It’s rather heartwarming to learn about Lewis Bertrand. He was one of those people who really had a wonderful heart and worked very hard at being good. He was born in Spain in 1526, his father was a notary, and by the time Lewis was a teenager, he really really wanted to devote himself entirely to ministry.

Reading between the lines of Butler’s account, Bertrand was certainly virtuous–but not particularly talented. He was repeatedly held back from joining the monastery of his choice (being too young and, I suspect, woefully inept), and it wasn’t until a man who himself had previously been a shepherd (rather than someone coming from a royal or a cleric-ridden family) became head of the monastery and saw the heart of Bertrand rather than his polish that Bertrand’s deeply held dream to become a monk came about.

Yes, the time came when Bertand became so known for his goodness of heart that he (almost) ended up as an example of the Peter Principle, defined, inter alia, by Investiopedia as “the tendency in most organizational hierarchies, such as that of a corporation, is for every employee to rise in the hierarchy through promotion until they reach the levels of their respective incompetence.” In other words, Bertand was ordained a priest.

Butler kindly writes:

The saint’s talents did not at first appear promising for the pulpit . . . .

Yet Bertrand did not give up! He worked to become a better preacher, a better celebrant of mass, more comfortable speaking publicly, and more at home in leadership. His heart carried through, and, Butler triumphantly reports:

[Bertrand] overcame all difficulties, and his discourses produced incredible fruit, because they were animated with zeal and charity, and breathed a spirit of sincere piety and humility.

So although Bertrand might not have been a deep and philosophical theologian, and although he was not a silver-tongued orator, he was someone who cared deeply enough and with enough love of God and of those he was given the opportunity to love, that he worked hard to do his best…and his best was indeed good enough.

No more can rightfully be asked of anyone, and Bertrand lived out his calling with sincerity and joy, with love and humility. His was a sanctified (i.e., saintly) life indeed.