Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes
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Spiritual life is like living water that springs up from the very depths of our own spiritual experience. In spiritual life everyone has to drink from his or her own well.
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It is a fault, not a virtue, to wish your humility recognized and applauded.
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The true measure of loving God is to love him without measure.
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Love of Mary and devotion to her are a sure sign of obtaining eternal salvation.
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The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.
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Prostrate, see Thy cross I grasp,And Thy pierced feet I clasp;Gracious Jesus, spurn me not;On me, with compassion fraught,Let Thy glances fall.Thy cross of agony,My Beloved, look on me;Turn me wholly unto Thee;"Be thou whole," say openly:"I forgive thee all.
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Let us affectionately love His angels as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide.
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Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
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For I have learnt for a fact that nothing so effectively obtains, retains and regains grace, as that we should always be found not high-minded before God, but filled with holy fear.
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Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so - but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it.
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How beautiful then is modesty and what a gem among virtues it is.
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Theirs is an endless road, a hopeless maze, who seek for goods before they seek for God.
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When God forgives a sinner who humbly confesses his sin, the devil loses his dominion over the heart he had taken.
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The measure of love is love without measure.
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The reason for our loving God is God.
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Thus understanding and love, that is, the knowledge of and delight in the truth, are, as it were, the two arms of the soul, with which it embraces and comprehends with all the saints the length and breath, the height and depth, that is the eternity, the love, the goodness, and the wisdom of God.
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Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.
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What I know of the divine science and holy scripture, I learnt in the woods and fields.
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Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, Make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, Shed o'er the world Thy holy light.
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Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.
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So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!
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It was love that motivated His self-emptying, that led Him to become a little lower than angels, to be subject to parents, to bow His head beneath the Baptist's hands, to endure the weakness of the flesh, and to submit to death even upon the cross.
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Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.
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Nothing can work me damage except myself. The harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault.