Letters347 Letter CCCXLVII. To the same (Circa A.D. 1141)
Letter CCCXLVII. To the same (Circa A.D. 1141)
He recommends to the Pope the deputies of the Diocese of York, who are going to Rome on account of the matter of the Archbishop.
To his very dear lord and father, INNOCENT, supreme Pontiff, Brother BERNARD, called Abbot of Clairvaux, sends his humble duty.
These men whom you see before you are simple, honest, and God-fearing; it is the Spirit of God that sends them to the sight of your glory, and they have no other aim than to obtain justice. Cast your eyes, I pray you, upon these poor and wearied men, who, not without cause, have come to you from far, not regarding the great distance by land, nor the peril of the sea, nor the snows of the Alps, nor the great cost of the journey, though they are poor. Let my lord then kindly see to it that neither the intrigue nor ambition of any one render such great fatigues useless; especially since they do not seek their own advantage, but those things which are of Jesus Christ. For not even an enemy, I suppose, can suspect them of being influenced in this matter by any private interest or by personal hatred, but only by the fear of God. Let, then, any one who is a servant of God, put himself on their side. If the barren tree shall encumber the ground any longer, to whom can I attach blame, except to him who holds the axe?
Amantissimo patri et domino INNOCENTIO summo Pontifici, frater BERNARDUS, Clarae-Vallensis vocatus abbas, modicum id quod est.
Hic quos videtis, viri sunt simplices et recti ac timentes Deum. Et nunc in spiritu ascenderunt ad conspectum gloriae vestrae, justitiae utique solius intuitu et obtentu. Ponite, quaeso, oculos vestros super fatigatos pauperes, quia non sine causa de longe ad vos veniunt, nec longa terrarum spatia, nec maris periculum, nec Alpium nives, nec sumptus grandis viae, cum pauperes sint, reputantes. Provideat ergo dominus meus, ne cujus fraus vel ambitio tantos labores evacuare praevaleat: praesertim cum non quae sua sunt quaerant, sed quae Jesu Christi. Neque enim vel inimicum arbitror suspicari eos privato amore vel odio in id negotii excitatos, sed solo timore Dei. Itaque, si quis Dei est, jungatur eis. Si deinceps terram occupaverit arbor infructuosa, cujus culpam dixerim, nisi tenentis securim?