St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Theodore Ratisbonne Abbe

Description

Abbot; Confessor; Doctor of the Church (1091-1153). In all history no other man so dominated his times and influenced its people. He prophesied; cast out devils; worked miracles; destroyed heresy; single-handedly healed a schism; launched a crusade; advised popes; guided councils (6); ended a pogrom; accomplished every mission given him--yet was always sickly; took no joy in the world or pride in his successes; and ever longed to return to his cell. A story to make you weep. 480 pgs;

Sujets

• Children's
• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholic Church

Informations

• Publié par: TAN Books
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 1991
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781505104356
• Langue: English

Extrait

St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Oracle of the Twelfth Century 1091-1153
Abbé Theodore Ratisbonne
Previously published by P. I. Kennedy & Sons, New York (and also by D. and J. Sadlier), in a volume bearing no date. The Library of Congress has a date of 1835 for its Sadlier edition.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 91-67795
Cover picture: 16th-century portrait of St. Bernard from Clairvaux Abbey, now in Troyes Cathedral.
TAN Books Charlotte, North Carolina www.TANBooks.com
2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153). From an ancient bust in the Parish Church of Fontaines-les-Dijon, France, his birthplace.
THE MEMORARE
Famous Prayer of St. Bernard of Clairvaux
R EMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer them. Amen.
CONTENTS
First Period
Domestic life of St. Bernard, from his birth till his entrance into the Order of Citeaux. (1091-1113)
   1. Birth of St. Bernard—First Years of His Childhood—Details Regarding His Family
   2. Education of St. Bernard—Domestic Manners of the Middle Ages
   3. Bernard Finishes His Studies and Returns to Fontaines—Death of His Mother—Temptations and Conversion
   4. Conversion of St. Bernard and Several of His Friends
   5. Community Life at Chatillon—Farewell to the Paternal Home—Conversion of Nivard
   6. Origin of the Order of Citeaux—Revelation Concerning its Future Destiny—Arrival of St. Bernard at the Monastery
Second Period
Monastic Life of St. Bernard, from His Entrance into the Order of Citeaux, to His Political Life, Connected with the Schism of Rome. (1113-1130)
   7. Novitiate of St. Bernard—His Profession—Enlargement of Citeaux—Foundation of Clairvaux
   8. Development of Clairvaux—Illness of St. Bernard—Narrative of William of St. Thierry
   9. History of Robert—Letter of St. Bernard—First Monasteries of the Filiation of Clairvaux—General Chapter of the Order of Clairvaux
  10. Another Illness of St. Bernard—Vision—Fruits of His Retirement
  11. Labors of St. Bernard—His Relations with the Carthusians—Journey to Grenoble and Paris
  12. Services Rendered by Convents—Conversion of Humbeline—Death of Gauldry
  13. Remarkable Conversions—Suger, Abbot of St. Denis—Henry, Archbishop of Sens—Stephen, Bishop of Paris—Disputes of the Last with King Louis Le Gros
  14. Continuation of the Former—Conversion of the Duchess of Lorraine, of Beatrice, of Ermengarde, Countess of Bretagne—The Virgin Sophia—Prince Henry of France—Amadeus, Prince of Germany
  15. William de St. Thierry Relates What Passed During His Stay at Clairvaux—St. Bernard's Treatise Upon "Grace and Free Will"—The Saint Is Called to the Council of Troyes
  16. Institution of the Templars—Return of St. Bernard to Clairvaux—Humiliations Which He Experiences—His Labors and Daily Preaching
Third Period
Political Life of St. Bernard. (1130-1140)
  17. State of Public Affairs in the Twelfth Century (1130-1140)
  18. Continuation of the Schism at Rome—St. Bernard Causes Innocent II to be Recognized by the Principal Christian Powers—The Antipope, Anacletus, Founds the Kingdom of Sicily
  19. Assassination of a Monk—St. Bernard Pursues the Authors of the Murder—He Receives a Visit from Pope Innocent II at Clairvaux—History of Duke William—Council of Rheims
  20. The Expedition of Lotharius to Italy—St. Bernard Restores Peace to the Italian Republics and Reconciles the Family of the Hohenstauffen with Lotharius—Council of Pisa
  21. Labors of St. Bernard in Milan—Miracles—Effusions of His Soul
  22. Continuation of the Abode of Bernard in Lombardy—Fresh Miracles—Death of St. Stephen, the Founder of the Order of Citeaux—Death of St. Norbert
  23. Return to Clairvaux—St. Bernard's Spirit of Prophecy—He Opposes the Abuse of Appeals—He Excites Lotharius to a New Expedition Against the Schismatics—He Is Recalled to Italy
  24. State of Affairs in Italy—St. Bernard at Rome—Conference of Salerno—End of the Schism
  25. Return from Rome to Clairvaux—Foundation of New Monasteries—Death of St. Bernard's Brother, Gerald—Funeral Oration
  26. Happy Consequences of the Extinction of the Schism—Preponderance of the Papacy in Italy, Germany and France—Disputes of Louis VII with the Count of Champagne—Mediation of St. Bernard—Visit of St. Malachi
Fourth Period
Scientific Life of St. Bernard, From His Disputes with the Heretics to the Preaching of the Second Crusade. (1140-1145)
