Today’s homily: St Bernard of Clairvaux (2026

St Bernard of Clairvaux became one of the most influential voices of twelfth-century Christendom not through office, wealth, or political power, but through holiness, prayer, intellectual discipline, and freedom from worldly ambition. Drawing upon the Mass In medio Ecclesiae, the homily presents Bernard as monk, reformer, theologian, counsellor of popes, controversialist, and deeply Marian saint, while also acknowledging his limitations and failures. His enduring relevance lies in his insistence that authentic Christian authority flows from conversion: prayer before speech, repentance before correction, contemplation before action, and love of God without measure. Within the octave of the Assumption, Bernard’s counsel, Respice stellam, voca Mariam — “Look to the Star; call upon Mary” — points ultimately to Christ, the Wisdom whom every saint must first receive before attempting to teach the world. https://nuntiatoria.org/2026/08/20/todays-homily-st-bernard-of-clairvaux/