August 20th. St. Bernard.

He was born in 1090 near Dijon, of a noble family. In 1112 he joined (and induced others to join) the monastery at Citeaux the heart of the Cistercian reform. At that time Citeaux was poor and far from flourishing; it was Bernard's influence which was to save it and strengthen the whole Cistercian movement. After a few years, he became Abbot of the new foundation of Clairvaux, where, once he had learn to reduce the demands he made on the monks, community life flourished; and gave rise to daughter foundations in France and elsewhere (e.g. Rievaulx in Yorkshire, Whitland and Margam in West Wales, Boxley near Maidstone - a very thriving house which in later centuries was to attract the particular attention of the Reformers for the number of 'unusual' artefacts which it contained, including the famous 'mobile' Rood figure of Christ with its rolling eyes and adjustable limbs). Bernard's life is something of a paradox, since although the Cistercians practised seclusion, he was increasingly drawn into the world of church politics. though always as a mediator - e.g. in obtaining recognition for the Order of Knights Templar. He was one of the foremost preachers of the Second Crusade; its failure, though not his fault, was a grave disappointment to him. He was also somewhat at odds with the 'mainstream' Benedictine Reform, of Cluny. At the same time he is a distinguished writer and theologian; his reflections on the Love of God; on the Song of Songs, and his praise of the Virgin Mary have never lost influence. He favoured in particular the development of mystical prayer within the ordinary monastic cycle. A larger-than life figure, not without his faults, he led the Cistercian expansion to a total of some 500 houses; he died in 1153 and was canonised in 1174. In 1830 he was named a Doctor of the Church.