Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist, Tintoretto. “He is to be great before God and men.”

In the days of the Emperor Henry the Younger, during the Pontificate of Pope Paschal the Second, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1115, there lived in the town of Xanten a man named Norbert. He was a German from illustrious Frankish and Salic German stock. He was wealthy, handsome, thin and somewhat tall and full-grown. He was educated in both literature and the ways of the court and the world. He was a good speaker, a cleric, a subdeacon. However, in his live and conduct, for the times and secular custom, he was quite frivolous.

His father was Herbert of the town of Gennep near the forest of Kettel; his mother was Hedwig. While she was, in answer to her prayer, pregnant with him she heard a voice saying to her: “Be calm, Hedwig! He is to be great before God and men.”

Fortune favoured his life and he prospered. Among other things he was well-known in the courts of the great, both in the court of Frederick the Archbishop of Cologne, and in the court of the emperor. In the former undoubtedly because he was a cleric and educated; in the latter because of his generous spirit and his demeanor. In both courts, however, he was admired because he was affable and cultured. Well-known in one, noble in the other, in both courts energetic. He was loved and honoured not less by his masters than by those who served him. He was pleasing to everyone and open to all, great among the great, slight among the unimportant, illustrious among nobles, less that cultured among the ignoble, eloquent among the educated and foolish among the unlearned. To all he showed himself lovable. He was a man of cheerful appearance, with calm face, pleasant speech, mild to deal with, affable in company, kind to his own, at peace with strangers, generous in giving, shy in receiving. Sensible and cautious, he was his own advisor and lived his life according to his own desires.

He denied himself nothing and left nothing that he desired untried. He did not attend to what was allowed, nor did he avoid what was not proper so long as the pleasant was sufficient and the unpleasant did not stand in his way. He gulped down the past, devoured the present, anticipated the future. He was a distinguished citizen of this age and a renowned inhabitant of Babylon. He moved forward with his eyes closed and his head turned backwards, ignorant of what the future held or what the next day had in store for him. He had no time for piety and quiet. He was a slave to unrest and impatience.

The passing of time with its favourable circumstances, the sound of human applause, so sweet to his ear, declaring “well done, well done,” expanded the hope of his longings and broadened the desires of his heart. By comparison, the promise of the kingdom of heaven or the threat of the burning fires of hell or other similar ideas sounded mild and unthreatening. Such words were unappealing and confusing, offensive and annoying, like the ravings of old men or childish foolishness. In a word, anything that did not double his popularity seemed to him like empty words and a fabled story.

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The Conversion of St Paul. As the Lord said to the trembling Apostle, so too did he say to Norbert: “Why are you persecuting me?”

Accompanied by a single servant, Norbert hastened alone to a place called Vreden. Why he went secretly or alone only He knows, who said: “I will surround your way with briars.” But while he was riding along in a pleasant green meadow dressed in silk and on a fine horse, suddenly clouds appeared, a storm came up, thunder roared and lightning flashed. The power of the storm struck them with terror and the thoughts of a fearful death. The unlettered boy called to his learned master, servant to lord, boy to elder: “Norbert, where are you going? Sir, what are you doing? Turn back, Father, turn back. The hand of the Lord is powerful against you.”

The Lord above is compassionate in calling back and not slow to change, as if He were saying: “Norbert, Norbert, why are you persecuting me? I have fitted you with a body. I have given you wealth with which to outfit yourself. You ought to have served me. Why do you rush to destroy others? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.”

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the ground before the horse’s feet. It scorched the grass, splitting open the earth to a great depth. The powerful hand of the Lord cast down the rider. The boy stood there, stunned. His master lay there, as did the horse, unconscious and almost to the point of death. The place and the man’s clothing stank. It was the stench of sulphur, like the fire of Hell.

After an hour the man rose as from a deep sleep. Coming to himself, he was touched with grief of heart and began to say to himself: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Immediately, as if He were responding: “Turn from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it.” Norbert went no farther, but reflecting on the Lord’s mercies, that He is good, that His mercy is forever, Norbert returned home.

From this time on the fire of divine love which had been ignited gradually expanded. He neither changed his garb suddenly nor immediately left the world. However, beneath his soft garments he wore rough haircloth to tame his members and fight against his lower nature. Then gradually and slowly the interior sword of the Word of God, penetrating the depths and burning his loins and searching his heart, began interiorly to reform what had been deformed, changing the wild and rapacious hawk into a simple and meek dove. As the Apostle says, where sin abounded, grace also abounded.

Imbued with the new grace of interior virtue, not yet having put off the old exterior garment, he modified his desire with the hope of a more abundant harvest. He chose to take on the garb of the new man and its mark of honour at the same time, the former with the religious habit, the latter with the dignity of the priesthood. The conferred gifts would be more pleasant the more they would be stronger from the double conferral, and thus the evil spirit would be more seriously damaged in the sight of onlookers the more the magnificent King gloriously triumphed in Norbert.

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The Ordination of St Norbert. “I want to be ordained deacon and priest at the same time. My conscience demands it. You will not be able to understand it now, but you will understand it later.”

After completely putting aside and rejecting his temporal baggage, he settled down and prepared himself with strength of mind to bear every type of poverty and need. He then entered upon the steep and sublime way of a holy life. Barefoot and clothed in a woolen tunic and content with only a cloak, with no roof over his head and no sure residence, with strength of mind he overcame the harsh winder and sharp cold. With Christ as his only leader, he set out with two like-minded companions.

Protected by the shield of patience and supported by the strength of faith, Norbert preached to everyone and announced the Word of God “when convenient,” as it is said, “and when inconvenient.”

When he reached the south of France, he found Pope Gelasius, who succeeded Paschal. He confessed to him his wish and the intention of his heart. The Pope, seeing his prudence and the Spirit of God which resided in him, wanted Norbert to stay with him. Norbert pleaded with the Pope that he not force him to this obedience. He explained how he had dissipated himself wontonly in the courts of kings and pontiffs and that what he was no asking of him was by no means suited to his youth and the penance he had undertaken. However, if he were to order him to be a canon or a monk or hermit, or even a wandering pilgrim, he would gladly obey him in everything.

