Tomorrow is the feast of St. Bernard and you have to be from these neck of the woods to understand the title of my post. For those uninitiated, St. Bernard is one of the civil parishes(counties) in the New Orleans area and most from there have a distictive accent. The community in that parish is also the community that absorbed a devastating blow from Katrina and endured direct impacts from the oil spill. But I digress...
St. Bernard was born in 1090 and entered the monastery in 1112. He was involved in starting a monastery that was eventually named Clairvaux. St. Bernard became a very influential spiritual leader and defended the legitimacy of the papacy against heretics. His preaching was eloquent and his spirituality admired by all. He was often called upon to defend the Church, to settle disputes between governments and leaders and brought many to the faith.
St. Bernard was particularly devoted to the Infant Jesus and the Blessed Mother and is credited with the Marian prayer the Memorare. He died on August 20th in 1153 and was declared a saint in 1174 and a doctor of the Church in 1830; considered among the last of the Fathers of the Church.
One more local note that only many locals will get; I beleive St. Bernard may have been the patron saint of the great Buddy Diliberto, which may indirectly make St. Bernard a great fan of the New Orleans Saints! Just saying...
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