Uncompromising, with a sometimes drastic approach, yet possessing a gentleness born from “the knowledge of the absolute reality of Christ’s love and his power to change everything.” This is the crucial point in the life of St. Bernard, according to preacher Monsignor Erik Varden, who led the ninth Lenten meditation for the Pope and the Roman Curia this afternoon, February 26, in the Pauline Chapel. His reflection on “St. Bernard the Realist” begins with the identity of the Cistercian movement, “forged at the intersection of the ideal and the concrete, the poetic and the pragmatic.” “Its protagonists,” explains the Bishop of Trondheim, Norway, “are tested and purified by the resulting tensions.”

Look up

In describing St. Bernard and the noble ideals that inspired him, Monsignor Varden reflects on his “course of conduct, which he later followed somewhat drastically.” “It was natural for him to aspire to great things. His inflexibility,” he explains, “never left him; but it softened with time.” He went from idealist to realist. To clarify the term realism, the Cistercian monk quotes the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, for whom “the real” is that which we encounter, and Bernard often encountered  Realpolitik.

The cry for mercy

“He became a realist, not only in the sense of accepting things as they are,” Varden states, “but also because he learned that the deepest reality of all human affairs is a cry for mercy.” “The more he learned to recognize this cry in anguished human hearts, in bitter tears, in worldly conflicts, in unhinged campaigns against decency and truth, and even in the whisper of the trees in the forest, the more aware Bernard became of God’s glorious and merciful response.”

Jesus, oil that perfumes life

He heard that answer to the cry “in the holy name of Jesus, which became indescribably dear to him. In Jesus, God reveals his saving plan, pouring it out upon humanity like a fragrant, healing, and purifying oil.” Thus, Bernard reminded the monks that without that oil, “all food for the soul” was dry and tasteless. “If you write, it tastes nothing to me unless I read Jesus to you. If you argue or discourse, it tastes nothing to me unless Jesus resounds within you. Jesus, honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the heart.”

All in the light of Jesus

The perspective that opens up for Bernard focuses on the wonders that God’s mercy works in Jesus. Much changes within him, and his devotion acquires a profound emotional depth. “The term   affectus   ,” emphasizes Monsignor Varden, “is fundamental for him. It has a broad spectrum of meanings, demonstrating that grace moves us as incarnate beings, allowing our senses to perceive God. But Bernard considered Jesus, the embodiment of truth, nothing less than a hermeneutical principle. He interpreted situations, people, and relationships strictly in the light of Jesus.” This perspective would win him the affection of people like Martin Luther and the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley.

The paradigm of a renewed world

In this new supernatural light, “our nature,” the preacher explains, “will reveal its perfect form, its   well-formed shape  ; only then will the delight of which earthly life is capable be evident; only then will the glory hidden within us and around us shine with intense flashes, teaching us what we and others can become, providing a paradigm for a renewed world.”

The power to change everything

The realism that enveloped Bernard in his maturity made him “not only a great reformer, an unparalleled orator, a leader of the Church: the knowledge of the absolute reality of Christ’s love and its power to change   everything  made him a doctor and a saint. And it is for this reason,” Varden concludes, “that we love and honor him.” “Free in himself,” and, indeed, those who are truly free are the expression of “a truly glorious reality.”

Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, has been invited to preach the 2026 Spiritual Exercises for Pope Leo XIV, the cardinals residing in Rome, and the heads of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, which will be held from Sunday, February 22, to Friday, February 27.

1. First meditation
2. Second meditation
3. Third meditation
4. Fourth meditation
5. Fifth meditation
6. Sixth meditation
7. Seventh meditation
8. Eighth meditation
9. Ninth meditation