Just due south from where we have been standing, on the hill, and distant about a few hundred yards, the Guide will show a singular earth-work, shaped like a moat, and having an elevated mound in the centre. From the presence here of old conduits built with masonry, there can be no doubt that this was a reservoir to contain a copious supply of water which flowed from wells on the hill. Lower down than this moat, that is, at the rere of the Chapter-house, lies buried beneath some feet of soil the Abbot’s house, where Mellifont’s puissant rulers received their guests, and whose hospitable board was honoured by the presence of kings and bishops, as well as chiefs and warriors bold in all their pomp and panoply. It is doubtful that any vestige of the enclosure wall remains, nor can it be conjectured even, what, or how much, space it embraced. As we ponder over the scene, Keats’ words find an echo in our hearts:—
“How changed, alas! from that revered abode
Graced by proud majesty in ancient days,
Where monks recluse those sacred pavements trod,
And taught the unlettered world its Maker’s praise.”
CHAPTER II.
ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT.
| “Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day, For what are men better than sheep and goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.” (Lord Tennyson.) |
t the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium, or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in 1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his features, was playing in his father’s chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling condition. It has become a proverb, “that the child is father of the man,” and a very clever writer exclaims—“Blessed is the man whose infancy has been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and holy mother.” It was St. Bernard’s singular privilege to have such a mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful days, and inspired him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his mother—to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her; for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the public school where he received his education, and returned to the paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time, only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young noblemen—the Church or the Army. With Bernard’s distinguished talents, a bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination, and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours. After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux, where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light could no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint’s biographers cries out—“How many learned men, how many nobles and great ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality.” His fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime, his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time; of him he writes: “Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo cœtu monachorum.”