Religions Reviewed

The Exemplum of “Abbot Stephen of Cîteaux Knows”
(Stephanus abbas Cisterciensis cognoscit)

This third selection from Liber de Miraculis is so short that the epitome heading is nearly half the length of the full exemplum. It concerns Bernard when he was a novice at Cîteaux, and he neglected to recite the seven penitential psalms to the memory of his mother, according to his private custom.  The abbot Stephen Harding miraculously knew per spiritum of Bernard’s failing, and reprimanded him. Bernard was ashamed and penitent.

In this exemplum, the Cistercian listener is again expected to identify with Bernard. And while there is perhaps a surfeit of instructional content in the brief story, it is not arranged in keeping with any sort of polarity or oppositional scheme. More than either of the other two exempla considered, it focuses on the internal experience of the protagonist. And at the center of that internal experience is the issue of memory.

Bernard’s task of in silentio dicere is one of meditative recitation, drawing on the resources of memory in solitary observance. Silentium, according to Mary Carruthers, is a term for “disciplined cognitive activity” in monastic discourse.  His time for this activity is after compline, i.e. at night, the hours most suited to the work of the memory: recalling his mother and reciting the psalms. Classical writers on memory such as Quintilian, Fortunatianus, and Martianus Capella recommended that memorization be undertaken at night, in order to reduce distractions.