St Bernard of Clairvaux: VERY Influential!

As the picture above suggests, St Bernard of Clairvaux was an extremely influential saint in the 12th century. When he decided to join the local monastery, some friends came with him. About THIRTY of his friends and family went with him, and all presented themselves to the abbot to join his monastery! Wow!

St Bernard was a mystic, and wrote about the great love of God. In fact, his mystical writings were influential on ME. I read his works before I became Catholic, and loved what he said. He was one of the forces that pulled me toward the Catholic church, along with St Francis of Assisi and St Julian of Norwich. I hate to steal from St Bernard's time, but let me share my favorite Julian of Norwich quote here, because she isn't one of the saints in the book we're going through this year. She wrote (and she was the first known woman to write a book in the English language!) this about God, and it deeply answers my questions about providence: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." I love that.

St Bernard was also called on by leaders of his time for his counsel, because he was known to be wise and holy. You can read more about him here.

The MAIN thing that his mysticism focused on was love. He was deeply engrossed in the love of God, and it permeated everything he wrote and said. How have you entered into His love today?

God, thanks for the wonderful and influential faith of this loving monk. St Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.