Letter CCCLIII. To William, Abbot of Rievaulx

(Circa A.I). 1141.)

/A' UV//V/.V William to bear rr//// cqiianimitv the unjust consecration of the Archbishop of York.¹²

To his dear brother and co-Abbot, WILLIAM, Abbot of Rievaulx, Brother BERNARD of Clairvaux wishes the Spirit of counsel and strength.

I have heard what has been done about that Archbishop, and with the greatest regret. Knowing, therefore, your zeal, and fearing lest it might blaze up more than was proper, and not admit of wise moderation, which would be to the detriment of our Order, and to the harm of your house, I have thought it proper to address to you some words of consolation; since when our own conscience does not accuse us of wrong, other evils may be borne with equanimity. I say it deliberately; neither the blame nor the sin belongs to you. You have resisted them as long as you were able; now, according to the judgment of S. Augustine, the wrong-doing of another cannot defile you, provided that you have not given assent to it in your heart, still less if you have protested against it with your mouth. For, he says; " Under two circumstances the wrong-doing of another does not defile you; if you do not consent, and if you protest."³ Be therefore of good heart and do not be troubled. Respecting Ordination and other Sacraments, bear well in mind that He Who baptizes and He Who ordains is Christ the Lord, the Chief Bishop of our souls. But if any one is reluctant to receive Ordination from his hand, no one obliges you to [cause him to] be ordained. Yet I hold it to be quite certain that there is nothing to fear when the sacraments received are administered according to the rules of the Church. Otherwise, if we wished to avoid all evil men, though the Church bears with them, it would be needful to go out of the world. In conclusion, there will be no long delay in bringing the matter under the notice of the Pope, and what he orders or directs you will be able with a good conscience to hold and follow. In the meantime wait calmly and patiently.

Footnotes

1. Formerly No. 379; the former No. 353 is now No. 387. ↩

2. This was William, Abbot of Rievaulx, a Cistercian Abbey in the Diocese of York; it was he WIK. was assisting S. Bernard, when the Letter to Robert (No. i) was written to his dictation. About Rievaulx, see Munusl. Anglic., p. 727. ↩

3. Sermons on the Words of the Lord, No. Ixxxviii., c. 18, n. 19. ↩