Canons Regular of Prémontré, Our Lady of England Priory, Storrington, UK
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 Below are biographies from a selection of some of the saints and blesseds of our Order
St Godfrey - 14 January Godfrey was born in 1097. His
father was Count Godfrey of Cappenberg and his mother Beatrice of
Schweinfurt. He married Jutta, daughter of the Count of Arnsberg. In a
quarrel between the bishop of Münster and the emperor, Godfrey sided with
the bishop. But when Münster was beleaguered and destroyed in 1121,
Godfrey was deeply disillusioned, partly on account of the behaviour of
his own soldiers, and he decided to turn his castle into a monastery. He
and his brother Otto met St. Norbert in the same year and Godfrey was
deeply impressed by the apostolic life preached and lived by Norbert. In
the beginning his wife Jutta and his brother Otto were opposed to his
intentions. The greatest opposition, however, came from Godfrey's
father-in-law, the Count of Arnsberg. At a gathering in Utrecht Count
Frederick of Swabia joined Godfrey who sold him two castles. On May 31,
1122 Godfrey was able to give Norbert the castle of Cappenberg. The bishop
of Münster blessed the monastery on August fifteenth of the same year.
This was the first foundation of the Order in Germany. Additional
provostries were founded on Godfrey’s properties in Varlar and Ilbenstadt.
Neither of the brothers, however, could enter “their monasteries” until
1124 because they first had to fulfil their duties of defence and, in
Godfrey's case, obtain the consent of his wife Jutta. She later entered
the monastery of canonesses in the lower monastery in Cappenberg. Godfrey
stayed for the time being in Cappenberg where he founded a hospital for
the poor and served the poorest with great humility.
St Frederick - 4 February Frederick Feikone was the son
of a poor widow from Hallum in Friesland. His priestly vocation was
already noticed in his early years and his pastor gave him his first Latin
instructions. He studied the liberal arts and the Holy Scriptures at
Münster. Frederick had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St.
John the Evangelist, and St. Cecilia. Returning from Münster, he became a
teacher and was ordained a priest when he was old enough. He was appointed
assistant priest to the pastor of Hallum whom he later succeeded.
Frederick wished to build a hospital and asked bishop Godfrey of Utrecht
(1156-1177) for permission to establish a monastery of canons after the
death of his mother. Thereafter he went to the Norbertine abbey of
Mariënweerd to learn as novice about the monastic life. Afterwards he
wandered through cities and villages to gather companions. In 1163 he
built a monastery church dedicated to the Blessed Mother: “Mariëngaarde.”
At first the priests and nuns lived in the same establishment but soon the
sisters moved to Bethlehem. He then went to Steinfeld in order to join the
foundation to the Norbertine Order. Frederick remained abbot, pastor of
Hallum, and rector of Bethlehem all at the same time. A seminary for
educating priests was attached to the abbey and became famous in a short
time.
Blessed Hugh - 10 February Hugh was born in
Fosses-la-Ville toward the end of the eleventh century. He became a cleric
of the collegiate chapter of his hometown and later a court chaplain of
Burchard, bishop of Cambray. Hugh met St. Norbert in Valenciennes on March
26, 1119 and was so taken with his apostolic way of life that he decided
to join him and became his first disciple. When Norbert was taken under
the wing of the bishop of Laon after the Council of Rheims in 1119 at the
request of Pope Callistus II, Hugh joined Bishop Burchard at Cambray
again. Two years later in 1121, after the founding of Prémontré, Hugh
returned to Norbert’s side and was named the first prior of the young
community and became the “right hand” of Norbert. After Norbert was
appointed archbishop of Magdeburg in 1126, the confreres elected Hugh, at
Norbert’s suggestion, to be the first abbot of Prémontré. He built the
abbey church and the monastery. In order to preserve unity among the
numerous foundations of Norbert he called the superiors of the various
houses to a meeting out of which the General Chapter developed. He also
compiled the first book of ceremonies with the liturgical directives of
the Order and it is likely that he authored the ancient account of the
life of St. Norbert known today as “Vita Norberti B”. Thanks to Hugh an
organizational structure was created which made it possible for the Order
to last for centuries and he is honoured as the first abbot general of the
Order. He played an essential role in the inner strengthening and rapid
flourishing of the Order. Under his guidance the number of the monasteries
grew to one-hundred-twenty.
