by J.C. Kirkfleet, O. Praem.; 1916, B. Herder, London

TIME PERIOD C:

From the Time Norbert Becomes Archbishop

Until His Death

CHAPTER C-8:

Translation of Relics

Divorum cineres dum Islebica turba profanat,

Tu procul antiqua de Statione fugis,

Inter Virgineos recipit Te Praga Penates:

Lilia Stare loco nurn meliore queant?

When in later years the relics of St. Norbert

were exposed to profanation in Magdeburg,

they were translated with great solemnity

to the abbey of Strahov, near Prague.

The great diversity of events related in this history of St. Norbert, have manifested the beautiful and sterling qualities and strong virtues of our dear Saint. He comes down to us in history as Norbert the Great, and Norbert the Saint, and a short retrospect of his life will show how well merited are the titles.

We remember the young man surpassing his fellow students at the University of Cologne. His inborn eloquence, his wide knowledge of literature—sacred and profane—his noble birth and genteel appearance, and above all his quick and penetrating intellect had made him at the age of twenty, a veritable leader among men. At the court of the Archbishop of Cologne, as well as at the court of the Emperor, Norbert was the favorite of all and was everywhere applauded. Of a firm will and an impetuous nature, he gave himself over to the world with an ardor and zeal worthy of greater objects.

By a miracle God changed the worldly young man into a second Paul, and with his characteristic ardor and impetuosity he entered into God's service. He bade farewell to the world and its allurements, and retired to a monastery to learn heavenly wisdom from the image of Christ Crucified, and the illustrious and saintly abbot Conon. He was ordained "Priest of the Most High" and at once strove to do all in his power to make others share in his newly found happiness. Neither ridicule, nor sarcasm nor abuse could withhold him from pointing out to others the very mistakes he himself had once made. He became the great "Reformer." His life of penitence subdued the striking appearance of the brilliant courtier, and he went forth preaching penance by word and example. Led by Divine Providence, he left his native land and, in a deserted and marshy valley, found the realization of his life's ideals. Many devoted men gathered around him, and Norbert, like a grain of wheat apparently dry and dead, soon, under the influence of Divine light and love, sent forth shoots of inexhaustible fecundity. A new Order was founded, an Order of priests, practicing at the same time monastic exercises and priestly functions. Foundations were made in France, Belgium and Germany, and a new era of true religious fervor had been inaugurated.

He was led by Divine Providence to the archbishopric of Magdeburg, and again went heart and soul into the work before him. No opposition, be it calumny or even bodily injury, could make him lose sight, for a single moment, of the ideal he had placed before himself, the work of "Reform." His wonderful conversion, his continual preaching, and the fecundity of the Order founded by him, made him great in the eyes of King and Pope. He was the able guide of Lothaire in his struggle against the Hohenstaufen, and in the schism of Anacletus he directed political life in Germany with such success that Germany actually became the champion of Pope Innocent. It is written of him:

"Norbert is in every respect a reflection of his time and a worthy representative of the first half of the twelfth century. The religious enthusiasm and the maturity of diplomatic sense which distinguish the German princes of this period, the high culture in which the clergy of this time could glory, all this appeared in its true sphere under the activity of Norbert; More than any of his contemporaries he had in view as cleric, depth of religious sentiment; as prince of the Church, purity of life and of morals; as prince of the Empire, a clear view of his duties towards Church and State. Hence it was through the energetic and powerful part he took in the leading questions of his day that he created a situation which gave him a wide-spread influence over his own age and over all succeeding ages.'' [C-8-1]

His power as an orator has been highly extolled by numerous contemporaries. If, in the words of St. Augustine, "Real eloquence has two sources, namely, love for man and love for truth," it is almost impossible to calculate how great was the influence of Norbert over his age, through his powerful eloquence.

Norbert was also an author. Though constantly occupied in preaching, founding monasteries, and later in the administration of his vast diocese, historians are unanimous in ascribing to Norbert several works. Thus, in his "Catalogue of Witnesses to the Truth," Mr. William Eisengreim ascribes the following works to Norbert:

1. The three books of Visions. Although a Lutheran author, Samuel Halter, speaks of them disdainfully as the product of a fanatical imagination, we can only express our deep regret that the books are lost to us, for the marvelous revelations with which heaven favored the Saint during the years following his conversion, were given in these books.

2. The sermons delivered on his missions and in the monastery to his disciples were also recorded by Norbert. The titles of some have come down to us. "On the Death of a Saint"—"The Shortness of Life"—"The Sweetness of the Yoke of Christ"—"The Re-establishment of Regular Discipline." At present we have nothing but part of his discourse to the brethren at Premontre, previously mentioned. This ascetic discourse has, during the last century, been deemed worthy of a place in the Library of the Fathers.

