Priests And Bridges

Cur igitur Pontifices dicemus, qui se caeteris pontes non faciunt ? Pontifex vero dicitur, qui supra mare hujus mundi factus est pons, usque ad Deum et proximum pertingens. Usque ad Deum pertingit, ex fiducia qua non suam sed illius gloriam quaerit. Usque ad proximum, ex pietate qua ipsi non soli sibi prodesse desiderat. Sed numquid tales isti? Quis insensatus dicit pontem, quem nullae juvant bases, quem mare cadentem recipit, et se profundius involvit.  Petrus Blenensis, Tractatus Quales Sunt, Caput XIV Source:  Migne PL 207.1014a

Why, therefore, shall we call them priests (pontifices) who do not make themselves bridges (pontes) for others? Truly he is a 'Pontifex' who over the sea of this world builds a bridge, stretching to God and to his neighbour. He reaches to God by the faith which does not seek its own glory but God's. He reaches to his neighbour by the piety which does not desire to profit itself alone. But are there such men? Who is so foolish to name something a bridge, the foundations of which offer no support, which the sea receives in its falling, and drags it down into its depths? Peter of Blois, Tractate On What Sort of Things They Are, Chapter 14