[16] His preaching, aided by his ascetic looks and simple attire, helped doom the new sects. Another time, an immense number of flies, that had infested the Church of Foigny, died instantly after the excommunication he made on them. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a French abbot, confessor, saint, and Doctor of the Church. Early life and career Aleth’s death, in 1107, so affected Bernard that he claimed that this is when his “long path to complete conversion” began. Bernard of Clairvaux (French saint, Cistercian abbot, and writer, 1090-1153) Having previously helped end the schism within the church, Bernard was now called upon to combat heresy. Bernard is said to have flung off his own robe and began tearing it into strips to make more. [24] Calvin also quotes him in setting forth his doctrine of a forensic alien righteousness, or as it is commonly called imputed righteousness. Bernard was the third of seven children, six of whom were sons. St. Bernard's Parish Hall. [25], One day, to cool down his lustful temptation, Bernard threw himself into ice-cold water. Pope Innocent II died in the year 1143. Both the Henrician and the Petrobrusian faiths began to die out by the end of that year. In 1144 Eugene III commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade[6] and granted the same indulgences for it which Pope Urban II had accorded to the First Crusade. [c] Bernard led to the foundation of 163 monasteries in different parts of Europe. [4], In the year 1119, Bernard was present at the first general chapter of the order convoked by Stephen of Cîteaux. The monks of the abbey of Cluny were unhappy to see Cîteaux take the lead role among the religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church. Deputations of the bishops of Armenia solicited aid from the pope, and the King of France also sent ambassadors. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, (born 1090, probably Fontaine-les-Dijon, near Dijon, Burgundy [France]—died August 20, 1153, Clairvaux, Champagne; canonized January 18, 1174; feast day August 20), Cistercian monk and mystic, founder and abbot of the abbey of Clairvaux and one of the most influential churchmen of his time. [4], Towards the close of the 11th century, a spirit of independence flourished within schools of philosophy and theology. Bernard's influence was soon felt in provincial affairs. He did not pledge allegiance to Innocent until 1135. S-a născut într-o familie de nobili din nord estul ținutului Bourgogne în localitatea Fontaine, lângă Dijon. Gerard of Clairvaux, Bernard's older brother, became the cellarer of Citeaux. Bernard of Clairvaux quotes Pope Honorius delegated Bernard to preach throughout France and Germany the renewal of the holy war. In 1141, at the urgings of Abelard, the archbishop of Sens called a council of bishops, where Abelard and Bernard were to put their respective cases so Abelard would have a chance to clear his name. Louis VI convened a national council of the French bishops at Étampes, and Bernard, summoned there by consent of the bishops, was chosen to judge between the rival popes. Bernard of Clairvaux, saint, ascetic, founder of numerous abbeys and crusade preacher, was a powerful man of the Church and a 12th century trailblazer. Bernard took his time in terminating his domestic affairs and in persuading his brothers and some 25 companions to join him. The central elements of Bernard's Mariology are how he explained the virginity of Mary, the "Star of the Sea", and her role as Mediatrix. He was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d'Absinthe, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae, representing the combined will of earth and heaven, https://books.google.com/books?id=kkoJAQAAIAAJ, List of Latin nicknames of the Middle Ages: Doctors in theology, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, patron saint archive, "Monuments historiques : Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard", "Sermon XIII: The Believers Concern, to pray for Faith", Audio on the life of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Database with all known medieval representations of Bernard, "Here Followeth the Life of St. Bernard, the Mellifluous Doctor", "Two Accounts of the Early Career of St. Bernard", Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Abbot, Doctor of the Church-1153, Lewis E 26 De consideratione (On Consideration) at OPenn, MS 484/11 Super cantica canticorum at OPenn, Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution, Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart, Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII, Pope Pius XII Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Rise of the Evangelical Church in Latin America, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernard_of_Clairvaux&oldid=996407825, Pre-Reformation saints of the Lutheran liturgical calendar, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 December 2020, at 12:18. Bernard, informed of this by William of St-Thierry, is said to have held a meeting with Abelard intending to persuade him to amend his writings, during which Abelard repented and promised to do so. Aliases: Św. Faith and morals were taken seriously, but without priggishness. [6], Many miracles were attributed to his intercession. To many, St. Bernard is known as the Mellifluous … [6], Bernard was instrumental in re-emphasizing the importance of lectio divina and contemplation on Scripture within the Cistercian order. The passing of Pope Eugenius had struck the fatal blow by taking from him one whom he considered his greatest friend and consoler. Bernard was named a Doctor of the Church in 1830. Moved by his burning words, many Christians embarked for the Holy Land, but the crusade ended in miserable failure.[6]. "[27], Bernard's theology and Mariology continue to be of major importance, particularly within the Cistercian and Trappist orders. Three years later, Bernard was sent with a band of twelve monks to found a new house at Vallée d'Absinthe,[6] in the Diocese of Langres. From that moment a strong friendship sprang up between the abbot and the bishop, who was professor of theology at Notre Dame of Paris, and the founder of the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris. Bernard de Clairvaux: Sermons Divers. Leclercq"S, . [31], The Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard, a collection of buildings dating from the 12th, 17th and 19th centuries, is dedicated to Bernard and stands in his birthplace of Fontaine-lès-Dijon.