According to another version of that legend, Virgin squeezed her breast and let the milk go into Bernards eye so it could cure the infection he had there. It does not mean that the saint in questions suffered from some kind of hormonal disease, and produced the milk himself; it means that he was breastfed by Virgin Mary. Being healed, physically and spiritually, Bernard is credited with hundreds of healings; the Church gave him the rare title of The Doctor.. The Cistercians lived by very strict rules they only wore undyed wool, for example and their monasteries were usually set in remote areas. In recent years Pope Francis has encouraged women to breastfeed their children, linking it to giving children a gift of themselves. Her elegant form and finely silhouetted head are not dependent upon vigorous light-to-dark juxtapositions or even, as with Botticelli, a felicitously found, heavily accented line, but rather on the operation of fragile edges. Tonight, a storm is expected to come lay a thick blanket of snow down on Indianapolis. Shooting milk looks rather spectacular, but usually the milk does not get out of the female breast like that. This angel comes from a pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century but reassembled by the National Gallery in the 1930s. So Bernard receiving the Virgins milk is similar to Christians bathing in Christs blood (come back soon for a post on that image). What do you think of the story and image? Evidently monastic repression leads tovisions of lactation. Press J to jump to the feed. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. It makes sense this stained-glass gift was presented to the Abbey. This panel shows a twelfth-century monk, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, having a vision of the Virgin Mary. The Milk of Virgin Mary was supposed to be helpful for the sinners. She called the monastery and asked one of the monks if she could visit his grave and leave a flower; he invited her to stay for a five-day Retreat, which was starting the same day, and she accepted. It is quite interesting that such a miracle was usually granted to the male saints, and monks; it is said to have happened to Saint Augustine, Saint Dominic, Saint Cajetan, or Peter Nolasco. Behind Bernard, in the dark reaches of the rock, are two chained demons, while in the zone above, Cistercian monks converse or look heavenward in front of their fine Renaissance abbey. It goes like this:Bernard, the monk, was praying before a statue of Mary, Show yourself as a mother. Suddenly, the statue came to life! ", Then surely they should have called the painting Lactation onto St. Bernard, Seeing St Lucy's bleeding eye sockets and her holding them on a plate always woke me up in church. Your email address will not be published. A vita of the saint says that while he was praying before a statue of the Virgin Mary the statue poured three drops of milk from its breast onto Bernard's mouth. Two days later this photo of what I have titled,The Vision and Miracle Healing of St Bernardshowed up in my phone; it was more beautiful than I had imagined it.
IIRC, it was just after that, that St. Bernard was so disturbed by the unwanted lactation, that he went down to the local bar and got drunk on brandy. !, Simon Marmion, Saint Bernards Vision of the Virgin and Child, about 1475-1480, tempera colors and gold on parchment. He deeply venerated Virgin Mary and, according to the legend, one day the statue of Madonna with Child that he was praying to suddenly came alive. Look closely and you can see lines where the fragments were put back together. And a pop up to get you on a mailing list. In the 1890s, Trappist Abbot Olbrecht (who I think lived in Munich, Germany) wanted to send a gift to the French Cistercian monks living in poverty in a new monastery in Kentucky. This image raisesa few noteworthy WTF moments from Saint Bernards life prior to the vision. Mary's noscoping him from like 10 paces, That article ends with "if you dont get why the virgin mary showing up and squirting breast milk on a priest is special, well then youre just a prude. He looks intently at her, as though listening, while she concentrates on the words on the page. They enjoy her milk individually and not in a group, like the souls in Purgatory do. Like several others like it, this painting reimagines the three drops as a flowing stream. Who can know where a suggestion, a word on a page in a book, an observation or felt-sense of a moment in time or place will lead? I must stress here that it is not a naughty misinterpretation by a modern viewer, but an idea rooted in the medieval sources. The depictions of Madonna dropping her milk on the souls in Purgatory (and of course comforting them by doing so) was especially popular in the early 16th century. Saint Bernard was a twelfth-century Cistercian monk who founded an important centre for the religious order in the French town of Clairvaux. