Doctor mellifluus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mosaic above the sacristy door of St. Bernard in Burketsville, Ohio. The mosaic shows, as an attribute of the saint, a beehive over an inkwell with two crossed nibs, surrounded by the inscription Doctor mellifluus .

With the encyclical Doctor mellifluus of May 24, 1953 Pope Pius XII honors . the life of St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of his death.

As Doctor mellifluus , the "honey-flowing teacher", contemporaries referred to St. Bernhard because of his outstanding preaching talent . Bernhard refused a bishop's office offered him five times . In 1173 Pope Alexander III spoke . Bernhard von Clairvaux is a saint, in 1830 Pope Pius VIII made him Doctor of the Church .

In the encyclical, Pope Pius XII describes Bernhard's style as lively, rich and catchy and apt. It [the style] is so pleasing that it attracts, edifies, and directs the reader's mind to the heavenly things. He invites piety, nourishes and strengthens it, and draws the soul towards what is good, to those things that are not perishable but true, safe and eternal. It is for this reason that the Church has read the writings of St. Bernhard always held in high esteem. As an eagle longs to fix its gaze on the sun, so do St. Bernhard in quick flight to the summit of truth.

Web links