“THE LEAPING BLAZE OF CHARITY”: Bernard of Clairvaux as Spiritual Guide 2022

In Dante’s Paradise his final steps toward a vision of the Holy Trinity are guided by the twelfth-century Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153). Dante assures us that Bernard is a proper and trained guide because he has “tasted Heaven’s peace” for himself. Bernard has not only had a mystical experience of the Holy Trinity but he wrote his On Loving God in order to guide others. This retreat will examine the thought Bernard on mystical union and how he can be a guide for us today.