How Bernard of Clairvaux Preached: One Word, Divided Into Steps
Bernard of Clairvaux was a twelfth-century abbot who advised popes, and he preached from what he called “the book of experience.” We studied seven of his sermons, six from his series on the Song of Songs and one for Advent. Under every one sits the same shape: one phrase of Scripture, often a single word, divided into steps, with each step checked against what the hearers have actually felt.
Who Bernard of Clairvaux was
Bernard lived from 1090 to 1153, in a France of monastic reform and rising cathedral schools. As abbot of Clairvaux he advised popes and wrote letters across Europe. In 1135 he began his Sermons on the Song of Songs, a series of 86 that was still unfinished when he died.
Those sermons became the classic text of Western devotion to Christ. Tradition calls him “Doctor Mellifluus,” the honey-flowing teacher, and “the last of the Fathers.” Luther and Calvin both read and quoted him, and Calvin cites his sermon on the name of Jesus in the Institutes.
The shape of a Bernard sermon
Bernard almost always opened by gathering the room: “To you, my brothers.” Then he lifted one phrase or question from the text and stayed with it. Often it was a single word, like “kiss” or “name.”
Next he divided that word into parts. In one sermon the kiss becomes three steps: the feet, the hand and the mouth, moving from penitence toward closeness with Christ. The name of Jesus becomes light, food and medicine. Then he walked the hearer up those steps one at a time.
At each step he appealed to experience. He wanted his hearers to recognize what he was describing from their own lives, and he warned them about the false step along the way. Echoes of Scripture run through nearly every sentence.
He often turned mid-sermon to speak to Jesus directly, “To you, Lord Jesus.” And he rarely finished. Many sermons close with a doxology or with a promise to pick up the thread tomorrow.
What made his preaching different
One word
He chose a single phrase, often one word like “kiss” or “name,” and let it carry the whole sermon.
Divide into steps
He broke that word into steps or parts, then walked the hearer up them one by one.
Check against experience
Each step was tested against what the hearers had actually felt, so the sermon read like a page from their own experience.
What others said
“I love Bernard as the one who among all writers preached Christ most charmingly.”
— Martin Luther, Table Talk
“His style, which is lively, rich, easy flowing, and marked by striking expressions”
— Pius XII, Doctor Mellifluus, 1953
What to take into your own pulpit
Let one word carry the weight
Bernard could preach a whole sermon on a single word of the text. Slowing down on one word often opens more than racing through a paragraph.
Give people steps, not just ideas
Dividing a truth into stages helps hearers see where they are and what comes next.
Ask what they have felt
Bernard checked his teaching against his hearers’ own experience. A truth people recognize from their lives is a truth they keep.
Those are the ideas. The guide turns them into ten steps you can follow this week, plus the sermons we studied and a fill-in outline in his shape.
Free PDF · Preach Like the Greats
Learn to preach like Bernard of Clairvaux.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 7 sermons we studied, start to finish
- Ten steps to preach the way he did
- His sermon outline, movement by movement
- A fill-in template for your own text, 9 pages
Common questions
What was Bernard of Clairvaux’s preaching style?
Devotional, warm and close to experience. He lifted one phrase or word of Scripture, divided it into steps, tested each step against what his hearers had felt, and filled his sentences with echoes of the Bible.
How did Bernard of Clairvaux structure a sermon?
He gathered the hearers, lifted one phrase or question, divided it into parts, walked through them with appeals to experience and warnings about the false step, and usually closed with a doxology or a promise to continue tomorrow.
What are Bernard’s Sermons on the Song of Songs?
A series of 86 sermons he began in 1135 and left unfinished at his death. They became the classic text of Western devotion to Christ.