[32]. [12] The council found in favour of Bernard and their judgment was confirmed by the pope. The bishops made Bernard secretary of the council, and charged him with drawing up the synodal statutes. He was plagued most of his life by impaired health, which took the form of anemia, migraine, gastritis, hypertension, and an atrophied sense of taste. Religious even of the other orders, flocked there. This was the occasion of the longest and most emotional of Bernard's letters. Omissions? Saouma, Brigitte. By the end of 1131, the kingdoms of France, England, Germany, Portugal, Castile, and Aragon supported Pope Innocent II; however, most of Italy, southern France, and Sicily, with the Latin patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, and Jerusalem supported Antipope Anacletus II. Find books Malachy wanted to become a Cistercian, but the pope would not give his permission. [citation needed], John Calvin quotes Bernard several times[22] in support of the doctrine of Sola Fide,[23] which Martin Luther described as the article upon which the church stands or falls. The enthusiasm of the assembly of Clermont in 1095, when Peter the Hermit and Urban II launched the first crusade, was matched by the holy fervor inspired by Bernard as he cried, "O ye who listen to me! Bernard died at age sixty-three on 20 August 1153, after forty years spent in the cloister. Hasten then to expiate your sins by victories over the Infidels, and let the deliverance of the holy places be the reward of your repentance." [5] During the absence of the Bishop of Langres, Bernard was blessed as abbot by William of Champeaux, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne. Bernard of Clairvaux (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was a Burgundian abbot, and a major leader in the revitalization of Benedictine monasticism through the nascent Order of Cistercians. He preached at the Council of Vézelay (1146) to recruit for the Second Crusade. At the Eucharist, he "admonished the Duke not to despise God as he did His servants". He was the hardest for Bernard to convince. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters. In a letter to the people of Toulouse, undoubtedly written at the end of 1146, Bernard calls upon them to extirpate the last remnants of the heresy. The movement found an ardent and powerful advocate in Peter Abelard. http://www.continents-interieurs.info/Michel-Cazenave/Bernard-de-Clairvaux "[20], When Bernard was finished the crowd enlisted en masse; they supposedly ran out of cloth to make crosses. Bernard's parents were Tescelin de Fontaine, lord of Fontaine-lès-Dijon, and Alèthe de Montbard [fr], both members of the highest nobility of Burgundy. Bernard's letter to the archbishop of Sens was seen as a real treatise, "De Officiis Episcoporum." Returning to Molesme, he left the government of the new abbey to Alberic of Cîteaux, who died in the year 1109. He then found Radulphe in Mainz and was able to silence him, returning him to his monastery.[21]. He turned away from his literary education, begun at the school at Châtillon-sur-Seine, and from ecclesiastical advancement, toward a life of renunciation and solitude. Piety was his all, says Bossuet. Bernard praises it in his "De Laudibus Novae Militiae". In the meantime Cluny established a reform, and Abbot Suger, the minister of Louis VI of France, was converted by the Apology of Bernard. After persuading Gerard, Bernard traveled to visit William X, Duke of Aquitaine. [26], Bernard "noted centuries ago: the people who are their own spiritual directors have fools for disciples. Christians had been defeated at the Siege of Edessa and most of the county had fallen into the hands of the Seljuk Turks. [4], The beginnings of Clairvaux Abbey were trying and painful. Bernard later commented that Gerard was his most formidable opponent during the whole schism. In June 1145, Bernard traveled in southern France and his preaching there helped strengthen support against heresy. Clothe yourselves in sackcloth, but also cover yourselves with your impenetrable bucklers. At the General Audience on Wednesday, 4 November [2009], in St Peter's Square, the Holy Father spoke of the theological controversy between St Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter Abelard and of what we can learn from it today. Bernard de clairvaux. There is perhaps no better way to enjoy Cloisters of the Monastery of Saint Bernard de Clairvaux than by booking a nearby Cloisters of the Monastery of Saint Bernard de Clairvaux hotel! Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was a French theologian. The need for healthy theological discussion in the Church. Bernard is Dante Alighieri's last guide, in Divine Comedy, as he travels through the Empyrean. Overview of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's life. It is said that his mother, Aleth, exerted a virtuous influence upon Bernard only second to what St. Monica had done for St. Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century. This Bernard named Claire Vallée, or Clairvaux, on 25 June 1115, and the names of Bernard and Clairvaux soon became inseparable. He is a Roman Catholic saint. L’Amour de Dieu et La Grâce et le Libre Arbitre | Bernard de Clairvaux | download | B–OK. [6] His father and all his brothers entered Clairvaux to pursue religious life, leaving only Humbeline, his sister, in the secular world. In June 1145, at the invitation of Cardinal Alberic of Ostia, Bernard traveled in southern France. From the beginning of the year 1153, Bernard felt his death approaching. On the death of Honorius II, which occurred on 14 February 1130, a schism broke out in the Church by the election of two popes, Pope Innocent II and Antipope Anacletus II. He also silenced the final supporters who sustained the schism. Bernard’s struggles with the flesh during this period may account for his early and rather consistent penchant for physical austerities. As in the olden scene, the cry "Deus vult! The purpose of this council was to settle certain disputes of the bishops of Paris, and regulate other matters of the Church of France. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. abbot president of the english benedictine congregation . Updates? Bernard did not reject human philosophy which is genuine philosophy, which leads to God; he differentiates between different kinds of knowledge, the highest being theological. One time he restored the power of speech to an old man that he might confess his sins before he died.