Bernard of Clairvaux , O.Cist (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis ; 1090 - August 20, 1153) is a French abbot and a key leader in the reform of Benedictine monasticism which led to the formation of the Cistercian order.
"... [H] e was sent to find a new monastery in an isolated open space in a valley known as Val d'Absinthe, about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southeast of Bar-sur- Aube According to tradition, Bernard founded the monastery on June 25, 1115, calling it Claire VallÃÆ'Â © e , which evolved into Clairvaux. Here Bernard will proclaim faith immediately, is the Mother of Mary. "In 1128, Bernard attended the Troyes Council, where he traced the lines of the Templar Knights Order, which soon became the ideal of Christian nobility.
At the death of Pope Honorius II on February 13, 1130, divisions took place in the Church. King Louis VI of France held a national council of French bishops in ÃÆ'â € tampes in 1130, and Bernard was chosen to judge between rivals for the pope. By the end of 1131, the French, British, German, Portuguese, Castilian, and Aragon empires supported Innocent; However, most of Italy, southern France, and Sicily, with the Latin patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, and Jerusalem supported Anacletus. Bernard tried to convince other areas to support Innocent.
In 1139 Bernard assists at the Second Lateran Council. He later denounced Peter Abelard's teachings to the pope, who phoned a council at Sens in 1141 to resolve the issue. Bernard immediately saw one of his students pick Pope Eugene III. Having previously helped end the divisions within the church, Bernard is now called to fight heresy. In June 1145, Bernard traveled in southern France and his preaching there helped to strengthen support for heresy.
After the Christian defeat in the Siege of Edessa, the pope commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade. The last years of Bernard's life were saddened by the failure of the Crusaders, all the responsibility that was thrown at him. Bernard died at the age of 63, after 40 years as a monk. He was the first Cistercian placed on the calendar of the saints, and canonized by Pope Alexander III on January 18, 1174. In 1830 Pope Pius VIII bestowed upon Bernard the title of "Doctor of the Church".
Video Bernard of Clairvaux
Kehidupan awal (1090-1113)
Bernard's parents were Tescelin de Fontaine, ruler of Fontaine-lÃÆ'¨s-Dijon, and AlÃÆ'¨the de Montbard, both of whom were the highest members of the Burgundy nobility. Bernard is the third of seven children, six of whom are sons. At the age of nine, he was sent to school in ChÃÆ' Â ¢ tillon-sur-Seine managed by the secular canon of Saint-Vorles. Bernard had a good taste for literature and devoted himself for some time to poetry. His success in his studies won the admiration of his teachers. He wants to excel in literature to study the Bible. He has a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, and he will then write some works about the Queen of Heaven.
Bernard would expand Anselm's role from Canterbury in transmuting sacramental Christianity in the early Middle Ages into a new and more personal faith, with the life of Christ as a model and a new emphasis on the Virgin Mary. Contrary to the rational approach to the divine understanding adopted by scholasticism, Bernard will preach faith immediately, where the intercessor is the Virgin Mary.
Bernard was only nineteen when his mother died. During his youth, he did not run away trying temptation and around this time he was thinking of retiring from the world and living a life of solitude and prayer.
In 1098 Saint Robert of Molesme had founded the CÃÆ'®teaux Abbey, near Dijon, with the aim of restoring St. Regulations. Benedict in all his firmness. Returning to Molesme, he left the new monastic government to Saint Alberic of CÃÆ'®teaux, who died in 1109. After the death of his mother, Bernard seeks recognition into the Cistercian order. At the age of 22, when Bernard was praying in a church, he felt the call of God to enter the CÃÆ'®teaux monastery. In 1113, Saint Stephen Harding had just replaced Saint Alberic as the third abbot of CÃÆ'®teaux when Bernard and thirty young nobles from Burgundy sought permission to enter the monastery. Bernard's testimony was so intolerable that his 30 friends, relatives and relatives followed him into monastic life.
