St. Bernard of Clairvaux was an instrument of God to change countless sinners, even when there seemed to be no hope of their conversion. One beautiful example of this is as follows.

One time the Saint went to visit a certain Count Theobald. As he came near the city where the Count lived, he saw a crowd of the citizens leading out a terrible criminal for execution. The rope that bound this man was also used to lead him along.

Feeling a sudden inspiration, St. Bernard promptly made his way to the condemned man. He grabbed hold of the rope, saying earnestly.

"Leave this man to me. I myself want to punish him."

The people were surprised, to say the least! Yet they did not refuse the holy monk’s strange request. Instead, they sent for Count Theobald, telling him that Bernard had stopped the execution of the robber. The Count lost no time in arriving on the scene. He had the greatest esteem for Bernard, and wanted to see what this holy man intended to do.

When he saw Bernard with the rope in his hand, and the criminal walking behind him, Count Theobald cried out in horror,

"Oh, Venerable Father! What are you going to do? And why are you going to save from punishment a man who has deserved a thousand deaths for his crimes? Oh, I beg you to leave him! It is not right to allow such a wicked man to escape."

"Most excellent Count," replied the Saint, "It is not my intention to allow him to escape. I mean to punish him even more severely than you intended to do. You have condemned him to a punishment which will only last for a few moments. I intend to subject him to a punishment that will last for the rest of his life."

The Saint then took off his cloak and put it around the shoulders of the condemned man, saying,

"Come with me to my monastery in Clairvaux, and I will show you how I can punish in this world those who are guilty, that they may be saved in the next world."

The poor man was grateful to St. Bernard for having rescued him from death. Under the Saint’s direction, the former criminal became a model of virtue even to the other monks. He thus spent the rest of his life a reformed man, and then died a holy death.