[841] Malachy was probably suspected (not without cause) of being an emissary of the supporters of the Empress Matilda. He had just spent some days with David I., and with him and his stepson Waltheof he was on terms of intimate friendship (§§ 36, 40). King David invaded England in the following year.
[842] The reference is apparently to King Stephen's attempt to prevent Theobald of Canterbury and other bishops from attending the Council of Rheims in March 1148. But Malachy does not seem to have been summoned to the Council, and he did not reach the Channel till long after it was over (see next note).
[843] Eugenius left Clairvaux on April 27, and Lausanne on May 20 (Jaffé, p. 634). At this rate he might have been expected to reach Rome by the end of July. About that time, therefore, we may conjecture that Malachy was on the coast of Kent. Actually, the Pope was not near Rome till he reached Viterbo on November 30 (_ibid._ 636). St. Bernard, therefore, when he wrote this passage, was ignorant of his movements for a considerable time before Malachy's death.
[847] St. Bernard's life-long and ever-increasing frailty is constantly alluded to by his biographers. It was largely due to his extreme austerity. In this incident we have an example of the way in which, on many occasions, the strength of his mind conquered the weakness of his body (_V. P._ v. 4).
[852] October 18. Malachy had therefore reached Clairvaux on October 13 or 14. In the interval he met St. Gilbert of Sempringham and presented him with a pastoral staff (Dugdale, vi. 2, p. xii.). In France Malachy travelled alone--having been parted from his companions in England--and probably on horseback (§ 36). He may, therefore, have left England about September 30, and traversed the 270 miles from Wissant to Clairvaux by October 14. He apparently intended to start for Rome on St. Luke's Day (Serm. i. § 1).
[853] That is, in the presence of the community.
[856] Cp. 2 Tim. iv. 6, in which the phraseology of the vg. differs entirely from that of the text.
[857] Not strictly accurate. Malachy reached Clairvaux before his companions. See p. 123, n. 3.
[858] The physicians said the same (Serm. i. § 2).
[859] This saying is quoted in a slightly different form in Serm. i. § 2.