Bernard Of Clairvaux – a sermon preached by the Revd Stephen Fielding at St
Peter’s Tewin on 17th August 2008
May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable
in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
Introduction
Our subject tonight is Bernard of Clairvaux, a man of action and a man of
prayer, a man of the world and a man of the cloister, a settler of conflict and
a person of deep contemplative prayer. Monk, mediator and mystic. His was such a
full life that I choose just two elements – his life as a monk and his life as a
mystic – and leave to one side the public man who arbitrated between rival
popes, who preached the Second Crusade, who denounced anti-Semitism, who was a
powerful figure in the world of ecclesiastical politics, who wrote works of
theology and practical advice to popes, priests and lay people alike. If I focus
on his role as a monk and mystic, I want to say a word too about the importance
of contemplative prayer to Christians today.
The Monk
How many of you have been to Fountains Abbey – that great monastery, now of
course in ruins, in North Yorkshire? Fountains almost from the start was part of
a simple and austere French order, the Cistercian order, which took its name
from the town in Burgundy where it started – the town of Cîteaux. It was to the
abbey at Cîteaux that Bernard, a brilliantly clever, 23 year old aristocrat,
went as a novice. It is the year 1113. The way of life was simple, austere and
ascetic. Bernard loved it; and he loved it, not as a penance but an enthusiasm,
not as a cross but as a glory. Not for him – or the other monks – the silver and
gold, the sumptuous furnishings of Cluny, another Benedictine monastery. This
was austerity with a capital A, and Bernard loved it, and he loved God through
it. So attractive did he make the monastic life seem, that hundreds of people
came to the monastery; and many wished to become monks. So much so that within 2
years of his arrival, 4 new monasteries had been established. And to the new
monastery at Clairvaux in Champagne Bernard went as Abbot. (From Burgundy to
Champagne – so not all austerity then!) The regime was as austere as ever.
Disciples flocked to the new monastery. In time 60-70 daughter houses were
planted.
The Mystic
What lay behind it all? I turn to Bernard now as the man of contemplative
prayer, the mystic, the man who goes more deeply into prayer with God, whose
heart is set on fire through the deep intimacy of his soul with God. God wants
to share his nature with you; he has sought you out for this purpose. And his
nature is love. Love him and you will know more about him, because love is a
form of knowing. The soul ascends to God in prayer; you learn the deepest truths
about God and about yourself in that prayer. And Jesus is at the heart of this
for Bernard. “Write what you will, I shall not relish it, unless it speaks of
Jesus”.
For Bernard the main point is this: love created us out of love. And why? To
share love itself. Pure love has no self-interest; it has no ‘hidden agenda’. It
loves because it loves. So in contemplative prayer, loving and wanting God is to
get a glimpse of heaven in the mystical union with Christ. Heaven is like this,
Bernard is not imagining it; he is experiencing it.
“That in heaven it is like this… I do not doubt”.
What we may call his mystical theology, his view of God derived from the life of
contemplative prayer, finds its fullest expression in his Sermons on the Song of
Songs. The Song of Songs – what you and I know as a rich, sensual, passionate
piece of Old Testament love poetry – becomes in his hands a celebration of the
embrace of God. This is not two human lovers; this is God and the human soul
embracing. It is the embrace of God and the soul – the bridegroom and the bride.
The inward pulsing of delight, the harmony of wills. Here is ecstasy, bliss,
delight, joy – this is heaven, this is the divine life, the life lived with God
forever, this is God himself. It is a kind of ecstatic dying to the world. And
when the Word – God himself - invades and embraces the soul, the heart, the
deepest centre, then (says Bernard) you suddenly become alive. The union of God
with your soul in prayer makes you one with him. Love makes two one. “Your life
is hid with Christ in God”.
Is contemplative prayer relevant?
We ask ourselves now, in the final part of this address, is contemplative prayer
relevant for us, or is it the special preserve of monks and nuns? I do not doubt
that monks and nuns are called to a life of intense prayer and may have that
special gift and vocation. But contemplation is open to all and accessible to
all. To go more deeply into prayer, the prayer of adoration and contemplation,
is not the special preserve of a few, but can be something for us all. The use
of silence, and the practice of meditation, can be powerful ways into a deeper
stillness and awareness of God’s presence. The desire for God, expressed in such
phrases as “My God, I love you” or “Lord, I believe, increase my faith”, can
then move us more easily into the thankfulness, praise and gratitude which are
the outpourings of grace, and shape our prayer for others. A very good book on
prayer, including contemplative prayer, is Michael Ramsey’s masterpiece ‘Be
still and know’. In a world hurried, frantic, pressured, racing against the
clock, the deliberate use of a time of quiet, still contemplation and adoration
may meet our need and the world’s need in new and powerful ways.
It may give us a deeper sense of the God who desires us with the whole of his
very large heart. Amen.