CHAPTER VII

MORE POPE THAN YOU

Decadent Cluny--Birth of St. Robert--Abbey of Molême--The Founding of Citeaux--White Robes--Black Scapular--Stephen's Vision--The Coming of St. Bernard--His Appearance--Legend of His Birth--Bernard converts his Family--Bernard a Cistercian--His Austerities--Rise of Citeaux--Daughter Abbeys--Ceremony of Foundation--Character of Bernard--Cistercian Ideals--Self-sacrifice--Simplicity--Bernard's Letter to Pierre le Vénérable--Visitors to Citeaux--Albigensian Crusade--Citeaux's Crime--A Cistercian Site--Citeaux to-day--The Chapter--My Flemish Guide 111