When the holy Pope saw Norbert’s determination and the ardent devotion of his mind, as well as hearing about the persecution which he had endured on behalf of the truth, he gave him permission to preach the Word of God not only where he had preached before, but everywhere he wished and was able to do so. He enjoined this task on him in his own name. Moreover, he placed a prohibition on those who had earlier resisted him out of envy so that they not impede the simple man even if they think his preaching is superfluous or less than useful

After Norbert accepted the Apostolic mandate to preach he began his return journey barefoot, just as he had come, in the midst of the excesses of a harsh winter. It must be stated that the man burned with such love toward God that neither the harsh cold nor hunger nor weariness kept him back from what he had begun. No doubt sometimes on that journey the snow reached to his knees, sometimes even to his thighs. Nevertheless, this could not hold him back for even one day

Norbert took no food except Lenten good and then only in the evening, except on Sundays. He ate fish and drank wine very rarely. He gave his body no rest during the day. His spirit rested neither at night nor during the day. He was a man of singular faith and great strength.

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The construction of the Abbey of Prémontré. “He came to a place truly according to its very name foreshown, elect and predestined by the Lord.”

After the Pope had given permission to preach the Word of God, he asked the venerable Bishop Bartholomew of Laon to look after Norbert, and not long after, the Pope came to Laon. The Bishop, taking counsel with the Pope on how to keep Norbert in the service of his diocese, offered him the Church of St Martin, which was on the edge of the town. There were a few brothers living there under the rule of canonical profession, but Norbert refused on all counts.

Finally, when he was pressed, he agreed to what he was asked lest he offend the Pope and not be obedient, on condition that the canons living there would not refuse the practices which he would teach them according to the evangelical and apostolic institution.

But when Norbert explained the evangelical institution to the brothers, how they were to be imitators of Christ, how they would have to despise the world and be voluntarily poor, how they would have to bear up under reproach and insult and derision and suffer hunger, thirst and nakedness and other things of this sort, how they would have to be obedient to the precepts and rules of the Holy Fathers, they were immediately terrified by his words and said: “we do not want this man over us!

Meanwhile, the bishop was trying to nourish his enfeebled guest, thin from cold and fasting, but he himself was daily fed by his guest through spiritual nourishment of the honey-sweet Word of God. For this reason, he grew very fond of Norbert and urged him with all sorts of arguments to remain in his diocese.

Every day, the bishop took Norbert around and showed him places in the hope that there might be some church he liked, or some lonely place, or some wilderness on which to build. Finally, overcome by the bishop’s pleas and those of many others, both religious and noble, Norbert chose a place extremely deserted and lonely which from of old the inhabitants called Prémontré. Here he pledged to remain if God would allow him to gather his companions.

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

Norbert gathered together almost forty clerics and very many lay people at Prémontré, and he encouraged them morning and evening with continuous consolation, and urged them with many sermons not to abandon their good intention and the voluntary poverty which they had undertaken. In thought and speech, he flew to rest as a dove, and made his hearers take flight, so that with the prophet he seemed to say: “I shall take on wings as a dove and I shall fly and I shall rest.”

They entrusted themselves to him so much and they clung to him with such affectionate friendship that they sought no day order, no rule, no institutes of the Holy Fathers to obtain the glory of eternal joy except what they heard from his mouth or discovered he had said. But knowing this, Norbert, prudent and circumspect in all things, lest his holy institute falter in the future, and the foundation, which he intended to place on solid rock, totter, he advised them about a rule and the institutes of the Holy Fathers, without which the apostolic and evangelical way of life could not be completely observed.

Norbert, whose work and plans depended on heaven, entrusted his foundation neither to himself nor to others, but rather to Him who is the beginning of all things. He pondered these things in his heart, as a wise man who is quick to hear, but who defers and postpones until later.

Lest he seem to betray their canonical profession to which he and those who wished to live with him had been dedicated since their youth, Norbert ordered that the rule be adapted which the Blessed Augustine had established for his followers. He had heard that this way of life was ordained and renewed by this same blessed man after the Apostles. This rule was brought to him and he carefully studied it, and afterwards he explained explained himself in the common chapter: “I know one of the confreres of our profession who has seen the Blessed Augustine. He was researching our rule rather seriously, not on his own, but at the request of his confreres. Augustine with his right hand held out the golden rule. He made himself known to him clearly, saying, ‘I, whom you see, am Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Behold, you have the rule which I have written, under which, if your confreres, my sons, fight well, they will stand secure before Christ in the terror of the last judgement.’” Norbert told his story humbly as if about another. Nevertheless, it was he himself to whom this was revealed.

Immediately, on Christmas day in 1121, one by one they enrolled themselves under that rule into the city of blessed eternity for the sake of stability in place and profession.

The Holy Fathers teach that preachers and those following the canonical profession should be models of those angels who were the witnesses of the resurrection, and it is certain that these angels appeared in white, and those following canonical profession should not cause scandal regarding these white garments. Since also they are penitents, and if their duty forces them to go out among the people, they should not be opposed to woolen garments. But if they are going to enter the sanctuary, they should not fail to use linen, as was the custom in the old testament. Norbert did not teach this in order to detract from the other precepts of the Holy Fathers, of which there are many, but rather because he was shown these garments in a vision of the Queen of Heaven, who said to that just man: “My son Norbert, receive the white habit from my hands!”

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The foundation of the Order, and the Eucharistic Triumph of St Norbert, depicted on the ceiling of the Benedictine Abbey church at Schäftlarn, near Lake Starnberg, in Bavaria.

Antwerp was a very large and populated city in which there was only one priest who had the care of all the souls living there. Because of the great multitude, and his constant negligence, he was unable to do so, however. Neither was he trusted, because he had made his niece a partner in his crime by taking her as a carnal companion. For this reason, the people, like a flock without a shepherd, wandered about in many false errors.

