Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153)

Prayer to the Wound on the Soulder

O most loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy most blessed body.

I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, and to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on toward Heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen.
IMPRIMATUR: Thomas D. Beaven, Bishop of Springfield

Feast: August 20

St. Bernard was a Cistercian and a Doctor of the Church. He is known as the Marian Doctor, and in an excellent article found on the website Our Lady of Medjugorje, author Cristina Palici explains:

Amongst the Doctors of the Church he is known as the Marian Doctor; not that he wrote lengthy pages dedicated to Our Lady, or revealed new theological dogmas on the Virgin of Nazareth, as Bernard’s writings on Mary aren’t even that many. However, all his writings and his own life were impregnated with her. Even when Bernard doesn’t speak of her, Mary is always present. We can see this in his writings in which he exhorts his brothers to silence, humility, purity of heart, and ?lial obedience: these are all virtues which, according to the saint, not only shine in Mary but are dispensed by her.

He thus merited the title of Marian Doctor because of his great love and ?lial devotion for the Mother of the Saviour. His writings were so appreciated that the Church inserted them in the Sacred Liturgy. Ending the day with a Salve Regina or some other Marian antiphony was his idea. St. Bernard had so much trust in her powerful intercession that he said: “God has wanted that we obtain nothing if not through the hands of Mary.” For St. Bernard “Mary is our mediatrix”; and we receive the Holy Spirit that “over?ows from her.”

One of the most famous prayers attributed to St. Bernard is The Memorare, which can be found in the Dictionary of Mary.

The Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that any one who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
and sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence,
I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother,
to thee I come,
before thee I stand sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate!
despise not my petitions,
but, in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

(Indulgence, 300 days, each time. Plenary, once a month, on the usual conditions.)

From the Consecrated to Mary Website