The Life of Blessed Bernard of Tiron life of Blessed Bernard of Tiron

CHAPTER 2 Claustral Prior of the Monastery of Saint-Savin, Discipline Restored, and Other Splendid Deeds

CHAPTER 2 Claustral Prior of the Monastery of Saint-Savin, Discipline Restored, and Other Splendid Deeds 13. At that time a monk of the monastery of Saint-Cyprien, namely Gervais, whom we mentioned above, was requested by many prayers of the entire communiry to consent to rule the abbey of Saint-Savin.1 There was no way Gervais could be induced to consent, neither by the bishop's command nor by the obedience his abbot could demand, unless they would hand over the holy Bernard as his assistant. When at last Gervais won that concession , he was appointed abbot and Bernard was made the prior of the community. Thus by divine counsel two great lights2 were sent to dispel the darkness of that monastery, because through the negligence of the preceding abbot of Saint-Savin,3 the community in that place had stopped living according to the Rule and had replaced strict discipline with lukewarmness (RB 18:25) 1. Saint-Savin, in Poitou-Charentes, Vienne, was a daughter monastery of Saint-Cyprien located at Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe across the Vienne River, 45.5 kilometers (27.3 miles) east of Poitiers. It was constructed on the site of the martyrdom of two brothers: Savin and Cyprien, in the mid-fifth century. Gervais witnessed a charter as its abbot in ro82. 2. This image oftwo lights is repeated in §62. 3. Favreau (Saint-Savin, 15-16) describes the dissoluteness of Saint-Savin under the unnamed successor (ca. ro50) of Abbot Odo (r. roro-post ro40), citing Dom Fonteneau (Poitiers: Mediatheque), 80: 434. and dissolute living. Since Getvais was well aware of it beforehand and was motivated by divine counsel that was good and wise, he did not wish to take sole responsibility, lest he work externally on the administration oftheir temporalities4 and neglect to work internally, sustaining their spirituality. Because the two worked together and helped one another, one procuring without, the other providing within, by the grace of God within a short time the monastery was soon restored to such purity of holy life that, while it had been infamous for its impropriety, thereafter it would be famous for its piety. 14. At that time, a serious dispute arose between the muchmentioned Getvais and the venerable Bernard on account of a church, which caused dissension among the monks oftheir monastery . In order to expand and enrich the monastery, Getvais eagerly persisted in acquiring the celebrated church. Bernard totally resisted acquiring the church, warning that the plague of simony was infiltrating the monastery indirectly. So it occurred, and after Getvais saw he could not prevail in the least, and the abbot ofSaint-Cyprien at that time obtained the church he had so coveted , in heated indignation he turned against Bernard, man of God. Getvais disdainfully neglected the responsibilities entrusted to him, and built a dwelling for himselfat Saint-Cyprien at SaintSavin 's expense, wherein afterward he lived a long time.5 We have not gone into this matter in such depth in order to simplify the subtle point6 causing the dissension, but, as will be set forth sub4 . Temporalities are the land, real estate, and properties owned by the monastery ; income derived from temporalities is used to support members ofthe community . Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism, 302. 5. Churches represented sources of considerable revenue. The parishioners' tithes were collected strictly, and the owner of the church, after using a fraction of the income to pay the salary of a vicar to minister to the spiritual needs of the parishioners , could avail himself of the rest. Saint-Savin owned eighteen churches in I093 (Favreau, Saint-Savin, 18). While permission from the bishop was required after I078, the purchase was not unprecedented. The unnamed abbot's conviction for simony and flight in ro80 seems to have been attributed to Gervais to explain the tensions between Bernard and him. 6. Literally, quodlibet argument. 20 CLAUSTRAL PRIOR OF SAINT-SAVIN sequently, so that we may reveal God-fearing judgments together with mighty instructive works, by transmitting them to posterity . Many are most eager to read that a dispute also arose among them (Lk 22:24), when those people, as the Gospel attests, were visibly complying with the directives of Heaven, rather than to read what is related in the Book ofActs, "The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32). Since we have absolutely no desire to give satisfaction...