Hence it happened that a heretic, a seducer by the name of Tanchelm, who was remarkably shrewd and cunning, came there and found a place among these people for his false teaching. He was the most evil of all men, an enemy of God and His sacraments. He opposed religion and the Christian faith to such a degree that he declared that obedience to bishops and priests was not necessary, and he denied the reception of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ was a benefit to eternal salvation. And he led the people in the same error, and about three thousand armed men followed him. There was neither duke nor bishop nor any priest who dared to resist or go against him. This most foul and detestable abomination of seduction could not be wiped out even after the death of this heretic, even though twelve clerics were sent there by the bishop.

These clerics, out of charity and forced by necessity, gave their church to Father Norbert and his confreres. They trusted that God, through the merits of Norbert and his confreres, would remove the fury of the deadly plague and, with the darkness of ignorance dispelled, would restore the light of truth.

Father Norbert applied life-giving medicine to the deadly wound. They began to sow the Word of God and offered the people words which were sweeter than honey. To the sick they served delicate food, and to the weak a bread that strengthened their hearts, and offered eternal life. Norbert told them: “Brothers, do not be afraid! Unwittingly you have pursued falsehood thinking it to be the truth. If you had been taught the truth first, you would have been found effortlessly tending towards salvation, just as you now effortlessly lean towards perdition.”

Some of the men and women, therefore, hearing these words and seeing the works which followed, were repentant, and returned bringing back the Body of the Lord which they had kept in little boxes for ten or fifteen or more years.

Who would not be astonished by this detestable crime? Who would say that it should not be committed to memory that the depraved seducer falsely led this people astray and that the pious preacher, Norbert, through his own work and that of his confreres, led them back to the way of truth and justice?

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

He entered Magdeburg barefoot, clad in the garment of poverty

Norbert found himself in Speyer in the Palatinate, where the Saxons had gathered in large number with the clergy of Magdeburg and King Lothair to elect a new archbishop. When they heard that the man, whom people from different nations of the world acclaimed as holy, had arrived, they sent for him to come and give a sermon which people enjoyed hearing. But they also sent for him to hear his advice on certain business which required that some of them be there.

First the case of the people of Magdeburg was dealt with. They were left without a spiritual father. Present at the meeting was Cardinal Gerard, who had recently come from Rome, and a number of princes. These men proposed three names for the election, one of which was Father Norbert. However, Norbert was unaware of this. While they were undecided and looking for the best of the three candidates, Albero, the Bishop of Metz secretly indicated with his hand that they should chose the man of God, Norbert. They immediately seized him, and cried loudly: “We elect this man as our father, we approve him as our shepherd!”

The frail man could not defend himself, and led away to a place he did not know, carrying with him a very heavy burden.

As is customary, at Norbert’s entry into Magdeburg was a great assembly of people. All were joyful, both young and old: the old because they had elected someone well-known and respected; the young because they were receiving in this man someone who would sympathise with their difficulties.

From a distance, he gazed at the city to which he was being led, and entered it barefoot. Barefoot he entered the sanctuary with the procession. Barefoot he was led to the palace a poor man, poor and garbed in a cloak. While others were entering, he was rejected by the doorkeeper, since he was unknown to him. The doorkeeper said to Norbert: “The other poor people were admitted long ago. It isn’t proper for you to intrude rudely along with this throng of princes.”

Those who were following exclaimed: “Wretch! What are you doing? Let him go! What have you done? Do you not know that this is our bishop, and your master?”

The man quickly fled and hid, but Father Norbert, calling him back, said with a smile: “Do not be afraid, and do not flee, brother. You know me better and see me more clearly than those who force me, appearing so poor and simple, to this lofty palace to which I should not have been elevated.”

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
and enkindle within them the fire of Thy love.

℣ Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord
℟ And Thou shall renew the face of the earth

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

Physically, Norbert was weak, worn out from long and hard penances. His infirmity grew worse because of the burden and strain of traveling as well as the corrupt air of the land. Add to this solicitude for his domestic affairs, the change of climate and the constant unrest. However, it is not possible for any one person to tell all the things which were accomplished by him there or elsewhere, because it is impossible for one person to know or become acquainted with everything.

It is known that not longer after his return to the city of Magdeburg from Italy, Norbert was seized by a grave illness and suffered from it for four months. Filled with the Holy Spirit and in full possession of his sense and while giving blessing to those in attendance, Norbert died peacefully. He had administered his diocese wisely and faithfully for eight years. As Blessed Augustine said: “one who had lived well could not died badly.”

It was the year of the Lord’s Incarnation 1134, the Wednesday after Pentecost, the eighth day before the Ides of June, in the fifth year of the reign of Pope Innocent, the ninth year of the reign of Lothair.

His body lay unburied and day by day was brought to the different monasteries of his city. In each one, vigils and those prayers which are due to the faithful departed were carefully celebrated. On the eighth day, the body of the holy man was buried with his confreres in the Church of Blessed Mary.

On the same day and hour on which his soul was separated from his body, a confrere saw Norbert in a white garment and a fine likeness, holding an olive branch in his hand. When the confrere asked him, somewhat fearfully, whence he came and where he was hastening, he answered: “I was sent from paradise whence I have brought this green olive branch and I go quickly to plant it to the place of my poverty at Prémontré.”

Blessed is Norbert, the first Father of this Order. Surely blessed, he spurned worldly heights and, subject to the yoke of Christ, dutifully sowed the seed which all around has born a marvelous fruit, fruit through which the cloister rule saves many, fruit which joyfully fills the heavenly storehouses. An incredible spirit, a divine fire, marked him out and made him known for learning. He burned with heavenly light. He was the peer of the great doctors. Crowned with merit, he bears an imperishable name. He constantly loved true poverty. With courageous faith he put Satan to flight. Vessel of the Eternal Word, minister of peace, he secured peace, reconciling discord. Advanced to episcopal office, he was outstanding, a cross for the wicked, an example for the good. In all Church affairs he was a shining star. Blessed is he who could stand secure before swords. Conscious of no wrong in himself, he does not grow pale with guilt, nor hesitate to die, but is bound to the love of Christ. Blessed is he who, when the Lord comes, will have troops whom the good judge will choose from our Order. May grace protect us at this time of trial. Amen. Here ends the life of our glorious father, Norbert.

