The most prolific of all Greek writers was Joseph the hymnographer. He is said to have written one thousand canons. Two hundred are still in existence.

Although a monk, his life was far from monotonous. He was born in Sicily, but left that island for Africa, and later went to Greece. At Thessalonica he entered a monastery, and became distinguished for his devotion. He was in Constantinople at the beginning of the iconoclastic war. The cause of the image-worshipers received his hearty support, and in their behalf he embarked for Rome. The ship was captured by pirates, and he was taken to Crete, where he served many years as a slave. At length regaining his freedom he returned to Constantinople, where he founded a monastery. Crowds flocked thither attracted by his eloquence, and it became a flourishing community. But Joseph's ardent defense of image-worship excited the emperor's displeasure, and he was banished to Chersonæ. Ignatius secured his recall by the Empress Theodora. She made him keeper of the sacred vessels in the great church at Constantinople. Later, however, he accompanied his friend and patron, Pholitius, into exile. His death occurred in 883.

Judging from his hymns, these misfortunes and hardships did not embitter his spirit. Dr.

Neale gives us the following translation of one

of his hymns:

"O happy band of pilgrims,

If onward ye will tread,
With Jesus as your Fellow,
To Jesus as your Head!
O happy, if ye labor

As Jesus did for men;
O happy, if ye hunger

As Jesus hungered then!
The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations

That death alone can cure,

What are they but His jewels
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder,
Set up to heaven on earth?
O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction

Shall win so great a prize."

To the same period as these writers belonged Theodulph, Bishop of Orleans. He was one of the scholars who adorned Charlemagne's court. The following story is told of his hymn for Palm Sunday: After the death of his great patron, the bishop was falsely accused of entering into a conspiracy against King Louis, and was imprisoned in the monastery of Angers. One day, as

the king passed the building on his way to the cathedral, he heard singing. Seven boys who

had been trained by Theodulph were chanting:

“All glory, laud, and honor,

To Thee, Redeemer, King."

His majesty was so pleased with the song that he immediately gave Theodulph his freedom.

One of the great hymns of the Church is "Veni Sacer Spiritus." There is much uncertainty as to its authorship, but many critics ascribe it to Robert II, of France. This king was more of a monk than a ruler. It was one of his chief delights to assist in the services of the Church. He was chorister at the cathedral of St. Denis, and used to lead the singing in his crown and robes. Although his worship may have been somewhat formal, this hymn is one of the loveliest in the Latin tongue:

"Come, Holy Ghost, in love,
Shed on us from above
Thine own bright ray!"

Few characters in Church history are more interesting than St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who flourished in the eleventh century. He belonged to a noble French family. His mother was a woman of rare ability and character, and her son

inherited many of her virtues.

Physically he

was far from rugged. He had a slight, stooping figure, and pale, hollow cheeks. His hair was thin and white. Contrary to the custom of the times, he wore a beard, which was tinged with red. But writers speak of his "angelic countenance," his "dovelike eyes," and his "benevolent smile." If, like Paul, he was frail in body, like Paul he was mighty in spirit.

He was a Cistercian monk of the severest type. In early manhood he injured himself by his extreme penances and self-inflicted tortures. In later life he rejected the doctrine of penances and discouraged their practice. His ability and piety were so marked that at the early age of thirty he was sent out to found a new monastery. The site selected was a valley called "Wormwood" because it had formerly been the haunt of a band of robbers. Bernard rechristened it "Clairvaux," or "Beautiful Valley." This was the first of a hundred and sixty monasteries founded by St. Bernard. So zealously did he labor for their welfare, and so greatly did they prosper through his efforts, that they were called after him, "Bernardines."

But he was much more than a monk; he was a missionary. One of his first acts upon entering the monastic life was to persuade his brothers and sister to do the same.

He lived during the days of the Crusades. During his childhood the first Crusade had gone to the Holy Land, and founded the kingdom of Jerusalem. After an existence of several decades it was in danger of being conquered by the infidels. Bernard traveled all through Europe urging the princes and bishops to undertake a new crusade.which would save the holy places from profanation.

The art of preaching had declined, but Bernard revived it. His appeals were so earnest and eloquent that they won every one to his cause. After hearing his sermons, profligate nobles and worldly ladies would tear strips from his robe and sew them to their own garments in the form of a cross. The people came to look upon him with a reverence almost amounting to awe. They called him the "holiest monk that ever lived” and the "last of the Fathers." It is said that Guilliame, Abbot of St. Thierry, admired him so much that, could he have chosen his lot from all the world had to offer, he would have chosen nothing else than to remain always with that man of God, as his servitor. Hilbert, Bishop of Treves, actually traveled to Rome to ask the pope to relieve him of his charge, that he might spend the rest of his days at Clairvaux with St. Bernard. Bernard's own monks called him father, and he regarded them as his children.