Dear Everyone,

Today we embark on the second week of our Lenten Readalong, which allows me to post some reflections on the first week.

We began by reading the first three chapters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s “On Loving God.” St. Bernard devotes the first chapter to explaining why it is we should love God – because He first loved us. St. Bernard quotes numerous Scriptures that describe God’s love, the Incarnation, and the Crucifixion.

In Chapter 2, St. Bernard again expresses why human beings should love God and he describes the three highest gifts that we should seek from God: dignity, wisdom, and virtue. I was struck by this chapter in particular this week because each year I approach Lent as an opportunity to develop and to deepen spiritual discipline in my own life. Seeking the gifts of dignity, wisdom, and virtue are part of that spiritual discipline, intrinsic dignity is something all human beings share. St. Bernard links dignity with free will and the ability to reason, pointing out that human dignity is unique among all creatures. This Lent I will be reflecting on the dignity of all human beings as part of my Lenten practice and I invite everyone to do the same. I will also be focusing on the development of wisdom and virtue, gifts that can be received from God and used for the benefit of humanity and other creatures. I welcome your comments and reflections below.

As we embark on the second week of Lent, let’s read chapters 4-5. I’ll post a new reflection next week.

Thank you for reading along with me. I hope you will continue to experience a blessed Lent.

Peace be with you all,
SR

www.sylvainreynard.com

Dear Everyone,

It’s Ash Wednesday and I wish everyone who is celebrating a blessed Lent. This year I am inviting everyone to join me in a Lenten Readalong of “On Loving God” by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Dante describes St. Bernard in Canto XXI of the “Paradiso” thusly,

‘And he, the holy elder, said: “That you
may consummate your journey perfectly—
for this, both prayer and holy love have sent me

to help you—let your sight fly round this garden;
by gazing so, your vision will be made
more ready to ascend through God’s own ray.

The Queen of Heaven, for whom I am all
aflame with love, will grant us every grace:
I am her faithful Bernard.” Just as one

who, from Croatia perhaps, has come
to visit our Veronica—one whose
old hunger is not sated, who, as long

as it is shown, repeats these words in thought:
“O my Lord Jesus Christ, true God, was then
Your image like the image I see now?”—

such was I as I watched the living love
of him who, in this world, in contemplation,
tasted that peace.'”‘

I think this passage gives us an impression of why Dante chose St. Bernard to guide him after Beatrice took her seat amongst the blessed in Paradise. St. Bernard was known for his love of God, as a mystic, and for his emphasis on loving God. You can read more about him, (and his dispute with Peter Abelard) here.

Today, we will begin by reading Chapter 1 of “On Loving God.” The first chapter invites us to reflect on the question as to why we should love God. In this chapter, St. Bernard ably demonstrates his knowledge of Scripture, and he quotes from both the Old and New Testaments.

There are fifteen chapters in this work, which we will read over the course of the next forty days. The chapters aren’t very long and so my recommendation is that we read 2-3 per week. So over the course of this first week of Lent, let’s read Chapters 2-3. I will post weekly reflections, which I invite you to comment on.

Thank you for journeying through Lent with me. I hope that St. Bernard’s work will be a blessing to you all.

Peace be with you,
SR

www.sylvainreynard.com