Letters319 Letter CCCXIX. (Circa a.d to Thurstan, archbishop of York.
Letter CCCXIX. (Circa a.d to Thurstan, archbishop of York.
He advises and begs him not to resign his See: but if there are good reasons for his doing so, and the Pope sanctions it, he should seek a religious house of strict observance for his place of retreat.
To the Reverend father and lord THURSTAN, by the grace of God Archbishop of York, BERNARD, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes health in the present life and in the future life eternal.
1. I praise you for desiring quiet, and that you long to rest in peace in the Lord. But those reasons which you allege for laying down your pastoral charge seem to me insufficient: unless (which I do not believe, and may God forbid) you have some mortal sin to reproach yourself with, or permission has been given you by the supreme Pontiff to resign. You have not forgotten, I am sure, that rule of the Apostle: Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed (1 Cor. vii. 27). By an engagement, such as you say you have taken, a Bishop is not bound any farther than that he should persevere in the ministry to which he has been called.
2. It seems, then, to me, without attempting to impose 'my advice upon you to the prejudice of any that is wiser, that you should continue to hold the office that you have now, and should exhibit in a Bishop the humble dress and the holiness of life of a monk.- However, if some secret motive makes it a duty for you to lay down your charge, or if the Pope indulges your wish for quiet, I advise you, according to my humble lights, not to let any degree of hardship in food or clothing, nor any extremity of poverty deter you from entering some religious house where you may hope to find the most strict observance. Although you must remember in houses of this kind, though everything is sacrificed to the soul, yet this must be so done that due account is taken of age or of weakness. As I am entirely devoted to you, I pray God most earnestly to inspire you to whatever course of action may be for the best; and to enable you so to carry the burden and heat of the day that you may receive in the evening the denarius of the parable impressed with the image of the King.
Reverendo patri et domino TURSTINO, Dei gratia Eboracensi archiepiscopo, BERNARDUS Clarae-Vallensis vocatus abbas, salutem, non tam in via, quam in patria.
1. Laudamus quod optatis quietem, et desiderium habetis cum pace obdormire in Domino. Verumtamen istae quas praetenditis causae, curae pastorali non videntur posse praescribere: nisi forte (quod absit! et nos non credimus) mortale aliquid commissum sit, aut summi Pontificis auctoritate emerito fuerit indulta licentia. Nam neque vos ignorare credimus illud Apostoli: Alligatus es uxori? noli quaerere solutionem Verbo siquidem promissionis, qualem vos fecisse dicitis, non tenetur episcopus, quominus in eo quo vocatus est ministerio perserveret.
2. Videtur ergo nobis, sanius sapienti non praescribentibus, ut quod tenetis teneatis, et humilitatis habitu, vitaeque sanctitate monachum exhibeatis in episcopo. Quod si aut causa latens cedere compellat, aut dominus Papa quietem indulgeat, pro nostro exiguo sapere consilium damus ut nulla victus aut vestitus asperitas, nulla omnino paupertas vos deterreat, quominus transeatis, ubi majorem invenire speratis puritatem. Quanquam in hujusmodi domibus, animabus sic consulitur, ut, pro aetate et imbecillitate, congrua cura corporibus non negetur. Vestri sumus, pro vobis Deum rogamus attentius, quatenus aspiret vobis quod melius est, concedatque pondus diei et aestus sic portare, ut ad vesperam regia signatum imagine recipiatis denarium.