Saint Berno of Cluny

JANUARY 13 is the feast day of ST. BERNO OF CLUNY (+ 927)

Saint Berno of Cluny was born around 850 AD in Burgundy, France. His father may have been Odon, the noble who saved the lives of numerous Benedictine monks when the Vikings attacked the interior of France and, specifically, Glanfeiull Abbey in 862.

We assume that the young Berno was very impressed by the monks. They were of the stricter sect of Benedictines who prayed office and fasted. The stricter sect had been pushed by Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, when he commissioned Benedict of Aniane to return the monasteries throughout France back to what Benedict of Nursia had originally ordered in the 5th century.

Young Berno was sent to join the abbey of St. Martin at Autun,  Apparently very capable at organization, he was later sent to restore the monastery of Baume-les-Messieurs in the diocese of Besançon, which was in poor shape.

At that time, it was common for monasteries to be founded by rich patrons who would finance them in exchange for prayers for the patrons’ intentions. So the monasteries would be, in essence, personally owned and inheritable by various individuals.

In 890, Berno established the monastery of ST. Peter at Gigny, in the Jura Mountains, on the border between France and Switzerland. He used his own money and was the first abbot. He was supported by King Rudolph I of Burgundy in his endeavor. Four years later, he went to Rome to get papal approval for a charter. He was successful. He then had two monasteries following the reformed rules of Benedict of Aniane. They focused on prayer, silence and solitude.

In the early 900s, Duke William of Aquitaine gave Berno the monasteries of Deois and Massay. He also wanted a new monastery built and asked Berno to be the abbot. Then William asked Berno where it should be built. Berno replied, at William’s favorite hunting lodge. Hesitant, at first, William acquiesced. He also guaranteed that the monastery would be free from control by him or any temporal power and solely under the direct control of the Pope. The reformed Benedictine rule was to be used. And the abbot was to pay 10 solidi of gold (currently $810) every five years

At the time of his death, Berno was supervising six monasteries, Gigny, Baume, Aethicens, Deois, Massay and Cluny. He gave the first three to his monk, Wido, to guide, and the last three to Odo to guide. Wido argued about Cluny. Pope John X had to step in to maintain Berno’s wishes. Berno died January 13, 928.

Within 200 years, Cluny was the spiritual center of Western Christianity. It developed an association with 2000 monasteries in Italy, England and Spain.

Over time, the influence of Cluny waned as more orders with different goals attracted more men to themselves. The monks of the abbey, themselves, became attracted to luxury and spent tremendous amounts of money on building the largest church in Europe, until the completion of St. Peter’s in Rome. During the French Revolution, despite Cluny being very far from Paris, and in a country setting, the abbey was attacked, destroyed and torn down. It never recovered.

God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Rom ii. 6-8