Letters288 Letter CCLXXXVIII. To his uncle Andrew, a knight of the temple. (A.D. 1153)
Letter CCLXXXVIII. To his uncle Andrew, a knight of the temple. (A.D. 1153)
Bernard deplores the unhappy issue of the Crusade.
1. The letter which you lately sent me found me lying in bed. I received it with open hands, joyfully, read and re-read it, but should have been more joyful could I have seen you yourself. I read in it of your desire to see me, and of your fear because of the danger threatening the land which the Lord honoured by His presence, the State which He consecrated by His own blood. Woe to our princes! l In the Lord's land they did no good, in their own, to which they returned with all speed, they practise incredible mischief, and they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. They are mighty to do evil, but good they cannot do. But I trust that the Lord will not reject His people, and will not cast away His inheritance. Moreover, the right hand of the Lord will yet execute power, and His arm will help Him, that all may know that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in princes. You do well to compare yourself to an ant. For what else are we children of men, who are born of the earth, always labouring after useless and empty things? What profit is there to a man for all his labour wherewith he labours under the sun? Let us, therefore, climb up above the sun, and let our conversation be in heaven; let us in mind go before thither whether we shall one day follow in body. There, my dear Andrew, is the fruit of your labour, there is your reward. You are warring under the sun, but it is for One who sits.above the sun. Let us who tight here expect from Him our largesse. The reward of our warfare is not of the earth, is not from beneath; its prize is from afar, and from the utmost Jand. Under the sun is want, above the sun abundance. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall men give into our bosom (S. Luke vi. 38). 2. You wish to see me; and you say that the gratification of
1. Litterae tuae, quas novissime transmisisti, invenerunt me in lectulo decumbentem. Accepi eas obviis manibus; libenter legi, libenter relegi, sed libentius te vidissem. Legi in illis desiderium tuum videndi me, legi et metum tuum pro periculo terrae, quam Dominus sua praesentia honoravit; periculo civitatis, quam suo sanguine dedicavit. Vae principibus nostris. In terra Domini nihil boni fecerunt: in suis, ad quas velociter redierunt, incredibilem exercent malitiam, et non compatiuntur super contritione Joseph. Potentes sunt ut faciant mala, bonum autem facere nequeunt. Confidimus autem quia non repellet Dominus plebem suam, et haereditatem suam non derelinquet. Porro dextera Domini faciet virtutem, et brachium suum auxiliabitur ei: ut cognoscant omnes quia bonum est sperare in Domino, quam sperare in principibus. Bene facis formicae te comparans. Quid enim aliud quam formicae quique terrigenae et filii hominum sumus, rebus inutilibus atque inanibus insudantes? Quae autem abundantia homini de universo labore suo, quo ipse laborat sub sole? Ergo ascendamus super solem, et conversatio nostra in coelis sit, jam mente praecedentes, quo sumus et corpore secuturi. Ibi, mi Andrea, ibi fructus laboris tui; ibi retributio tua. Sub sole militas, sed sedenti super solem. Hic militantes, inde donativa exspectemus. Merces militiae nostrae non de terra, non de deorsum est: procul et ab ultimis finibus pretium ejus. Sub sole penuria est: super solem abundantia est. Mensuram bonam, et confertam, et coagitatam, et supereffluentem dabunt in sinus nostros.
2. Desideras me videre; et de meo, ut scribis, arbitrio desiderii tui pendet effectus. Nam mandatum super hoc meum te indicas exspectare. Et quid dicam tibi? Et cupio ut venias, et timeo ne venias. Ita inter velle et nolle positus, coarctor e duobus; et quid eligam, ignoro. Unum, ne videlicet tuo satisfaciam desiderio, et meo pariter: an credam magis celebri de te opinioni, qua terrae ita pernecessarius praedicaris, ut de tua absentia non mediocris illi desolatio imminere credatur. Itaque quod mandare non audeo, opto tamen ut te videam antequam moriar. Tu melius id videre et cognoscere potes, si quo modo sine damno, et sine scandalo illius gentis venire possis. Et fieri posset quod adventus tuus omnino non esset inutilis. Forte favente Deo non deessent qui te sequerentur revertentem ad subveniendum Ecclesiae Dei, quoniam omnibus notus es et dilectus. Potest facere Deus ut et tu cum sancto patriarcha Jacob loquaris: In baculo meo transivi Jordanem istum, et ecce cum tribus turmis regredior. Unum dico: si venturus es, ne tardaveris, ne forte venias, et non me invenias. Ego enim jam delibor, nec puto me longum facere super terram. Quis mihi tribuat tua, in voluntate Domini, amabili et dulci praesentia vel paululum refrigerari, priusquam abeam? Reginae scripsi, sicut voluisti, et gaudeo de bono testimonio quod ei perhibes. Magistrum et fratres vestros omnes de Templo, nec non et eos de Hospitali, per te in Domino salutamus. Inclusos quoque et sanctos omnes, ad quos opportune loqui poteris, per te in Domino salutantes, eorum nos orationibus commendamus. Esto pro me ad eos. Girardum nostrum, qui in domo nostra aliquando conversatus est, et nunc, ut audivimus, episcopus factus est, et ipsum affectu magno devotissime salutamus.