Letters58 Letter LVIII. To Ebal, bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne. (Circa A.D. 1126)
Letter LVIII. To Ebal, bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne. (Circa A.D. 1126)
He begs Ebal to take means for the choosing of a fit man to preside over the Abbey of All Saints.
To the venerable EBAL, by the grace of God, Lord Bishop of Chalons, Brother BERNARD, Abbot of Clairvaux, health and all that the prayers of a sinner can avail.
1. It is not good that you should neglect or disregard the danger of that little vessel (I speak of the Church of All Saints') which is drifting under your eyes, being deprived of its ruler. It is a matter which belongs to your charge; therefore I wonder what motive hinders you in conscience from requiring the acceptance of the post by that ecclesiastic, a pious man, as it is said, who has been elected by religious persons to the same, even although some of the monks of that abbey show themselves unworthy of your interest by their carelessness and indifference. I have understood that they have nothing to object to him who has been chosen except that he is religious, and that they have dared to desire your Greatness to permit them to choose another who appears to them more agreeable and more affable, because he is not a stranger to them, but is as agreeable as he is well known to the citizens, and being well acquainted with the customs of the country is gratified for transacting the business of the Church. In reality that which you ask (I should reply to those very cautious advisers) is someone who will not object to your faults, and who will either consent or will not dare to oppose himself to your objectionable way of life. These are not to be listened to, but rather, whether they wish it or no, action ought to be taken by you, so as to put at the head of that unfortunate Church this man, whose reputation is unquestioned, since, if he is such as he is reported to be, God will, without doubt, be with him, will pour His grace upon him, that he may be acceptable to all and successful in all his enterprises.
2. If those people are altogether unworthy of him and he cannot by any means be obtained for the post, let another be sought out who shall seem fit, from some other religious house; not such a person as those people desire, who desire nothing but what flatters their carnal tastes, but one who, as he knows how to manage the temporal administration, so also is able to prefer the care of souls in all things. Under the Lord William, your predecessor of holy memory, the two monasteries of S. Peter and S. Urban were similarly deprived of pastoral care; he was not deterred by the length of the journey, nor by the severity of the winter, but came in person twice to Cluny, and, if I do not mistake, once to Dijon. Thence he obtained a good man, Lord Hugo, who afterwards died, and from Cluny Lord Radulf, whom he had sought with many prayers, and who still survives. These he placed one over each monastery, not judging it safe to commit that charge to any one of the monks on the spot; which I have adduced as an example, for this reason that I may impress upon your charity how it becomes you to act with no less caution and care in this matter which is now in your hands.
Domino EBALO venerabili sanctae Catalaunensis Ecclesiae Dei gratia episcopo, frater BERNARDUS abbas de Clara-Valle, si quid potest peccatoris oratio.
1. Naviculae illius (de ecclesia loquor Omnium Sanctorum, quae sub oculis vestris gubernatore destituta fluctuat) non est bonum vobis negligere vel dissimulare periculum. Res quippe vestrae curae est. Unde miror, qua ratione, quave securitate a clerico illo, qui a religiosis personis vir, ut aiunt, religiosus eidem ecclesiae electus est, requirendo desistitis, etiamsi hoc quorumdam, qui in ipsa ecclesia sunt, incuria vel desidia non mereatur: qui, ut audivimus, illum qui electus est nolentes, nec aliud nisi quod religiosus est, afferentes, de eligendo alio vestram quoque ausi sunt compellare gravitatem: quasi qui videatur esse communior et affabilior, qui non sit extraneus: sed civibus tam gratus quam cognitus, morum patriae gnarus, rebus ecclesiae tractandis idoneus: revera (ut ad istos cantissimos consultores me vertam) qui vitia vestra non redarguat, qui miserae conversationi vestrae, aut consentiat, aut contradicere non audeat. Non sunt audiendi; sed potius, velint nolint, omnimodo satagendum est vobis, ut is qui boni testimonii est, ecclesiae desolatae quantocius perquiratur: quoniam, si talis est qualis praedicatur, Deus procul dubio cum ipso erit, qui suam ei gratiam ministrabit, placentem omnibus, efficacem in omnibus.
2. Quod si hunc, istis fortasse non merentibus, nullo modo haberi posse contigerit; alius de alia qualicunque domo religiosa qui videatur idoneus, provideatur: non qualem isti volunt, qui, nisi quod suae carnalitati blanditur, volunt; sed qui sic sciat negotia disponere rerum exteriorum, ut norit per omnia praeponere curam animarum. Certe duobus monasteriis, sancti videlicet Petri, et sancti Urbani, pastorali aliquando solatio similiter destitutis, bonae memoriae praedecessor vester domnus Guillelmus non longi itineris laborem, non hiemis reputans asperitatem, bis (nisi fallor) Cluniacum, semel Divionem per seipsum adiit: hincque virum bonum domnum Hugonem, qui post defunctus est; illinc virum venerabilem, qui adhuc superest, domnum Radulfum vix multis precibus impetratos abducens, singulum singulo praeposuit monasterio, tutum videlicet non arbitrans cuiquam monachorum domesticorum illam committere curam. Quod ideo vobis in exemplum adduxi, ut vestram charitatem commonefaciam, qualiter et in hoc quod nunc in manibus est, oporteat eam esse non minus cautam quam sollicitam