Cîteaux at the time was still struggling for stability. Founded in 1098 by the Benedictine monk Robert de Molesme (1028-1111), it had endured lean years. Under Stephen Harding, the third abbot (1108–1134), the monastery was still a strict experiment in returning to the Regula Benedicti in its plainest form - manual labor, liturgical prayer, and material poverty. Very few recruits joined the monastic ranks. Stephen became discouraged about the future of their venture, and he was on the verge of resigning as abbot in 1112. (1)
In that very year around Easter, Bernard entered Cîteaux. He did so with about thirty companions, including several brothers, other relatives and friends. The "First Life of Bernard of Clairvaux", traditionally known as the Vita Prima, emphasizes the zeal they had already developed during the brief period of communal life that they had lived together in their Châtillon community house.
At Cîteaux, Bernard and the others were thoroughly integrated into the daily rhythms of monastic life: manual labor, prayer, and scriptural study shaped his spiritual and corporal formation. These are central to the Benedictine-Cistercian tradition. The Vita portrays Bernard’s discipline at Cîteaux as unusually fierce, sometimes to the detriment of his health. He fasted stringently, sought solitude, and practiced austerities beyond the common measure. At the same time Bernard took part in manual labor required of all monks: clearing land, farming, and building. Bernard also immersed himself in the Scriptures, developing the prodigious memory for the Psalms and the Song of Songs that later colored his preaching. (2)
Abbot Stephen Harding often moderated Bernard, reminding him that excessive zeal could destroy rather than save. In this way Bernard learned obedience not just to the Rule but to a human superior. This balance between ardor and obedience became a hallmark of his later governance.
Cistercian studies point out that between 1112–1115, Cîteaux was growing strongly, but probably still small enough that novices like Bernard lived in close proximity with the abbot and senior monks, learning by example. This intimacy explains why Stephen Harding could quickly recognize Bernard’s leadership qualities. (3)
At the same time the Cîteaux monastery was strong enough to facilitate the foundation of a daughter monastery at La Ferté-sur-Grosne in the diocese of Chalon-sur-Saône (1113) and one at Pontigny in the diocese of Auxerre (1114). In 1115 another monastic colony was founded at Morimond, in the diocese of Langres. Usually each founding party counted 12 members.
In the same year 1115, Bernard's capabilities were recognized by Stephen Harding, who entrusted him with leading the foundation of yet another daughter house, this time in the Vallée d’Absinthe (Clairvaux) in the diocese of Langres. This rapid transition from novice to abbot underscores the intensity of his formation as well as the urgency of Cistercian expansion.
This blog is own reasearch by TemplarsNow on the Vita of Bernard de Clairvaux. Additional sources and further reading: (1) encyclopedia.com, (2) stbernardbridgewater.org, (3) newadvent.org and The monastic conversion of Bernard of Clairvaux and its significance for Cistercian beginnings, ca. 1098-ca. 1128, by Joseph Ewan Millan-Cole (PhD University of Sydney, 2015). The illustration shows a page from the Harding Bible, a 12th-century illuminated Latin Bible created in Cîteaux Abbey during the abbacy of Stephen Harding, dated 1109. source fr.wikipedia.org, Public Domain.
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