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Bernard of Clairvaux was first and last a monk. Whatever else he did or contributed to Christendom must be relegated to a secondary role. The call to monasticism was for over a thousand years preeminent in Christendom, and Bernard faithfully answered the call. For yet a longer time many people considered the call to seclusion, prayer, contemplation, and a life of rigor and service as the choice will of God—though this vocation was for a select group. Bernard was a leader in this select group. He desired above all to draw near to the heart of God, and to lead others in that way.

During the European Middle Ages (about 500–1500) monasticism was a dominant feature of the church and religious life in general. To be a monk was to respond to the call of God to the life of special devotion and withdrawal from secular concerns. It was to work out one’s own religious quest, to live close to God, and to emulate as closely as possible the instructions of Scripture for living the Holy Life.

Such a life was not possible, it was believed, when there were other concerns and temptations ever present: family, secular responsibilities, lust, the desire for power. Whether it be Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, or Paul, the record of Holy Writ provided examples for those who would undertake to follow a stricter and more limited interpretation of God’s will for living.

Benedict of Nursia (480–543) left an indelible mark on Western monasticism through the influence of the rule that he drew up for those also affiliated with him in his monastic vocation at Monte Casino, Italy, in 528. Although he began as a hermit and lived alone for several years, he soon attracted a number of other people who wanted to adopt his lifestyle and gain the spiritual well-being that was Benedict’s. Lest this get out of hand Benedict put down a pattern for monastic living that eventually came to be the basic pattern for all Western monasticism.

While Benedict drew from a long tradition of monastic and ascetic experience, and his was but one of many, he gave distinctive emphasis to his Rule. Monks were to engage in manual labor, recite the canonical hours (Psalms and prayers)—the work of God, profess obedience to the abbot, the father of the family of monks, adopt a life of poverty and chastity, and remain with and serve with his adopted family for the rest of his life. Benedict called it a “school for the service of God.”

The Rule of Benedict did not receive universal acceptance, nor was it intended to. There was no papal decree that made it a requirement. The Rule however did have widespread acceptance in many monasteries. It was to be nearly three centuries before there was an approximation of uniform monastic observance in the Western church.

In the meantime, the Benedictine observance was only one of the several traditions found in Italy, Gaul, and most notably Ireland. In Ireland since the fourth century the rule of abbot-bishop, which was very closely linked to the socio-political structure of the people, had developed. The vows, tonsure (hair cut), dress, and practices were also different from those in Rome. It was in Ireland that the penitential and private confessional were initiated. Later they became integral to continental ecclesiastical practices in and out of the monastery. The mingling of Celtic and Benedictine monasticism in sixth and seventh-century Gaul was the dynamic of a renewed Gallic monasticism. This began most significantly at Luxeuil (originally a Gallic foundation) from whence the fervor spread to a number of the major monasteries of France.

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