Bernard of Clairvaux loved to repeat, "there is one name that matters, that of Jesus of Nazareth."
For Bernard "true knowledge of God lies in a personal and profound experience of Jesus Christ. Faith is first of all an intimate personal encounter with Jesus, the experience of his closeness, of his friendship and his love. Only in this way can we learn to love him and know him even more. Let us hope that this can happen in all of us," Pope Benedict said.
Bernard also emphasized the "privileged place of the Virgin in the economy of salvation." "It is no coincidence," said Benedict XVI, "that Dante puts on the lips of the Doctor Mellifluous his sublime prayer to Mary: 'Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son, humble and exalted more than any other creature, fixed term of eternal counsel.'"
St. Bernard's ideas, Pope Benedict concluded, "stimulate not only theologians but all believers."
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