Letters464 Letter CDLXIV. To B. , Archbishop of Pisa

He expounds the text “Ille erat lucerna lucens et ardens'\ with reference to the Episcopal office of Baldwin.

To the Lord, and most intimate friend B., by the grace 1 See Letter 171. (E.)

2 This letter is a reply to a letter (which is lost) from the Archbishop. Baldwin had been a monk at Clairvaux, and had apparently accompanied Bernard into Italy. At all events he was with him there in A. D. 1137, as is shown by Ep. 144 to the monks at Clairvaux, which Baldwin wrote at Bernard’s dictation, as they were both in the suite of the Pope on his march to Apulia. One phrase in the letter shows that he had been raised to some dignity; apparently shortly before to the Cardinalate. He afterwards was made Archbishop of Pisa; he retained this post till Oct. 1145 or 1146, when Bernard mentions (or rather implies) his demise in Ep. 245 to Eugenius III. The high esteem in which Baldwin was held, appears in two other places besides these letters. In the second book of the Vita Bernardi he is praised as the glory of his fatherland, Pisa, and in the Exordium Magnum Cisterciense an entire chapter is devoted to him as to other celebrated alumni of Clairvaux. Another person belonging to the Church in Pisa, however, the Frater Angelus to whom Bernard sends greetings in the above letter, cannot be further traced. Similarly with regard to the execution of the project announced of sending a Cistercian colony to Pisa, which is mentioned in the concluding phrase of the letter; for so far as is known no cloister of this order was created there during the course of the 12th century; therefore of God, Archbishop of Pisa, Brother Bernard sends greeting: with the prayer that he may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I have received your letter, which is a proof of your strong affection towards me and holy desire for my presence. In which certainly your affection is not without return, since those whom you love, love you, and those whom you wish for, wish for you also. If a return is due from me for the letter which I gladly read, to you, I would most willingly make it. Would that I were never absent from you. But that is not to be hoped for: would then that I were worthy to have your presence even occasionally. But that too is in the hand of God. We are the servants of one Lord, whose will is to be obeyed by both of us: nor must we do whatsoever we will. And you indeed He has set for a light of the Gentiles. If you let your light shine, it is not hidden: nor on the other hand, if you do not, can that be hidden either. For a city set upon a hill cannot be hidden, nor can a light set upon a candlestick (S. Matt. v. 14): its darkness and its light are each entirely visible, and of necessity they are a mark for the admiration or the contempt of all. It is even rather preferable to be hidden under a bushel than to be raised upon a candlestick, and then not to give light. A lamp when extinguished, not only casts a dark shadow, but emits evil smelling smoke. Paul did not travail unavailingly, nor was unless we suppose that the plan failed owing to unknown impediments only the possibility remains to connect this passage with the founding of the monastery Caput Aquoe in Sardinia which took place 1149 from Clairvaux, when the Archbishop of Pisa presided as Primus and Legate. How much time intervenes is beyond calculation, as no point of time is given to enable us to place this letter, further than that it was between 1139 and 1146. (E.)

he as salt that has lost its savour.. And therefore he was a good savour of Christ in every place: even at the present time he is a savour of life unto life to very many. (2 Cor. ii. 14—16). Blessed is He to whom it is said: For the fragrance of Thy perfumes we will run after Thee (Cant. i. 3, 4). That is as if he said: In the light of Thy beams we will go forward: and that is nothing else than saying: We profit by the example of Thy character and actions. From Him do the Saints derive the odour of sanctity: from Him also do they shine as lights. How many sinners has Saint John brought to penitence by his example! For he, whose fame was widely spread and his life most ascetic, shone as a light in the world and diffused a sweet fragrance. He was a burning and a shining light (S. John v- 35) placed on high; and thence, as from a lofty candlestick, he ministered the light of his virtues to all, and diffused a sweet odour everywhere. I desire that you may be an imitator of S. John. Let your light shine before men (S. Matt. v. 16): yet so that it shall shine and glow also before God; and that of you also it may be said, He was a burning and a shining light. The one thing is necessary on your own account: the other on that of your flock. He shines well who is kindled by his own fire. How many are there who do not shine by their own light! Hypocrites wish to shine [outwardly], but have no wish for an inward fire. Yet of the two things, it were better to have the inward fire without the outward light, than to have the light without the fire. What do I wish, said Our Lord, except that the fire should burnt (S. Luke xii. 49). The moon shines, but it has no inward fire, and therefore it suffers obscuration; since it shines not by its own light, but as they say, by the light of the sun. Wherefore perhaps the Scripture saith: A fool changeth as the moon: but a godly man is stedfast in wisdom as the sun (Ecclus. xxvii. 11). It compares excellently the wise man to the sun, who bears within himself the fire which is the source of his light, so that it cannot fail. Similarly, charity, without which a man is not wise, neverfailethf Cor. xiii. 8).

He who is content with the testimony of his own conscience does not need to appear great by the praise of another person. But what am I doing? for I am making these reflections as if I thought them of great importance (hecessaria) to you. But out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (S. Luke vi. 45), and I know not how it is, that to an anxious and solicitous affection nothing is sufficiently safe. On that account I venture still to add a particular fact which has come to my knowledge. It is said that there are with you persons who are fond of gifts, so that a person of your house is reported to have accepted money for the transfer of a bailiff. Although transactions of that kind do not wound the conscience of one who [like yourself?] has given no personal consent to them, yet they may tend to blacken his character. For it behoves us to provide things honest not only in the sight of the Lord, but in the sight of men (2 Cor. viii. 21); though I know not in what manner the compliance could be excused of one, who, when he has the power to correct such abuses, does not do so. I salute in all humility Brother Angelo (?) with all the Church in your house. By him, whom, God willing, you will send to the Chapter, I will send if you require it, the whole Abbey.

1 The reading of the Vet. Lat. is: Homo sanctus sapientia manet sicut sol, on which the quotation is apparently founded. It differs somewhat from both the Greek and the Syriac. (E.)