Bernard Of Clairvaux Apr 2026

The Mellifluous Doctor: Lessons in Love from Bernard of Clairvaux

We begin to love God because of the benefits He provides us. Bernard of Clairvaux

In his classic work On Loving God , Bernard argues that love is a journey that starts with the self and ends with a complete losing of oneself in God. He outlines these four stages: The Mellifluous Doctor: Lessons in Love from Bernard

We transition to loving God simply for who He is, regardless of the "perks". We start by loving ourselves for our own needs

We start by loving ourselves for our own needs.

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a man of intense contradictions—a monk who craved solitude yet became the most influential power-broker in Europe, and a mystic who wrote "sweet as honey" prose while preaching for the Second Crusade. Known as the his teachings on humility and love remain a bedrock of spiritual wisdom nearly a millennium later. 1. The Four Degrees of Love

The highest state, where we love ourselves only because God loves us—a state of total, egoless peace. 2. The Battle Against Pride