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Pride only, the chief of all iniquities, can make us treat gifts as if they were rightful attributes of our nature, and, while receiving benefits, rob our Benefactor of His due glory.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
There are four degrees of love: 1) Love of self for self's sake. 2) Love of God for self's sake. 3) Love of God for God's own sake. 4) Love of self for God's sake.
Bernard of Clairvaux
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To serve Mary is a mark of eternal salvation to come.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so - but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Let no one believe that he has received the divine kiss, if he knows the truth without loving it or loves it without understanding it. But blessed is that kiss whereby not only is God recognized but also the Father is loved; for there is never full knowledge without perfect love.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Humility is, of all graces, the chiefest when it does not know itself to be a grace at all.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Learn first to love yourself, and then you can love me.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
All things are possible to one who believes.
Bernard of Clairvaux
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Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
And truly, O man, if you concentrate hard on the state you are in it will be surprising if you have time for anything else.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
There are some who wish to learn for no other reason than that they may be looked upon as learned, which is ridiculous vanity ... Others desire to learn that they may morally instruct others, that is love. And, lastly, there are some who wish to learn that they may be themselves edified; and that is prudence.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water. In the Church at the present day, we have many canals, few reservoirs.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
The piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself... Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.
Bernard of Clairvaux
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Pride causes us to use our gifts as though they came from ourselves, not benefits received from God, and to usurp our benefactor's glory.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
God will either give us what we ask, or what He knows to be better for us.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
God has aroused the spirit of kings and princes to root up from the earth the enemies of the Christian name. Therefore gird yourselves manfully and take up joyful arms for the name of Christ.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
What of the souls already released from their bodies? We believe that they are overwhelmed in that vast sea of eternal light and of luminous eternity.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
The three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.
Bernard of Clairvaux
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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.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Believe one who has tried, you shall find a fuller satisfaction in the woods than in the books. The trees and the rocks will teach you that which you cannot hear from the masters.
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Do what Jesus says... what he commands through his ministers who are in the Church [see 1 Cor 6:4]. Be subject to his vicars, your leaders, not only those who are gentle and kind, but even those who are overbearing [see 1 Pt 2:18].
Bernard of Clairvaux -
Wherever...thou shalt be, pray secretly within thyself. If thou shalt be far from a house of prayer, give not thyself trouble to seek for one, for thou thyself art a sanctuary designed for prayer. If thou shalt be in bed, or in any other place, pray there; thy temple is there.
Bernard of Clairvaux