St. Bernard

Feast Day: August 20
Born: 1090 :: Died: 1153

Bernard was born in Dijon, in France. He had six brothers and sisters and they were very well educated. He was only 17 years old when his mother died and his heart was broken.

His lively sister Humbeline did not let him remain sad and she did whatever she could to cheer him up. Soon Bernard became a very popular man. He was handsome and intelligent, full of fun and good humor and people enjoyed being with him.

Then one day, Bernard surprised all his friends by telling them he was going to join the very strict Cistercian order and become a Priest. They did all they could to make him give up the idea. But in the end, Bernard convinced his brothers, an uncle and twenty-six friends to join him.

As Bernard and his brothers left their home, they said to their little brother Nivard, who was playing with other children: "Good-bye, little Nivard. You will now have all the lands and property for yourself." But the boy answered: "What! How can all of you go to heaven and leave me here on earth? Do you call that fair?"

And when Nivard was older he too joined his brothers in the monastery. St. Bernard became a very good monk. After three years, he was sent to start a new Cistercian monastery and to be its abbot (like a parish priest).

The new monastery was in the Valley of Light which in French is called "Clairvaux" and Bernard was the abbot there for the rest of his life.

Although he would have liked to stay working and praying in his monastery, he was called out sometimes for special work. He preached, made peace between rulers, and went to advise the Pope.

He also wrote beautiful spiritual books. He became very famous and people everywhere had great respect for him. But he did not want fame. More than anything else Bernard wanted to be a monk and be close to God.

This saint had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. It is said that when he passed her statue, he often greeted her with a "Hail Mary." One day, the Blessed Mother returned his greeting: "Hail, Bernard!" And, Our Lady showed how much his love and devotion pleased her.

When St. Bernard died in 1153, people were sad because they would miss his wonderful presence in their life.

From: Ezekiel 24:15-23

Death of Ezekiel’s wife

[15] Also the word of the Lord came to me: [16] Son of man, behold, I am about
to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not
mourn or weep nor shall your tears run down. [17] Sigh, but not aloud; make no
mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do
not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners.” [18] So I spoke to the people
in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I
was commanded.

[19] And the people said to me. “Will you not tell us what these things mean
for us, that you are acting thus?” [20] Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord
came to me: [21] ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I
will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and
the desire of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind
shall fall by the sword. [22] And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover
your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners. [23] Your turbans shall be on your
heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall
pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

24:15-27. The first part of the book ends here with this moving passage revealing
the prophet’s feelings about the death of his wife. All this — the sudden death of
his wife, the fact that he does not publicly mourn her, his profound, silent grief
— is the supreme symbol of what the siege of Jerusalem involved. Ezekiel’s wife
must have been still quite young, “the delight of your eyes” (v. 16; cf. Lam 2:4),
and she must have died suddenly. She is a symbol of the temple, of which the
people were so proud; no one could have imagined it would he destroyed. Mour-
ning was a function of the person’s social status and the regard in which he or
she was held (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 3:31; 14:2; 15:30, 32), but even the humblest in so-
ciety would put on a veil and wear that sign of mourning at funeral meals, at the
“bread of mourners” (v. 17). However, Ezekiel was not to weep for his wife; nor
should the exiles show any public sign of grief; this would show that the misfor-
tunes that befell Jerusalem were a private affair between themselves and God.

The mention of the prophet’s name (v. 24), which has not appeared since the ti-
tle of the book (1:3), gives these verses the stamp of his authority. The same is
true of vv. 25-27 which tell the prophet that on the very day of his wife’s death the
fugitive will arrive reporting the destruction of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel will recover
his power of speech (cf. 3:25-27 and 33:21-22).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.