Maps Bernard of Clairvaux
Abbot of Clairvaux (1115-28)
The small, reformed Benedictine community in the CÃÆ'®teaux, which will greatly affect Western monasticism, is growing rapidly. Three years later, Bernard was sent with a group of twelve monks to find a new home in VallÃÆ' © d'Absinthe, at Diocese of Langres. This Bernard was named Claire Vallà © e , or Clairvaux , on 25 June 1115, and the names of Bernard and Clairvaux would soon become inseparable. During the absence of Bishop Langres, Bernard was blessed as the abbot by William of Champeaux, Bishop of ChÃÆ' ¢ lons-sur-Marne. Since that time, a strong friendship has emerged between the abbot and bishop, who is a professor of theology at Notre Dame of Paris, and the founder of St.. Victor, Paris.
Early Clairvaux Abbey tried and hurt. The regime was so violent that Bernard became ill, and only the influence of his friend William of Champeaux and the authority of the general chapter could make him disparage the hermitage. The monastery, however, made rapid progress. Students flocked there in large numbers and placed themselves under the direction of Bernard. His reputation for purity immediately attracted 130 new monks, including his own father. His father and all his brothers entered Clairvaux to pursue a religious life, leaving only Humbeline, his sister, in the secular world. She, with the consent of her husband, immediately took the veil at the convent of the Juliet-les-Nonnains Benedictine monastery. Gerard of Clairvaux, Bernard's brother, became a Citeaux fighter. The monastery became too small for its members and needed to send a band to find a new home. In 1118 Trois-Fontaines Abbey was founded in the diocese of ChÃÆ'Â ¢ lons; at 1119 Fontenay Abbey in Autun Diocese; and in 1121 the Foigny Monastery near Vervins, in Laon's diocese. In addition to this victory, Bernard also experienced trials. During the absence of Clairvaux, the Grand Prior of the Cluny Monastery went to Clairvaux and persuaded Bernard's cousin, Robert of ChÃÂn tillon. This is the longest and most emotional chance of Bernard's letters.
In 1119, Bernard was present in the first general chapter of the order proposed by Stephen of CÃÆ'®teaux. Though not yet thirty years old, Bernard was listened with the greatest attention and respect, especially as he developed his thoughts on the rise of the primitive spirit of order and spirit in all monastic commands. It is a general chapter giving the definitive form to the constitution of the Order and the Charter of Charity, confirmed by Pope Callixtus II on December 23, 1119. In 1120, Bernard wrote his first work, De Gradibus Superbiae et Humilitatis , and the homilies he titled De Laudibus Mariae . Monastic monks Cluny is not happy to see CÃÆ'®teaux taking a leading role among the religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church. For this reason, the Black Monks sought to make it appear that the rules of the new order were impractical. At William's request from St. Thierry, Bernard defends the order by publishing his book Apology which is divided into two parts. In the first part, he proves himself innocent of Cluny's charges and at the second he gives his reason for his counterattack. He protests his pride for Benedictine from Cluny whom he claims he loves just as any other religious order. Peter Your Majesty, Cluny's abbot, answered Bernard and assured him of his sincere admiration and friendship. Meanwhile Cluny established a reformation, and Abbot Suger, minister of Louis VI of France, was amended by Bernard's Apology. He hurriedly ended his worldly life and restored the discipline in his monastery. Bernard's spirit was extended to bishops, priests, and laity. Bernard's letter to the Archbishop of Sens is seen as the true treatise, "De Officiis Episcoporum." At the same time he wrote his work on Grace and Free Will .
Doctor of the Church (1128-46)
In 1128 CE Bernard participated in the Council of Troyes, which had been praised by Pope Honorius II, and headed by Cardinal Matthew of Albano. The purpose of this council was to resolve the disputes of the Paris bishops, and to arrange other matters from the French Church. The bishops made Bernard the secretary of the council, and assigned him to draft synod laws. After the council, the bishop of Verdun was overthrown. It is on this board that Bernard traces the lines of the Templars' Rules which soon become ideal Christian nobles. Around this time, he praised them at Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae .
