Azione Romana

Letters383 Letter CCCLXXXIII. To the same abbot of s. Bertin. (Circa A. D. 1150)

san Bernardo di Chiaravalle († 1153) · Epistolae · c. 1120-1153

Letter CCCLXXXIII. To the same abbot of s. Bertin. (Circa A. D. 1150)

Bernard begs him to continue the kindness hitherto shown to his brethren.

To his very dear friend Leonius, the venerable Abbot of S. Bertin, Brother Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes health in Him who desires the salvation of Jacob.

Your charity shows sufficiently well how much reason I have for relying upon you; since it lets no occasion pass for making itself known, nor hides its light under a bushel. And I feel exceedingly grateful for all the kindnesses, which you do to my brethren, who are settled near you.

[These were the monks of Clairmarets, near S. Omer. Manrique refers the foundation of this house to A. D. 1138. According to the Chronology, A. D. 1140].

What you do for them, you do for me: and indeed I feel more grateful on account of what is done for them, than if it were done for myself. I pray you then to continue your kindness to them, since they are so far from us that I cannot assist them as I ought. Let your kindness supply my place: be to them a father, and let them be to you as sons. If ever the occasion presents itself for me to manifest my gratitude, rest assured that I will give you convincing proofs of it. Farewell.

Amico suo charissimo LEONIO, Sancti Bertini venerabili abbati, frater BERNARDUS Clarae-Vallis vocatus abbas, salutem in eo qui mandat salutes Jacob.

Quod merito confidam de vobis, charitas vestra palam fecit, quae inventa occasione se ipsam innotescendi, non potuit latere sub modio. Gratissima habeo illa officia humanitatis, quae fratribus nostris impenditis, qui habitant juxta vos. Quod illis facitis, mihi facitis: imo sic magis mihi facitis, quam si mihi faceretis. Obsecro ergo, ut perseveret haec sollicitudo vestra pro eis, quoniam longe facti sunt a nobis, ut non possimus eis, prout oportet, assistere. Sit ergo vestrae benignitatis vicem nostram supplere, ut vos ipsis in patrem, et ipsi sint vobis in filios. Si forte venerit tempus, quo tantae charitati respondere possimus; quod non simus ingrati, fides oculata monstrabit. Vale.

Samuel J. Eales (active by 1879; M.A., Principal of S. Boniface College, Warminster, in 1882), Life and Works of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, edited by Dom John Mabillon, vols. I-III, London: Burns & Oates / John Hodges, 1889-1896. Fonte del testo digitale: OCR of Internet Archive scans saintbernardlife00bernuoft, saintbernardlife02bernuoft, lifeworksofsaint03bern, word-repaired against second copies (lifeworksofsaint01bern, lifeworksofsaint02bern, LifeWorksOfSBernardClairvauxV3). Testo originale: Corpus Corporum (University of Zurich) TEI of the Patrologia Latina, via the CatholicCorpus mirror. Public domain in the US and Canada: published 1889-1896; translator active by 1879, an M.A. and principal in 1882; necessarily died before 1972. Latin: Migne, Patrologia Latina 182-183 (1854), public domain.

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