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The History of St. Norbert
by J.C. Kirkfleet, O. Praem.; 1916, B. Herder, London
Finis adest vitae, finis Norberte laborum,
Ad sua te Christus regna vocat,
Thy combat over, thy work is done.
The arms of Mary and her Son
Are clasped around thee . . .
During his absence Norbert had entrusted the care of his Church to the Benedictine Abbot of Bergen, who had with great prudence and wisdom continued the government of the archdiocese according to the views and principles of the Saint. The year 1133 was drawing to a close when Norbert, physically weak and exhausted, reached his episcopal city. The fatigues of the journey, the great heat of the Italian summer, added to his austere mortifications, had greatly aggravated the infirmities of the Saint, and thereafter he was continually subject to acute bodily pains. The great desire he had of being once more in the midst of his flock, seemed, however, to make him unconscious of pain. This longing was at last gratified and the people of Magdeburg greatly rejoiced to see their beloved Archbishop again. They had reason indeed to be proud of the beloved Bishop who now was proclaimed the Founder of a Religious Order, the heroic Reformer of clergy and people, the Liberator of the Church, and the Chancellor of the German Empire. He had been laden with honors by Pope Innocent and by their Emperor, and his name was celebrated throughout the Empire. Still these good people must have honored him above all as the simple and holy religious, the Saint through whose instrumentality God performed miracles. Says the early chronicler: [C-7-1]
"Hardly had the Saint arrived, when the people brought before him a man possessed by the evil spirit. In spite of repeated exorcisms by others, Satan still refused to abandon his victim. Though he boasted that he would never depart, not even at the command of the Archbishop, no sooner had the unfortunate man been brought before Norbert, than the devil left him. In fact, while the Saint was blessing water, before he was able to sprinkle the holy water over the unfortunate man, the evil spirit had departed. This incident naturally intensified the love and veneration of the people for their saintly Archbishop."
It is beyond doubt that for a long time Norbert had been regarded by the people as the great Thaumaturgus of his days. He had repeatedly triumphed over Satan, and, as observed, even dumb animals obeyed his voice. It now pleased God to show forth Norbert's great sanctity through his power over death. The power God had given at one time to St. Martin, and which in later days He was to give to St. Dominic, He now gave to our dear St. Norbert.
One day the people brought before him the corpses of three men, begging Norbert in the name of the destitute relatives, to bring them back to life. Having invoked the help of Almighty God, he bent over the dead bodies, and commanded in the name of God that life should return to them. His prayer was heard; the three men rose up and walked, and Norbert restored them to their relatives. [C-7-2] This fact, chronicled by many contemporary writers, was ridiculed by Abelard, as we observed above; but his ridicule only makes it the more incontestable.
By Christmas, Norbert's state of health was so much improved that he was able to go to Cologne and confer the Pallium upon the new Archbishop. The Emperor and his Court also assisted at this solemnity, and had left for Aachen the day before Epiphany, at which time messengers came from the Countess of Holland, announcing that her son Floris had been murdered. We mention this incident here, because the murder of Floris led indirectly to the founding of the abbey of Berne, [C-7-3] the Mother-Abbey of our American foundation in Wisconsin.
Fulco of Berne, who with the Counts of Ruik had been the cause of the murder, changed his castle into a monastery by way of doing penance for the rest of his life. The monks he introduced were quite lax in the observance of their rules, and thus it happened that six months later, Fulco invited the Premonstratensians into his castle. Berne was therefore the last abbey founded by Norbert himself.
The Emperor was still at Aachen when Norbert submitted to him for approval, the Charter of the abbey of Clarholt, which abbey however, had been founded and endowed the year before by Rudolph of Stenford, and was situated in the diocese of Osnabruck. Lothaire confirmed the foundation most willingly, and the Charter was signed by the Emperor, by Cardinal Gerard and by Anselm, Bishop of Havelberg.
