Letters371 Letter CCCLXXI. To the same (Circa A.n. 1147)

Bernard opposes the marriage projected between the son of the Count of Anjou and the daughter of the King of France, on account of the impediment of consanguinity.

To the lord Abbot of S. Denys, Brother BERNARD, of Clairvaux, health and the assurance of his prayers.

I have written thus to the lord King:—"You have undertaken an enterprise important and weighty, which no one is able to carry through except by the assistance of Divine strength. The business" in which you are engaged is above the powers of man, but that is easy to God which to men is impossible (S. Luke xviii. 27).

"Knowing this you ought to take the greatest care not in any way to repulse the help so necessary to you, nor by any project of yours to offend God and to deprive yourself of the furtherance of His grace. You ought,'I repeat, now to take the greatest care never to provoke God so that He should be angry with you, should turn away His face, and withdraw His assistance from you. For this danger affects not the King alone, but the whole Church of God, since the cause which you have undertaken is also that of the whole world. Listen, and you will learn the cause which induces me to remind you of these facts. I am hastening indeed to your presence, as this letter shows, but I have formed the project of keeping the vigil of S. Mary Magdalene at Laon. Nevertheless, I have taken care to forewarn you by another letter of the danger which I am anxious that you should avoid. For I have heard that the Count of Anjou is pressing you to engage under oath your daughter to his son in marriage. Now this union is not only inexpedient, but it is not lawful; as well for other reasons as because of the impediment of consanguinity; since I know upon trustworthy information that the mother of the Queen, and of that young man, the son of the Count of Anjou, are related in the third degree. On this account permit me to urge you by no means to enter into this engagement, but to fear God and depart from evil. You have promised me that you would on no account do this without consulting me: and I should have done wrong if I had hidden from you my view. My advice then is by no means to go on with the affair. If you do, you will have acted both against my advice and that of many others who are your well-wishers; and also against the will of God. Do not think that after that God will accept your sacrifice, since it is made only in part: so that while you are combating on behalf of another kingdom, you do not leave your own in safety, while you order it against the will and the law of God, as also against what is honourable and advisable. I have now freed my own soul of responsibility: may God free yours also from lying lips and the deceitful tongue."

Letter CCCLXXIL (Circa A.D. 1147.) To P., BISHOP OF PALENCIA, IN SPAIN.

To his venerable lord and very dear father P., by the grace of God Bishop of Palencia, BERNARD, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes health, and prays that the Lord may prevent him \vith the blessings of sweetness.

Who will give me the wings of a dove that I may take my flight to repose within the odour of your sanctity? Your saintly life and the purity of your character have filled me with the odour of your sweetness, which seems to me, as it were, the odour of a fertile field which the Lord hath blessed. In it my soul is truly filled with marrow and fatness, and in such is the life of my spirit. For how can it be otherwise, when I hear of a man of lofty character and yet humble, full of cares and business, and yet peaceful, and trembling at the Word of the Lord. O rare bird upon the earth, humility conjoined with high station, and a tranquil mind in the midst of the hurry of business! You have made to rejoice, my lord, the soul of your servant; may the merciful Lord make yours also rejoice with the joy of His people. I have rejoiced with great joy on hearing such things as I had not expected reported of you. For my brethren, the bearers of your letter, reported to me your zeal in mortifying the flesh and reducing it to subjection, your habit of meditation, your love of reading, the gentleness of your manners, your kindness to all, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Hut do not think, my dear lather, that in speaking these words I intend to celebrate your praises. The word of blame spoken by the Prophet is before my mind: Those who praise thee, my people, they deceive thee. I am unwilling, though a sinner, to pour upon your head the oil of sinful praise: but rather the oil of joy which proceeds from a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. Nor am I a trafficker in this oil; 1 have only too little with which to anoint myself for the arena of this world; but I cannot pass over in silence the virtues which are to the praise of Christ. Let not the creature, but the Creator be praised. Let Him who gives, not he who has received, be exalted: not he who plants nor he who waters are to be praised, for they are nothing, but He who gives the increase, that is God. I, then, will praise the hand which is stretched out to give, not that stretched out to receive: the praise of the*Lord, and not of His servant shall come out of my mouth. Do thou, then, my dear father, recognize, if you are wise, or rather because you are wise, that the grace which is in you does not come from yourself, but descends from the Father of Lights, since every good gift and every perfect gift is from above (S. James i. 17). I know that there are certain persons who-have, as it were, a wise unwillingness to know the gifts which they have received from the Lord, so that they be not puffed up with pride nor fall into the snare of the devil. But it seems to me that I ought to know what I have-received, in order that I may know what is wanting to me,, and that I ought to know with the Apostle the things which have been bestowed upon me by God, in order that I may not be ignorant what I ought still to desire and pray fcr. For he who has received something and knows it not, is exposed to the double danger of being ungrateful for what he has received, and careless in preserving it. For how can any one render gratitude to a benefactor if he does not know that he has received anything from him? Or how will he be careful to guard that which he is not aware that he has received? Take away from me, O Lord, the blame of that ungrateful people of whom it is said: They forgat what He had done and the wonderful works that He had showed for them (Psalm Ixxviii. 12). A benefit received, therefore, even according to the wise of this world, is to be graven deep in the tablets of the memory. It behoves us, then, that we should know how to take care of the gifts, which we have received, and so that the grace of God in us may not be in vain: and that it may remain in us always, let us always render thanks to the Lord our God. I think it may be added, not unusefully, that you should proceed by three steps to the obtaining of grace and salvation: humility, faith, and fear. For humility is that quality to which grace is given, faith that in which it is received, fear that in which it is preserved. If we should wish to ascend to the throne of grace without the use of these three, I fear that it would be said to us, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep (S. John iv. n). Let us, then, in order to drink of the water of wisdom, have the rope of humility i and let this humility be in mouth, in heart, and in action: which threefold cord is not easily broken. Let us have faith, as it were, for a water jar, and let it be great, so that much grace may be received in it: and let fear be, as it were, its cover, lest the water of wisdom be defiled with the impurities of vainglory: for it is written, Every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it sJiall be unclean (Num. xix. 15). Your devotion to reading also, in which you embrace not only the writings of great men, but also, the trifles which I have penned, calls for some mention from me: so that you may perceive what joy your kindly feeling has given to my heart.