St Evermode - 17 February Evermode was born in the
Belgian province of Henegouwen around 1100. After hearing a sermon
preached by St. Norbert, he was so struck by the personality and words of
this apostolic man that he left everything to join him in 1120. He became
one of the most loyal disciples of Norbert. He probably accompanied him to
Antwerp, and later to Magdeburg. He was probably ordained a priest by
Norbert himself and was certainly present when Norbert transformed the
collegiate chapter of Our Lady in Magdeburg into a community of the Order.
Evermode remained Norbert’s companion until the latter’s death on June 6,
1134. Evermode stood by his master on his deathbed and later took care to
see that Norbert was buried in the church of the Norbertine monastery of
Our Lady in Magdeburg. When Emelric, the provost of Gottesgnaden,
undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Evermode was named vice-provost
and provisor of the community. Evermode was provost at Gottesgnaden from
1134 until 1138. He adhered to what Norbert considered the stricter rule
of St. Augustine, the “ordo monasterii” and followed in Norbert’s
footsteps in the areas of clerical reform and the conversion of the pagan
Wends. After its first provost, Wigger, became bishop of Brandenburg,
Evermode was elected provost of Our Lady at Magdeburg, a post he held from
1138 to 1154. In this function he founded the Norbertine monasteries of
Havelberg, Jericho, Quedlinburg and Pöhlde. When the diocese of Ratzeburg
was re-established in 1154 (it had been totally destroyed by the Wends in
1066), Evermode became its first bishop and converted the newly installed
cathedral chapter into a Norbertine chapter. It was not easy for Evermode
to be caught between the mighty Welf Prince Henry the Lion, prince of
Bavaria and Saxony at the time, upon whom he was dependent both
politically and financially, and Henry’s adversary, Archbishop Hartwig of
Hamburg-Bremen, who claimed the rights of Metropolitan over Ratzeburg and
was opposed in principle to bishops who were members of religious orders.
Consequently Evermode had himself consecrated bishop by Archbishop Arnolf
of Mainz (probably on July 13, 1153). Prince Henry gave Evermode an island
and castle for building the cathedral and monastery. Driven by the
apostolic ideal, Evermode travelled throughout his diocese preaching the
Word and became for his people a light of truth. The conversion of the
pagan Wends, who were a majority in his diocese, was his first concern and
he preached missions to them himself in Noorwegen and Holstein. Future
generations, even among the Protestants, gave Evermode the titles “Light
of the Saxons” and “Apostle of the Wends.” His diocese was well organized
and the members of the cathedral chapter were confreres of the Order with
the bishop as their provost.
St Ludolph - 26 April Ludolph was a Norbertine
canon at the cathedral of Ratzeburg where for a time he held the office of
provisor. He was elected bishop of Ratzeburg in 1236. He led such a strict
religious life with his confreres in the shadow of the cathedral that his
community was nicknamed the “prison of the order.”
St Herman Joseph - 24 May Herman was born at Cologne
around 1150. Already from his earliest childhood he manifested a tender
devotion to the Blessed Virgin. The Vita, written by his prior, recounts
that he went daily to pray in the church of St. Mary of the Capitol in
Cologne. One day he offered an apple before the statue of the Virgin and
Child. Mary bent down so that the Christ Child could reach it. Herman was
about twelve years old when he entered the Norbertine abbey of Steinfeld
in the Eifel (located in the diocese of Cologne at the time, currently in
the diocese of Aachen). He was sent to Mariëngaarde in Friesland for
studies. Even as a young man he liked to practice strict penance. After
his return to Steinfeld and his priestly ordination, he was appointed to
serve in the sacristy and refectory. In these manual labours he developed
an extraordinary spiritual life and received numerous mystical gifts. He
received the surname “Joseph” on account of a vision in which the Blessed
Virgin accepted him as her betrothed. His childlike piety and frequent
ecstasies caused misunderstanding on the part of the confreres, some of
whom regarded him as a simpleton. Herman Joseph was a model religious in
the spirit of St. Augustine. He was humble and poor, and showed himself
patient and friendly to everyone – especially to those who understood him
the least. He was a model of obedience to his superiors and was always
ready to serve his confreres.
