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The History of St. Norbert
by J.C. Kirkfleet, O. Praem.; 1916, B. Herder, London
Dans legem Aurelius vitae morumque Magistram,
Morigeros maneant praemia quanta docet.
St. Austin gives his hallowed Rule
To train thy followers in that school
Of holy life . . .
When finally Norbert arrived in Premontre, accompanied by his thirty new disciples, the joy of the brethren was exceedingly great. One could better imagine than describe their happiness when Norbert showed them the priceless relics he brought with him, and spoke to them of God's goodness, and of how His blessing in a visible manner had rested on his undertaking. Was not this an unmistakable sign from heaven that the time had come for the building of the church they had planned, Their numerous trials and hardships during the Saint's absence were at once forgotten, and, weeping for joy, they thanked God for His goodness. Norbert told the brethren of the meeting with Count Godfrey; he then sent a little band of religious to the new foundation. At their head was Richard, one of the earliest disciples, whom he appointed over the young fraters Luc, Emericus and Theodoricus. They received instructions to build at once near the little church of Floreffe a small convent, which, since that time, has been known by the name of "Salve."
The first thing now to be done at Premontre was to make provision for the new disciples. Under Norbert's direction they began immediately to build more huts and tents of wood and clay, and Premontre took on the aspect of a busy camp. All were diligently engaged in building, and the huts were arranged around the little chapel of St. John. At this time there were over forty religious studying for the holy priesthood, besides lay-brothers, whose number is unknown. Although all had a certain amount of appointed work, and were constantly and busily occupied, yet for their number, it became evident that a fixed rule of life was indispensable. Still, as heretofore mentioned, it was most difficult for Norbert to decide which rule to adopt. All had been praying for light from above, and as to Norbert, even in the midst of his missionary labors, the thought had been foremost in his mind, but thus far he had come to no decision. God, however, is soon to manifest His Will on this cardinal point of religious life.
One night, while absorbed in prayer, St. Augustine appeared to Norbert in a vision and advised the Saint to adopt his Rule. Listen to Norbert himself relating this vision, some years later, to the brethren of Floreffe assembled in their chapter-room.
"I know that St. Augustine has appeared to one of the brethren, who had been ordered to investigate with the greatest care concerning his Rule; it was not on account of our brother's own merits, but in answer to the prayers of all. St. Augustine took from his right side his Golden Rule, and handing it to the brother, said very distinctly: I am Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Behold here the Rule which I have written; if your fellow-brethren, my sons, shall have observed it well, they shall stand without fear in the presence of Christ on the terrible day of the last Judgment."
Norbert tried thus, no doubt through humility, to make his disciples believe that some other religious had had this vision. The brethren, however, understood at once that no other than himself was the privileged person. [B-3-1]
Thus the uncertainty of the brethren in regard to a fixed rule had finally come to an end. To the Rule of St. Augustine statutes were added for the regulation of their daily life. These of course were required, for the Rule of St. Augustine was only as a framework, and regulations regarding the special character and object of this Order in particular, had to be filled in to make the structure complete. They now had at least a constitution on which to base the laws and rules regulating their daily life. From that time St. Augustine has been considered by the Premonstratensians as a second Founder, and held in great honor by them. [B-3-2]
The solemn feast of Christmas being near at hand, Norbert considered the time to have come for the religious to make their Profession. They, on their part, were very anxious to consecrate themselves more entirely to God by the religious vows, since for this they had left the world. The Saint himself preached the retreat in preparation for the solemn occasion, and by his heavenly eloquence so enraptured the brethren, observes the oldest biographer, that they forgot their earthly existence, and seemed to dwell in celestial spheres.
It is the solemn Christmas night of the year 1121. Let us picture the young community consecrating itself to God, in the poor chapel of Premontre, by the religious vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Listen to the words of Norbert as he addresses the brethren prostrated before God's altar. Sweet and consoling are his accents then, after speaking of the strict obligations they are about to take upon themselves, he reminds them of the reward "exceedingly great" which awaits them in heaven. One by one they approach and all sign the following document, after having first read it aloud:
"I, Frater N. ., offer and give myself to the church "of N. . and promise to change my morals, better my life, and remain attached to this church. I also promise Poverty, Chastity and perfect Obedience in Christ, according to the Gospel of Christ and the Rule of St. Augustine, to you, Father . . . and your successors, whom the Convent of this church, according to the form of the Order, will canonically elect or receive."
