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Hey there, Sbrowndes. Today is Friday, August 20th, 2021. Today is also the feast day of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

Now, St. Bernard is a really interesting saint, and there are so many fun stories about him. He was a monk, he was full of wisdom, and even known to work a few miracles. But my favorite story of St. Bernard of

St. Bernard de Claervaux is something important for all of us to hear, because he reflected often

on distraction during prayer. And I think we have all

experienced that I know I have felt distracted, whether I'm at Mass or praying my rosary at home,

but it's hard sometimes to keep your mind in the prayer. So one day, St. Bernard of Clairva was

gathered with his brother monks and they were saying their prayers.

All monks around the world recite the liturgy of the hours, certain prayers that include the hymns and other readings that they recite every day at various times of the day.

So he was there praying, and suddenly he was swept away into a

mystical vision. And in this vision, he was transported to heaven. And there he saw an angel sitting at a

large desk and had a large scroll of paper. But beside the angel, there was not just one little jar of ink, but there

were several different jars. There was ink, but there was also a gold ink, a silver ink,

the black normal ink, a jar of water. But then when the angel was writing, it would write the different words in these different

inks. And St. Bernard watched for a while and wondered as to why the angel would do this. Then he

looked closer and he noticed that the angel was actually writing down the words that the monks were

praying. Now, and this vision, it was revealed to words that the monks were praying.

Now, and this vision, it was revealed to him that the angel was writing down the words based on how present the monks were as they said these prayers.

For example, if their full heart was engaged in the prayers that they were saying fully,

then the words are written down in a golden ink.

If it was slightly so, they were written down in silver ink.

If they were just sort of partially concentrated, it was written down in a black ink.

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