The saint celebrated on August 20 is one of the Church’s most devoted sons of Mary. St. Bernard of Clairvaux has gifted the Church with many insights into Marian devotion.
He is (mistakenly) credited with writing the Memorare. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, St. Bernard helps guide Dante through Paradiso. And he has left us with many meditations and reflections on Our Lady, and especially her fiat.
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This might be the best Marian prayer for when you really need help
Here is one beautiful prayer from one of Bernard’s homilies:
All of you, who see yourselves amid the tides of the world, tossed by storms and tempests rather than walking on the land, do not turn your eyes away from this shining star, unless you want to be overwhelmed by the hurricane. If temptation storms, or you fall upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star: Call upon Mary! If you are tossed by the waves of pride or ambition, detraction or envy, look to the star: Call upon Mary. If anger or avarice or the desires of the flesh dash against the ship of your soul: Turn your eyes to Mary. If troubled by the enormity of your crimes, ashamed of your guilty conscience, terrified by dread of the judgment, you begin to sink into the gulf of sadness or the abyss of despair: Think of Mary. In dangers, in anguish, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her name be ever on your lips, ever in your heart; and the better to obtain the help of her prayers, imitate the example of her life: Following her, thou strayest not; invoking her, thou despairest not; thinking of her, thou wanderest not; upheld by her, thou fallest not; shielded by her, thou fearest not; guided by her, thou growest not weary; favored by her, thou reachest the goal. And thus dost thou experience in thyself how good is that saying: “And the Virgin’s name was Mary.”
Read here for why he is also considered the last of the Church fathers:
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Was this saint the last of the Church Fathers?
And today we celebrate...