Dec. 25, 1121, was thus the real birthday of the Premonstratensian Order, and from the bosom of the Church militant, rent by schism and internal strife, sprung a new religious family destined to defend and protect her. "Do not overlook, " one of the early writers observes, "the part Almighty God had in the birth of this Order. Heaven determined the very place where the center of the Order was to be, the habit the brethren were to wear, the rule which was to regulate their life. [B-3-5]
Here the reader may wish to become acquainted with the real object and the distinctive character of the Premonstratensian Order. Its first and main aim is the formation of canons regular, that is, monastic priests. In his " Tableau des Institutions et les Moeurs de l'E:glise au moyen age," the historian Hurter, gives us in a few words the exact idea of the Holy Founder, saying: "His aim was to unite both the active and the contemplative life; for it was less his intention to found a religious order than to institute canons of a more regular life . . . they were to explain to the ignorant the articles of faith, preach penance, refute heretics, and fulfill pastoral duties when imposed on them. Still, the cenobitical and conventual life was the foundation of their institution. Norbert flattered himself that his successors would acquire in retreat the force and necessary knowledge to work with greater vigor and success in the Lord's vineyard. Then from time to time they were to come back to the solitude of the monastery, and leave it again armed with new forces." [B-3-6]
Norbert's disciples, consequently, were to be neither secular canons nor monks. As a religious order, [B-3-7] the Premonstratensian Order has this in common with all other Orders, that it places its members by the profession of the three vows, in a state of perfection. As a canonical order, it adds to the religious state the clerical dignity, and attaches its members to a particular church (stabilitas in loco). Almost from the very beginning the Order included the three following classes or branches: 1. Priests or Clerics under an Abbot or Provost. These are, in the strict sense, the canons regular. 2. Sisters who embrace the rule of life as laid down by Norbert; and 3. People living in the world who wear the white scapular underneath their secular dress, and conform themselves to the spirit of the Order. Both clerics and nuns pass through a novitiate of two years before taking the simple perpetual vows; and, three years later, they take the solemn vows. In the monasteries of the priests as well as of the nuns, there were from the very beginning lay-brothers and lay-sisters, who also made perpetual vows. As to the Oblates or Donates, who offer themselves to the Order, they make only temporary vows. We quote here a modern writer on the Premonstratensian Order: "St. Norbert, by the institution of the canons regular, enkindled in the heart of the Catholic Church a furnace of uninterrupted prayers and an everlasting apostolate. By the institution of Norbertine Nuns, he opened to weak women a living source of devotedness and self-sacrifice. And lastly, by the institution of the Third Order in the midst of the stream of temporal anxieties, he has introduced the religious life into the circle of the family . . . " etc. [B-3-8]
Besides these objects, there is the particular one which at all times has distinguished the Premonstratensian Order from other Canonical Orders, as e. g., the Canons Regular of the Lateran, of St. Rufus, of the Holy Cross, etc., and that is, 1. To spread and increase devotion to the Blessed Sacrament; and 2, a filial devotion to God's Immaculate Mother. These special characteristics of the Norbertine Order are, first of all, vividly illustrated in the life of its holy Founder. St. Norbert is usually represented in engravings, painting and statues, holding in his hand a Monstrance, while the heretic Tanchelm lies prostrate at his feet. The Monstrance is the emblem of his devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and the prostrate heretic points to Norbert's great victory over the Sacramentarian heresy in Antwerp. Norbert moreover constantly inculcated the all important precept of great cleanliness about the altar, especially in the celebration of the divine mysteries; "for, on the altar," said he, "we show our faith, as also our love of God." He, himself, never undertook any important work without first offering up the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and spending hours in prayer, prostrate before the altar. The very first chapter of the Constitution of the Order has for its title "De tremendo altaris Sacramento," and explains how to derive from the Blessed Eucharist true zeal for the salvation of souls.