  27. Preliminary Considerations—Intellectual Movement of the Middle Ages
  28. Peter Abelard—View of His Doctrines, His Life, and Misfortunes
  29. Continuation of the Preceding Chapter—Contest of St. Bernard with Abelard—Council of Sens—Conversion and Edifying Death of Abelard
  30. Application of the Doctrines of Rationalism to Politics—Arnold of Brescia—Revolution at Rome
  31. New Anxieties of St. Bernard on Account of the Election of Eugenius III—Book of the Consideration
  32. Continuation of the Preceding—General Idea of the Philosophy and Mystical Theology of St. Bernard
  33. A Glance at the Heresies Of St. Bernard's Time
Fifth Period
Apostolic Life of St. Bernard, From the Preaching of the Crusade Until His Death. (1145-1153)
  34. Idea of the Crusades—State of Christianity in the East
  35. St. Bernard is Commissioned to Preach the Crusade—Difficulties of this Mission—Assembly at Vezelay
  36. Persecution of the Jews in Germany at the Time of the Crusade—St. Bernard Undertakes Their Defense—His Letter to the People of Germany
  37. St. Bernard Goes to Germany—His Interview with the Emperor, Conrad III—Extraordinary Manifestation of His Gift of Miracles
  38. Continuation of His Journey and His Miracles—Return to Clairvaux
  39. Assembly at Etampes—Arrival of Pope Eugenius III in France—Departure of the Crusaders for the Holy Land
  40. St. Bernard Combats the Heretics in Languedoc—He Receives Two Illustrious Visitors at Clairvaux—Their History—Council of Rheims
  41. Council of Treves—Examination of the Revelations of St. Hildegarde—History of this Prophetess—Her Relations with St. Bernard—Glance at Her Writings
  42. Continuation of Preceding Chapter
  43. Visit of Pope Eugenius III to Clairvaux—Chapter of Citeaux—Great Celebrity of St. Bernard
  44. Disasters of the Crusade—Sorrows of St. Bernard
  45. Apology of St. Bernard
  46. Death of the Most Illustrious Contemporaries of St. Bernard—His Last Illness—His Last Miracle
  47. Death of St. Bernard
Advice of St. Bernard to His Sister, A Nun
Preface
B Y C ARDINAL M ANNING
T HE "Life of St. Bernard" by the Abbe Ratisbonne has already taken its place in the ecclesiastical literature of France. Among its least excellences will be found the strain of pure and natural eloquence in which the narrative is told.
St. Bernard was so eminently the saint of his age that it would be impossible to write his life without surrounding it with an extensive history of the period in which he lived, and over which he may be truly said to have ruled. The Abbé Ratisbonne has, with this view, very ably and judiciously interwoven with the personal narrative and description of the Saint the chief contemporaneous events and characters of the time.
There is, perhaps, in the annals of the Church no more remarkable instance of the power of an individual over the men of his age than in St. Bernard. A solitary religious, in the state of poverty, without office, or rank, or worldly control, or even the ecclesiastical dignities which command the obedience of others, he acquired and wielded a sway over, not his own brethren of the cloister alone, but over people of every character, rank, and state—over the priesthood, over the episcopate, over princes, kingdoms, nations, and pontiffs. The means and appliances for this vast and sustained superiority of the individual over his age were all contained within the four walls of his cell; or, more truly, within the one great heart, inflamed with the love of God; the solitary intelligence, illuminated by the light of faith; and the single will, energetic in itself, and made inflexible by union with the Divine. There seems to have been in this one mind an inexhaustible abundance, variety, and versatility of gifts. Without ever ceasing to be the holy and moritifed religious, St. Bernard appears to be the ruling will of his time. He stands forth as pastor, preacher, mystical writer, controversialist, reformer, pacificator, mediator, arbiter, diplomatist, and statesman. He appears in the schools, at the altar, in the preacher's chair, in councils of the Church, in councils of the State, amid the factions of cities, the negotiations of princes, and the contests of anti-popes. And whence came this wondrous power of dealing with affairs and with men? Not from the training and schooling of this world, but from the instincts, simplicity, and penetration of a mind profoundly immersed in God, and from a will of which the fervor and singleness of aim were supernatural.
His hand was laid, not upon the mechanism of society, but upon the motive powers which originate and sustain its action. We can hardly conceive St. Bernard invested with the ordinary routine of any official functions, how high soever they might be; they would have changed the whole idea of his life, and the whole balance and harmony of his character. It is wholesome and timely, and in an age like this, when the development of individual character is retarded and kept down by the mechanical forms and movement of modern systems, to lay open and to exhibit what are the true sources of beneficent and controlling power. They are not to be found in the customs and contri