℣ Being found in the rugged paths of vice by the Guardian of the city,
℟ Stayed by lightning stroke, he put off the old man.

℣ He who was dead lives again;
℟ He who was lost is found.

℣ Having laid aside his earthly goods
℟ He put on the garment of poverty.

℣ When he found the valley of Prémontré, he cried:
℟ “This is the spot which the Lord has chosen for us.”

℣ What he preached in word, he fulfilled in deed
℟ Confirming the faithful by his miracles and wonderful actions.

℣ He entered Magdeburg barefoot
℟ And clothed in the garment of poverty

℣ Having given his support to the Holy Church of Rome in her afflictions,
℟ Blessing his brethren, he fell asleep in Christ.

Norbert, as a burning light placed on a candlestick, illumined all who dwelt with him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put into practice, by Thy grace, what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

℣ Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
℟ And the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today is the feast of St Isfrid.

After the death of St Norbert in 1134, the Order continued to spread rapidly throughout Germany, and beyond. Only 9 years after his death, there were even Norbertines in England.

It is sometimes forgotten, however, that large swathes of Europe in this period were still pagan, never having heard the Word of God. In fact, Magdeburg, where Norbert was archbishop, was on the very edge of Christendom. As the earlier Benedictine monasteries were to England in the time of Gregory the Great, so were Norbertine monasteries to Germany in the 12th century: beacons of truth and charity in a world that did not know Christ, drawing men and women to that living spring of water. We can sometimes forget the importance of the contemplative life in the Church’s missionary activity, especially today, since we have forgotten its value, and vivifying effect on the world. In fact, the Norbertine way of life itself signifies the Church’s dual function as both the active Martha and the contemplative Mary, for our contemplative life overflows into active work.

Norbertine monasteries provided the Church with many bishops in the mediaeval period, especially north-east Germany, and Isfrid was the second Norbertine bishop of Ratzeburg (which is near Lübeck), succeeding St Evermode (later, the Norbertine St Ludolph would also become Bishop of Ratzeburg).

Ratzeburger Dom

Then, as now, there were conflicts between Germany and Rome. In fact, the reform movement of St Gregory VII – which led to the foundation of our Order – was spurred on by this conflict, which, although it externally at this time revolved around the so-called investiture controversy, was – and is – essentially a conflict between the Church’s authority to preach the Gospel, and the world’s authority to propagate its own capricious values. In the time of Gregory VII, there were many in Germany, as there are today, who stood up for Christ, lone sheep in a den of wolves, such as St Altmann of Passau (whose successor as Bishop of Passau has recently contributed to the Family Synod discussion).

A later Bavarian duke, Henry the Lion, who also reigned as a Saxon duke, supported the evangelising mission of these Norbertine bishops, and he suffered the consequences of his loyalty, and was deposed by the emperor (though later restored). Isfrid and his fellow Norbertines, like the duke, suffered persecution and rebukes during this period, but the wisdom, humility and fortitude of these saints shone more brightly that the errors and hatred of the powerful. Like St Norbert, Isfrid was sought out to reconcile disputes, and he worked many miracles, cured the blind, and transformed water into wine.

May Isfrid and his fellow Norbertine missionaries be an inspiration and help to those engaged in evangelising Europe once more.

A reminder to our readers:

The Pope has granted a plenary indulgence to those who, under the usual conditions, piously visit our priory chapel in Chelmsford (and all principal churches of canonries of our Order) on the feast days of Norbertine saints, to venerate the statue of St Norbert, reciting an Our Father, the Creed, and some prayers to Our Lady and St Norbert. This indulgence has been granted in celebration of the 900th anniversary of the conversion of St Norbert. During this summer, the plenary indulgence may be gained on the following days:

15 June: St Isfrid

9 July: SS Adrian and James

14 July: Blessed Hroznata

13 August: Blessed Gertrude

28 August: St Augustine

30 August: Blessed Bronislava

The nativities of only three people are commemorated in the liturgical calendar, our Lord and his blessed Mother, and St John the Baptist. Used as we are to modern (i.e. post-classical) devotional images, St John the Baptist gets much less of a look-in in the western Church than he used to. A legacy of his former position is retained in the sacred liturgy, however, since in the Confiteor, his name is mentioned immediately after those of Our Lady, and the Archangel Michael: “I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary ever-virgin, to Blessed Michael the Archangel, to Blessed John the Baptist, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to our Holy Fathers Augustine and Norbert…”

In eastern iconography, Our Lord is often flanked by Our Lady on one side, and St John on the other.

In mediaeval times, the feast of John’s nativity marked the end of the first half of the year (later, it would be the latest date upon which the feast of Corpus Christi could fall). All the great liturgical cycles of the year occurred in this first-half of the year, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascensiontide, and Whitsuntide, all crowned by Corpus Christi, as if the Christian is being annually led through all the mysteries of his salvation in the first half of the year, that he might spend the other half contemplating it, and preparing for the next cycle. This feast falls in between the midsummer solstice and the feast of Peter and Paul: the great feasts of the last week of June were traditionally marked with great bonfires and festivities throughout the night, taking full advantage of the long, summer nights.

These celebrations are in marked contrast to the start of the year. Six months ago today, it was Christmas eve, and we were shrouded in cold and darkness, awaiting the first flicker of divine light to shine in this fallen world. As it once did on the first day of creation, so does light, but this time, a greater light, illumine the cosmos. Half-a-year later, the Benedictus has special resonance: the Orient on high has come to visit us! At the time of year when the sun is at its highest in the sky, the Son has been lifted up high in our hearts by the contemplation of his mysteries. Truly, then, this is the last day of the Christmas season! Tomorrow, we will begin to prepare ourselves to celebrate his coming once again, in joyful hope of his coming on the clouds in glory.

John the Baptist is held in special regard by the Norbertine Order, and, along with Augustine and Norbert, receives double-mention in our litanies.