In regard to devotion to Our Lady, we read in the Preface to the Statutes of the Order: "This was the true spirit of our most holy Father Norbert, and in order that his disciples should be filled with the same spirit, he wished them to honor and venerate in the most devout manner the Blessed Virgin Mary, the most Holy Mother of God, the Patroness and Protectress of the whole Order. "
We remember also that whilst Norbert was praying fervently in the chapel of Premontre on his first visit, the Queen of Angels appeared to him and told him that his prayers had been granted. She it was who indicated the place where the first church of the Order was to be built, and she herself showed him the white habit. The Roman Martyrology commemorates this apparition on the 5th of August, saying: "Eodem die apparitio ejusdem Beatissimae Virginis quae S. P. Norberto canonicum Instituti habitum in capella S. Joannis Baptisti Praemonstrati ostendit." [B-3-8a]
Furthermore, Norbert himself composed an Office in honor of the Blessed Virgin, from which the following words are taken: "I hail thee, O Virgin, who, preserved by the Holy Ghost, hast triumphed over the formidable sin of our first parents, without being tainted by it." In the "Monita Spiritualia" or Spiritual Counsels, which are said to be extracts from the writings of St. Norbert, we read: "The intention of the Mother of fair love in adorning us with the white habit—a symbol of purity—was no other than to teach us a true devotion to her Immaculate Conception. " Never did a Saturday go by without Norbert's offering up the Holy Sacrifice in honor of the B1. Virgin; to the Queen of Heaven he also dedicated the first foundation at Premontre.
- Ever silently repeating,
- "Love for Thee, and Thee alone;"
- Ever, 'mid dark shadows, meeting
- Starlight from Our Lady's throne;
- Ever on her Aves dwelling
- When the foes grew loud and strong;
- Ever from his heart was swelling
- Mary's praise in one sweet song.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- O St. Norbert, may thy spirit
- Live in us till Mary's hand
- Lead thy children home—for ever
- Sheltered in the changeless land. [B-3-9]
It is not surprising, therefore, to find devotion to Our Lady, and especially to her Immaculate Conception, a distinguishing mark of the Order. Far the greatest number of its churches are dedicated to the Mother of God, and the lives of many of its members have been remarkable for their tender devotion to Our Lady. [B-3-10] Moreover, ever since the time of its foundation all the religious of the Order have recited daily the Office of the Blessed Virgin in addition to the Canonical Office, and every day one Mass in each abbey, called "De Beata," is offered in her honor. In the early writings, we read that the Premonstratensian Order was sometimes referred to as the Order of Mary.
Although these particular characteristics of the Order of St. Norbert are greatly emphasized in the Constitutions, yet they do not lose sight of the first and most important object, the one great aim of Norbert's whole life, the salvation of souls. In fact, the above-named characteristics are but means to this end. "To reform the people by reforming the clergy," had been the Saint's watchword from the very day of his conversion. He therefore fully realized how necessary it was to give his young disciples a solid clerical training and to endow them, as future parish priests, with both learning and piety. In this, too, Norbert succeeded so well that he has been often spoken of as the Charles Borromeo of his day, and in later years his abbeys have been called by popes and bishops seminaries of missionaries and parish priests."
The Premonstratensian Order had from the beginning a great number of parishes cared for by her own priests. Colleges were and are still attached to many of her abbeys, to prepare young men for parochial and missionary work. In the Austrian Province to-day more than seventy Fathers are professors in different colleges; in South America three seminaries are entrusted to the care of the Norbertines. Almost one of the first things the Fathers did on coming into the United States was to build a college in Wisconsin, to prepare worthy priests according to the heart of Norbert. In fact during the eight hundred years of its existence, the Premonstratensian Order has always been engaged in parish work, the teaching of youth and the preaching of missions, the very works to which our Saint devoted himself in the beginning of the twelfth century.
When the Order was still in its infancy, we read, that Norbert and his followers were reproached because, having left the world and retired to a monastery, they again returned to it, took charge of parishes and even became bishops. As we have observed, nearly all the first members of the community of Premontre became bishops, and we shall yet find Norbert himself as Archbishop of Magdeburg and Chancellor of the German Emperor Lothaire. Moreover, they were all seen to leave the monastery, and to go out preaching. These fault-finders were silenced, however, first, by the edifying and religious conduct of the Fathers while away from the monastery; and, secondly, because their conduct was approved by the most learned and saintly men of those days.
Thus writes A. Miraeus:
"With the Norbertines, almost every abbey has some parishes in charge of priests of their own monastery. This is entirely proper for that Order, and is of great benefit to the Church, especially when there is such a dearth of good priests. Therefore are the Norbertine monasteries rightly called seminaries of pastors of souls." [B-3-12]
And Anselm of Havelberg, a great admirer of Norbert and for many years closely associated with him, writes: "You hold that Canons Regular ought not to have parishes, and the care of souls among the people. Every one knows that according to the Church, no monk can be called to any dignity or ministry; so also, according to the Church, no Canon Regular can be excluded from either.’ [B-3-13] He further shows how a true religious, even in the midst of the world, can keep the religious spirit, and that he does not necessarily give up religious life when he takes part in the active ministry. Here we find an exact reflection of the mind of Norbert. The union of the contemplative and the active life, was to be the life of his followers. Whenever not actively engaged in the missions, they were, to use the words of the Saint, to come to the monastery "like bees to gather honey," that is, to lay up treasures of spirituality to be spent in the active ministry.
