(A.D. 1166.)
[Authorities: His life in Capgrave, and his own writings, still
extant.]
He was of noble descent, and was born in the north of England, in 1109.
Being educated in learning and piety, he was invited by David, the pious
King of Scotland, to his court, made master of his household, and highly
esteemed both by him and the courtiers. His virtue shone with bright
lustre in the world, particularly his meekness, which Christ declared to
be his favourite virtue, and the distinguishing mark of his true
disciples. The following is a memorable instance to what a degree S.
Aelred possessed this virtue:--A certain person of quality having
insulted and reproached him in the presence of the King, Aelred heard
him out with patience, and thanked him for his charity and sincerity, in
telling him his faults. This behaviour had such an influence on his
adversary that it made him ask his pardon on the spot. Another time,
whilst he was speaking on a certain matter, one interrupted him with
very harsh reviling expressions: the servant of God heard him with
tranquility, and afterward resumed his discourse with the same calmness
and presence of mind as before. He desired ardently to devote himself
entirely to God, by forsaking the world; but the charms of friendship
detained him some time longer in it, and were fetters to his soul;
reflecting notwithstanding that he must sooner or later be separated by
death from those he loved most, he condemned his own cowardice, and
broke at once those bands of friendship, which were more agreeable to
him than all other sweets of life. To relinquish entirely all his
worldly engagements, he left Scotland, and embraced the austere
Cistercian order, at Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, where Walter de l'Especke
had founded a monastery in 1122. At the age of twenty-four, in 1133, he
became a monk under the first abbot, William, a disciple of S.
Bernard. In spite of the delicacy of his body he set himself cheerfully
to practise the greatest austerities, and employed much of his time in
prayer and reading. His heart turned with great ardour to the love of
God, and this made him feel all his mortifications sweet and light. "Thy
yoke doth not oppress, but raiseth the soul; thy burden hath wings, not
weight," said he. He speaks of divine charity with love, and by his
frequent ejaculations on the subject, it seems to have been the sweet
consolation of his soul. "May thy voice (says he) sound in my ears, O
Good Jesus, that my heart may learn how to love thee, that my mind may
love thee, that the interior powers, the bowels of my soul, and very
marrow of my heart may love thee, and that my affections may embrace
thee, my only true good, my sweet and delightful joy! O my God! He who
loves thee possesses thee; and he possesses thee in proportion as he
loves, because thou art love itself. This is that abundance with which
thy beloved are inebriated, dissolved to themselves, that they may live
into thee, by loving thee." He had been much delighted in his youth with
reading Cicero; but after his conversion found that author, and all
other reading, tedious and bitter, which was not sweetened with the
honey of the holy name of Jesus, and seasoned with the word of God, as
he says in the preface to his book _On Spiritual Friendship_. He was
much edified with the very looks of a holy monk, called Simon, who had
despised high birth, an ample fortune, and all the advantages of mind
and body, to serve God in that penitential state. This monk went and
came as one deaf and dumb, always recollected in God; and was such a
lover of silence, that he would scarce speak a few words to the prior on
necessary occasions. His silence however was sweet, agreeable, and full
of edification. Our Saint says of him, "The very sight of his humility
stifled my pride, and made me blush at the want of mortification in my
looks." This holy monk, having served God eight years in perfect
fidelity, died in 1142, in wonderful peace, repeating with his last
breath, "I will sing eternally, O Lord, thy mercy, thy mercy, thy
mercy!"
S. Aelred, much against his inclination, was made abbot of a new
monastery of his order, founded by William, Earl of Lincoln, at Revesby,
in Lincolnshire, in 1142, and after, in 1143, of Rievaulx, where he
governed three hundred monks. Describing their life, he says that they
drank nothing but water, ate little, laboured hard, slept little, and on
hard boards; never spoke, except to their superiors on necessary
occasions; and loved prayer.
[Illustration: S. Odilo, Jan. 1, p. 20.]