Strengthened
by this past week of retreat, we pray that our desire for holiness will ever
increase. We recall that even Saint Bernard had to remind his monks at
Clairvaux that they were called to be saints, dedicated to living holy lives.
He wrote: “This community is made up not of the wicked but of saints, religious
men, those who are full of grace and worthy of all blessing. You come together
to hear the word of God, you gather to sing praise, to pray, to offer
adoration. This is a consecrated assembly, pleasing to God and familiar with
the angels. Therefore, brothers, stand fast in reverence, stand with care and
devotion of mind, especially in this place of prayer and in this school of
Christ where the Spirit is heard.”
Photograph by Father Emmanuel . Lines from Sermon
for St. John the Baptist, 1 by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.