St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
S. Bernardi Abbatis et Ecclesiæ Doctoris
FeastWhite
Understanding the Day
Season
Time After Pentecost
Week
Week 12 of Time After Pentecost
Rank
Feast
This feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux falls in the Time after Pentecost, the long liturgical season following Pentecost that focuses on the life of the Church and the growth of Christian discipleship. The rank given here is “Double,” an older liturgical classification meaning this celebration has particular importance: the parish or family prays the proper Mass and Office for St. Bernard rather than the weekday texts, and distinctive prayers, readings, and antiphons are used. There is no octave or vigil indicated here, so the observance is celebrated on the single day named. St. Bernard is remembered as an abbot and a Doctor of the Church, a title that highlights his role in guiding the prayer and teaching of the Church.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Sir 15:5 In the midst of the assembly he opened his mouth; and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding; He clothed him with a robe of glory. (Allelúja, allelúja.) Ps 91:2 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your name, Most High. Glory Be to the Father…
O God, who didst give blessed Bernard to be thy people’s minister in eternal salvation; grant, we pray, that we who have him for teacher of life here on earth, may also deserve now that he is in heaven, to have him for an advocate. Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Prayer to St. Joseph
Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so prompt, so strong, before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.
Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, patron of departing souls - pray for me. Amen.
Weekly Formation
The Cardinal Virtues
The Cardinal Virtues
Prudence
Prudence is right reason applied to action: it recognizes the true good in a concrete situation and chooses suitable means to attain it. It is not mere caution or cleverness, because its judgment must serve a morally good end.
Justice
Justice is the steady will to give God and each person what is due. It governs worship, rights, promises, property, work, authority, and social duties by measuring conduct according to objective obligation rather than convenience or favoritism.
Temperance
Temperance restrains and orders the desire for bodily pleasure so that appetite follows reason and faith. By preserving inner balance, it enables created pleasures to be received gratefully without becoming masters of judgment or conduct.
Fortitude
Fortitude gives firmness in difficulty and constancy in pursuing the good despite fear, suffering, or danger. It moderates both cowardice and reckless boldness, especially by enabling endurance when duty cannot be completed without sacrifice.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebration
Bernard
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Burgundian saint, abbot and theologian (1090–1153)
Born
1090-01-01 · Fontaine-lès-Dijon
Died
1153-08-20 · Clairvaux Abbey
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist., venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order.
The Chinon Parchment was created in 1308 by papal investigators, but the specific date of August 20 is not traditionally associated with this event. The document records the absolution of the Knights Templar leaders from heresy charges, highlighting the complexities of Church authority and political pressures on ecclesiastical decisions.
The event serves as a reminder of the importance of justice and mercy within the Church.
Canonization of Stephen I and Emeric of Hungary
1083Canonization
The canonization of Stephen I, the first King of Hungary, and his son Emeric in 1083 marks a significant moment in Catholic history, as it highlights the Church's role in the establishment of Christianity in Hungary. This event underscores the importance of royal patronage in the spread of the faith and the integration of Hungary into the Christian community.
The canonization of saints serves as a reminder of the transformative power of faith in leadership.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Church distinguishes mortal and venial sins according to their gravity and their effect on charity. Mortal sin is a grave violation of God’s law that turns a person away from God; it requires grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. It destroys charity and calls for God’s mercy and conversion of heart, normally within the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sin, though it offends and wounds charity, does not break friendship with God. It weakens charity and can gradually dispose us toward mortal sin if it is deliberate and unrepented. As we reflect on our actions, we can acknowledge the seriousness of sin, seek repentance and God’s forgiveness, and entrust the judgment of persons to God’s justice and mercy.
¶ 1855
Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.
¶ 1856
Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation:
Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus as the assumption of Mary, body and soul, into heaven.
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."
¶ 1858
Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother." The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.
¶ 1859
Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
¶ 1860
Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. the promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
¶ 1861
Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.
¶ 1862
One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.
Baltimore track
Baltimore Catechism No. 3
Lesson 22 — On the Holy Eucharist
Q. 889.How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?
A.The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power.
Q. 890.Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?
A.This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests.
Q. 891.When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?
A.Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, "Do this in commemoration of Me."