The new statue of Saint Bernard in the sanctuary has three features we can use to learn about our Patron Saint. First of all, he has a bishop’s crozier, even though he was not a bishop. He has the crozier because he was abbot of the monastery of Cistercians of Clairvaux (Clear Valley)  in France. The curve of the crozier is in the direction of an abbot who is in his own monastery or a bishop who is in his own diocese. So we can say that we are his flock and that he intercedes for us all the time in our church of his name. Secondly, we see a book in his hand. (We see the same in the stained glass  window of Bernard to the left of the statue.) Bernard wrote many very brilliant documents, letters, and sermons. Therefore, we cannot say with certainty which of his works is in his hand, but perhaps it is the collection of his famous Sermons on the Song of Songs. Finally, a songbird is at his feet, which represents his nickname “The Mellifluous Doctor," which he has because his writings are so eloquent that they flow like honey, or like the song of the birds in the morning.