The first church of our Order, the House of Poverty at Prémontré, was originally a small chapel dedicated to John the Baptist, that, when looking for a home, St Norbert recognised as a the place God intended for his community. Although the Church itself no longer exists, since the Abbey was confiscated by the godless revolutionary slaves of Beelzebub at the end of the eighteenth-century, we have never forgotten the dedication of our Mother Church, the loss of which is a thorn in the heart of every Norbertine. Prémontré herself has gone, but her spirit, and, we trust, the patronage of her own patron, St John, lives still amongst the communities of her sons and daughters spread throughout the world, who have sought to build their own Houses of Poverty in the desert of this fallen world. 

The ruins of the Chapel of St John the Baptist at Prémontré

John was the last of the ancient prophets: to him fell the task of pointing out the Messiah. He lived the religious life, since the religious life is something which preempted the Incarnation in the sacred scriptures. It was a form of life taken by the Lord, sanctified, and propagated by the Church. These celibate religious – a way of life which dates back to the time of the prophet Elijah, and possibly even before – lived in expectation of the coming of the Messiah, and, by the time he actually did arrive, they had some idea of the implications: even the holy men of the east were expecting the divine child! John himself was of a priestly family. After all, it was while he was offering incense that his father, Zechariah, received an angelic vision announcing the Precursor. The life of this hieromonk John was steeped in the liturgical spirituality of his religion, and when he sees Jesus, he immediately recognises the immolated lamb on the altar, the lamb which is annually sacrificed to take away the sins of the nation. To his fellow religious and disciples, John points at Jesus, saying: “behold, the Lamb of God!” This is the Lamb that will take our sins away, not those other lambs that we sacrifice in the Temple. This the Lamb of sacrifice that the Father himself has provided.

Along with his biblical name-sake, John the Apostle (whose head reclined on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper, and who stood silently at the foot of the Cross with Our Lady, and became her son, all of which symbolises the contemplative life of the Church), John the Baptist is the patron of religious world-wide, especially contemplative priest-religious.

We cannot forget, either, that the feast of John’s decollation is kept the day after the feast of St Augustine. This summer, we shall be praying especially for the Synod on the Family in the autumn, the aim of which is to find truly good and Christ-centred solutions to the varied difficulties and hardships that many people face in our society. John was decapitated for speaking the truth: my he help guide the synod fathers in their deliberations, and when times of persecution return, as they surely will in our land, may we be given something of his faith and his fortitude, to galvanise each one of us to live, and die, for Christ the Lord.

“It is not I that live, but him that lives in me.”

Br Pius is incorporated into the canonry and receives the canonical almuce.

On Thursday, 9th July the memoria of Ss Adrian and James o.praem, martyrs of Gorcum, Br Pius Collins o.praem. was solemnly professed as a Premonstratensian canon of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows and St Philip Benizi, Chelmsford. By solemn profession a member of the Order vows to follow the Rule and manner of life in poverty, chastity and obedience until death and becomes fully incorporated into the community.

My sincere thanks go to our Prior and Prelate, Rt Rev High Allan o.praem., and to all my confreres for their work and support. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I prepare for my ordinations, that I may be a faithful son of St Norbert and worthy of being called by Christ.

For my photographs from the occasion please visit our Flickrstream.

Yesterday our Sub-Prior, Very Rev John Wisdom o.praem., began his 16-hour journey, via Ascension Island to the Falkland Islands where he will be for the next six months. Fr John will be on supply in St Mary’s Catholic Church, Stanley, Falkland Islands, whilst the Apostolic Prefect Mons. Michael Bernard McPartland, S.M.A., takes a break from his work in the South Atlantic, and then travels around the rest of the prefecture.

The Roman Catholic Church in the South Atlantic.

The area that the Norbertines of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford, serve will (temporarily) increase from our two parishes in the Diocese of Brentwood to roughly a sixth of the surface of the planet.

The Apostolic Prefecture of the Falkland Islands was established by the Holy Father in 1952 and from 1952 to 2002 was cared for by the Mill Hill Missionaries, in 2002 the responsibility transferred to the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, though the Prefect is appointed directly by the Holy See.

In 1986 the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, , off the coast of West Africa, were removed from the jurisdiction of Archdiocese of Cape Town and became a sui iuris mission, the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands was then made the Ecclesiastical Superior of this mission.

As Fr John begins his work in the Falkland Islands we ask your prayers for him and the Catholics in the South Atlantic, and implore the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Star of the Sea, and Our Holy Fathers Augustine and Norbert that his work might be blessed.

Very Rev John Wisdom o.praem.

For more information on the Apostolic Prefecture of the Falklands please visit their website: http://southatlanticromancatholicchurch.com/

I’m often asked, “What is your Order’s charism?”

It stumps me a little, because we are much too old to have been founded with a particular charism in mind (much like the Rosary; the second question I’m asked is “why don’t you wear the Rosary?” Simply put, Our Lady invented the Norbertine habit before she invented the Rosary”). But over the centuries, the Order has distilled the “spirituality” of St Norbert to five charismata: the sacred liturgy (or the splendour of cult), a zeal for souls, a life of penance, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and devotion to the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother.

Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which, in the Order, has an Octave which even trumps Advent (except on the Sunday), and this morning, we celebrated a traditional Rorate Mass.

In fact, it was not technically a Rorate Mass, since in our Rite, today is the Octave day of the Immaculate Conception, so it was a Mass of the Immaculata. A Rorate Mass, however, is traditionally celebrated in Advent, in honour of Our Lady, in the dark of the morning before sunrise, by candlelight. The Rorate refers to the first words of the introit of the Mass (much like how a Requiem Mass gets its name): Rorate caeli desuper… Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.

In Advent, we stay especially close to Our Blessed Mother, recalling her sacred pregnancy that in that first Advent in the Holy Land. Our Lady is, after all, the Queen of the Universe, Queen of our Order, and Queen of our Little House of Poverty, so how can we, her children and her subjects, neglect her while she wanders with St Joseph through the cold winter landscape of Judaea on her way to Bethlehem? In those days, she and St Joseph slept under the stars, and awoke early in the morning before the birds, and so this morning at 6.30 a.m., we celebrated a Solemn Mass of the Immaculata in the Old Rite by candlelight, and we were gladly joined by lots of parishioners. Afterwards, we all enjoyed breakfast together in our refectory.

