Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard was born about 1090 at Fontaine-lès-Dijon, in Burgundy, into a large family; his father, Tescelin, was lord of Fontaine, and his mother was Alèthe of Montbard. He studied the liberal arts with the canons of Saint-Vorles at Châtillon-sur-Seine. In 1113, at about twenty, he entered the young monastery of Cîteaux, bringing with him some thirty noblemen of Burgundy.

On June 25, 1115, Stephen Harding, the abbot of Cîteaux, sent him with twelve monks to found Clairvaux, in Champagne. Bernard was about twenty-five and remained its abbot until his death. More than sixty abbeys were founded from Clairvaux in his lifetime, among them Fontenay in Burgundy, founded in 1118 or 1119 according to different sources, whose church was consecrated by Pope Eugene III, a Cistercian and a former pupil of Bernard.

His letters and sermons made him known far beyond his cloister. At the Council of Troyes he helped draw up the rule of the Knights Templar. In the schism that followed the papal election of 1130 he worked for Innocent II against Anacletus until the schism ended in 1138, and at the council of Sens in 1141 he opposed Peter Abelard. On March 31, 1146, at Vézelay, he preached the Second Crusade.

His writings include the sermons on the Song of Songs, the treatise On Consideration, addressed to Eugene III, and homilies in honor of the Virgin Mary. Tradition calls him the Mellifluous Doctor, because his words about Jesus flowed like honey. He died at Clairvaux on August 20, 1153, at about sixty-three.

Further reading: Vézelay: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Basilica of Mary Magdalene; Rocamadour: A Pilgrim’s Guide to Our Lady of Rocamadour; Gregorian Chant in France: Monasteries Open to Pilgrims; Romanesque France: Cluny and the Churches of the Pilgrim Roads.

Pope Alexander III canonized Bernard on January 18, 1174, and Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1830. In 1953 Pope Pius XII marked the eight hundredth anniversary of his death with the encyclical Doctor Mellifluus. His feast on August 20 is in the General Roman Calendar.

At Clairvaux his body was moved to a new tomb in 1178, and his head was placed in a reliquary around 1332. When the abbey was seized as national property in the Revolution, the relics were carried in procession in 1793 to the church of Ville-sous-la-Ferté, the parish of Clairvaux. In 1813 the head was given to the cathedral of Troyes, and its reliquary is kept in the treasury of Troyes Cathedral. The church of Ville-sous-la-Ferté still keeps a twelfth-century shroud and fragments of silk associated with him, protected as historic monuments.

Bernard is shown in the white habit of the Cistercians, with the abbot’s crosier and a book. In the last canto of Dante’s Paradiso it is Bernard who prays to the Virgin Mary on behalf of the poet. The abbey of Fontenay, on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, keeps the church and buildings of a twelfth-century Cistercian monastery; its church was built between 1139 and 1147 under Abbot Guillaume.

Patron of the Cistercians and, by tradition, of Burgundy and of beekeepers.

• Fontaine-lès-DijonThe hill where he was born, with his birthplace house on the Place des Feuillants, shown on guided visits on set dates; a restoration of the house was announced in 2026.
• TroyesThe cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, whose treasury keeps the reliquary of his head, brought from Clairvaux; the treasury was closed for most of 2026, so check that it is open before you visit.
• Ville-sous-la-FertéThe village church near Clairvaux that received his relics in 1793 and keeps the twelfth-century cloth known as the shroud of Saint Bernard.
• CîteauxThe mother house of the Cistercian order, where he entered religious life in 1113 and where monks live and pray today.
• FontenayThe abbey founded from Clairvaux in his lifetime, now private property open to visitors.

On our ways: Vézelay, Fontenay, Cîteaux.

• Via BenedictiThe Way of Saint Benedict, seven daysDay VI, Fontenay and Cîteaux