Meanwhile, Norbert's health was gradually declining; he remained in the service of the Emperor until the beginning of the month of March, 1134, since Lothaire refused to do anything of importance without the advice of Norbert. In the beginning of Lent, however, he declined all participation in State affairs, and Lothaire was obliged to go to the Saint and find him in Magdeburg, singe he was no longer able to make the journey. When, at Easter, Lothaire sent messengers to Norbert requesting him to come to Halberstadt, the Saint was on his bed of suffering, where for four months he awaited the hour of death. [C-7-5]
High fevers were undermining what little strength remained in Norbert's emaciated body; but though a burning fever robbed him of his physical strength, his mind was ever clear and alert, and from his bed of pain he ceased not to direct and look after the welfare of his diocese. Feeling his end to be near, this faithful servant of God took special pains to regulate the interests of his Master. "Still," adds the biographer, "Lent must have seemed terribly long to the Saint of such astonishing activity! His great and only consolation was the frequent reception of Holy Communion. [C-7-6]
At last Holy Week approached, bringing with it the remembrance of all the Savior had suffered. The Archbishop made a great effort to forget his own suffering; he gently dismissed all those that were around him, and, notwithstanding their loud protestations, went once more to his Cathedral, there to perform the services of Holy Thursday. He would have spent the whole night there in memory of Jesus' agony in the Garden, but his physical state rendered it impossible. Utterly exhausted, he returned to his palace. Still, supported by the energy of his strong will, the Saint rose once more from his bed of pain, on Easter Sunday, and celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, which was to be the last Mass offered by St. Norbert. Completely exhausted and suffering untold pain, the Saint was carried to his bed, never to rise from it again. [C-7-7]
From now on his condition from day to day grew worse; still Norbert, though his head was deluged in pain, refused to spare himself, and not being able to rise, he desired his brethren to gather around him, that he might give them his last instructions. In these his last moments he urged upon them the practice of faith and patience especially, two virtues which all during his life he had most cherished.
"As when striking flint with steel, you thereby obtain sparks of fire, so also, does lively faith striking a heart of stone, produce sparks of divine love . . . Do you suffer persecution, be patient. Are you better than your Master?"
He then continued to comfort them and to exhort them with a smiling countenance to practice these virtues.
Blessed Hugh, the General of the Order, was sent for upon the request of the Saint. Somehow, he was prevented from making the long journey from Premontre to Magdeburg. Madelaine observes that Blessed Hugh could not believe that the hour was so near. On the other hand, Evermode, who for a long time had been Norbert's constant companion, never left the sickroom for a moment. He had always been Norbert's most beloved disciple, and none more closely resembled the Saint in character than he did. As for the absence of Hugh, the biographer says that Norbert felt assured that the future of the Order was safe in his hands, and thus when the brethren seemed overwhelmed with grief at his departure, and asked with the disciples of St. Martin: "Why, O Father, dost thou leave us?" he spoke to them of the great virtues of his first disciple, Hugh.
The future of his diocese caused Norbert far more anxiety than the future of his Order. During eight years he had worked incessantly for reform, and undoubtedly he accomplished great things, notwithstanding the fiercest opposition. Recall but his captivity in the tower—his flight from Magdeburg—the hatred many of the nobles, in the beginning especially, bore him. What was to become of his work after he was gone? Would all his labor be really in vain? The Saint, however, considered these thoughts but temptations of the evil one, and at once dismissed them from his mind as sinful, as showing a lack of confidence in Divine Providence. Still his mind was at times disturbed on this point, so it pleased God to set his mind entirely at rest.
The Emperor, as well as the Canons of the Cathedral, assured Norbert that after his death the diocese was to be confided to the care of Conrad of Querfurt, a saintly man, who had received his priestly ordination from Norbert himself. This knowledge greatly pleased the Saint. He sent for Conrad at once and, like a dying father who is about to entrust the care of his household to his eldest son, thus also did Norbert explain conditions to Conrad and give him wise counsel as to the government of the diocese. He further recommended to him in a special way a young community of Premonstratensians in the abbey "Gottesgnade," which abbey had a great future before it.
Meanwhile his illness increased, and the Saint, fully realizing his condition, asked to receive the last Sacraments, which were administered to him by Bishop Anselm, who had been constantly at the Saint's bedside. Norbert received the Body of Our Lord with extraordinary piety and fervor. With the Holy Unction it seemed as if a new effusion of the Holy Spirit had entered his soul, and, regaining for a moment his former strength, he once more addressed his disciples in a clear and distinct voice. This was on the day of Pentecost, June 3, 1134.
Still in the afternoon of the same day he began sinking so rapidly that all present could see that death, in a very short time, would rob the diocese of its Archbishop, and the brethren of a loving father. Bathed in tears, the brethren began reciting the prayers for the dying, but his hour was not yet come. The Saint lingered till Wednesday, when finally, in the full possession of his senses, he gave his last blessing to the Archdiocese and his Order, and then invoking the Holy Names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Norbert peacefully expired, casting a last glance of angelic sweetness towards heaven. " Subvenite Sancti Dei; occurrite Angeli Domini . . ." thus the brethren prayed, while the Saints were conducting his soul to the heavenly Jerusalem. [C-7-8]
- Then the fullness of fruition
- Came at last. The combat o'er,
- Norbert gazes on the vision
- Changeless on the golden shore.
The Saint died on the sixth day of June, 1134, in the fifth year of the Pontificate of Innocent II—the ninth year of the reign of Lothaire. The Saint had lived 54 years, nineteen of which had been devoted to a strict life of penitence, eighteen in the apostolic ministry. He had been Archbishop during seven years, ten months and twenty days.