Tomorrow (16th) we start the O Antiphons at vespers (in our Rite, we begin the second part of Advent a day early in good mediaeval fashion, since we have extra Antiphons). The “O” refers to the start of the Magnificat antiphon each day until 23rd December, and they each refer to various titles of our Infant King. Come, Lord Jesus!

God bless and keep you all this Advent.

As the holy feast approaches, some of the most beautiful passages from the old testament are uttered in the sanctuary during the Mass. Yesterday, we heard the famous sentences from the Song of Songs, where the Bride sings to her Bridegroom, who comes to her leaping over the hills like a gazelle. St Bernard, friend of our holy father, interprets this to mean the leaping of the promise of the Lord from one generation to the next until the Incarnation; when Bernard heard the genealogy of Jesus read during  the Mass, it was to him like the Bridegroom leaping through history, over the hills of the kings and patriarchs, to join his Bride in the nuptial embrace of Calvary.

Presentation of Samuel

And today, we heard about the Presentation of the Child Samuel at Shiloh. When Samuel is born, his mother, Hannah, sings the inspired song that Our Blessed Lady sings when she is greeted by Elizabeth: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” Of course, it is Hannah singing the song of Our Lady, not the other way around, and so mysterious references in Hannah’s song to a new-born king are lost on the non-Christian reader. It is no co-incidence, I think, that Hannah is also the name of Our Lady’s mother, Anne (which is the same name). As the Bridegroom leaps through the generations of salvation history, so too he leaves behind in his wake the sweet fragrance of the Incarnation.

The sweet pine fragrance of our unintentionally enormous Christmas tree in the Calefactory has been joined today by the Teutonic fragrance of sugar and spice, since Brother Gregory has today constructed our traditional Gingerbread Priory. Even though it is rather warm for the fourth week of Advent, our biscuit canonry, at least, has been covered in the thick layer of snow. If he was feeling more adventurous, he would have also made a gingerbread Premonstratensian too keep guard of the doorbell (instead, there is a snowconfrere), but that can be next year’s project…

MMXVI

2016

1630 years since the conversion of Our Holy Father Augustine

1586 years since the death of Our Holy Father Augustine

936 years since the birth of Our Holy Father Norbert

923 years since the birth of Blessed Hugh

903 years since Our Holy Father Norbert declined the bishopric of Cambrai

901 years since the conversion of Our Holy Father Norbert

896 years since the first meeting between Our Holy Father Norbert and St. Evermode

895 years since the foundation of our Order at Prémontré

882 years since the death of Our Holy Father Norbert

873 years since the foundation of our Order in Britain

853 years since St. Frederick constructed the abbey church at Mariengaarde

823 years since the foundation of Teplá by Blessed Hroznata

813 years since the birth of Blessed Bronislava of Zwierzyniec

480 years since the suppression of our houses in England under Henry VIII

446 years since the martyrdom of SS. Adrian and James at Gorcum

436 years since the arrest and death of Servant of God James O’Mulkerin

434 years since the approbation of the cult of St. Norbert

389 years since the translation of the relics of Our Holy Father Norbert to Strahov

226 years since the closure of Prémontré

223 years since the martyrdom of Blessed Peter-Adrian Toulorge of Blanchelande

144 years since the return of our Order to England

73 years since the death in Auschwitz of the canons of Nová Řiše

12 years since the foundation of our canonry

8 years since the foundation of our house in Chelmsford

The Prior and Community of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford, wish all our readers, benefactors, relatives and friends a blessed and happy New Year!

It is not unknown for Norbertines to have slightly unusual pious devotions. One of my own lesser devotions is to the Star of Bethlehem, that is commemorated this week at the end of the Twelve Days, when Christ manifested himself to the world through the Three Kings that were led to his crib by the miraculous star.

The Magi were, of course, real people; it is a catch-all term for the wise men, astrologers, sorcerers and priests of the cultic religions of central Asia and the middle east, but although references to such people are found as far away as China, they are generally associated with Persia. As with all learned men of the ancient world, they would have a great knowledge of astrology and astronomy. Although the prophets of Israel point towards the mystery of the Incarnation more perfectly, the attraction that the universe experiences towards its Creator and Redeemer is so strong that the ancients of other cultures pointed a shadowy finger in the direction of Christ, too. They may be Roman poets, Greek philosophers, Persian priests, Chinese logicians, American shamans: if there is goodness to be found in these places, it is because they were laying the foundations for the proclamation of the Gospel in their lands.

These pointers exist in nature, too (I won’t bore you with my opinion about fractal patterns). Healthy legend tells us that the forbidden fruit eaten by our first parents in the Garden was an apple. Even this piece of fruit contains within it a star-shaped pointer towards their Redeemer. Cut an apple in half along its equator, and you will see what I mean. The splendour of creation, in cosmic nebulae or in apple pips declares God’s goodness and light, revealed perfectly in the pearly flesh of the Christchild, the Light welling from Light, Lumen de Lumine.

‘Lift up your eyes, whoe’er ye be that fare the new-born Christ to see: for yonder is the shining sign of grace perennial and divine’ (Quicumque Christum quaeritis)

The particularly beautiful nebula NCG6611

Given my own amateur interest in astronomy, I feel somewhat of an affinity with the Magi who, like many ancients, whiled away their evenings gazing up at the stars. In my opinion, the cosmos (on its grand scale at least), is the most aesthetically beautiful part of the created order. Because of the Magi’s study of the universe and their love of wisdom, they were captivated by this light which shone in the dark skies, the light which led them to the crib at Bethlehem.* It is right, too, I think, to call them kings. In our post-feudal mindset (remembering that ‘modern’ feudalism and aristocracy is the invention the pagan emperor Diocletian), we tend to think of kings and queens with crowns on. Their kingship is derived not from an army or from heredity, but from their attraction to Truth, which is Christ, since those who kneel before God, no matter how low or mighty they are by worldly judgements, are truly sharers in Christ’s kingship.