Once again the reprimand appeared against Bernard and he was criticized, even in Rome. He was accused as a bhikkhu who interfered with the things he did not care about. Cardinal Harmeric, on behalf of the pope, wrote Bernard a sharp warning letter stating, "It should not be a noisy and troubled frog to get out of their marshes to disturb the Holy See and the cardinals."
Bernard answered the letter by saying that, if he helped on the council, it was because he was dragged there by force, replied:
Now that Harmeric is famous if you wish, who would be better able to free me from having to help on the board than myself? Forbid the noisy frogs to get out of their holes, leaving their swamps... So your friend will no longer be accused of pride and assumption.
This letter gives a positive impression on Harmeric, and in the Vatican.
Skisma
Bernard's influence was immediately felt in the province's affairs. He defended the rights of the Church against the disorder of kings and princes, and recalled their duties Henri Sanglier, archbishop of Sens and Stephen of Senlis, the bishop of Paris. At the death of Honorius II, which occurred on February 14, 1130, divisions took place in the Church with the election of two popes, Pope Innocent II and Antipope Anacletus II. Innocent II, who had been driven out of Rome by Anacletus, took refuge in France. Louis VI held a national council of French bishops in ÃÆ'â € tampes, and Bernard, who was summoned there with the consent of the bishops, was chosen to judge among competing popes. He decided to support Innocent II. After the council of ÃÆ'â € tampes, Bernard spoke with King Henry I of England, also known as Henry Beauclerc, about the reservation of Henry I regarding Pope Innocent II. Henry I am skeptical because most of the English bishops support Antipope Anacletus II; Bernard persuaded him to support Innocent. This causes the whales to be recognized by all the great powers.
He then went with him to Italy and reconciled Pisa with Genoa, and Milan with the pope. In the same year, Bernard returned to the Reims Board on the Innocent II side. He then went to Aquitaine where he managed to time in releasing William X, Duke of Aquitania, from the cause of Anacletus.
Germany has decided to support Innocent via Norbert of Xanten, who is a friend of Bernard. However, Innocent insisted on the Bernard company when he met with Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor. Lothair II became Innocent's strongest ally amongst the nobility. Although the councils, Wurzburg, Clermont, and Rheims all support Innocent, most of the Christian world still supports Anacletus.
Bernard wrote to Gerard of Angouleme (a letter known as Letter 126), who questioned Gerard's reasons for supporting Anacletus. Bernard later commented that Gerard was his most formidable opponent throughout the schism. After persuading Gerard, Bernard traveled to visit William X, Duke of Aquitaine. He is the most difficult for Bernard to convince. He did not swear allegiance to Innocent until 1135. After that, Bernard spent most of his time in Italy to persuade the Italians to swear allegiance to Innocent. He traveled to Sicily in 1137 to convince the Sicilian king to follow Innocent. The whole conflict ended when Anacletus died on January 25, 1138.
In 1132 Bernard accompanied Innocent II to Italy, and in Cluny, the pope abolished the fees Clairvaux used to pay the monastery. This action led to a quarrel between White Monks and Black Monks lasting 20 years. In May of that year, the pope, backed by the Lothair III army, entered Rome, but Lothair III, felt himself too weak to fight Anacletus partisans, retire outside the Alps, and Innocent sought refuge in Pisa in 1133 September. Bernard had returned to France in June and continued the peace work that had begun in 1130. By the end of the year 1134, he made a second trip to Aquitaine, where William X lapsed into schism. Bernard invited William to the Mass he celebrated at La Canre Church. In the Eucharist, he "rebuked the Duke for not despising God as he did his servants". William surrendered and the schism ended. Bernard went again to Italy, where Roger II of Sicily tried to attract the Pisans from their loyalty to Innocent. He remembered the city of Milan to be obedient to the pope as they followed the deposed Anselm V, the Archbishop of Milan. For this, he was offered, and he refused, the archbishop of Milan. He then returned to Clairvaux. Confidently ultimately secure at the monastery, Bernard devoted himself with renewed vigor to the composition of works that would win him the title of "Doctor of the Church". He wrote his current sermon on Song of Songs . In 1137, he was once again forced to abandon his solitude on the orders of the pope to end the dispute between Lothair and Roger of Sicily. At a conference held in Palermo, Bernard convinced Roger about the rights of Innocent II. He also silenced the last supporters who defended the split. Anacletus died of "sadness and disappointment" in 1138, and with him the split ended.
