Bernard of Clairvaux, the twelfth-century monk who wrote that "Jesus is
honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, a cry of joy in the heart," was
both a mystic and a reformer. His writings reveal a mystical theology
that Thomas Merton, a monastic heir to Bernard's Cistercian reform, says
"explains what it means to be united to God in Christ but (also) shows
the meaning of the whole economy of our redemption in Christ." Critical
of the monastic opulence of his times, Bernard exhorted his monks to
consider that "Salt with hunger is seasoning enough for a man living
soberly and wisely." Martin Luther believed that Bernard was "the best
monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together."
Bernard's zeal and charisma led to the reform of Christian life in
medieval Europe. Today it is reported that Pope Benedict XVI keeps
Bernard's treatise Advice to a Pope close at hand for spiritual
support. Honey and Salt is an original selection for the general
reader of Bernard's sermons, treatises, and letters.
