Letter CCCXXII. To Hugo, a Novice, who Afterwards Became Abbot of Bonneval

(Circa A.D. 1138.)

Bernard praises his design of becoming a Religious; he forewarns him against temptations, and exhorts him to perseverance.¹²

To his very dear son in Christ, HUGO, who has become a new creature in Christ, Brother BERNARD, called Abbot of €lairvaux, sends greeting, and desires that he may be made strong in the Lord.

1. The news of your conversion has given me joy and gladness. Why should not that be a cause of rejoicing to men, when it is so even to angels? Already the day is observed as a festival, it resounds with songs of praise and giving of thanks. A young man of high birth, delicately brought up, has overcome the enemy, despised the world, sacrificed his body, renounced the affections of his relatives, and burst the confining nets, which riches had spread around his wings. From when did you obtain this wisdom, O my son? For I do not find so great wisdom in the aged men of the world,³ who, according to, or rather in spite of the word of the Apostle (1 Tim. vi. 9), have only one desire to be rich in this world, though they fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil. No, the wisdom of our dear Hugo is not from this world but from heaven. I⁴ confess, O Father, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise, and hast revealed it to a child. As for you, my son, be not ungrateful for the goodness of the Saviour to you. Lay aside the disposition of a child; or rather, be a child in malice, but not in wisdom (1 Cor. xiv. 20). Let not the austerity of our Order affright your tender age. Remember that the rougher thistle makes the softer web; l a severe life makes a good conscience. The sweetness of Christ shall make itself known to you, and the meal of the prophet shall render palatable the bitter and nauseous pottage (2 Kings iv. 39). If you feel the piercings of temptations, look up to the brazen serpent raised upon the pole, and draw life from the wounds, or rather from the bosom of the Crucified. He shall be to you kind as a mother, and you shall be to Him dear as a son; the nails which fasten Him to the Cross shall, as it were, pierce your hands and feet as they have pierced His.

2. But a man's enemies shall be those of his own house hold (Micah vu. 6, and S. Matt. x. 36). They are those who really love, not you, but the enjoyment which they have from you, otherwise they would have joy to hear you say, If ye loved Me ye would rejoice, because I go to My Father (S. John xiv. 28). " If your father," says S. Jerome, "lay across the threshold to prevent your passing; if your mother, dishevelled, should appeal to you by the bosom whence you wrere nourished; if your young nephew should hang upon your neck to stop you, trample under foot father and mother, and hasten without a tear to the banner of the Cross. The highest stretch of filial duty it is to be cruel for the sake of Christ " (epis. i. ad Heliodor.}. Do not be in fluenced by the tears of demented relatives, who mourn to see that you, from having been a child of hell, have become a child of God. Alas! why do these unhappy people cherish an affection so violent, so cruel, and so unjust? Evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Cor. xv. 33). Wherefore avoid as much as possible, my son, conversa-⁵ tions with guests, because these leave the mind empty and the ears full. Learn to pray to God; to lift up to Him your heart as well as your hands. Learn in all your needs to lift suppliant eyes towards heaven, and to bring upon you the pitying look of the Father of mercies. It would be an impiety to believe that God will shut up His bowels of compassion from you, and remain deaf to your groans and cries. For the rest remember that you ought to be docile to the directions of your spiritual fathers as if they were precepts from the Divine majesty. Follow that rule of conduct, and you shall have life. Follow it, and the blessing of God shall come upon you, and for every single thing which you have given up you shall receive a hundred fold, even in the present life. Distrust also the spirit that persuades you not to do this too hastily, and that this matter should be deferred to a more mature age. Rather trust Him who said, It is good for a man that he should have borne the yoke from his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because lie has borne it upon him (Lam. iii. 27, 28). Farewell, and study perseverance, to which virtue alone the crown is due.

Footnotes

1. Formerly No. 351; the former No. 322 is now No. 363. ↩

2. This was an Abbey in the Diocese of Besancon. Later on Hugo became its Abbot, and showed himself a very pious man, and worthy nephew of S. Hugo, Bishop of Grenoble, of whom mention is made in the Lift of S. Bernard, B. iv. n. 40. ↩

3. Babylvnis. ↩

4. Bartholomew, Bishop of Laon. ↩

5. Apparently a reference to' the custom of using the head of the teazle thistle to render smooth and even the surface of velvet and cloth. — TRANS. ↩