In 1139 Bernard assists at the Second Lateran Council, where the survivors of the schism are condemned. At the same time, Bernard was visited at Clairvaux by Saint Malachy, Primate of All Ireland, and a very close friendship formed between them. Malachy wants to be a Cistercian, but the pope will not give his permission. Malachy will die at Clairvaux in 1148.
Contest with Abelard
Toward the end of the 11th century, the spirit of independence developed in the school of philosophy and theology. This causes time for the rapture of human reason and rationalism. The movement found a strong and strong supporter at Peter Abelard. Abelard's account of the Trinity was condemned as heretical in 1121, and he was forced to cast his own book into the fire. However, Abelard continues to develop his teachings, which are controversial in some quarters. Bernard, being told this by William of St-Thierry, is said to have held a meeting with Abelard intending to persuade him to change his writings, in which Abelard repented and promised to do so. But once out of Bernard's presence, he denied it. Bernard denounced Abelard to the pope and cardinals of the Curia. Abelard sought a debate with Bernard, but Bernard initially refused, saying that he did not feel the important things had to be solved by logical analysis. Bernard's letters to William of St-Thierry also expressed his understanding of dealing with a prominent logician. Abelard continued to press for public debate, and made his challenge widely known, making it difficult for Bernard to refuse. In 1141, at Abelard's insistence, the archbishop of Sens called a bishop's council, where Abelard and Bernard had to lay down their respective cases in order for Abelard to have a chance to clear his name. Bernard lobbied the bishops the night before the debate, swinging many of them into his gaze. The next day, after Bernard made his opening statement, Abelard decided to retire without trying to answer. The council found Bernard's favor and their judgment confirmed by the pope. Abelard surrendered without a fight, and he retired to Cluny to live under the protection of Peter the Venerable, where he died two years later.
Cistercian Order and heresy
Bernard had occupied himself in sending a group of brothers from overcrowded monasteries to Germany, Sweden, England, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland and Italy. Some of these, on the orders of Innocent II, took over Tre Fontane Abbey, from which Eugene III would be elected in 1145. Pope Innocent II died in 1143. His two successors, Pope Celestine II and Pope Lucius II, reigned in no time, and then Bernard saw one of his disciples, Bernard of Pisa, and subsequently known as Eugene III, was appointed to the seat of St. Peter. Bernard sent it, at the request of the pope himself, the instructions consisting of the Scriptures, the dominant idea was that the Church's reform should begin with the purity of the pope. Temporal things are just accessories; the principles according to Bernard's work are piety and meditation that precede action.
Having previously helped end the divisions within the Church, Bernard is now called to fight heresy. Henry of Lausanne, a former Cluny monk, has adopted the teachings of Petrobrusian, Peter's follower of Bruys and spread it in a modified form after Peter's death. Henry of the Lausanne followers is known as the Henricians. In June 1145, at the invitation of Cardinal Alberic of Ostia, Bernard traveled in southern France. His sermon, aided by the appearance of hermits and simple clothes, helped destroy the new sects. Both Henrician and Petrobrusian faiths began to die by the end of the year. Soon afterwards, Henry of Lausanne was arrested, brought before the bishop of Toulouse, and possibly imprisoned for life. In a letter to the people of Toulouse, undoubtedly written at the end of the year 1146, Bernard called them to persecute the last remnants of heresy. He also preached against Catharism. Second Second Crusade (1146-49) Second Crusade h2>
The news comes at this moment from the Holy Land that is concerned about Christianity. The Christians had been defeated in the Siege of Edessa and most of the territory fell into the hands of the Seljuk Turks. The Kingdom of Jerusalem and other Crusader states were threatened with similar disasters. The Roman bishops' appeal for help from the pope, and the King of France also sent an ambassador. In 1144 Eugene III commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade and give the same indulgence for him that Pope Urban II had given to the First Crusade.