St Norbert, Founder of the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré - 6 June Norbert was born around the year 1080 in Xanten near Cologne. He was the son of minor nobility and by his birth was entitled to a series of Church benefices, including one as a Canon of the Cathedral of Xanten. As he grew into adulthood he began a career at the Court of the Emperor Henry V. Any idea of a religious vocation was far from his mind until a dramatic conversion experience, likened to that of St Paul on the road to Damascus, turned the playboy Norbert into an ardent reformer on the 12th century Church. From being a cleric in 'name' only, Norbert was ordained a priest in 1115 and began a process of trying to tighten the discipline and zeal of his fellow Canons of Xanten. Norbert was setting a comparatively high standard for his time, and to begin with he met only indifferent success. He resigned his Canonry, sold his possessions, gave the proceeds to the poor and began to live according to the Christian Gospel. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and met Pope Gelasius II, who gave him a mission to preach the Gospel anywhere he wanted. His reputation as a preacher grew especially on the French/German borders and soon attracted the like-minded cleric Hugh of Fosses, who joined him as a fellow preacher. St Norbert was invited to reform the lifestyle of the Cathedral Canons of Laon and the diocesan bishop, Bartholomew, gave Norbert and Hugh a piece of land in a remote area called Prémontré, and here they settled with eleven others in 1121. A new Religious Order was being born - the Canons Regular of Prémontré, or the Norbertine Canons. On Christmas Day in 1121, they celebrated by dedicating themselves to a life of prayer, meditation and apostolic work in the Church, following the Rule of St Augustine. 885 years later, the Order is now a worldwide presence in the Church, 'Prepared for all good works' as St Norbert intended. St Norbert was primarily a preacher and a reformer in a Church which had become complacent, lax and open to the influences of the secular Rulers of the age, who tried to subvert the Church to their own purposes. The Church and State both had their rights and it was important not to blur the differences. Norbert was the obvious choice for the Archdiocese of Magdeburg and both Emperor and Pope approved of his appointment to the Archdiocese in 1126. Hugh of Fosses was left in charge of the monastery of Prémontré as its first abbot. Prémontré had become a thriving community of priests, brothers, nuns and lay associates and from there the Order spread throughout Europe, reaching England in 1143. Meanwhile, Norbert exercised great pastoral care in Magdeburg, encouraging and teaching orthodox Catholic doctrine in the face of local heresies and misunderstandings. His defence of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and his success in resolving conflicts earned him the titles 'Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament' and 'Peacemaker'. At a time of disputed Papal election and Imperial interference, St Norbert was a loyal defender of the legitimate Pope, a true man of peace and one who sought justice when it was in danger of being overlooked. The Emperor Lothar II made St Norbert Chancellor of the German Empire in 1133. His loyalty to both his ecclesiastical and civil responsibilities, his fidelity to the reforms of the Church, and his inspiration in founding a new Religious Order of Canons Regular have made St Norbert one of the most influential churchmen of his time. He died on 6 June 1134 in Magdeburg. In our Novena in his honour we can draw on his life to help us focus on the needs of a Church free from political interference, the need for justice and peace in a broken world, and an increase of lay communities working alongside the priests, brothers and sisters in their commitment to a life of prayer and apostolic works.
St Isfrid - 15 June Isfrid was born around the
year 1115 and later became a canon in the abbey of Cappenberg. In 1159 he
became the first provost of Jerichow where he built a magnificent
Romanesque church. At the urging of Prince Henry the Lion, of Bavaria and
Saxony, the sons of St. Norbert in Magdeburg had turned their attention to
the conversion of the pagan Wends. Through the intervention of Prince
Henry, Isfrid was chosen as successor of St. Evermode, bishop of
Ratzeburg, in 1178. He completed the erection of the cathedral begun under
Evermode, and established many parishes. He also promoted the German
colonization of the territory of the Wends. Toward himself he was inclined
to be strict in penitential practices. Toward the rebellious Wends,
however, he was a mild judge and attempted to convince and win them over
through his preaching. In the year 1190 he visited the abbey of Floreffe,
destroyed by a fire. According to Arnold of Lübeck, he succeeded in
calling back the religious who had been dispersed in all directions for
the previous year and a half; he restored the monastery and consecrated
seven altars in one day. In the same year he also consecrated the
Romanesque church of Postel, a daughter house of Floreffe.
Saints Adrian and James - 9 July On July 9, 1572, the
Calvinists hanged nineteen priests and religious in Gorcum on account of
their loyalty to the Catholic faith. Among these were two sons of St.
