• February 4th - St. Gilbert of Sempringham

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sat Feb 3 09:12:16 2018
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    February 4th - St. Gilbert of Sempringham
    (1083?=E2=80=931189)

    St. Gilbert of Sempringham founded the only medieval religious order
    of English origin =E2=80=93 an unusual sort of congregation that Henry VIII destroyed during the English Reformation.

    Gilbert was born at Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the son of an
    Anglo-Norman knight, Jocelin, a great land holder, and his wife, a
    woman of humble Anglo-Saxon background. Physically ill-fitted for the
    life of a soldier or knight, Gilbert was sent to France for higher
    studies. After finishing the course, he remained in France for a while
    as a teacher.

    On his return to England, Gilbert's father assigned him the annual
    income of two parish churches on the family estates. According to the contemporary feudal custom, Jocelin's son only had to become a less=
    er
    cleric in order to receive, for his support, the pastors' income of
    the two churches. Gilbert did become a lesser cleric of the diocese of
    Lincoln, and he did accept the two parish =E2=80=9Cbenefices=E2=80=9D, but =
    he used the
    income of only one of them for his own needs, devoting the other sum
    to the needs of the poor. In 1123 he was ordained deacon and priest by
    the bishop of Lincoln.

    In 1131 Jocelin died and Gilbert, succeeding him as lord of the manor,
    returned to Sempringham. That same year he began his real career,
    founding a little religious community of seven young women under the Benedictine rule. The order grew, so it became necessary to accept lay
    sisters as well; and later on, lay brothers to take care of the nuns=E2=80=
    =99
    farms.

    He went to France in 1147 to ask the Cistercian monks to assume
    management of this religious community. When they declined because it
    was not their custom to supervise convents for women, Pope Eugene III
    urged Father Gilbert to head the community himself. He accepted, and
    eventually added to it another branch for priests. The priests' bra=
    nch
    was governed by the rule of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.

    By 1500 there would be 25 houses of Gilbertines: 22 in England, two in
    Ireland, and one in Scotland. They continued as =E2=80=9Cdouble monasteries= =E2=80=9D,
    usually with more female than male members, all under the rule of one
    master general. The prior and prioress of each house had equal
    authority in the order. The founder remained grand master until he was
    about 100; then he appointed a successor. Thus far Gilbert had been a
    diocesan priest; only after retirement did he take vows as a member of
    the Gilbertines.

    Throughout his career as a founder, St. Gilbert was noted for his
    austere life and his solicitude for the poor. The government of his
    order caused him much grief. At one point in his later years, the
    Gilbertine lay brothers revolted and started a campaign of calumny
    against him. Only after some time was his reputation cleared, with the
    backing of King Henry II and Pope Alexander III.

    Yet another calumny was leveled at him later on. During the struggle
    between Henry II and St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury,
    Gilbert and his monastic aides were accused of having sent Becket
    assistance during his exile. The charge was untrue. Yet, so delicate
    was the conscience of St. Gilbert that he was ready to submit to
    imprisonment rather than defend himself, for if he denied the
    accusation, he felt he would be implying that Becket had done
    something wrong, and if he had helped him he would have been guilty of
    sin.

    Dying at age 106, St. Gilbert was canonized 13 years later. His shrine
    at Sempringham became a place of pilgrimage. It is said, however, that
    in the 13th century King Louis VIII of France transferred the relics
    to the church of St. Sernin in Toulouse, France.

    English Catholics have not forgotten, however, this saintly
    contemporary of St. Thomas of Canterbury. His feast is celebrated
    annually in the Catholic dioceses of Northampton and Nottingham; the
    former diocese has one, and the latter, two churches dedicated to his
    memory.


    Bible Quote:
    For my people have committed two crimes: they have abandoned me, the
    fountain of living water, and dug water-tanks for themselves, cracked water-tanks that hold no water. [Jeremiah 2:13]

    Saint Quote:
    The Father in heaven urges us, as children of heaven, to ask for the
    bread of heaven. [Christ] himself is the bread who, sown in the
    Virgin, raised up in the flesh, kneaded in the Passion, baked in the
    oven of the tomb, reserved in churches, brought to altars, furnishes
    the faithful each day with food from heaven.
    --St. Peter Chrysologus, Homilie 67: PL 52, 392


    <><><><>
    PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY # 1


    Eternal Father,
    we praise you for sending your Son
    to be one of us and to save us.
    Look upon your people with mercy,
    for we are divided in so many ways,
    and give us the Spirit of Jesus to make us one in love.

    We ask this gift, loving Father,
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    Amen.
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)