Letter LXXXII. To the Abbot of S. John at Chartres

(Circa A.D. 1128.)

Bernard dissuades him from resigning his charge, and undertaking a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem.¹

1. As regards the matters about which you were so good as to consult so humble a person as myself, I had at first determined not to reply. Not because I had any doubt what to say, but because it seemed to me unnecessary or even pre- .sumptuous to give counsel to a man of sense and wisdom. But considering that it usually happens that the greater number of persons of sense — or I might say that all such — trust the judgment of another person rather than their own in doubtful cases, and that those who have a clear judgment in the affairs of others, however obscure, frequently hesitate and are undecided about their own, I depart from my first resolution, not, I hope, without reason, and without prejudice to any wiser opinion explain to you simply how the matter appears to me. You have signified to me, if I do not mistake, by the pious Abbot Ursus of S. Denis,² that you have it in contemplation to desert your country and the monastery over which, by the Providence of God, you are head, to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to occupy yourself henceforth only with God and the salvation of your own soul. Perhaps, if you aspire unto perfection, it may be expedient for you to leave your country, when God says, Go forth from thy country and from thy kindred (Gen. xii. i). But I do not see at all on what ground you ought to risk, by your departure, the safety of the souls entrusted to you. For is it pleasant to enjoy liberty after having laid down your burden? But charity does not seek her own interests. Perhaps the wish for quiet and rest attracts you? But it is obtained at the price of the peace of others. Freely will I do without the enjoyment of any desire, even a spiritual one, which cannot be obtained except at the price of a scandal. For where there is scandal, there, without doubt, is loss of charity: and where there is loss of charity, surely no spiritual advantage can be hoped for. Finally, if it is permitted to any one to^ prefer his own quiet to the common good, who is there that can say with truth: For me to live is Christ, and to die if gain (Phil. i. 21)? And where wrill that principle be which the Apostle declares: No one lives to himself, and no one dies to himself (Rom. xiv. 7); and, Not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many (1 Cor. x. 33); and, That lie who lives should not any longer live unto himself, but unto Him who died for all (2 Cor. v. 15)?

2. But you will say: Whence comes my great desire, if it is not from God? With your permission I will say what I think. Stolen waters are sweet (Prov. ix. 17); and for whosoever knows the devices of the devil, it is not doubtful that the angel of darkness is able to change himself into an angel of light, and to pour upon the thirsting soul those waters of which the sweetness is more bitter than worm wood. In truth, what other can be the suggester of scandals, the author of dissension, the troubler of unity and peace, except the devil, the adversary of truth, the envier of charity, the ancient foe of the human race, and the enemy of the Cross of Christ? If death entered into the world through his envy, even so now he is jealous of whatever good he sees you doing; and since he is a liar from the beginning, he falsely promises now better things which he does not see. For wrhen did the Truth oppose that most faithful saying, Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed (1 Cor. vu. 27)? Or when did charity urge to-scandal, who at the scandals of all shows herself burning with regret? He, then, the most wicked one, opposed to charity by envy, and to truth by falsehood, mixing false hood and gall with the true honey, promises doubtful things as certain, and gives out that true things are false, not that he may give you what you vainly hope for, but that he may take away what you are profitably holding now. He prowls around and seeks how he may take away from the flock the care of the pastor, to make a prey of it when there is none to defend it from his attacks; and, besides this, to bring down upon the pastor that terrible rebuke, Woe to him by whom scandal comet h (S. Matt, xviii. 7). But I have full confidence in the wisdom given to you by God, that by no cunning devices of the wicked one you will be seduced or made to renounce certain good, and for the hope of uncertain advantage to incur certain evil.

Footnotes

1. Doubtless Stephen, who from being Abbot of S. John at Chartres, of the Augustinian Order, was made Patriarch of Jerusalem at the beginning of 1128 after Germundus (Orderic. Vit. B. 12, towards the end). It was he who sent a letter, it is said, to Fulk, Count -of Anjou, by means of William de Bury. (Analect. B. iii. p. 335, Lett. 35 and 36, and the Preface by Papebroch, On the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Vol. iii. of May.) ↩

2. Ursus, or Ursio. fifth Abbot of the Regular Canons of S. Denis of Rheims, of the Order of S. Augustine, and afterwards Bishop of Verdun, is mentioned in Spicilegium, Vol. xii. p. 312. he was promoted to the See of Verdun in 1129, and had Gilbert for successor at S. Denis, but at length laying down his dignity he resumed after a time his rule as Abbot. (Marlot, Metrop. Remens. Vol. ii. p. ↩