3. An Office of the Most Pure Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The antiphon composed by Norbert, "Aye, Virgo, quae, Spiritu Sancto praeservante, de tanto primi parentis peccato triumphasti innoxia," has been inserted in the new Office of the Immaculate Conception.

4. A treatise on the nullity of the election to the Papacy of Peter di Leone.

5. A book on the "Priesthood."

Father LePaige, who enumerates these different works, further adds a list of Homilies on the Sacred Scriptures from the hand of Norbert, and assures us that the manuscripts were kept, as late as the year 1633, in the celebrated monastery of Cappenberg. [C-8-2] It seems inexplicable how these works, still existing in the seventeenth century, are all lost to us today. But the severe trials of the abbeys during the period that followed the Protestant Reformation, of which we shall speak later, and also the great fire at Magdeburg in 1631, [C-8-3] may in some measure account for their loss. Yet, as Madelaine observes, it is quite possible that Norbert's manuscripts do exist today, in some forgotten corner of a library.

It is evident to any student of the history of St. Norbert that "authorship" was by no means his main object in life. Norbert was a man of action, and we have found his life full of high activity, which, however, did not interfere with his sanctity. If he was considered great in the eyes of the world, it was not that he sought it. Since the day of his conversion his one aim was to live the life of Jesus Christ. Most unjustly, therefore, has Norbert been referred to as the Luther of the twelfth century.

True, the sudden death of a friend was to Luther what a storm was to Norbert. Both realized the vanity of earthly things and withdrew from the world. However, instead of founding a religious Order, Luther condemned them all; instead of working for the restoration of Christ's kingdom in the hearts of men, Luther did all in his power to destroy God's kingdom. Norbert was instrumental in restoring a Pope to the throne of St. Peter, Luther was the sworn enemy of the papacy. Norbert, following the example of Saul of Tarsus, had from the day of his conversion placed himself under the guidance of a saintly abbot, and true humility and mistrust of himself had been the foundation, the beginning of his subsequent virtuous life. Luther, on the other hand, was guided by pride and self-love, and thus threw not only himself into the abyss but millions of others.

The poles are not farther apart than are the character, life-work and aims of Norbert and Luther. The virtue which especially characterized Norbert, was his deep faith. As we read in the Manuscript Life by Blessed Hugh: "Bernard of Clairvaux was known especially for his charity; Milo for his humility, but Norbert for his faith." Seeing God in that clear light of faith, he must needs love Him with his whole heart, and seek to make Him loved by others. Thus we see in Norbert a ceaseless burning thirst for the salvation of souls, and it is difficult for the historian to keep pace with the wonderful development of the Saint's great faith. It is written of him:

"The period of his conversion at first indicates only an illustrious penitent; soon the penitent is eclipsed by the apostle. For a moment we lose sight of the apostle and consider the founder of a new religious Order. The Founder himself seems to disappear when the Archbishop commands our attention. How can one follow him at the court of kings, whose oracle he is; among heretics to whom he is a powerful opponent, or in the midst of ravages produced by a schism whose executioner he is ?" [C-8-5]

Recall but to mind Norbert's lively faith in the Holy Eucharist. This great mystery has been called the "dogma generating true and solid piety." Daily did Norbert offer up the Holy Sacrifice, and on many occasions, several times in one day. God permitted His greatest miracles through the Saint when he was celebrating the Great Sacrifice, and in Antwerp we found Norbert to be its great advocate and apostle. It was while celebrating Mass that Norbert especially reconciled enemies, drove out evil spirits, and even restored sight to the blind.

Of his austerities, mortifications and self-denial, enough has been said to convince the most skeptical mind of Norbert's holy life. His devotion to the Blessed Virgin was so great that he devoted all new foundations to her honor, and dedicated them to her name. In recognition of his filial piety the Queen of Heaven showed Norbert the habit of his Order and always protected him and his Order in a most special manner. Norbert, from the very day of his death, was proclaimed by the "Vox populi" a true Saint; and the bishop who succeeded him in Magdeburg spoke of him as "Blessed." It may perhaps seem strange to us, therefore, that Norbert's solemn canonization did not take place till the year 1582.

