Letter CCCXLVIII. To the Same

(A.D. 1141.)

On behalf of Arnulf, Bishop-elect of Lisiei To his very dear father and lord, INNOCENT, by the grace of God supreme Pontiff, BERNARD, called Abbot of Clair¹ vaux, sends his humble duty.²

1. Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has in our day preserved His Church, the spotless Spouse of His dear Son, free, and delivered her from grief and from the oppressions of the wicked. The schisms are extinct, the heresies have sunk into silence,³ the necks of the proud and haughty are trodden under your feet. And, indeed, I have seen during the schism the head of the wicked lifted up, and lofty as the cedars of Libanus; yet, I passed by, and behold, he was not. During the heresy I saw a multitude of errors shooting up again, as it were, and flourishing, but the mouth of those speaking perverse things was stopped. The tyrant of Sicily4 had lifted up his heart on high, and now is humbled under the mighty Hand of God; in short, there is 'none of any rank whatever over whom the Church of God by His mighty Hand and stretched-out Arm has not obtained the victory by your means.

2. Yet there remains still one adversary, the Count of Anjou, the Hammer of good men, and the enemy of peace, and of the liberty of the Church. He is persecuting the Church of Lisieux, in order that the Bishop of that Church shall not enter into the sheep-fold by the legitimate door, but in some other way. But what has been done cannot be undone. And furthermore, if the whole matter should be closely and carefully examined, it will be found that all has been done for the best, and that what has been done ought to be confirmed. All things concur to show this: the person chosen, the circumstances, he who has conducted it, and even the adversary who opposes it. For if you look to the person chosen, he is your dear son, in whom you are well pleased. If to the order of the proceedings, they have been carried out freely and canonically, and in proper order. If to the manager of them, he is a pious and God-fearing man. If to the adversary, behold he is a man who has not taken God for his help, but is hostile to the Church, and an enemy of the cross of Christ. Besides, in any affair in which it is doubtful wrhich course to take, it is a most powerful reason for regarding a particular course as the better that it pleases the good and displeases the evil. But it is objected that the Count of Anjou has appealed to the Apostolic See. Wherefore, I pray you; what injury or loss has he to complain of? Far from being oppressed, it is he who is the oppressor; and it is not to relieve himself of an injustice that he has recourse to an appeal, but in order that by this means he may put an obstacle in the way of the consecration of the Bishop.

3. Since then in this matter not only the piety of him who has conducted it, but your affection for the person chosen, and the justice of his cause, combine to lead to the same conclusion, it seems superfluous and useless to make request on behalf of one whose humility has already had recourse to your authority. I will, however, who am but dust and ashes, speak unto my Lord. Yes, I who am the humble servant of the Bride will speak unto the friends of the Bridegroom; let my discourse be welcome to Him. The Church, my lord, from the rising of the sun unto its setting, has been committed to your care. You ought, then, to be a wall and a rampart to her from the face of her enemy and persecutor. You ought to nourish her sons under the shadow of your wings. Sustain, therefore, the Bishop of Lisieux as a tiue son of the Roman Church, and send him back with the blessings of sweetness, so that his enemy may never say: I have prevailed against him. Gird on your sword, O Father, to raise up your son, to lay low the enemy, and to preserve the freedom of the Church. For we are not sons of the bond-woman, but of the free, and are sharers of the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Footnotes

1. Arnulph was Archdeacon of Se'ez, when he was elected in 1141 Bishop of Lisieux in Normandy; he was a learned man, and famous for the Letters which he wrote. Peter the Venerable also wrote to Innocent respecting his election (B. iv., Let. 7). This Letter of Bernard was first brought to light by John Picard, who placed it last, No. 367. Horst omitted it, but it has been recovered in Spicil. B. iii. Respecting Arnulph, see Let. 248. ↩

2. Formerly No. 388; the former No. 348 is now No. 407. ↩

3. The reference is to the schisms of Anacletus and Victor, and the heresy of Peter Abaelard. ↩