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Sermons of St. Bernard on Advent and Christmas: including the famous treatise on the incarnation called "Missus est"
Sermons of St. Bernard on Advent and Christmas including the famous treatise on the incarnation called "Missus est". 186 Pages
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2006
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About the author
Bernard of Clairvaux
541 books113 followersborn 1090
Piety and mysticism of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux as widely known instrumental French monastic reformer and political figure condemned Peter Abélard and rallied support for the second Crusade.
This doctor of the Church, an abbot, primarily built the Cistercian order. After the death of mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order in 1112. Three years later, people sent Bernard found a new house, named Claire Vallée, "of Clairvaux," on 25 June 1115. Bernard preached that the Virgin Mary interceded in an immediate faith.
In 1128, Bernard assisted at the council of Troyes and traced the outlines of the rule of the Knights Templar, who quickly the ideal of Christian nobility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard...
Piety and mysticism of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux as widely known instrumental French monastic reformer and political figure condemned Peter Abélard and rallied support for the second Crusade.
This doctor of the Church, an abbot, primarily built the Cistercian order. After the death of mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order in 1112. Three years later, people sent Bernard found a new house, named Claire Vallée, "of Clairvaux," on 25 June 1115. Bernard preached that the Virgin Mary interceded in an immediate faith.
In 1128, Bernard assisted at the council of Troyes and traced the outlines of the rule of the Knights Templar, who quickly the ideal of Christian nobility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 20, 2025
Une traduction accessible de nombreux sermons d'un saint catholique médiéval à ses confrères moines. Étonnamment intemporelle à certains égards. J'aurais sans doute davantage apprécié cette œuvre si j'avais été catholique.
January 21, 2019
Wonderful!
January 10, 2021
Reading these sermons, I can't help but think St. Francis of Assisi was familiar with them - that they influenced him in his devotion to the Nativity of our Lord and to holy poverty.
These sermons are like a Christmas pudding; there are a myriad of ingredients that went into writing them. Sometimes the sheer volume of quotes and paraphrases of Scripture and the fathers, as well as the various allegorical images used can be overwhelming. This are definitely not for light devotional reading, but requires sustained attentiveness and intellectual engagement.
On that note, it is not necessarily a good book to read devotionally during the Advent and Christmas seasons - nor is it necessarily meant to be. For the whole of Advent there are only 7 sermons; for Christmas Eve 6; Christmas Day 5; the Circumcision 3; Epiphany 3; among other homilies for various feasts and Sundays. It would be a great book to slowly read and digest in summer or fall, and then take what has entered into the heart from reading these sermons into the Advent and Christmas seasons.
These sermons are like a Christmas pudding; there are a myriad of ingredients that went into writing them. Sometimes the sheer volume of quotes and paraphrases of Scripture and the fathers, as well as the various allegorical images used can be overwhelming. This are definitely not for light devotional reading, but requires sustained attentiveness and intellectual engagement.
On that note, it is not necessarily a good book to read devotionally during the Advent and Christmas seasons - nor is it necessarily meant to be. For the whole of Advent there are only 7 sermons; for Christmas Eve 6; Christmas Day 5; the Circumcision 3; Epiphany 3; among other homilies for various feasts and Sundays. It would be a great book to slowly read and digest in summer or fall, and then take what has entered into the heart from reading these sermons into the Advent and Christmas seasons.
January 6, 2023
The ebook is only 142 pages, the remaining 300 or so pages are just scripture passages in no apparent order and are not included in the table of contents. You finish the book at 22%.
The sermons are beautifully composed and spiritually enriching, pondering the mysteries and glories of the incarnation and the mercy of God, especially in regards to the poor and what is lowly in the world.
If you are of a protestant faith tradition you might be tempted to quit early on, as many of the sermons in the first two sections are about Mary, including her immaculate conception, her intercession and mediation with the Son, and her saving merit. If you aren't interested in exploring this view of Mary even simply for it's historical value, skip ahead to the third section, as this kind of content is almost completely absent from the rest of the work.
