St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a French Cistercian abbot, the most influential churchman of the twelfth century, and a Doctor of the Church called the “Mellifluous Doctor,” the honey-sweet teacher, because of the beauty of his writings on the love of God, the Holy Name of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He founded the abbey of Clairvaux, advised popes and kings, and inspired the beloved medieval hymn Jesu, dulcis memoria, known in English as “Jesus, the very thought of Thee.” The Memorare is often attributed to him. His feast day is August 20. Below are his story, the hymn, his patronage and prayers to St. Bernard.
A short prayer to St. Bernard, written for this page:
St. Bernard, you found Jesus sweeter than honey and loved His Mother with all your heart.
Pray that the Name of Jesus may be sweet to me,
and that in every danger I may look to the Star of the Sea and call upon Mary. Amen.
Who was St. Bernard of Clairvaux?
Bernard was born in 1090 at Fontaines, near Dijon in Burgundy, into a noble family. In 1113 he entered the poor, strict new monastery of Cîteaux, bringing with him about thirty relatives and friends, including several of his brothers. Two years later, at twenty-five, he was sent to found a new abbey in a wild valley called Clairvaux, which he led for nearly forty years; from it some seventy monasteries were founded across Europe.
Bernard’s sermons on the Song of Songs, his treatise On Loving God, and his sermons on the Virgin Mary made him one of the great spiritual writers of the Church. He healed the schism of 1130 by winning Europe to the side of Pope Innocent II, advised his former monk Pope Eugene III, defended the faith against Peter Abelard, and, at the pope’s request, preached the Second Crusade in 1146. He died on August 20, 1153, and was canonized in 1174. Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1830.
“Jesus, the very thought of Thee”
The medieval Latin hymn Jesu, dulcis memoria, long attributed to St. Bernard and expressing his devotion to the Holy Name, in Edward Caswall’s translation:
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With rapture fills my breast;
But sweeter far Thy Face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.
Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,
O Saviour of mankind!
Jesus, our only joy be Thou,
As Thou our prize wilt be;
O Jesus, be our glory now
And through eternity.
See the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
St. Bernard and Mary
Bernard’s sermons on the Virgin Mary taught generations to turn to her in every trial, comparing her to the star that guides sailors through a storm: in danger, in doubt, in temptation, “look to the star, call upon Mary.” He is often pictured at Mary’s side, and in Dante’s Divine Comedy it is Bernard who leads the poet to her at the summit of Paradise. The Memorare, though in its present form it was spread by a seventeenth-century French priest, Claude Bernard, is traditionally linked with St. Bernard. See the Memorare.
What is St. Bernard the patron saint of?
St. Bernard of Clairvaux is the patron saint of:
- Beekeepers and candlemakers, because of his title “Mellifluous Doctor”
- The Cistercians and the Trappists
- Gibraltar and the region of Burgundy
Feast day
The memorial of St. Bernard, abbot and Doctor of the Church, is August 20, the day of his death.
Frequently asked questions
Why is St. Bernard called the Mellifluous Doctor?
Because his writings were “flowing with honey,” full of sweetness and love for Jesus and Mary.
Did St. Bernard write the Memorare?
The Memorare is traditionally attributed to him, but its present form was spread in the seventeenth century by Father Claude Bernard.
When is St. Bernard’s feast day?
August 20.
More saints and prayers
- Memorare
- Most Holy Name of Jesus
- St. Benedict prayer
- Hail Holy Queen
- St. Hildegard of Bingen
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- Jesu, dulcis memoria, trans. Edward Caswall, as printed in A Catechism of Christian Doctrine No. 1 (Baltimore Catechism), public domain (Project Gutenberg #14551).