Following the interpretations of the Epistle of James, I would like to continue what I began last year: presenting the lives of some of the saints.
The saint we are focusing on today was born in Hexham, England, in 1109. His noble parents took particular care with their son’s education. Aelred received an extensive classical education in his youth at Durham Benedictine Abbey. Under King David I (1124–1153), he initially stayed at the Scottish royal court as a companion to the Scottish princes and later served as an administrator.
Even at court he was noted for his gentleness. Once, when someone at court interrupted him during a discussion and showered him with insults, he listened in deep silence and then, without showing the slightest displeasure, resumed his previous remarks.
But Aelred longed for a life different from that of the royal court, with its many distractions and temptations. He found it difficult to break the bonds of friendship he had formed. One day he decided to sever those ties and reproached himself for being a coward for not having done so earlier. He wrote:
“Those who judged me only by the outward splendor that surrounded me and assessed my situation without knowing what was going on inside me could not help but exclaim: Oh, how enviable is the lot of this man! Oh, how happy he is! But they did not see the sorrow in my spirit. They did not know that the deep wound in my heart caused me a thousand sufferings and that it was impossible for me to bear the rottenness of my sins.”
During a trip to York in 1134, Aelred learned about the Cistercian monastery of Rievaulx in Yorkshire and soon afterward entered the monastery. During his novitiate, Aelred became familiar with the spirituality of Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux. Probably because of his experience as royal treasurer, Aelred was soon entrusted with the office of cellarer[1]. He was distinguished by his great piety, and his heart was strongly inflamed with divine love. He wrote:
“O Jesus, if only my ears could hear his voice, so that my heart might learn to love you; so that my spirit might love you; so that finally all the powers of my soul, all the feelings of my heart, might be inflamed with the fire of your love; so that all my inclinations might be attached only to you, who are my only good, my joy, and my delight! What is love, O my God! It is, if I am not mistaken, that inexpressible delight of the soul, which is all the sweeter, the purer, the more palpable, the more ardent it is. He who loves You possesses You, and possesses You insofar as he loves You, because You are love. It is that stream of heavenly love with which you imbue your chosen ones, transforming them into yourself through your love.”
In March 1142, during a trip to Rome, Aelred also visited Clairvaux Abbey and met Abbot Bernard in person. The two remained bound in spiritual friendship.
In 1142 Aelred became novice master at Rievaulx, and in 1143 he was sent out, together with some fellow brothers, to found the monastery of Revesby in Lincolnshire as its abbot. In 1147 he returned to Rievaulx after being elected abbot there. He remained in that office until his death in 1167.
His life as abbot was extremely fruitful. The Vita Aelredi reports:
“He doubled everything: monks, lay brothers, lay workers, foundations, land holdings, and all the church furnishings. But he tripled the discipline of the order and the love. […] So when the father entered into Christ, he left behind 140 choir monks and 500 lay brothers in Rievaulx.”[2]
The saint himself described the monks’ life of deprivation:
“They drank only water and ate very ordinary food, and very little of it. They slept only briefly on boards. They engaged in hard and laborious work. They carried heavy loads without fear of fatigue and went wherever they were led. Rest and relaxation were unknown to them. They combined all these penances with strict silence. They spoke only to their superiors, and then only when necessary. They detested quarrels and complaints.”
Aelred clearly delighted in the lives of the brothers entrusted to him and emphasized the peace and love they shared. He served as their role model. Witnesses testified that he patiently endured annoying people but never burdened anyone himself. “He willingly listened to others and never rushed to answer those who sought his advice. He was never seen to be angry. His words and actions always bore the beautiful mark of the anointing and peace with which his soul was filled.”
When the saint died at the age of fifty-seven, after serving as abbot for twenty-two years, he left behind not only a thriving monastery but also numerous spiritual writings. He was considered a great teacher of monastic life and was regarded as equal in this respect to St. Bernard, whom he emulated with all his heart.
A short excerpt from a prayer written by Aelred gives a glimpse of the fervor of his love:
“See me, my beloved Lord, see me! For I hope, O Most Merciful One, that in Your love You will look upon me as the conscientious physician to heal me, or as the kindest teacher to correct me, or as the most forgiving father to pardon me. This, then, O Source of Love, is what I ask, trusting in Your almighty mercy and Your most merciful omnipotence: that in the power of Your wonderful Name and the mystery of Your holy humanity, You forgive my sins and heal the illnesses of my soul. […] May your good and loving Spirit descend into my heart and make its home there; may it cleanse it of every stain of the flesh and spirit and pour into it faith, hope, and love, as well as the spirit of repentance, gentleness, and love for humanity. May it extinguish the heat of desire with the dew of its blessing and kill the stirrings of desire and the passions of the flesh with its power. In my labors, in my watchfulness, in my abstinence, may he grant me the right fervor to love and praise you, to pray and meditate, and to direct every action and thought, all my devotion and activity, toward you; and in all this, may he grant me perseverance until the end of my life.”
What can we ask of this saint? May he implore for us a fervent love for God, so that we may glorify our heavenly Father and serve humankind. Saint Aelred, pray for us!
[1] The cellarer was responsible for administering the monastery’s property.
[2] Walter Daniel, Vita Aelredi.