The Last of the Fathers

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the Encyclical Letter Doctor Mellifluus

Thomas Merton

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 1981
• ISBN:
  9780547563985
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

A contextual portrait of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, along with Pope Pius XII's encyclical letter on the Doctor of the Church. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a dominant figure in the history of the Catholic Church and the last of the Church Fathers, died in his monastery in Burgundy on August 20, 1153. In commemoration of the eighth centenary of his death, Pope Pius XII issued one of his most significant encyclical letters— Doctor Mellifluus —which Thomas Merton presents here, together with an introduction to the life and teachings of the great mystic. The essence of Saint Bernard's doctrine, Father Merton writes, is nothing else but the spiritual peace distilled in monasticism, and it is one of the purest and most authentic sources of Catholic tradition. Pius's encyclical letter draws on that doctrine to bring the highest spiritual perfection within reach of all Christians. Praise for The Last of the Fathers "A study that will have to be on the shelves of all libraries and in the personal collections of all who are interested in spirituality.... Merton has provided an exquisite spiritual and intellectual setting for the jewel of the Encyclical [by Pope Pius XII]." — Catholic World

Footnotes

* A later generation has paid tribute to Duns Scotus’ defense of the Immaculate Conception by giving him the ride “Doctor Marianus.” This title is also accorded by some to Saint Bernard.

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* See our article “Action and Contemplation in Saint Bernard” in Collectanea, O.C.R., January, July, 1953, April, 1954.

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* See the article Bernard, Saint, by Dom Anselme le Bail, O.C.S.O, in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, vol. I, col. 1491.

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† Cistercian Breviary, Matins of the Feast of Bernard, 9th Responsory.

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* The Letters of Scrim Bernard of Clairvaux, translated by Bruno Scott James, Chicago, 1953, p. 8.

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* Letters, p. 128.

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* Letters, p. 375.

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† Letters, p. 396.

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* De Consideratitone, Bk. II, C. 1; Migne, P.L., 182:745.

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* See page 31.

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* Apologia ad Gullielmum, n. 10; P.L., 182:904.

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* “On Conversion,” translated by Watkin Williams, London, 1938.

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* “Quis igitur finis fructusve saecularis hujus, non dico militiae sed malitiae, si et occisor letaliter peccat et occisus aeternaliter perit?” De Laude Novae Militiae, n. 5; P.L., 182:923.

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* Contra Errores Abaelardi, n. 17; P.L., 182:1067.

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* Dom Jean Leclercq, O.S.B., Saint Bernard Mystique, pp. 197, 198.

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* Nam si liceret quod decern, absolute per omnia et in omnibus praeferendam . . . quae ad omnia valet, id est pietatem irrefragibilis ratio monstrat. Quid sit pietas, quaeris? Vacare considerationi. De Consideration, Bk. I, c. vii, 8; P.L., 182:736.

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* In Cantica, Sermon 10, n. 1; P.L., 183:867.

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* Contra Errores Abaelardi, n. 17; P.L., 182:1067.

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* Sermon 1, Advent, nn. 10-11.

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* “Lex Domini immaculata caritas est,” Saint Bernard, De Diligendo Deo, n. 35; P.L., 182:996.

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† Etienne Gilson, The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy, p. 298.

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* “Per deiformitatem sapientia imprimitur, quia desiderando deiformitate ad sapientiam venimus,” Saint Bonaventure, Collatio ii in Hexaemeron.

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† Such is the thought of a modern Cistercian writer on Saint Bernard. Père Maurice Dumontier contrasts the scholastic formula, “Deus movet sicut desideratum,” with what might have been a comparable formula summing up the doctrine of Saint...