153)   
      
   It has been said of St. Bernard of Clairvaux that he “carried the 12th   
   century on his shoulders.” That suggests the importance of this monk   
   whose talents made him a natural leader in his generation.   
      
   Bernard (pronounced BERnard, not BerNARD) was one of the many children   
   of the Burgundian nobleman Tescelin Sorrel and his wife Aleth. This   
   was a remarkable family. They learned piety, particularly from their   
   mother. Bernard was personally very attractive, witty, friendly and   
   sweet-tempered, and charmed everybody. These traits could have been   
   perilous, of course. Fortunately, they were counterbalanced by a   
   strong spirituality. He felt an early call to the religious life. For   
   a while he fought it; then he gave in. At the age of 22, he decided to   
   become a monk in a new and strict community of Benedictine monks   
   called the “Cistercians”. It was typical of the leadership qualities   
   of Bernard that he should not have entered alone, but brought 31 other   
   men whom he had talked into becoming monks with him! Among the 31 were   
   four of his brothers and an uncle.   
      
   Bernard made such a contribution to the monastery of Citeaux that he   
   is deservedly called that order’s “second founder”. After he had been   
   a monk for only three years, St. Stephen Harding, the abbot of   
   Citeaux, sent him forth to found a new monastery at a place they came   
   to call Clairvaux. Among the candidates that St. Bernard welcomed at   
   Clairvaux were his own father, Tescelin, and his youngest brother,   
   Nivard. (Today three of Bernard’s brothers and his sister are   
   venerated as “blessed”: Guy, Gerard, Nivard, and Humbeline.)   
      
   St. Bernard’s obvious talents, his notable spirituality and his gift   
   of miracles, made it inevitable that he would be called on to help the   
   wider church. Not only was his influence great in the reformation of   
   the monastic life and of the secular clergy; he became “the oracle of   
   Christendom”: a man to whom princes and prelates and popes looked for   
   advice and aid.   
      
   In 1130, two factions elected different persons as pope. Bernard   
   examined the claims of the candidates and decided in favor of Innocent   
   II. He preached on Innocent’s behalf in Germany, France and Italy.   
   Thanks to his eloquence, Innocent was accepted, thus thwarting a   
   tragic schism in the Church.   
      
   Bernard was also a brilliant theologian. In his day, two theologians   
   had begun to teach erroneous doctrines: Abelard and Gilbert de la   
   Porree. As a result of Abbot Bernard’s efforts, their errors were   
   condemned. He was also delegated to preach against the errors of the   
   Aibigensians of southern France and northern Italy. They taught   
   Manicheism, an ancient heresy that among other things condemned   
   marriage. Bernard had some success in this battle, but the   
   Albigensians would not be finally conquered for another century.   
      
   Then there was the second crusade. The first crusade, in the 11th   
   century, had wrested the Holy Land from the control of antagonistic   
   Muslims and once more given pilgrims access to the holy places: But   
   the Muslims had begun to recover the territory by 1144. In 1146 Pope   
   Eugenius III (once a monk of St. Bernard’s) asked the saint to preach   
   a second crusade. Bernard threw all his energy into the cause. But the   
   crusade failed to achieve its aims, and its preacher suffered not only   
   disappointment but much undeserved blame.   
      
   Despite the many missions on which he had spent, Bernard continued to   
   write and preach on theological and spiritual matters. He was not only   
   a great writer (he has been called “the last of the Fathers of the   
   Church.”), but his eloquent spiritual teachings influenced the   
   spirituality of later generations. Several popular hymns have been   
   incorrectly attributed to him: for instance, the “Hail, Holy Queen”,   
   and “Jesus, the very thought of Thee”. But it is clear that they are   
   based on some of his writings, which merited for him the title “Doctor   
   Mellifluus”, “Honey-sweet Teacher”.   
      
   Bernard died on August 20, 1153. He had founded 68 monasteries of   
   Cistercians in many countries. He has always meant much to the diocese   
   of Rochester. Our first bishop was Bernard McQuaid. The saint was   
   patron of our former St. Bernard’s Seminary, and of its present   
   successor, St. Bernard’s Institute. And the Trappist Cistercians at   
   Piffard also carry on in his tradition of loving and prayerful service   
   of God. Both man of God and genius, Bernard of Clairvaux was one of   
   our greatest saints.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary.   
   Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your   
   heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect   
   not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go   
   astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she   
   is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your   
   hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear;   
   if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you   
   favor, you shall reach the goal.   
   St. Bernard   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the   
      
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