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The panel may have been made as a pair to an image in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence; Vasari records that Lippi made two overdoors paintings that hung above interior doorways for that building. As usual, St. Bernard is portrayed as tonsured and wearing the hooded white habit of the Cistercian Order. This large altarpiece one of the few in the National Gallery which is almost complete has had an eventful life. This was a popular subject in medieval art, although Jerome is usually just shown with the lion as a pet, rather than actually treating it.This is one of five sc A young saint has been locked up with four lions. It occurs to me, that for Catholic storytellers in search of healing or needing to be mothered, this story might be resonant. License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library. The semi-transparent veil wit Beheading of Saint James the Great: Predella Panel, Saint Jerome and the Lion: Predella Panel, Saint Mamas in Prison thrown to the Lions, Saint Zeno exorcising the Daughter of Gallienus, Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university), Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media. One of the most famous examples is a painting by Pedro Machuca in Prado, Madrid (1517): we can see Mary squeezing one of her breasts, while the milk from the other one is pressed by Jesus (who, by the way, seems to enjoy the whole situation). We talked like old friends for two hours; I will tell you her account of the history of this window. While Marmions painting is excuisitely beautiful, other versions range from hilarity to totally disturbing. In a particular light you can see the joins where the parts have been stuck together.The altarpiece was made for Saint James kneels in prayer; behind him a vigorous executioner raises his sword. WHAT?! The paint surface is very worn but very faint traces of a pen in his right hand are still visible and his ink stand sits on top of his writing box. Tomorrow was to be a travel day, but I may have to cocoon-in-place and finish a painting. His isolation and meditation were so intense that the Virgin Mary has appeared to him. Websites like this are cancer. Patron saints of mice, cats and thunderstorms, Talk in Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. Sometimes it is said that only three drops of Breastmilk fell on Bernards lips, yet in others, the milk streamed into his eyes and cured an infection giving him the gift of seeing.After Marys Milk touches his lips or mouth, he receives the gift of wisdom and becomes a beloved teacher. A painting by Lippis son, Filippino, also shows Saint Bernard being visited by the Virgin Mary while writing at his desk in the wilderness (its now in the Badia, Florence). It is worth to notice that this kind of depiction most likely derives from the mythological story of Juno, whose milk created the Milky Way. In medieval art, it was common to depict the Blessed Virgin Mary with breasts exposed, manually expressing milk from them. seattle theme by parker ehret, When was the last time you asked for the Virgin Mary to intercede in your life and in return received a few drops of milk from her breast? And sure enough, there, inside a ratty old building, was stained glass! Is anyone else asking, "WTF?!? These saints come from a large pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century and later reassembled in the National Gallery. The deacon found it difficult to keep his chastity vow and suffered from various carnal temptations. The remainder of the old priests talk was so dry; I cannot recall a word nor his topic. I contacted her immediately, left her a message. There are many miracles recorded in the Lives of Saints, and in some cases there is also a miraculous lactation. It will be a belated Valentines issue, but Love is always, never late, so its okayI tell myself. First, dude, youre an abbot did you miss the day in abbot-school when they taught the Gospel accounts that the Virgin would bear a child? And so, my research began. The Abbey of Gethsemani was founded by 44 Cistercian monks from France. It was a popular composition in Florence and there are numerous versions of it by different artists. The next morning, I went back and took another look. The Virgin let few drops of her milk fall into Bernards lips, reassuring him that he is allowed to call her his mother. Joan is a great storyteller; I hope you enjoy her story of fate and destiny: I was walking in the garden whenI kid you notout of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle like a mirror catching the sun. HOW JOAN SAVED THESE STAINED-GLASS PANELS. I love how much of a distance they portray. I stopped the recording, rewound it, and listened again with more attentionYes, I heard it right. But on the other hand we can expect that the latter had much more fun during their lifetime, including perhaps suckling various female breasts. However, the saints are privileged to meet her face-to-face (or rather face-to-breast). To make long story short: it seems that Virgin Mary gives her milk to both sinners and saints. St. Paul in theNew Testament similarly links breastfeeding with the passing on of the Christian faith. And that somebody is in most cases a monk. Thanks to their partnership in our mission, we reachmore than 20 million unique users per month! Bernards Lactation,so people might not have been surprised or offended as some are now. ST. BERNARDS PRAYER, VISION, AND HEALING, St. Bernard of Clairvauxs vision and miracle healing happened long ago in 11th century France. When alls said and done, before judging Saint Bernards vision its important to understand that in the Renaissance, milk was thought to be produced by a combination of blood and heat.