The brethren stood weeping around the corpse, while the sad news spread through the city of Magdeburg. Though the tidings were not unexpected, still the people were all profoundly touched, and hastened in great numbers to the episcopal palace. A Saxon historian of the times exclaims:
"Alas! the universal law of death has taken him away from our midst . . . him the great Archbishop, the eminent preacher, the man great in words and in works, the founder of numerous monasteries, the great apostle and propagator of our holy religion, the fearless defender of the Catholic Pope, Innocent, the irreconcilable adversary of the schismatic, Peter Leonis! He has been taken away from his Order, his Diocese, the Empire, the Church !" [C-7-9]
Since the Saint before dying had confided the care of his body to his beloved disciple, Evermode, the latter began at once to make preparations for a proper burial. However, a serious dispute soon arose as to where the sacred remains were to be interred. First, there were the Canons of the Cathedral, who demanded that the body of their Archbishop should be buried in the Cathedral. On the other hand, the Premonstratensians of St. Mary's quite naturally insisted that the body of their holy Founder should find a last resting place in their church. For a while it seemed impossible to come to any agreement.
For six days the remains of our dear Saint were daily carried from one church to another, where amidst a great concourse of people Masses were daily celebrated, and the solemnities of the "Absolution" repeated. To the people this very procession meant rather the veneration of the relics of a Saint than a funeral procession, especially after they noticed that, notwithstanding the excessive heat, the corpse did not show the least sign of corruption. On the contrary,
Aemula dum sacro certant de pignore Templa,
Coelesti semper Corpus odore fragrat.
Meanwhile, the Canons of the Cathedral and of St. Mary's had agreed on having their difficulty solved by the Emperor Lothaire. Each sent deputies to Merzburg, in Swabia, where at that time the Emperor was holding his court. Evermode was one of the deputies of St. Mary's, and he pleaded with such energy in favor of the Premonstratensians, that Lothaire decided in favor of St. Mary's.
According to the Chronicles of Magdeburg the solemn obsequies took place on Monday, the 11th of June. Several of the most prominent men of the Empire, who at the time were assisting at the Diet of Merzburg, came to assist at the Saint's burial. Among these were the Duke Henry of Bavaria, the Margraves Conrad of Misnie, Henry of Glogau, Albrecht of Nord Marche, and the Landgrave Louis of Thuringen. [C-7-10] Several German writers are of the opinion that the Emperor himself came from Merzburg to assist at the solemnity. There were also present Cardinal Gerard, the Archbishop of Mainz, and the Bishops of Halberstadt, Hildesheim, Naumburg, Merzburg and Meissen. An immense multitude from the surrounding country had come to Magdeburg to tender a last tribute of respect to their beloved Archbishop. The three suffragan Bishops, Godebald, Ludolph and Anselm, performed the solemn rites, and, adds the biographer: [C-7-11]
"the abundant tears of all present spoke louder than the most eloquent funeral sermon. The corpse was buried in the nave of the Church of St. Mary, before the altar of the Holy Cross. The Saint's body was vested in full archiepiscopal ornature, namely, Cope, Pallium and Stole, Mitre, Ring and Crozier. A few years later the Canons decided to transfer the body to the sanctuary, and place it before the High altar. To their unspeakable joy, they found then that the body had still preserved its freshness of color, and seemed to them as if the Saint were but sleeping. A sweet-smelling odor was exhaled from the body, which, in the words of Blessed Hugh, manifested the glory of this temple of the Holy Ghost in heaven. The brethren now placed a marble slab on the grave of their beloved Father. The following words were engraved on it in letters of gold:
HERE, UNDER THIS MARBLE, RESTS NORBERT, BY THE GRACE OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF MAGDEBURG, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF PREMONTRE, AND RESTORER OF THIS MONASTERY. HE DIED IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1134, ON THE SIXTH DAY OF JUNE. [C-7-12]
"Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis Suis." As God had singularly blessed the birth and the life of our Saint, so He also made the death of His faithful servant glorious in the sight of men. Immediately after his death the Saint, clad in white and holding an olive branch in his hand, appeared to one of the religious who at that moment happened to be on one of the "ranges of the abbey of Premontre. The brother asked with timidity:
"Father, whence have you come and whither are you going?" To this the Saint replied that he came from heaven and that he was going to transplant the green olive branch, the symbol of peace and victory, in the house of his poverty. By this name the Saint always had loved to call his dear abbey of Premontre. When afterwards it was found that this apparition had taken place, not only on the day, but at the very hour that the Saint had died in Magdeburg, great importance was attached to it. [C-7-13]
Some days later another religious, this time one of the priests, also had a vision, and at once recognized his saintly father. Little by little he saw Norbert's figure change into a lily of remarkable whiteness, which was then carried to heaven by angels.
Lilia Candorem, fructum dant pacis Olivae,
Has Norbertus ovans, Angelus illa tulit.
