St. Bernard’s miraculous prayer to the Virgin Mary
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me.
Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 1
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue he showed throughout his life, beginning from his childhood in a holy family life. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you were born into a holy family. Your pious parents ensured that you were raised with a firm foundation of faith, and you went on to serve God worthily throughout the rest of your life.
Please bring my petitions before God Whom you served!
The foundation of faith you received as a child helped you onto the path to a religious vocation. As a monk, you contributed a lot to your religious order and the whole Church. Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve God worthily in my life, as you did. Pray that I may be eager to give my life to serving Him and His Church. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 2
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed in choosing to serve You as a monk. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you felt called to devote your life to God in a radical way, from the time you were a young man. You were attracted to the Cistercian order because you wished to devote your life wholeheartedly to God.
Please bring my petitions before God Whom you loved so wholeheartedly!
You entered the Cistercian order at the Abbey of Clairvaux. There, you lived out your vocation faithfully for the rest of your life. Pray for me, that I may always carry out the duties of my vocation. Pray that I may joyfully serve God in whatever ways He calls me to.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 3
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You he showed through his openness to Your will in his life. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you were eager to enter religious life as a young man. You were attracted to the life of the newly-formed Cistercian order, but you spent time prayerfully discerning if this was God’s will for you.
Please bring my petitions before the throne of God!
As a member of the Cistercian order, you devoted yourself to serving God. You served as the abbot of the monastery for many years and you made great progress in your work. Pray for me, that I may always be open to whatever path God calls me to follow in my life. Pray that I may be eager to devote my life to His service.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 4
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed in choosing to devote his life to You as a monk. St. Bernard of Clairbaux, you longed to retreat from the world and serve God in a monastery. Feeling called to serve God as a Cistercian monk, you entered the monastery and persuaded thirty other men to enter with you.
Please bring my petitions before God Whom you longed to serve!
As a novice in the monastery, you were very pious and fervent. You quickly made great progress in the spiritual life, as you worked to serve God in your vocation. Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve God fully in my vocation, as you did. Pray that I may be eager to devote my life to Him.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 5
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You that he showed in his daily piety throughout his life. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you were eager to serve God from the time you were a young child. You became well-known for your piety as a child, and you continued along this path of holiness throughout your life.
Please continue to bring my petitions before God!
As you a young man, you longed to devote your life to serving God as a Cistercian monk. Throughout your time as a novice, you were very pious and fervent in your devotion. Pray for me, that I may be fervent in my devotion to God, as you were. Pray that my piety may increase each day.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 6
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed throughout his years of faithful service as an abbot. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you threw yourself wholeheartedly into your vocation as a monk. You were sent by your superiors to establish another monastery, and you were then made abbot of the Abbey of Clairvaux.
Please bring my petitions before God Whom you served so wholeheartedly!
Your work as an abbot was initially full of difficulty, but you persevered in your service to God. In your role as abbot, you made great progress for your order. Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve God faithfully in my vocation, as you did. Pray that I may be eager to serve Him in whatever ways He calls me to in my life.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 7
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You that he showed throughout his years of faithful service in the Cistercian religious order. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you eagerly chose to devote your life to God as a Cistercian monk. You faithfully carried out the duties of this vocation throughout many years.
Please bring my petitions before God with such faithfulness!
As abbot of your monastery, you did a lot for the Cistercian order. Despite many difficulties, you helped bring the order many new members and established many other monasteries. Pray for me, that I may always seek to carry out the duties of my vocation faithfully, as you did. Pray that I may eagerly devote myself to God’s service.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 8
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed throughout his work as a theologian. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you were eager to devote your life to serving God. In addition to the great work you did serving Him as a Cistercian monk, you also contributed many things to the life of the Church through your writings.
Please bring my petitions before the throne of God Whom you served!
You were declared a Doctor of the Church, because of your many holy writings. You contributed a lot to the Church through your writings on the spiritual life, the Blessed Virgin, and sacred space and music. Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve the Church in my life. Pray that I may be eager to devote myself to serving God at every opportunity.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena - Day 9
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You he showed through his many years of service to Your Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, you eagerly entered into your vocation of service to the Church as a monk. You continued to faithfully carry out your duties throughout the rest of your life.
Please continue to faithfully bring my petitions before the throne of God!
You spent many years as an abbot, and you made great progress for your order. As your reputation for holiness spread in the Church, you helped end a schism, preach a crusade, and fight heresy. Pray for me, that I may always be eager to serve the Church at every opportunity. Pray that I may happily devote my life to serving God, as you did.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A family gathered together in prayer
Bernard was born in 1090 at Fontaine, in France, of a good family. When he was 22, after having studied grammar and rhetoric, he entered the monastery founded by Robert of Molesme at Citeaux (in Latin, Cistercium -- the order centred around the monastery were thus known as Cistercians). Twelve companions joined him, including four brothers, an uncle, and a cousin. Following his example, many of his relatives undertook to enter religious life.
Jesus and Mary
For Bernard, the monastic life should involve work, contemplation, and prayer; and revolve around two fixed points: Jesus and Mary. For the Cistercian abbot, Christ is all: “When you discuss or speak, nothing has any flavour for me, if I have not heard you resound the Name of Jesus (Sermons on the Song of Songs, XV). And Mary, St Bernard writes, leads us to Jesus: “In dangers, In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray…” (Homily II on the text Missus est).
The four grades of love
In his work On Loving God, Bernard points out the path of humility in order to achieve love of God. He exhorts us to love God without measure. For the Cistercian monk, there are four fundamental degrees or grades of love:
· Love of oneself for oneself: “First, one loves oneself for one’s own sake. Seeing, then, that by himself he cannot subsist, he begins to seek God by means of faith.”
· Love of God for love of self: “In the second grade, then, one loves God, but for oneself, not for Him. Beginning then to attend to God and to honour Him, in relation to one’s own needs.”
· Love of God for God: “The soul passes to the third grade, loving God not for oneself, but for Him. In this degree we stop for a long time; indeed, I do not know if in this life it is possible to reach the fourth grade.”
· Love of self for God: “That degree, that is, in which one loves himself only for love of God. Then, there will be a wonderful almost forgetfulness of self, almost abandoning of oneself so that everything tends toward God, so much so as to be one spirit only with Him.”
Bernard and the Templars
Among the writings of St Bernard is also the celebrated elegy of the monastic military order of the Templars, founded in 1119 by a group of knights under the guidance of Hugues de Payens, from Champagne, a relative of Bernard. In his work In Praise of the New Knighthood, he described the Templars in these words: “They are vested simply and covered with dust, their faces burned by the sun, their gaze proud and hard; before the battle they are armed interiorly with the strength of faith. Their only faith is addressed to God.”
The mellifluous doctor
Bernard of Clairvaux died on 20 August 1153; he was proclaimed a saint by Pope Alexander III in 1174. Pope Pius XII dedicated an encyclical to him, entitled Doctor mellifluus, in which he recalled, in particular, these words of St Bernard: “Jesus is honey on the lips, melody in the ear, joy in the heart.” “The mellifluous doctor,” the Pope wrote, “‘The ‘Doctor Mellifluus,’ ‘the last of the Fathers, but certainly not inferior to the earlier ones,’ was remarkable for such qualities of nature and of mind, to which God added an abundance of heavenly gifts.”
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