When Bernard, (c. 1090-1153), a sickly youth in Dijon, France, was unable to fulfill military service, he became a monk. So successful was he that he eventually founded the famous monastery in nearby Clairvaux; in time almost 170 other monasteries sprang from Bernard’s leadership. He became the most powerful preacher of his era, and is remembered as a pious man, a deeply contemplative mystic, the “honey-tongued doctor.” Martin Luther called Bernard “the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together.” He wasn’t a perfect man, as seen in his support for the Second Crusade to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim control. But for 800 years, his words have been read and sung, and his good work has continued. If you’ve never read Bernard, here are some excerpts from his writings and sermons: “How do we know that Christ has really overcome death? Precisely in that he, who did not deserve it, underwent it….But what kind of justice is this, you may say, that the innocent should die for the guilty? It is not justice, but mercy.” “I was made a sinner by deriving my being my Adam; I am made righteous by being washed in the blood of Christ.” “You will never have real mercy for the failings of another until you know and realize that you have the same failings in your soul.” “Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your kindness in uniting us to the church so dearly love, not merely that we may be endowed with the gift of faith, but that, like brides, we may be one with you…, beholding with unveiled faces that glory which is yours in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.” “You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God Himself is the reason He is to be loved.” Several well-known hymns are attributed to St.Bernard: “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee,” “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” and a lesser-known hymn entitles “Open Wide are Thine Hands,” the second verse of which says: Lord, I am sad and poor, but boundless is Thy grace; Give me the soul transforming joy for which I seek Thy face.” The resources used for the podcast include, but not limited to; “How Great Thou Art” written by Robert J. Morgan and Hymnary.org