BENEDICTUS, the traditional Catholic Companion, offered a great quote from the saint of the day, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (+1153)
"Would you wish to know if you are really devout? Then take heed of what you love, what you fear, wherefore you rejoice, or why you sorrow. Love God alone, or if you love, love the object, for His sake. Fear only to displease God, or if you have any dread of anything, refer all to Him. Rejoice only in God, or if you rejoice in any other object, look upon it only as an attraction that draws you closer to Him. Let the loss of God be your only sorrow, whether your sorrow is occasioned by past sins or by those of your brethren; or if any other loss worries you, look upon it as a proof that He intends to chasten you, in order to make you more united to Him.
The grace of true devotion is an unction that instructs us in all our duties; he alone who has proved it by experience knows it, and he who is willfully ignorant of this cannot possibly know it, because no one can feel it but he who has received it as a precious gift from heaven. Devotion is the grace that influences the heart, and that alone. After one has tasted the joys of the Spirit, those of the world and the flesh seem to be distasteful. He who yearns for the blessings of heaven cannot relish earthly pleasures, and he who sighs after eternal things will feel only a contempt for fleeting things." (p. 232, Benedictus for August 2021).
The profound wisdom and teaching of Bernard impresses me, but the man's sanctity bore fruit in an incredible vocation boom, which gifted the Church countless saints. His fruitfulness in calling forth vocations leaves me speechless. How badly our Church could use another Bernard and companions!
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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