Two Sundays ago, I made a quick trip down to
The Big Apple so that I could attend the Park Avenue Armory Rare Book Show
and Sale. The event draws rare book and manuscript sellers from all over the
world. And even though I cannot even begin to afford the prices of these
collector volumes, I do get a chance to meet old dealer friends and pig-out
at many of the city’s delicatessens.
I usually like to leave after
office hours on Saturday afternoon, then drive like a maniac (I have made
the trip in 3 hours and 45 minutes) down to the city, and rent a room so
that I can sleep in till seven o’clock on Sunday morning. One of my favorite
loves on Sunday morning in New York City, is to go to Mass at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. Although it’s hard for me to be as intimate with our Precious
Lord there as it is for me here in our humble St. James church, I am still
overwhelmed by the beauty and magnificence of the great cathedral.
Arriving early, I had a couple of
minutes to check out some of the side chapels dedicated to various saints.
Because I’d been doing some research on mountain climbing in the French Alps
and had seen his name mentioned a few times, I was surprised to discover
that one of these chapels was dedicated to St. Bernard. I had read that St.
Bernard was the Patron Saint of mountaineers. Also, since I’ve been treating
a dear client’s St. Bernard dog for cancer recently, I briefly wondered if
he was the same saint after whom the dog breed was named. And so, upon
viewing my chance encounter with the Blessed Saint as a sign from God, I
stopped, and meditated, and prayed for his intercession on behalf of Theresa
and me on our upcoming trip to climb Mt. Blanc this summer. When I told
Theresa about my visit with the saint, she said it would probably make a
good story. And she’s right, I think.
The only problem, however, (as my
research for this article this morning has shown me) was that the St.
Bernard I encountered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was not the St. Bernard for
either mountain climbers or the dog breed. The Saint I prayed with at St
Patrick’s was Bernard of Clairvaux, who founded and led the monastery at
Clairvaux, France in the eleventh century, and who later became the first
Cistercian monk to be placed on the calendar of saints. This St. Bernard is
the Patron Saint of beekeepers, bees, candlemakers, wax-melters, wax
refiners, and of all places, Gibraltar.
The St. Bernard I was actually
looking for was Bernard of Menthon, also known as Bernard of Montjoux. This Bernard was the
Archdeacon of Aosta, Italy who evangelized to the people of the Alps for
over 40 years. He started a patrol that cleared robbers from the Alps as
well as established hospices (still there today) on the high mountain passes
for travelers and pilgrims on their journeys from western Europe to Rome. I
was pleased to also learn that the large dogs trained to search for lost
victims in the mountains, the St. Bernards, are named after him as well.
Although it has nothing directly
to do with veterinary medicine, my research of St. Bernard (the human, not
the dog breed) turned up some interesting information. There are at least
eight other saints named Bernard. There was one named simply, Bernard, who
was a Benedictine Cistercian monk martyred by the Moors in 1180. Another one
is the Blessed Martyr, Bernard of Toulouse who was tortured and sawn in half
in 1320 by Albigensians. There is a Bernard of Valdeiglesias, a Benedictine
Cistercian monk who died in 1155. There is Bernard of Vienne, a former
military officer in King Charlemagne's army, who is the Patron Saint of
agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers, field hands, husbandmen. There
is Bernard Due Van Vo, who was arrested in1838 for the crime of priesthood,
and became one of the Martyrs of Vietnam. Another one is Bernard of Tolomeo,
founder of the Benedictine congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte
Oliveto. A final St. Bernard, and one that’s quite interesting, is Bernard
of Corleone. Noted for his extreme austerity and self-imposed penances in an
attempt to atone for his earlier life (he had killed a fellow Sicilian in a
sword dual), he seemed to have had a strong gift of healing animals by
prayer. Hmm!
All of which brings me back to the
Good St. Bernard (of Clairvaux) that I met in NYC last Sunday. Even though I
blew it with regards to the mountaineering and dog breed things, I did gleam
one bit of information that he and I somewhat share in common. It turns out
that every morning when he awoke, the saint would always ask himself, “Why
have I come here?” His answer: “To lead a Holy life.” My answer every
morning to the question is: “To just try and save the lives of a few cats
and dogs and the occasional cow.”
Thanks again.
Doctor Oz
Copyright © 2008 by Richard
Orzeck, DVM
The information in this article is based upon the author’s personal
experience and his best interpretation of veterinary data at the time of
writing. It is not intended to render veterinary advice or service.
Specific needs and questions concerning your pet’s health should always be
addressed by his or her best friend, your local veterinarian.