This religious spoke at once of this vision to the prior of the monastery, and was told to mark down the exact day and hour. Afterwards these were found to correspond exactly with the day and hour on which the burial had taken place. [C-7-14]
The consolation of a similar vision was also granted to Blessed Hugh. He saw his beloved Father seated in a palace of exquisite beauty and splendor. Prostrate before him, Hugh asked the Saint regarding the future happiness of his own soul. Norbert then raised him from the ground and, embracing him most tenderly, said: "My son, you ask me something difficult to explain; but as God opens the door to those that knock, come and sit at my side." Then when both were seated the Saint continued: "I am in peace and in repose. Take courage and work with confidence in the service of God. You also will one day enter into the joy of the Lord." He then disappeared, leaving his disciple enraptured and consoled. [C-7-15]
Let all who believe in miracles and visions believe these with that same simplicity of faith with which they were first written down. For, having related the above, Blessed Hugh adds: "After this none of the faithful will doubt the beatitude of the man who lived as we have related, and who, after his death, by the Providence of God, gave such unmistakable signs of his happiness. You all may believe what I have written, for I take God to witness that I am speaking the truth." Blessed Hugh further appeals to his own experience and the veracity of eye and ear witnesses, so that little room can be left to doubt the sanctity and beatitude of Norbert.
From the very time of Norbert's burial his holiness was proclaimed by the "Vox populi." When shortly after the new Archbishop, Conrad of Querfurt, drew up, in accordance with his promise to Norbert, the Charter for the foundation of the abbey "Gottesgnade," he spoke of Norbert as "Blessed," and with the consent of numerous Bishops, Norbert, from that time on, received in particular churches the "cultus" of a Saint. Moreover it pleased the Almighty to manifest the glory of His servant by making his tomb glorious. Many miracles were wrought over the Saint's tomb through his intercession, and Norbert's name was invoked throughout Saxony. The brethren of St. Mary's kept a book in which were recorded the numerous miracles, and they also wrote the Saint's biography within six years after his death. Alas! these writings are lost to us. The fire, which according to the Saxon Chronicler, destroyed the Provostry of St. Mary, consumed also this register, and most of the personal writings of the Saint. From what people remembered and a few scattered documents, a new register was made, to be used later at the time of Norbert's canonization.
<<Start of Footnotes for Chapter C-7>>
[C-7-1]
Vita B, Appended. Can. Capp. Ch. X.
[C-7-2]
Vita B. Notationes Dni Hertoghe, p. 429-434. Dupre. Annal. Ord. Praem. (MS. of the Library of Laon.) Annal. breves ann. 1134—"miraculis illustris triumque mortuorum suscitator magnificus . . . Also De Waghenaere, p. 66.
[C-7-3]
VandenElsen on p. 346, observes, speaking of the transfer of' the abbey of Berne to the Premonstratensians, that the Prior, Frederic of Grevenrath, had accompanied the Emperor Lothaire on his Italian expedition. The monks and the founder, Fulco, had made use of his absence to lodge complaints against his ill-government. When Frederic heard of this he resigned his charge, and since Norbert was at court at the time, the monastery was offered to him and his canons. Premonstratensians of Marienweerd were at once introduced.
[C-7-4]
This Charter deserves special mention since in it we read that it was delivered by the hand of Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg and Archchancellor of the Empire. Lothaire confirmed the same, in 1134, in favor of men serving the Lord according to the Rule of St. Augustine." Cfr. VandenElsen, p. 347, Madelaine, p. 441, who further quotes Hugo "Annales Ordinis Praemonstr. T. I. Clarholtum, Probat. CCCXCIVCCCXCV.
[C-7-5]
Vita B, Ch. LII. Per spatium quatuor mensium.
[C-7-6]
Cfr. Acta SS. T. XX. Chron. Magdeb., p. 53.
[C-7-7]
Winter. "Chron. Gratiae Dei," p. 334. Excussa modicum aegritudine, Chrisma consecravit, et die sancta divina celebravit . . .
[C-7-8]
Acta SS. T. XX. 1. c. "In confessione nominis Christi Vita B, Ch. LII. Cum omni integritate sensus sui, astantibus benedictione data . . . Cfr. also Pertz Script. XII, p. 451.
[C-7-9]
Cfr. Pertz Script. XII. Sigeb. Contin. Praem, p. 451. VandenElsen, p. 355; Madelaine, p. 450.
[C-7-10]
Winter. The Premonstratensians of the 12th century. Ch. III.
[C-7-11]
Chron. Magdeb. Tenckhoff, p. 42.
[C-7-12]
Le Paige Biblioth. Ord. Praem., p. 401; also Annales breves, p. 7.
[C-7-13]
Vita B, Ch. LIV.
[C-7-14]
Ibidem.
[C-7-15]
lbldem.
