Letters291 Letter CCXCI. To pope Eugenius for the church of s. Eugendus'-' in the jura.

St Bernard of Clairvaux († 1153) · Epistolae · c. 1120-1153

Letter CCXCI. To pope Eugenius for the church of s. Eugendus'-' in the jura.

If what is said is true, and it is not wholly to be rejected, the famous monastery of S. Eugendus, formerly renowned for its wealth and piety, is ready to perish. I grieve to see houses belonging to it, which are near us and known to you, partly destroyed already, and partly being destroyed daily. What we see in the members we have heard by report is worse even in the head. But why should I give you an account now of these evils which are numberless? The bearer of this, a monk of the same monastery, and the Prior Archegaud, a man long known to me for his worth, and beloved for his piety, will be able to tell you what they know more fully than I do, although not everything. For who could do this? The evils are so many and so great that it is a wonder if they do not compel the apostolic axe to lift itself and strike, even though it be hiding itself and sleeping. I have liberated my soul, but it is not enough, unless the monastery be also liberated. Its life and death are in your hands.

Sancti-Eugendi nobile monasterium, olim divitiis et religione famosum, si vera sunt quae dicuntur, prope interitum est. Nec decredenda omnia. Domos vicinas nobis, vobis notas, pertinentes ad ipsum, partim jam destructas, partim in dies destrui cernimus, et dolemus. Quae in membris videmus, haec et his graviora de capite fama nuntiante percepimus. Sed numquid debeo ego nunc malorum vobis, quorum non est numerus, retexere narrationem? Lator praesentium monachus praefati monasterii, et Archegaudus Prior, homo nobis ab antiquo pro sua honestate et religione dilectus, poterunt vobis intimare quae plenius norunt, etsi non omnia: quis enim hoc posset? Tot et tanta pro certo, quae apostolicam securim, etsi dissimulantem, etsi dormitantem, mirum si non surgere et ferire compellant. Ego liberavi animam meam: sed non sufficit, nisi et monasterium liberetur. In manibus vestris mors et vita illius.

Samuel J. Eales (active by 1879; M.A., Principal of S. Boniface College, Warminster, in 1882), Life and Works of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, edited by Dom John Mabillon, vols. I-III, London: Burns & Oates / John Hodges, 1889-1896. Digital text: OCR of Internet Archive scans saintbernardlife00bernuoft, saintbernardlife02bernuoft, lifeworksofsaint03bern, word-repaired against second copies (lifeworksofsaint01bern, lifeworksofsaint02bern, LifeWorksOfSBernardClairvauxV3). Original text: Corpus Corporum (University of Zurich) TEI of the Patrologia Latina, via the CatholicCorpus mirror. Public domain in the US and Canada: published 1889-1896; translator active by 1879, an M.A. and principal in 1882; necessarily died before 1972. Latin: Migne, Patrologia Latina 182-183 (1854), public domain.

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