Saint Bernardine of Siena: "the vice of sodomy ... is the greatest sin."

Saint Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444)

Saint Bernardine of Siena was a famous preacher, celebrated for his doctrine and holiness. Regarding homosexuality, he stated:

"No sin in the world grips the soul as the accursed sodomy; this sin has always been detested by all those who live according to God.… Deviant passion is close to madness; this vice disturbs the intellect, destroys elevation and generosity of soul, brings the mind down from great thoughts to the lowliest, makes the person slothful, irascible, obstinate and obdurate, servile and soft and incapable of anything; furthermore, agitated by an insatiable craving for pleasure, the person follows not reason but frenzy.… They become blind and, when their thoughts should soar to high and great things, they are broken down and reduced to vile and useless and putrid things, which could never make them happy.... Just as people participate in the glory of God in different degrees, so also in hell some suffer more than others. He who lived with this vice of sodomy suffers more than another, for this is the greatest sin."

“Let Mary never be far from your lips
and from your heart.
Following her, you will never lose your way.
Praying to her, you will never sink into despair.
Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”

Saint Bernardine of Siena

Practical Considerations

I. St. Bernardin was an enemy of indecent discourse. Therefore not only did he never utter an immodest word, but he prevented others from so doing. He endeavored earnestly to work out his own salvation. If you are as earnest, follow his example. In our time nothing is more common than to speak without shame or restraint of what is impure. Hence it is that works of iniquity become so prevalent that hell will be filled with those who perpetrate them. St. Gregory, who compares unchaste discourse with pestilence, was right in saying, that most people who go to eternal destruction, are brought to it by the vice of impurity. This he verifies by the words of the Gospel: "And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left" (Math, xxv.). Why, asked the holy Father, are all the damned called by the name of goats? For no other 'reason than to show that most people are damned for the vice of lust, of which that animal is the type. Whoever earnestly desires to be placed "on His right hand," must shun this vice. And that he may be able to shun it, he must guard himself against every indecent word; for evil words lead to evil works, besides being in themselves sinful. Licentious young men discontinued their conversations as soon as they saw St. Bernardin. Should not the thought of the presence of the Most High, of Him who has the power to send you to eternal destruction, produce the same effect upon you?

St. Bernardine of Siena

America Needs Fatima 

Bernardine, “The Apostle of Italy,” was born on September 8, 1380 in the Tuscan town of Massa Marittima. His father, a member of the noble Sienese family of Albizeschi, was governor of the region.

Because Bernardine was orphaned at an early age, two aunts raised him like their own son. His youth was blameless, pious and studious.

In the year 1400, the plague descended with a vengeance upon Siena. Twelve to twenty people were dying daily at the city’s largest hospital, which was soon bereft of caring personnel. The twenty-year-old Bernardine volunteered to take charge of the hospital with another ten companions whom he had convinced to lay down their lives for the sake of the countless stricken and dying.

Four grueling months later, several of his companions died, but Bernardine escaped contagion. Nevertheless, weakened by his tireless labor, he contracted a fever from which his health never fully recovered.

He went on to join the Franciscans and was ordained on September 8, 1404. About two years later, St. Vincent Ferrer, one of the greatest preachers of all time, while in Italy, foretold that his mantle would descend upon one listening to him, saying he would return to France and Spain leaving to another the task of evangelizing the people of Italy. Twelve years were to pass before this prediction was fulfilled, as Bernardine lived a life of retirement in the monastery.

In 1417 his fiery eloquence burst forth, inflaming the souls of the multitudes. He preached fearlessly in cities large and small rebuking evil in places high and low. After hearing him, penitents of all classes flocked in droves to the confessionals. His great devotion was to the Holy Name of Jesus and as he preached, he would hold up a plaque with the initials "I.H.S." an acronym for the name of JESUS, and had people place the Holy Name over the gates of towns, and over the entrances of their houses and businesses. Pope Pius II who listened to Bernardine in his youth said that people listened to him as to another Apostle St. Paul. Tirelessly and on foot, he traversed the length and breath of Italy, launching a true moral reform.

In 1444, although ill, Bernardine traveled to the Kingdom of Naples to preach. Being too weak to walk, he was obliged to ride an ass. Nevertheless, worn out by his forty years of apostolate, he died lying on the bare ground on the eve of the Ascension, as his companion Friars chanted: Pater manifestavi nomen Tuum hominibus … Father I have manifested Thy Name to men.

After a funeral of unprecedented splendor, miracles multiplied and he was canonized in 1450.

Prayer of St. Bernardine of Siena

Jesus, Name full of glory, grace, love and strength!

You are the refuge of those who repent,

our banner of warfare in this life,

the medicine of souls,

the comfort of those who morn,

the delight of those who believe,

the light of those who preach the true faith,

the wages of those who toil,

the healing of the sick.

To You our devotion aspires;

by You our prayers are received;

we delight in contemplating You.

O Name of Jesus,

You are the glory of all the saints for eternity.

Amen.