*** *** *** “Among us on the earth there is His memory; but in the Kingdom of heaven His very Presence. That Presence is the joy of those who have already attained to beatitude; the memory is the comfort of us who are still wayfarers, journeying towards the Fatherland.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux

— Born of French nobility, St. Bernard (1090–1153) was a theologian, orator, defender of the faith, master conciliator, and writer. He founded and led the Abbey of Clairvaux and composed a number of treatises, including the celebrated “On Loving God.”