‘To greet His birth the Wise Men went, led by the star before them sent; called on by light, towards Light they pressed, and by their gifts their God confessed’ (Hostis Herodes impie)

The sacred scriptures call these men the wise men from the east, and they are buried in Cologne Cathedral. Historical accident has meant that many of the great saints have ended up in Western Europe, but this is particularly fortuitous, since, as we know, St Norbert was ordained at Cologne after his conversion experience.

On the road to Freden, where St Norbert was struck down with lightening, he was presented with his own star from God. Because of this very direct call, like the call of God to the Shepherd and the Magi, Norbert was able to quickly discern his vocation and act upon it. In the lightening bolt, he saw the star in the east, and he followed it to the crib. There he slaked his thirst with the Blood of his Saviour.

But what about the rest of us, who, in all likelihood, are neither going to have a star flashing above our heads, now a divine bolt to bring us to our senses? Is God less interested in us?

“Doubtless, the star that calls men to the Christian faith is not the same for all; it shines differently; but its lustre is sufficiently visible for hearts of good will to be able to recognise it and see in it the sign of a divine call.” (Blessed Columba Marmion)

We do not see the same star of the Magi, but we have our own individual stars, that shine in ways that we, if we open our eyes, are able to discern. The Magi were probably not looking for what they found, but they were vigilant, and had their hearts open to divine possibilities. If we shut our hearts and our eyes, then we will not be able to see what God wants for us. When we shut out hearts, God has to strike us down with lightening in order for us to hear him. And even then, we often feign ignorance. If these great and wise men can humble themselves before the little crib, then so can we.

“The Heavenly Father calls us to His Son through the inspiration of His grace; but He wishes that we, like the Magi, as soon as the star shines in our hearts shall leave all on the instant: our sins, the occasions of sin, bad habits, infidelities, imperfections, attachments to what is merely created. He wishes that, taking no account of either the criticism or opinions of men or the difficulties of the work to be done, we set ourselves at once to seek Jesus – whether we have lost Him through one mortal sin, or whether, possessing Him through sanctifying grace, we are called to a closer and more intimate union with Him.

“Vidimus stellam: ‘Lord, I have seen your star, and I come to you. What will you have me do?’ (Blessed Columba Marmion)

* * *

* There are not a huge number of important (or famous) Norbertines in the arena of the modern sciences, but perhaps, given our illuminating subject, it is fitting to pluck out one name from the history books, since he had a particular interest in looking at the stars. Father Johann Zahn was a Norbertine canon of Klosteroberzell in Bavaria, and is credited with the invention of the light projector (a one-time favourite of school teachers), as well as the conceptual invention of the camera. He was, in fact, a noted scientist who had a particular interest in light and its uses, and made important contributions to the application of lens technology. Although a camera obscura can be traced back as early as ancient China, Zahn’s was the first to facilitate – in principle – the ‘capture’ of an image, since his camera had separate light and dark chambers. Since Zahn died 1707, his invention did not prove useful for many decades. Norbertines have always been ahead of their time.

I wouldn’t be a Norbertine were I not able to connect seemingly separate devotions, and since we are in the last days of Lent, I thought it would be apt to write a little on the imagery of the Good Shepherd.

At Lauds in Passiontide, we sing the hymn Lustris sex qui jam peractis, which is a very long hymn. In the penultimate verse, we sing (in Latin):

Thou alone wast counted worthy / this world’s ransom to sustain / that a shipwrecked race forever / might a port of refuge gain / with the sacred blood anointed / of the Lamb for sinners slain.

The nautical imagery makes me think – unusually – of the psalm Dominus regit me, which is often translated, The Lord is my Shepherd, but in older Catholic bibles, it is translated The Lord rules me, which is how it is translated from Latin. The word Shepherd comes from the Hebrew original, since that word (not that I’m a Hebrew scholar) can mean Shepherd. Given the pastoral imagery in the rest of the psalm, it seems a harmless way of translating it into English. It reminds me of the quoted verse from Lustris sex qui jam peractis, because, in Hebrew, as well as Shepherd, it also refers to a ship’s pilot, which is Greek is cybernetes (or cyberman), which is where the Latins get their word gubernato, or to govern, or rule, which is how the sense reads in Latin (Dominus regit me, the Lord rules me). Romans had lots of different words for ruling, because they liked ruling people. When in the Church we talk about Pastors or the Pastoral Office of the Church, or being Pastoral, the word actually refers, as it does in this psalm, to Christ the King, a shepherd-king, like King David. Christ is being pastoral when he rules from his wooden throne on Calvary.

This conjures up that paschal image of the Good Shepherd, which was a very popular image of Christ in the ancient Church. We are familiar with images of Christ carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders, but I quite like images of the Baby Jesus amongst lambs (as above), as this enables me to think on the Incarnation, as well as Easter, since the two are inseparable.

When God created the universe (however that might have come about physically), he did so, as we say, ex nihilo, or from nothing. Unlike the beliefs of pagans, God did not create from pre-existing matter, or mould the universe from primordial clay. If we think like that, then we just make out God to be a really big and powerful man. But God is not like that: there was nothing before creation, not even time (which is part of creation).

When man sinned, all of creation with implicated in its consequences. We tend to see sin as an infringement of a law: God made a law not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, and Adam and Eve broke that law. But sin is not merely breaking law, since to get to the position of disobedience, you need to decide first to be disobedient. Primordially, sin is not something than man does externally, but an internal violation of the order of creation. By that, I mean that Adam and Eve placed themselves in the place of God, and because they are dependent on God, not themselves gods, their very being began to decay: what made them glorious vanished, and they became subject to death. God did not do these things to them: they condemned themselves. Death is not an external punishment of an external sin, but a necessary consequence of an interior decay, since the universe that God created is logical and rational. Sin is so completely all-encompassing, that even man’s very being spirals downward. There are no mitigating circumstances to be considered in a law court: man can do nothing, now, without the help of that which knits together his very being, God, the unifying principle of being itself.

When creation decays, it does not revert back to its pre-created state, back to a primaeval nothing. That implies that pagan clay imagery we mentioned above. But the created being sinks into an even deeper nothingness, since man has lost his internal coherence completely. The consequence of sin is not non-being, but a privation of being, or minus-nothing.

