Letters448 Letter CDXLVIII. To the King of France.

Bernard excuses himself from undertaking a dignity to which he had been elected.

To the King of France, Brother Bernard, health.

I rejoice sincerely, I confess it, that you take such a sincere interest in the things which belong to God. For to pass over other proofs of it, you would not interest yourself so greatly in the promotion of a poor and humble man, and all to no purpose, if it were not in the cause of God: by what other advantage can you be moved so to act, seeing that I am a poor and helpless man? You do not merely assent to my elevation, but you have the goodness to ask me to accept it. You show to me your royal favour, you pour upon me the treasures of your kindness, and that I, insignificant as I am, should not tremble at the weight of honours, you assure me of your royal assistance and protection. What condescension in a sovereign, what ripe wisdom in one who is so young! But I, O best of Kings, can by no means agree to put forth my weak hands, my poor and paltry spirit, my body broken down so that scarcely anything remains for it but the grave, to the duties of the strong, nor do I, thus unworthy and insufficient, dare to enter upon those holy functions. This the electors ought to have considered; but if they are unmindful of it, yet I am not able to assent 1 This letter seems to have been written on the election of S. Bernard to the Archbishopric of Rheims, after the death of Archbishop Rainauld, when the vote of all the electors fell upon the Abbot of Clairvaux; which dignity he refused, as he did many others. After the See had been vacant for two years, Samson was elected in 1140.

J5r because I read: “Have mercy upon thine own soul, thou who art dear to God” (Ecclus. xxx, 23 Vulg). Or if they believed me to be worthy because of the habit of religion which I bear, yet in this habit there is an appearance of holiness, not holiness itself.

No one is better known to me than myself; to no one so well as to myself am I known; nor assuredly can I believe those who see only my face and judge of me only from the outside, against the testimony of my conscience. Behold I, and the children whom God has given me, pray here, although sinners, for your kingdom and your person: it would be a hard and cruel thing to separate us one from the other; you would provoke us not to pray but to weep. The above is sufficient as regards men: but now on behalf of the Church, deign, I entreat you, to give attention to a few words about what I have in my mind. The mistress of churches sits in sadness and her tears are upon her cheeks: her beautiful colour is changed, her former comeliness faded, her costly and precious ornaments trodden under foot, her nobleness brought into contempt and her liberty into servitude. I am tormented in this flame, nor can there be any thought of consolation for me, until a deliverer comes to console her. Let reverence for her Spouse touch your heart, by whose Blood you have been redeemed, by whose likeness you have been adorned, by whose heritage you have been made rich, and let your pious proposal be carried out; that the Spouse who is so dear to our one Lord may no longer be left to struggle with a crowd of evils, with which her eyes are pained. I say to you, and I say it as one truly faithful, that it is not expedient for you (to permit this to go on). May it be granted to you, O noble and most illustrious King, so to govern the Kingdom of Lrance, that you may thereby gain the Kingdom of Heaven.

Letter CDXLIX.