Norbert, Adrian and James. Adrian Jansen (sometimes called Becan after his
place of birth) was born at Hilvarenbeek in 1529 and entered the abbey of
Middelburg at the age of 15. After a stint as master of novices and
chaplain, he was appointed pastor of Agterkerke in 1560 and of Munster in
1572. Adrian was an exemplary priest and a true apostle, labouring in a
parish which already counted several Calvinists among its population.
Blessed Hroznata - 14 July The Czech nobleman Hroznata
was born around 1170 and received after the early death of his father a
good education at Krakow where his sister, Woyslawa, was the wife of the
prefect of the city. The young talented man married but soon lost his wife
and his son. In place of a legal heir he founded the monastery of Teplá as
his spiritual heir in 1193. When the papal legate encouraged the knights
to participate in the crusades, Hroznata promised to go to the Holy Land
in order to liberate the holy places. He made the journey with the
crusaders to Brindisi and passed through Rome where the pope confirmed the
foundation of Teplá. Since the crusade failed in 1197 the pope dispensed
Hroznata from his vow concerning the crusades on his way back from
Southern Italy and encouraged him to found a sister monastery. Together
with his widowed sister he established a cloister for nuns in Chotešov
around 1202. Hroznata even becomes a religious in Teplá. The traditions
relates that he was clothed at Rome by Pope Innocent III in the white
habit of the Norbertine Order. Because of his expertise in a variety of
areas, Abbot John appointed him substitute and administrator of the
monastery properties. With all his strength Fr. Hroznata fought for the
cause of the abbey. His efforts were a thorn in the side for the enemies
of the monastery. Hroznata was captured and imprisoned in 1217. Because he
refused to allow the abbey to pay his ransom, his captors let him die of
hunger in prison.
Blessed Gertrude - 13 August Gertrude was the daughter of
Count Louis of Thuringia and Hesse, and his wife, St. Elizabeth of
Hungary. She was dedicated to God from the womb by her father as he
prepared to depart for the Crusades in 1227. Louis offered the unborn
child to the Premonstratensian Canons of Rommersdorf if a boy, or the
Premonstratensian Canonesses of Altenberg near Wetzlar if a girl. Gertrude
was born on September 29, 1227, a few weeks after Louis died in the
Crusades. Her mother Elizabeth, who wished to devote the rest of her life
to prayer and the service of the poor, kept her husband’s vow by
entrusting Gertrude to Altenberg. Even though Elizabeth died within a few
years of Gertrude’s birth, she was remembered by the community of
Altenberg for her visits during which she spun wool with the sisters. The
eight-year-old Gertrude was brought from Altenberg to Marburg to attend
her mother’s canonization in May of 1235. Altenberg became prominent among
the religious houses most active in promoting the cult of St. Elizabeth.
Gertrude received her entire education at Altenberg and became the third
prioress of the monastery at age 24. Using her inheritance, Gertrude built
the monastery church after the Gothic style of the church at Marburg. She
also built a hospital and guesthouse for the poor, following the example
of her mother who had demonstrated her love of Christ by caring for the
poor and sick. While washing the sick Gertrude was reported to say: “How
beautiful it is that we are allowed to bathe the Saviour!”
Blessed Bronislava - 30 August Bronislava was born at the
castle of Kamien in Upper Silesia in 1203. Her family was of Polish origin
and devoted to the Gregorian reform movement. She grew up in an atmosphere
deeply influenced by the Crusades and devotion to the Holy Cross would
characterize her entire life. She was 16 years old when she entered the
cloister of the Norbertine nuns at Zwierzyniec in Krakow, a convent which
had been founded by her maternal grandfather. Bronislava’s devout prayer,
her meditation on the Passion of Christ, and her veneration of the Holy
Cross left a deep impression on her contemporaries. When the Tartars
invaded Krakow in 1241, Bronislava, holding the Cross in her hand,
encouraged her sisters with the words, “Do not be afraid, the Cross will
save us.” The barbarians left behind a track of misery. In the same year,
the pestilence also ravaged this region. In every difficult challenge,
Bronislava, supported by her sisters, was an “angel of consolation” to the
people in their need. The population considered her their patroness on
whom they could count when they needed protection. Her help and protection
was the Cross and she is therefore usually represented as praying before
Jesus Crucified. During her grave afflictions, she withdrew to the
solitude of the hill of Sikornik where she entrusted her troubles and the
troubles of her fellow men to the mercy of God. She saw her cousin, the
Dominican St. Hyacinth, in a vision at the time of his death on August 15,
1257, as he went to heaven holding the hand of the Blessed Virgin.