We may add here a few words about the white habit of the Premonstratensians. We have seen that, since the Council of Fritzlar, Norbert had constantly worn a gray woolen habit. This was the habit of penance proper to monks, while canons wore a white linen habit. Since Norbert's aim was to combine the life of the monk and the canon, and since the B1. Virgin herself had shown him the white habit, he and his disciples wore white woolen habits, wearing their-linen habits only around the altar. He thus combined the wool of the monk's habit with the color special to the canons. This innovation, as many were pleased to call it, caused a great deal of disturbance among the monks as well as among the canons, as is clearly shown in different letters of St. Bernard to various monks. There seem even to have been disputes among the early disciples themselves about the shape and color of the habit. In his gentle way the Saint rebuked the latter, saying: "If you have disputes about the color of your habit, or the kind of cloth . . . must therefore the rule of charity be broken?" (Vita B. Ch. XXV.) He also gave them the reasons, quoted above, for adopting the white woolen habit and showed them how their habit, being the outward sign of their inward vocation, distinguished them as canons of a monastic order.
<<start of footnotes for Chapter B-3>>
[B-3-1]
Cfr. Acta SS. T. XX, p. 846.
[B-3-2]
Much has been written about this Rule of St. Augustine which is followed by many religious Orders. Did the Saint really write this Rule? Is it perhaps his famous letter of' the year 423 to the Sisters of' Hippo? That it was first intended for women seems beyond doubt. Cfr. Ponjoulat. "Histoire de Saint Augustin," Paris, 1852, p. 381-382. Also B. Aurel. Augustini opera omnia edidit Migne. T. II, colt 968-965. Epist. CCXI.
[B-3-3]
Vita B, Ch. XII. Velut equila operibus praemonstrabat plerumque mentis excessu raptus . . . Ch. XXVI. In tanto mentis excessu rapti sunt . . . ( Vita A. ) Cfr. further Camus. L'homme apostolique, p. 130.
[B-3-4]
This formula is used at present. One from the thirteenth century found in the Archives of' the abbey of' Grimberghen (Belgium) differs slightly as i'ollows: . . . Successors canonically elected by the sanest part of' the community. Cfr. Madelaine, p. 177.
[B-3-5]
Cfr. De Hertoghe "Religio canonicorum Ordinis Praemonstratensis," p. 87, et seq.
[B-3-6]
Hurter "Tableau," etc. T. II, p. 468. Paris, 1843. Ctr. aleo Hugo "La Vie de Saint Norbert," liv., II, p. 99.
[B-3-7]
"Life of St. Norbert," by Geudens. See Introduction.
[B-3-8]
See F'erdinand Duhayon, S. J., in "La mine d'Or," Ch. 6— Tiers Ordre de St. Norbert.—The first member of' the Third Order of' St. Norbert was Theobald, of whom we shall speak in a later chapter. There we shall also more fully explain the origin and the meaning of' this Third Order.
[B-3-8a]
On the same day is commemorated the apparition of the Blessed Virgin who, in the chapel of St. John the Baptist at Premontre, showed our holy Father Norbert the canonical habit of his Institute.
[B-3-9]
Hymn in honor of St. Norbert, by S. G., taken from "Manual of the Third Order of St. Norbert," p. 76.
[B-3-10]
Special mention in this regard is merited by Bl. Herman Joseph, the chosen playmate of Our Lord and St. John, who is known the world over as the great servant of the Bl. Virgin. He was a Premonstratensian in the abbey of Steinfeld, in Germany, and died in the thirteenth century. His wonderful life, truly one act of devotion to his heavenly Mother, was written in English by Wilfrid Galway and published in 1878. (Burns & Oates.)
[B-3-11]
Fath. VandenEleen, O. c.
[B-3-12]
Miraeus Chronicon Praem., p. 2. Also Crusenius, p. 427.
[B-3-13]
Cfr. Dr. Winter "Die Praemonstratenser . . .," Ch. IV. Also Thesaur. Anecd.
<<end of footnotes for Chapter B-3>>
<<end of CHAPTER B-3 for Kirkfleet, Volume 1>>
