Business as Usual in Preparing for Death

This chapter shows how the last years of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from 1150 until his death on 20 August 1153, were spent in a flurry of activities that provide little indication that he was a dying man. Indeed, he was still involving himself in matters outside the Cistercian Order, so his commitment hardly reflects the situation of someone in the process of dying. Bernard seems to have suffered from some kind of gastric disturbance, perhaps a result of his ascetic way of life. It is something of a wonder that a man who for years had experienced stomach cramps and could hardly consume food or drink, could continue to be active for such a long time. Bernard refused to make any concessions to his own weakness and went ahead with his concerns, dictating one letter after another. One can assume that for the most part he had to remain at Clairvaux during these years, except for a final excursion that brought him to the city of Metz in what today is the north of France. Bernard was tireless, willing, perhaps obsessed with responding to requests for help from other churchman.