This the final part of an interview with Fr. Michael Casey, OSCO January, 2010.
(In studying their sermons) It seems to me, that Guerric of Igny took a lot of care about his discourses and he had long practice and he probably wrote them out in advance and delivered them pretty much as they are given. Bernard of Clairvaux, on the contrary, had an outline and may have delivered them in something that was approximating the vernacular, a sort of dog Latin, and then because he was very proud of his literary style revised them later. Aelred, on the contrary, on at least one occasion comes in and admits that he hasn’t got anything prepared. So he just waffles on. There’s always a discourse before the discourse; he talks about something for five or so minutes before he actually gets into what he’s going to talk about. So his soles are working! He never had any interest in revising them so they’re rough and ready in one sense. They’re a bit repetitious, he takes whole sections from one discourse and puts it into another. He gets off the point and pulls himself back again, but they’re very humane and immediate because of that fact. They’re not dressed up because mostly if somebody’s talk is too elegant and obviously well prepared and very learned, monks just go to sleep in it! With Aelred’s in particular they’re pretty rough and ready. There are some elegant passages but they are really worth while reading. They kind of grist for the monastic mill, they talk to you about monastic life as it really is. I think that’s what we can look to these ancient masters for is, as Bernard says about Peter and Paul, they didn’t teach us the riddles of Aristotle, or the complexities of Plato, but they taught us how to live. The same could be said of Bernard’s own writings.
Aelred said there are three purposes in a Chapter talk: to give instruction; to give direction; to give motivational encouragement. So sometimes he’s instructing people, he’s telling them how temptation works, how the idea transforms itself from just a vague thought into an action. It’s a very interesting sort of psychological analysis! He’s instructing his monks. Other times he’s correcting them. He’s talking about people that are complaining about their food, or complaining about their clothing, or who want a better job in the monastery. It’s very clear correction. Sometimes he’s just encouraging them. Reminding them of the wonders of grace and the mystery of Christ and all these kind of things.