Blessed James Kern - 20 October Francis Alexander Kern was
born in Vienna on April 16, 1897. Already as a small boy he manifested a
strong desire to become a priest. At age eleven the intellectually gifted
Francis enrolled in the Minor Seminary in Hollabrunn where he liked to
spend his free time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He was
fourteen years old when he made a vow of perpetual chastity. During WWI,
shortly after completing his secondary studies in 1915, he enlisted as a
volunteer in the army. Even as a soldier he continued his daily adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament. On January 1, 1916, during the forty hours
devotion in the church of St. Blaisé in Salzburg, he asked God to be
allowed to suffer in union with His Son, Jesus Christ. His request was
soon granted and he was sent to the Italian Front as a lieutenant. In
September of 1916 a bullet pierced his lung and caused a wound from which
he would never fully recover. He entered the seminary of the archdiocese
of Vienna as a convalescent. About this time a sad event occurred in the
Czech Republic. A group of Catholics separated themselves from Rome and
founded the schismatic Czech National Church. Isidore Bogdan Zaradnik, a
Norbertine canon of Strahov and a doctor of philosophy, also fell away and
became a leader of the schism. In this capacity he came to Vienna to
agitate against Rome. James was deeply shocked by all this and decided to
offer himself in atonement for Isidore. Pope John Paul II would later say,
“In this sad event, James Kern discovered his vocation. He desired to be
the propitiatory sacrifice for this fallen-away religious. In a manner of
speaking, James Kern entered the Norbertine abbey of Geras to replace him
in the Order. And God accepted the gift of the ‘substitute’.”
St Gilbert - 26 October The knight Gilbert belonged
to the high nobility of Auvergne. Following the advice of Ornifius, the
Norbertine abbot of Dilo, he participated in the Second Crusade
(1147-1149) which was preached by St. Bernard at Vezelay and led by the
French king, Louis VII. This crusade ended in military disaster. Having
survived this dangerous endeavour, Gilbert decided, together with his wife
Petronilla, and his daughter Ponzia, to dedicate himself to God and enter
the monastic life. He distributed a portion of his considerable wealth to
the poor and also founded a convent which his wife and daughter entered.
At first Gilbert himself lived as a hermit. After completing his novitiate
in the Norbertine abbey of Dilo, he founded the abbey of Neuffontaines
around 1150 and became its first abbot. Following the example of St.
Norbert, he also built a hospital attached to the abbey, which soon became
famous because of the many miracles that occurred there.
St Siard - 14 November Siard was born of a
Frieslanden noble family. He studied in the abbey school of Mariëngaarde
where St. Frederick was abbot at the time. He asked for admission to the
novitiate in 1175. After twenty years of religious life he was elected the
fifth abbot of Mariëngaarde in 1194. Nothing in his daily life
distinguished him from his confreres. He wore the same habit, ate at the
same table, and slept in the same dormitory. On account of his exceptional
humility, he resolutely refused everything that was not strictly
necessary. He was a good administrator who governed his monastery well,
both in spiritual and material matters. The apostolic spirit of the order
thrived at Mariëngaarde under his leadership. Whenever Siard went on a
journey, he took along a large basket full of bread and other foods that
he could distribute among the poor. Because of this he is usually depicted
with a basket at his feet. He had the gift of appeasing hatred and
reconciling enemies. He urged three things upon the confreres who had to
leave the monastery: a joyous departure, a peaceful sojourn, and a happy
return. Siard had a special devotion to Martha and Mary. He looked to
Martha as an example for his care of the confreres and to Mary as a
reminder of the necessity of listening to Christ in prayer and meditation.
Siard worked side by side with his confreres during the periods of manual
labour, especially in the fields. He would lead the confreres in the
singing of Psalms during harvest time. Occasionally he would fall into
ecstasy during prayer and hear the heavenly music of the angels.
© The above biographies, apart from that of St Norbert which was written by The Rev Ian McLean, o.praem., are by the Postulator General of the Order, Fr. Dr. Gabriel Wolf o.praem. They are reprinted here by kind permission and are copyright.
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