CatholicSaints.Info

Also known as

• Apostle of the Alps
• Bernard of Aosta
• Bernard of Aotha
• Bernard of Mentone
• Bernard of Montjoux

Memorial

• 15 June (2001 Roman Martyrology)
• 28 May (set on 20 August 1923)

Profile

Born to the French nobility. Priest. Archdeacon of Aosta in 996. Evangelized the people of the Alps for over 40 years. Vicar-general of Alpine diocese. He started a patrol that cleared robbers from the mountains, and he established hospices for travellers and pilgrims to Rome, Italy; he established a community of Augustinian Hospitallers to staff them, and they continue their good work today. The large dogs, trained to search for lost victims in the mountains, are named for him.

Born

• c.923 at Menthon, Savoy (in modern France)

Died

• 1008 at Novara, Italy

Canonized

• 1681 by Pope Innocent XI

Patronage

• Alpinists
• Alps (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923)
• Campiglia Cervo, Italy
• mountain climbers (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923)
• mountaineers
• skiers
• travellers in the mountains (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923)

Representation

• man in a mountain setting holding a bishop‘s crozier
• white dog

MLA Citation

• “Saint Bernard of Menthon“. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 December 2017. Web. 13 November 2018. <>