“He fell away from God – in the terrible, literal sense of the word. He fell from genuine being towards nothingness.” (Guardini)

Because man has found himself in this place of minus-nothing, he cannot get himself out, in the same way that man could not have created himself from nothing. How can he now expect to be able to re-create himself from something even less than nothing? Only God can create, and man is in a place of nothing even more deprived than the primaeval nothing from which God created the universe in the first place. How can man expect to be able to climb out of this situation without any help?

Is the help external? Can God throw a rope, by saying from on high: you are forgiven? He could have done that, and saved man by fiat, by word alone. But that would not seem appropriate, since that would be an external cure of an interior malady: it would not be reasonable nor logical to cure in such an absent-minded way. God was going to have to get into this place where man had found himself, and bring him out, on his own shoulders, so to speak.

But there is a problem: God doesn’t have shoulders.

To solve this problem, he himself takes on human nature, that stuff which has been damaged by sin, and he becomes man. An interior cure is needed, and an interior cure is brought about by a man. But this particular man is also God, who has the power to create, that is, to cure the interior sickness interiorly.

“I myself will search for my sheep.” (Ezekiel 34: 11)

This is what is meant by the image of the Good Shepherd. God perceives that his sheep has been lost, so he himself enters the valley of death to look for the sheep, and takes him upon his own shoulders, and brings him back out again.

“God not only glanced down at him an summoned him lovingly to return, he personally entered into that vacuous dark to fetch him, as St John so powerfully expresses it in his opening Gospel.” (Guardini)

He enters the valley of death by himself dying on the Cross, and he picks up the sheep and brings him out again in his Resurrection and Ascension. What he is doing in the valley of death is bringing about a new creation, but an even greater creation than before: the old creation was created ex nihilo, but the new creation is created by God from within the valley itself, from minus-nothing.

The old creation is a creation by fiat. The new creation is a decisive victory. On Easter Eve next week, we will hear the words, “O happy fault, o necessary sin of Adam that wrought for us so great a redeemer.” What seemed such a loss turned out to be a victory, since, we are subjected to the victory and thus the rule of Christ, redeemed by him and created anew on the Cross: “Behold!” he said from his throne, “I make all things new!” (Rev. 21: 5)

“The same God that formed us in the beginning, in these latter days sought us when we were lost in death, gaining His lost sheep, and laying it on His shoulders and bringing it back with joy to the flock of life.” (St Irenaeus)

The community of the Priory of Chelmsford wish all our readers a very happy and blessed Easter. Surrexit Christus alleluia!

Brother Gregory last week visited the Priory of St Norbert in Mananthavady in India. “A very exotic holiday for a Religious,” I hear you say, but he actually went to participate in the latest meeting of the juniors of the Order, so it wasn’t really a holiday, although it was quite exotic.

Mananthavady is in Kerala, the south-west part of India, which has historic Catholic roots, thanks to the evangelisation of St Thomas the Apostle. Many Keralites are also Syriac Rite, rather than Latin Rite, and we were able to experience the Syriac liturgy in all its richness during our visit.

Junior meetings happen every 6 years (in between General Chapters), and began in the 70s as a way to allow the young people of the Order to fraternise with one another. Because our Order is very decentralised, unless a brother has a top job, or is sent as a delegate to the General Chapter, it is rare that Norbertines really get to meet each other in big numbers.

There were about 20 juniors from Europe and America, and 30 from India, and Father Abbot General presided over the gathering, alongside the Prelate of Mananthavady.

Here are some introductory pictures. I’ll write a couple of posts on this subject, so do not fear: expect more photographs and videos!

Priory Church at Mananthavady

Interior of the Priory Church

Pontifical Mass in the Syro-Malabar Rite, with the Bishop of Mananthavady

Launch of the Meeting. Father Abbot General gets extra balloons.

Father Abbot General tells us about Abbot Bohm from Tepla

Father Prior from Mondaye, Chelmsford’s closest neighbour, as the crow flies

The Priory has an extensive plantation, which grows tea and bananas

Bananas

A dragon in the tea plant

The cow shed, with cow.

The cemetery – founded in the 1970s from Tepla in Germany, the Priory has only 2 dead

The tea plantation

We were also fortunate enough to be able to visit the tea factory, where the leaves are processed and powdered. Although I’m not a fan of the decadent teabag fashion, I appreciated seeing how it all happened. The smell in the factory was the smell one gets when opening a new packet of tea: rich, malty and dusty.

We didn’t just stay in Mananthavady during our meeting. We also visited Mysore and Bangalore. India is an enormous country, and everywhere seems to be at least 3 hours’ drive away. I spent a lot of time on the bus. Because we were such a large group, I was sorry that we were unable to stop in smaller villages, but we did see some of the rural life through the window.

We even stopped for a coconut refreshment stop:

Experiencing fresh cardamom for the first time 

Brother Ignatius demonstrates a wild pineapple. I had hoped to see a monkey riding an elephant (I saw both monkeys and elephants), but this was the most exciting thing I saw.

Brother Julien poses with Brother Gregory on a visit to a school conservation area. A little different from my own school’s conservation area (fewer tigers).

Brother Gregory poses with Colonel Hathi

Mysore Palace. Given I was the only English delegate at the meeting, there was some debate as to whether my own English ancestors used to live here. Alas, photography was forbidden inside.

There is a good devotion to St Philomena in Mysore

Her shrine in the Cathedral Crypt

Exterior of the Cathedral at Mysore

Visiting a school. It was the school holidays in India (being the height of summer, so most of the schools we visited were empty of students)

This school in Mysore is being funded by the Austrian Abbey of Wilten

I think Indian health and safety regulations are bit more lax than British ones. This well was in the school playground.

Brother Aloysius picks lychees, and later eats them

I found our Indian hosts were very cordial and welcoming. Here the superior of the community at Mysore presents Father Abbot General with a flower.

Thankfully, the Indians haven’t heard about the modern liturgists’ dislike of the multiplication of images.

I didn’t see any snakes in India, come to think of it…

Many of the 19th century missionaries were from France

Colonial architecture at its best. St Patrick’s church in Bangalore