St. Bernard of Clairvaux (20 August)

"It is good for me to hold fast to God.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is no one upon earth that I desire

in comparison with you.

God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."

"The reason for our loving God is God. I spoke the truth,

for God is both prime mover of our love and its final end.

God is himself the occasion of our human loves;

he gives us the power to love,

and brings our desire to its consummation.

God is in himself loveable in his essensial Being, and

gives himself to us as the object of our love.

He wills our love for him to result in our happiness, and

not to be empty or disapponting.

His love both opens up the way for us to love and

is our love's reward."

(From the treatise 'On the Love of God', by St. Bernard)

Bl. Guerric of Igny (19 August)

"If we are true monks, we have found Jesus.

If we have found Him, how can we turn our eyes away from HIm?

If our eyes are fix on Him,

if we constantly remember what the incarnation means,

what is given to us in HIm,

we can never be truly depressed or discouraged,

except of course in a superficial and sensible way

that does not enter into the depths of the will.

We may feel sadness but we will never fully give in to it.

We can not take sadness really seriously.

Sadness is a denial of God's mercy.

It leads to infidelity and despair.

The ungrateful man hardens his heart and

refuses to see the goodness and mercy of God.

The cure of this sadness is to consider closely, with faith and love, the meaning of INcarnation, as to be nourished interiorly by the true Bread of Life which contains in itself all delights."

(Quotation from an essay by Thomas Merton)

Pope Eugene III, A Humble Man (8 July)

Pope Eugene was born around 1080, of a humble background. His father was named Godius and they lived near Pisa. His name before becoming Pope was Bernardo Pignatelli or Paganelli. But whether that was his name at birth or what he chose when he joined the Cistercians, we do not know. Somewhere between May 1134 and February 1137, Bernardo was ordained a priest by Pope innocent II, who was living in Pisa at the time.

In 1138, Bernardo met the renowned Bernard of Clairvaux, who persuaded the priest to join him at the Cistercian Order in Clairvaux. Here he began to understand the international scope of the Church.

Pope Lucius II died during turbulence in February 1145 as Arnold returned and became one of the leaders of the Commune of Rome. Papal prefects were deposed, and republican associates developed a secular state. Giordano Pierleoni became patrician. The cardinals were afraid of a new pontiff abdicating and swearing allegiance to the commune. No one wanted to take the position of new pope. So, the electors quietly voted in someone who was not even considered, a Cistercian monk, Bernardo.

It was too unsafe in Rome for a consecration, so the cardinals and Bernardo moved to Farfa Abbey, 40 km north of Rome. At his consecration, he took the name of Eugene. (Quote from an article By Debra Booton McCoy "Catholic365").

Bl. Joseph-Marie Cassant (1878-1903)

17 June

Joseph-Marie Cassant was born on the 6th of March, 1878, at Casseneuil, Lot-et-Garonne, in the diocese of Agen, France, into a family of orchard-keepers. He was a lodger at the boarding school of the La Salle Brothers in Casseneuil itself, and it was there that his poor memory began to cause him difficulty in studying.

He received a solid Christian education at home and at school, and little by little the deep desire to become a priest grew within him. Father Filhol, the parish priest, thought well enough of the boy to help him with his studies, but his weak memory kept him from entering the minor seminary. When it became clear that he was drawn towards silence, recollection and prayer, Fr. Filhol suggested that he would think of the Trappists, and the young sixteen-year-old unhesitatingly agreed. After a trial period, Joseph entered the Cistercian Abbey of Sainte-Marie du Désert, in the diocese of Toulouse, France, on December 5, 1894.

The Novice Master at the time was Fr. André Mallet, a man skilled at understanding the needs of souls and responding in love. From their very first meeting he showed this when he said to the young man, "Only trust and I will help you to love Jesus!" The young monk would often meditate upon Jesus in his Passion and on the Cross, and so became deeply imbued with love for Christ. The "way of Jesus' heart" which Fr. André taught him is an unceasing call to live the present moment with patience, hope and love.

He had the great joy of being ordained a priest on October 12, 1902. He had said, "When I can no longer say Mass, Jesus can take me from this world." Early in the morning of the 17th of June 1903, Father Joseph-Marie received communion and left this world to be with Christ Jesus for ever.

On the 9th of June 1984, the Holy Father, John Paul II, acknowledged his heroic virtues. He was beatified by the same Pope on October 3, 2004.

St. Lutgarde 1182-1246

16 June

Born of bourgeois parents in Tongres, Belgium. She entered the Benedictine convent of St. Trond, where she was elected prioress in 1205. Seeking more solitude and a stricter observance, she transferred to the Cistercian convent of Aywieres. The Passion of Christ was the center of her religious life.

Lutgard shone; she led a life without offence.

She whom this stone covers lives with Christ.

She shines, thirsting and hungering after these celestial things;

Pure daylight, the face of the Groom now shines on her.

This was a mirror of light, the flower of the cloister,

the gem of the sisters;

In this one, righteousness shone, compassion and glory of action

(Sybille de Gages)

(From "The Life of Lutgard of Aywieres", by Thomas de Cantimpre)

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