Calendar

Abbot of Claivaux; Doctor of the Church
b. 1090
d. August 20, 1153

The first Cistercian monk to be placed on the Calendar of Saints, Bernard founded 163 monastaries in Europe. He is credited with a profound rise in the veneration of Mary in the twelfth century.

In Dante's Divine Comedy, Bernard is the last of the guides through Paridiso, taking Dante toward the very face of God in the Empyrean.

Bernard is credited with writing the words to some of the hymns we continue to sing, including: O Jesus, joy of loving hearts (#649) and Jesus, the very thought of thee (#642).

Collect:

O God, by whose grace thy servant Bernard of Clairvaux, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and a shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.