St Bernards High School - Bernardian Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX The Light of the 12th Century

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mA ae “I — mms SACS ZO FAN e Be ee —- to - 11535 val ces The extraordinary and unprecedented venturing of Pope Paul in leaving the Vatican and journeying first to the Holy Land, then to Bombay, and finally to the United States, has much in common with our own St. Bernard, although centuries of time separate them both. The same spirit of love animated both of them —first and foremost, love of God and then love of neighbor. Both would have preferred to remain within the enclosure of Vatican or monas- tery, but when the good of mankind was at stake, self was forgotten in securing the greater good of neighbor. Bernard, the son of the Lord of Fontaines, exchanged the life in his father’s castle and at the court of the Duke of Burgundy for that of a poor monk. But dear as his poor monastery was to him, he never hesitated to leave it when his presence and influence would be the means of se- curing peace and harmony among men. Unsurpassed as preacher, writer, reformer, mediator, diplomat and statesman; the champion of the rights of the Church and her teachings; the counselor of popes and princes; a peace- maker unrivalled in history; Bernard was, nevertheless, the champion of the poor and the suf- fering. As Abbot of Clairvaux, Bernard devoted himself with boundless zeal by word and example to the perfection of his monks. But these spiritual cares did not prevent his providing for the material wants of the country in seasons of distress. A long drought, followed by a terrible famine, had long desolated Burgundy. Thanks to St. Bernard and his monks, Clairvaux became a granary of plenty to all Burgundy and it is said that St. Bernard adopted as many as three thousand poor men, pledging himself to support them as long as the famine lasted. One day as Bernard was on one of his diplomatic missions in the cause of peace, he met a pro- cession leading a criminal to his death. Moved with compassion, he took hold of the cord by which the poor man was bound and led him to the palace of the Count of Champagne, where he pleaded for his life, even taking off his own tunic and clothing the criminal with it. Par- doned, Bernard brought this criminal to his monastery where, according to the chronicle, “this wolf was changed into a lamb.” While Bernard was occupied in France as preacher of the Second Crusade, Germany was troubled with violent disorders. The Second Crusade had no sooner been announced when a persecution of the Jews broke out in all the towns bordering the Rhine. Moved with the deep- est compassion, Bernard immediately wrote letters to Germany and as a result, the Jews found protectors on all sides. The bishops especially defended them, even sheltering them in their own houses. As the persecution still continued, Bernard, while in Germany, journeyed to Mentz, the center of the trouble. When it became known that the Abbot of Clairvaux was interfering in favor of the Jews, his life was in great danger. He sought out Rodolph, the German monk, who by his preaching, had stirred up the people against the Jews. Quietly taking the troublemaker a- side, Bernard represented to him the responsibility which he was assuming to himself and in the end prevailed upon him to return to his monastery, and the persecution ceased when he did this. FITCHBURG] 2 7 Gee] sn FITC.:.. Ru, M..SS.

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GC) Oe = a Gee AOT TOF At 9:30 a.m., Monday, October 4, 1965, an Italian jet settled gently on a runway of the John F. Kennedy Airport. A ramp was rolled and out stepped Pope Paul VI. It was a bright day, crystal and cold, and the events which followed made it a day without parallel. Soon Pope Paul was seated in a large black automobile and the chilly 24-mile ride ahead into the heart of Man- hattan began, through Harlem and Central Park to St. Patrick’s cathedral and on to a meeting with President Johnson and then to the United Nations. His Holiness was the first reigning Pope ever to visit the New World and he came primarily to address a message of peace to the United Nations. He called himself a pilgrim, a simple mes- senger of the gospel of peace. Without rest for a day and a night, his was a true pilgrimage which entailed sacrifice and devotion to the cause of peace. His presence at the United Nations reminded men of all nations that they are members of the same human family. His appeal was to the hearts of men urging them to turn away from pride and power and see all men as brothers and as friends. “If you wish to be brothers, let the arms fall from your hands,” he said; “one cannot love while holding offensive arms.” At Yankee Stadium, Pope Paul said Mass with great dignity in this great ball park, at which a hundred thousand were present. He called upon all present to serve the cause of peace which must be built up every day by works of peace—first of all, social order; then, aid to the poor, to the needy, the weak, the sick, the ignorant. And if this peace was to be sincere and stable it had to be based on moral and religious principles and have its roots anchored in wis- dom which must draw nourishment from the true concept of life—the Christian concept. At 11:00 o'clock that night he was back in the jet again, which in a little more than seven hours would bring him back to Rome. As he boarded his aircraft, it was to the whole nation he spoke: “God bless America,” he cried, “God bless you all.” In spite of his frail body simply robed in white, this pilgrim, who had made this exhausting journey to persuade temporal rulers that the human race is begging for peace on this earth, was a forceful figure with the power to move men by his humility, simplicity, sincerity, gen- tle firmness of his bearing, and the quiet warmness of his countenance. If Pope John was the Pope of aggiornamento, updating of the Church, Pope Paul has been called the Pope of avvicinamento, which means neighborliness with other creeds and faiths. In his visit to Bombay, he quoted with respect from the pre-Christian sacred writings of India. Just four days before he was to bring the Second Vatican Council to a solemn close, Pope Paul took part in a prayer service for Christian unity with a group of Protestant and Orthodox ob- servers at the Vatican Council. Memorable also was the effort which he made through the Council to repair the damage to Christian unity which has existed for over nine hundred years between East and West, when in both Rome and Constantinople, a declaration was read lifting the excommunications which had been hurled at one another in 1054 and which brought about the great schism.