At first there was no popular enthusiasm for the crusade as it did in 1095. Bernard felt it necessary to keep silent as he took the cross as a powerful means of obtaining forgiveness of sins and gaining grace. On March 31, with King Louis VII of France present, he preached to the people in a field in VÃÆ'Ã… © zelay. James Meeker Ludlow describes the romantic scene in his book The Age of the Crusades :
A large stage was erected on a hill outside the city. Kings and monks stand together, representing the combined will of earth and heaven. The enthusiasm of Clermont's meeting in 1095, when Peter the Hermit and Urban II launched the first crusade, was matched by Bernard-inspired divine spirit when he exclaimed, "You who listen to me! Haste to appease the anger of heaven, but no longer plead his goodness with a vain grievance Cleanse yourself in sackcloth but also cover yourself with impenetrable shooters The appeal of weapons, dangers, labor, uniforms of war, is the plague that God has now inflicted upon you.. Memorize later to atone -dose you with victory over the Gentiles, and let the liberation of the holy places be a reward of your repentance. "As in the old scene, the cry" Deus vult! Deus vult "rolled over the fields, and echoed by the orator's voice:" Cursed is the one who does not stain his sword with blood. "
When Bernard finished the enlisted crowd en masse; they should have run out of cloth to make a cross. Bernard is said to have given his own outer clothing to cut to make more. In contrast to the First Crusade, this new venture attracted royalties, such as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France; Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders; Henry, the Count of Champagne of the future; Brother Louis, Robert I of Dreux; Alphonse I of Toulouse; William II of Nevers; William de Warenne, the 3rd Earl of Surrey; Hugh VII of Lusignan, Yves II, Count Soissons; and many other nobles and bishops. But greater support comes from ordinary people. Bernard wrote to the Pope several days later, "The towns and the castles are now empty, no one left for seven women, and everywhere there are widows to the living husband."
Bernard then entered Germany, and the reported miracles that doubled almost at every step no doubt contributed to his mission's success. Conrad III of Germany and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa, received a cross from Bernard's hands. Pope Eugenius came alone to France to encourage the company. As in the First Crusade, preaching led to attacks on Jews; a rabid French monk named Radulphe apparently inspired the massacre of Jews in Rhineland, Cologne, Mainz, Worms, and Speyer, with Radulphe claiming the Jews did not contribute financially to save the Holy Land. The archbishop of Cologne and the archbishop of Mainz strongly opposed these attacks and asked Bernard to denounce them. This he did, but as the campaign progressed, Bernard traveled from Flanders to Germany to deal with the issues directly. He later found Radulphe in Mainz and was able to silence him, returning him to his monastery.
The last years of Bernard's life were saddened by the failure of the Second Crusade he preached, all the responsibilities thrown at him. Bernard considered it his job to send an apology to the Pope and was inserted in the second part of the "Consideration Book." There he explained how the sins of the crusaders were the cause of their misfortune. and failure.
Moved by burning words, many Christians went to the Holy Land, but the crusade ended with a miserable failure.
Last year (1149-53)
The death of his contemporaries was a warning to Bernard about the end of his life. The first to die was Suger in 1152, among them Bernard wrote to Eugene III, "If there is a precious vase that decorates the king's palace's palace is the soul of the glorious Suger." Conrad III and his son Henry died in the same year. From the beginning of 1153, Bernard felt his death approaching. The departure of Pope Eugenius has struck a fatal blow by taking from him the person he considers to be his greatest friend and entertainer. Bernard died at the age of sixty-three on August 20, 1153, after forty years spent at the monastery. He was buried in Clairvaux Abbey, but after his dissolution in 1792 by the French revolutionary government, his body was transferred to Troyes Cathedral.
