St. Bernard: The Gold Standard for the Teaching and Living a Devotion to Mary

St. Bernard

At  the end of the Gospel reading, the Priest or the Deacon kisses the Gospel.

St Bernard’s Feast Day we celebrate this day, is a Doctor of the Church. Kissing the Gospel sums up St. Bernard’s life. He is the “Gold Standard” for Devotion to Our Lady. He lived more than 600 years before St. Louis de Montfort.

How is it that he is the gold standard in regard to the teaching of devotion to Mary? It is truly unfortunate that many Christians that have a devotion to Mary, do not really know about this man . . . this saint. He is one of the holiest, powerful and influential man the Catholic tradition has ever produced. Bernard entered religious life as a young man. He daily fasted and prayed, as he waited for the Lord to speak to him. He entered into a watchful fasting. In doing so he emptied out himself for material things (hear more about what this type of fasting means within the audio).

He was a great teacher and writer. While he was educated, his holiness sprang from the well of his prayer. Kings, Queens and even the Pope sought out his advice, even though he lived and remained largely isolated in his abbey.

He sought out Our Lady, but his objective, was the love of God. A principle not foreign to those who practice Montfortian Spirituality.

St. Bernard’s Reflection: . . .

In his reflection on the Love of God, Bernard describes Christian Life as a movement of four stages of Love. Wow, how insightful! St. Bernard states that all humans begin with a Love for Self. It is a natural beginning. Christians and non-Christians begin here.

However, if we are going to progress spirituality, we must have Love of God. We move toward Love of God because of the things God does for us! This is a natural progression. It is not bad, to love God for this reason. God is gracious and merciful. Its how we begin to know God. We begin to love God, because we see how good God is to us! However, Bernard also states, many Christians stop here.

. . . Stages of Love

But there is more in the stages of Love. When we really appreciate God and all that He does for us; when we really appreciate that, we enter into the next stage of Love. We come to understand How Good God Is! How Wise He Is! How Loving and Forgiving God Is! We move to love God, not because of what he does for us, but for how Wonderous, Great and Good God Is!

This is a marvelous place to be and many mature Christian hearts reach this place. It is truly wonderous. However, this is not the highest level. Typically this fact is not recognized by all Christians who have reached the third stage. The fourth stage completes the circle. We Love Ourselves For the Sake of God! When we understand how God loves us, we see and love our lives differently.

Hear more about the four stages of Love and also more about a wonderous saint with a deep devotion to Our Lady and Our Lord. Hear how Our Lady helps us along this journey of Love. Understand the greatness of this Saint and his impact on the Church! Listen to this Meditation Media piece.