The Cistercian bishop reflected on angels as mediators of God\u2019s providence and on St. Bernard of Clairvaux\u2019s realism rooted in mercy.<\/p>\n
Bishop Erik Varden continued leading the Vatican\u2019s Lenten spiritual exercises on Feb. 26 with meditations on angels, trust in God, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux\u2019s path from lofty ideals to what Varden described as a realism grounded in mercy.<\/p>\n
In his eighth meditation of the retreat, Varden recalled Christ\u2019s temptation in the desert, when the devil cited Psalm 90 while urging Jesus to throw himself from the Temple. \u201cThe devil,\u201d Varden said, \u201ctook him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,\u201d challenging Christ to prove he is the Son of God by casting himself down, \u201cfor it is written: \u2018He will command his angels concerning you\u2019 and \u2018On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGod alone may invite us to jump from a pinnacle,\u201d Varden said. \u201cHis call, however, will be, \u2018Jump into my arms,\u2019 not, \u2018Throw yourself down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Angels, he added, are not sent to indulge human whims. \u201cAngelic interventions are not always reassuring,\u201d he said. \u201cThe angels are not there to humor us in our caprices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pointing to a traditional prayer to the guardian angel, Varden highlighted what he called \u201chefty verbs\u201d describing the angel\u2019s mission: to \u201cenlighten, keep, govern, and guide.\u201d He described an angel as a \u201cguardian of holiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Varden linked that angelic mission to monastic life, long understood as \u201cangelic,\u201d he said, because of its orientation toward praise and because the monk is called to be \u201caflame with God\u2019s love\u201d and to bring that love to others.<\/p>\n
He also connected the angels to the Church\u2019s liturgy, saying Christ\u2019s \u201ccanticle of praise\u201d resounds through \u201ca pulsating chain of mediation\u201d that rises from the earth to heaven, echoed in the prefaces of the Mass, where the Church joins the angels\u2019 worship.<\/p>\n
Citing St. Bernard, Varden emphasized angels as mediators of God\u2019s providence \u2014 while noting that God can act directly but also \u201cdelights\u201d in letting his creatures become \u201cchannels of grace\u201d for one another.<\/p>\n
He quoted Bernard\u2019s counsel to imitate an angel\u2019s movement between charity and contemplation: \u201cDescend, and show mercy to your neighbour; next, in a second movement, letting the same angel elevate your desires, use all the cupiditas of your soul to rise towards the most high and eternal truth.\u201d Varden said Bernard\u2019s language suggests that human yearnings \u2014 including embodied desires \u2014 are drawn toward fulfillment in God and must be guided toward him.<\/p>\n
Varden said the angels\u2019 \u201clast, most decisive act of charity\u201d will come at the hour of death, when they will bear the faithful \u201cthrough this world\u2019s veil into eternity.\u201d In that moment, he said, \u201cAll pretence will fall \u2026 Rhetoric will fail. Only truth will stand and sound, attuned to mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his ninth meditation, Varden turned again to Bernard, describing how the Cistercian movement was forged between \u201cthe ideal and the concrete,\u201d and how Bernard\u2019s early intransigence was \u201csweetened over time,\u201d turning \u201cthe idealist into a realist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quoting psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, Varden noted that \u201c\u2018the real\u2019 is what we butt against,\u201d but said Bernard\u2019s realism was not simply acceptance of facts. \u201cHe learnt above all that the deepest reality of all human affairs is a cry for mercy,\u201d Varden said.<\/p>\n
He tied that realism to Bernard\u2019s devotion to the holy name of Jesus, quoting Bernard\u2019s words to his monks: \u201cEvery food of the mind \u2026 is dry if it is not dipped in that oil; it is tasteless if not seasoned by that salt. Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Varden concluded by quoting Bernard\u2019s early biography, the Vita Prima: \u201cHe was \u2026 at freedom with himself,\u201d adding that a man or woman who is truly free is \u201cglorious to behold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acest articol a fost publicat ini\u021bial de ACI Stampa, serviciul de limb\u0103 italian\u0103 al EWTN News, \u0219i a fost tradus \u0219i adaptat de EWTN News English.<\/p>\n