(1109-1166)

Saint Aelred, Ealred, or Ethelred. was abbot of the Cistercian
monastery at Rievaulx, Yorkshire, in the twelfth century. Thirty-two
of his sermons, collected and published by Richard Gibbon, remain as
examples of the pulpit eloquence of his age; but not very much is
remembered of Aelred himself except that he was virtuous enough to
be canonized, and was held in high estimation as a preacher during
the Middle Ages. He died in 1166.

His command of language is extraordinary, and he is remarkable for
the cumulative power with which he adds clause to clause and
sentence to sentence, in working towards a climax.


A FAREWELL

It is time that I should begin the journey to which the law of our
order compels me, desire incites me, and affection calls me. But
how, even for so short a time, can I be separated from my beloved
ones? Separated, I say, in body, and not in spirit; and I know that
in affection and spirit I shall be so much the more present by how
much in body I am the more absent. I speak after the manner of men
because of the infirmity of my flesh; my wish is, that I may lay
down among you the tabernacle of my flesh, that I may breathe forth
my spirit in your hands, that ye may close the eyes of your father,
and that all my bones should be buried in your sight! Pray,
therefore, O my beloved ones, that the Lord may grant me the desire
of my soul. Call to mind, dearest brethren, that it is written of
the Lord Jesus, when he was about to remove his presence from his