Theology
Bernard was named the Doctor of the Church in 1830. On the 800th anniversary of his death, Pope Pius XII issued an encyclical on Bernard,
Abbas Clairvaux, who first developed the theology of sacred space and music, wrote extensively on both.
Bernard, like Thomas Aquinas, rejected the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. John Calvin quotes Bernard several times in support of the Sola Fide doctrine, which Martin Luther describes as an article on which the church stands or falls. Calvin also quoted him in establishing his doctrine of the truth of foreign forensics, or as it is commonly called the truth to be reckoned with.
Temptations and intercessions
One day, to cool his lustful passion, Bernard threw himself into the icy water. Another time, while sleeping in an inn, a prostitute is introduced naked beside him, and he saves his chastity by running.
Many miracles are associated with intercession. One time he restored the power of speaking to an old man that he might confess his sins before he died. At other times, a large number of flies, which had infect the Foigny Church, died shortly after the excommunication he had done to them.
So great was his reputation that the prince and pope sought his advice, and even the enemies of the Church admired the holiness of his life and the greatness of his writings.
Spirituality
Bernard plays a role in re-emphasizing the importance of lectio divina and contemplation of Scripture in the Cistercian order. Bernard has observed that when lactio divina is ignored, monasticism is neglected. Bernard considers the lectio divina and the contemplation guided by the Holy Spirit as the key to growing Christian spirituality.
Bernard "noted centuries ago: those who were their own spiritual directors had fools for the disciples."
Legacy
Bernard's theology and Mariology continue to be very important, especially in the Cistercian and Trappist commands. Bernard led the founding of 163 monasteries in different parts of Europe. At his death, they numbered 343. His influence led Alexander III to launch a reform that would lead to the formation of canon law. He was the first Cistercian monk stationed on the calendars of the saints and canonized by Alexander III January 18, 1174. Pope Pius VIII bestowed upon him the title of "Doctor of the Church". She was labeled "Doctor Mellifluous" for her eloquence. Cistercia respected him as the founder of the order because of the widespread activity he gave to the order.
"Prayer to the Cross of Jesus" Saint Bernard is often published in Catholic prayer books.
Bernard was Dante Alighieri's last guide, in Divine Comedy, as he traveled through the Empyrean. Dante's choice seems to be based on Bernard's contemplative mystique, his devotion to Mary, and his reputation for eloquence.
He is also a poet of authoritative poetry that is often translated in English hymns as "O Sacred Heart, Now Wicked" and "Jesus Thought of You".
Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard, a collection of buildings dating back to the 12th, 17th and 19th centuries, is dedicated to Bernard and standing at his birthplace Fontaine-la-Dijon.
Working
The modern critical edition is Latin Sancti Bernardi opera (1957-1977), edited by Jean Leclercq.
His sermons are also numerous:
- Most famous is his Sermones super Cantica Canticorum ( Sermon on Song of Solomon ). Although it has sometimes been argued that the form of the sermon is a rhetorical device in a set of works that was only ever designed to be read, since such fine and long literary pieces can not be accurately recorded by a monk when Bernard preaches, the recent scholarship tends toward the theory that, although what is in these texts is certainly the result of Bernard's writings, they may find their origins in the sermons preached to the monks of Clairvaux. Bernard began writing this in 1135 but died without completing the series, with 86 full sermons. These sermons contain an autobiographical section, preaching 26, grieving over the death of his brother, Gerard. After Bernard died, Cistercian Gilbert of Hoyland of England proceeded an incomplete series of Bernardus of 86 sermons on the Song of the Bible. Gilbert wrote 47 sermons before he died in 1172, taking the series up to Chapter 5 of the Song of Songs. Another British Cistercian abbot, John of Ford, wrote 120 other sermons on the Song of Songs, thus completing the Cistercian sermon on the book.
- There are 125 survivors Sermones per year ( Sermons on Liturgical Years ).
- There is also Sermones de diversis ( Sermon on Different Topics ).
- 547 surviving letters.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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