Source: Antoon Claeissens — Saint Bernardus before the Virgin and Child(Wiki Commons; Public Domain)
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SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
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helps Dante to see
the beatific vision;
Dante’s final guide
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NOTE: Dante’s new guide is Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. He lived in the 12th century (1090 or 1091-1153), and he was a member of the Cistercian religious order.
Saint Bernard was a number of things that are important to Dante:
1) He was a contemplative.
2) He was a reformer. As a reformer, he wrote to the Pope. He advised the Pope to focus on spiritual things and to cease his focus on political things.
3) He was a preacher.
4) He was a poet.
Saint Bernard is Dante’s final guide.
One of the things that Saint Bernard did was to call for the Second Crusade. This is the Crusade in which Cacciaguida, Dante’s ancestor, died as a martyr. This Crusade was a failure. Twenty-one years after his death, Bernard was canonized. Saint Bernard helps Dante to see the beatific vision — the vision of the Trinity.
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PARADISE: CANTO 31 RETELLING
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Free eBooks by David Bruce (pdfs) (Includes Discussion Guides for Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise)
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Buy the Paperback here: DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY: A RETELLING IN PROSE
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