Letter CCLXXVII. To the Same, on Behalf of the Abbot of Cluny
(A.D. 1146.)
He asks that the Abbot of Cluny may be received honour ably and kindly.
It seems a foolish thing to write to you on behalf of the Abbot of Cluny, and to seem to wish to act as patron for a man whom all wish to have as their patron. But I write, not because it is necessary for him, but to satisfy my own affection for him; my own, I say, not another's, for as I cannot be with him in person I follow my friend on his journey by letter. Who shall separate us? Neither the height of the Alps, nor the cold of the snows, nor the length of the journey. And now I am present with him to help him by my letters. He shall never be without me. I am a1 debtor to his worth, by which I have been counted worthy to be admitted to such a degree of grace. But grace itself has freed me from the debt, for necessity has passed into will. Honour the man as one who is truly an honourable member of Christ; unless I am mistaken he is a vessel for honour, full of grace and truth, filled writh all good works. Send him back with joy, that he may rejoice very many by his return. Hold him worthy of more grace, as indeed he is, so that when he returns we may all receive of his fulness. If he asks anything of you in the name of the Lord Jesus he ought not to meet with any difficulty. For if you do not know it, let me say that he it is who is always stretching out a helping hand to the poor of our Order; he cheerfully and frequently distributes for food the goods of his church, as far as he can by the consent of his brethren. Notice why I say " in the Name of Jesus." For if, as I suspect and tVar, he seeks to be set free from the government of his Order, who that knows him can think that he asks in the name of Jesus? I am mistaken if he is not oppressed by fear more than usual, if he has not become better than him self since you saw him. Moreover, almost from the time that he entered on his office he is known to have improved the Order in many ways, e.g., in the observance of fasting and of silence, and in the care he takes for precious and curious vestments.
Footnotes
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S. Bernard gave this Letter commendatory to Peter the Venerable, who was going to Eugenius to receive some mark of honour at his hands. He mentions this journey in lib. ii., De Miraculis, c. 25, where he says: "In the first year of the Pontificate of Pope Eugenius I went to Rome to see both him and our common mother the Roman Church." And again, writing to Bernard (lib. vi., ep. 46), he says: " I saw him (that is, Eugenius) at Rome in the first "year of his Pontificate." It was on this journey that he was stripped of his goods by the Marquis Opizrn on his way through Italy. He recovered everything, however, afterwards by the help of the men of Placentia. (See lib. vi., ep. 44.) He paid another visit to Eugenius, however, A.D. 1 1 5 i, and in a Letter to S. Bernard bears witness to the kindness of his reception, and Bernard's good offices on this occasion. ↩
Chapter 277 of 491