The sermons are beautifully composed and spiritually enriching, pondering the mysteries and glories of the incarnation and the mercy of God, especially in regards to the poor and what is lowly in the world.
If you are of a protestant faith tradition you might be tempted to quit early on, as many of the sermons in the first two sections are about Mary, including her immaculate conception, her intercession and mediation with the Son, and her saving merit. If you aren't interested in exploring this view of Mary even simply for it's historical value, skip ahead to the third section, as this kind of content is almost completely absent from the rest of the work.
January 19, 2024
I had to read this for a course I am doing with the University of Notre Dame.
April 16, 2018
Try as I might, I just can't really get into Bernard of Clairvaux. This is my 5th work of his that I have read and I always leave with very mixed feelings.
I thought this collection of sermons would be a bit different, as I enjoyed a number of his insights into advent and the birth of Christ. He has some very good insights into Christ coming down to earth and becoming incarnate. However, there were a number of things that also just bothered me. Just little things like Jesus' birth being painless and that Jesus didn't cry as a newborn baby. I feel that this falls into Bernard's tendency to over-spiritualize everything.
While these first sermons were pretty good, some of the later ones just didn't have the same impact. The sermons on circumcision, epiphany, other feast days or miracles just were more uneven. I also just tend to have a hard time following where Bernard is trying to go. Maybe that's just the distance in time and how we use language that causes problems. As I say for all of Bernard's work it is interesting from a historical perspective and to see how those who came before us looked at certain Scriptures and events of the Bible. However, as a spiritual guide for the modern person, I would not recommend this as a top choice.
I thought this collection of sermons would be a bit different, as I enjoyed a number of his insights into advent and the birth of Christ. He has some very good insights into Christ coming down to earth and becoming incarnate. However, there were a number of things that also just bothered me. Just little things like Jesus' birth being painless and that Jesus didn't cry as a newborn baby. I feel that this falls into Bernard's tendency to over-spiritualize everything.
While these first sermons were pretty good, some of the later ones just didn't have the same impact. The sermons on circumcision, epiphany, other feast days or miracles just were more uneven. I also just tend to have a hard time following where Bernard is trying to go. Maybe that's just the distance in time and how we use language that causes problems. As I say for all of Bernard's work it is interesting from a historical perspective and to see how those who came before us looked at certain Scriptures and events of the Bible. However, as a spiritual guide for the modern person, I would not recommend this as a top choice.
December 17, 2019
Quite a disturbing read, actually. This helped me get a much better conception of how bad things had gotten even several hundred years before the Reformation and the desperate need for that Reformation.
The Mariolatry is aggressive and systematic in these sermons. The gospel is profoundly contorted. The asceticism is deep-seated. It is also very clear how badly the Bible is in need of vernacular translation and even how badly the Latin is in need of an update.
I'm glad I read this because it gave me a window into a period of history that has been somewhat of a blank spot for me. Well worth the read, but not because it's good theology. Indeed, precisely because it's not.
The Mariolatry is aggressive and systematic in these sermons. The gospel is profoundly contorted. The asceticism is deep-seated. It is also very clear how badly the Bible is in need of vernacular translation and even how badly the Latin is in need of an update.
I'm glad I read this because it gave me a window into a period of history that has been somewhat of a blank spot for me. Well worth the read, but not because it's good theology. Indeed, precisely because it's not.
December 20, 2015
This was an excellent book to read for Advent. I very much enjoyed the homilies of St. Bernard as they were translated from the original Latin. I only gave it four stars because at times the 13th century language was difficult to read, but overall the meaning comes through quite clearly. I quite recommend this book for anyone looking to increase their faith an draw closer to Christ.
December 8, 2015
1.) I just wish there were more.
2.) I just grabbed the first volume of his commentary on Song of Songs for January reading.
3.) I preached differently this past Sunday because I was reading his sermons.
2.) I just grabbed the first volume of his commentary on Song of Songs for January reading.
3.) I preached differently this past Sunday because I was reading his sermons.
December 16, 2016
This book gives insight to the advent and Christmas season and truly prepares us for the coming of the Lord into our very lives. I recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews