Bernard was born to parents who were seen by their community as deeply pious individuals (Ogg, 251). Growing up in this environment it is no surprise that Bernard was drawn to monastic life, as it was one of the traditionally revered and respected spiritual practices, which his parents surely approved of and celebrated. Bernard joined the monastic order at Citeaux with the directive to remove himself from the world and ultimately in the anticipation of drawing closer to God (Ogg, 252). The thing that attracted Bernard to this monastic order was the simple life of work, prayer, and self-denial (Ogg, 252). The drastically ascetic life of these monks that attracted Bernard was the very thing that startled others away from joining the order, as the way of living required of the monks was by no means an easy burden to bear (Ogg,