Various biographers give different reasons to account for this delay. It is very probable that Norbert's canonization was asked for as early as 1163, when the cause of St. Bernard was first introduced at the Council of Tours. [C-8-6] At that time the Pope rejected all applications for the simple reason, as he explains in a Brief of Jan. 18, 1174, that there were entirely too many; and not to give offense, His Holiness postponed them all. During the reign of Pope Innocent III, Norbert's cause was once more introduced by the Saxons, who laid before the Holy Father the scattered documents regarding Norbert's miracles. "Jealousy on the part of the abbey of Premontre," continues the same historian, "prevented Norbert's canonization at this time, because the Abbot General, Gervase by name, refused to use his influence with the Pope as long as the sacred remains were kept in Magdeburg. Naturally Premontre, the cradle of the Order of Norbert, thought it had the first right to preserve the body of the Saint. We might feel inclined to overlook this petty jealousy on the part of the abbey of Premontre, did it not lead to a long postponement of Norbert's canonization. Several other abbeys took the stand of the Abbot-General, and for years after, as often as the canonization was asked for, the cause was always introduced as a petition of a single abbey, and not of the whole Order."

The Provostry of Magdeburg became soon after the Saint's death one of the most celebrated houses of the Order, and the mother-house of ten abbeys. It had even certain rights over the bishopric of Brandenburg, Havelberg and Ratzeburg, the bishops of which dioceses were elected by the Norbertine canons attached to these cathedral churches. Adding to this ascendancy the fact that St. Mary's was the actual guardian of the tomb of the Saint, it is not difficult to find the cause of the petty jealousy between the two leading abbeys.

However, in the fifteenth century, a time of general relaxation in monastic discipline, the Fathers of Saxony unfortunately lost more and more the spirit of Norbert, and in several monasteries they began to be replaced by other religious. When, in the year 1541, the General Chapter introduced the cause of Norbert's canonization, Magdeburg had entirely lost its former glory. Like the whole Catholic Church in fact, the Premonstratensian Order at this time was passing through a severe crisis, and once more did lack of unity among the different houses prevent the canonization. Only, when in 1573 the Order had once more its Abbot-General, and unity and discipline had been re-established, Norbert's cause was at last introduced successfully, and was Norbert solemnly canonized by Pope Gregory XIII, on the 28th of July, 1582. Thus says the Holy Father in the Bull of Canonization:

"We have heard from trustworthy witnesses, and especially from Cardinal Philippe Buoncompagni, our Great-Penitentiary, and John, Abbot of the monastery of Premontre, in the diocese of Laon, that Blessed Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg and a man of eminent sanctity, founded, more than four hundred years ago, the Premonstratensian Order. We therefore consider it Our duty to have him honored and venerated on earth as he is venerated and honored in heaven, since his life, so pleasing to God, has been glorified by so many miracles. In consequence we authorize the Abbot John and all the Superiors of the Order to show themselves forever grateful sons and devoted to their Father, and to celebrate the feast of St. Norbert, Confessor and Pontiff, on the sixth day of June, the day on which he emigrated to heaven, solemnly as a feast Double with an Octave, and then make the ‘common suffrage' according to the monastic rite of the Order; and further to inscribe Norbert's name, which is found already in several martyrologies consecrated to the use of the Catholic Church, to inscribe, I say, in the Calendar of said Order, under the rite of Double with an Octave. Given at Rome the year of the Incarnation, 1582, the fifth of the Kalends of August."

Rightly do the Bollandists observe that in this document Pope Gregory speaks of Norbert as it were of a Saint who had been canonized long before. [C-7-8] Further, Pope Gregory also granted a plenary indulgence to all Premonstratensians on that day. Pope Urban VIII finally made the feast of St. Norbert a general feast to be observed by all the churches and all religious Orders.

The act of Pope Gregory was the occasion for a general outburst of devotion for our dear but forgotten Saint. His name was once more on the lips of all, and his powerful intercession was invoked by the Church Universal for guidance in the lamentable days of Luther's revolution. Alas! the heresy of Luther, himself a Saxon by birth, had made sad ravages in Saxony especially, and in 1540 had expelled the sons of Norbert from St. Mary's Chapter. As a consequence the body of the Saint had come into the hands of Lutherans, who persistently refused to part with it. In the year 1596 the different abbots met to find means of removing Norbert's tomb from Magdeburg, for they greatly lamented the fact that the relics of their Holy Founder had fallen into the hands of these sacrilegious reformers, to whom nothing was sacred. The religious of Steinfeld had failed in their efforts to secure it, and thus John Lohelius, Abbot of Strahov and later Archbishop of Prague, John de Pruetis, Abbot-General of Premontre, and Denis Feyten, Abbot of St. Michael's at Antwerp—three influential men—united their efforts and went to the German Emperor. The latter consented to send a man of influence to Magdeburg to urge their request, but under pretext that the body would be used as an object of idolatry, the Lutherans persisted in their refusal. Moreover, the Catholics themselves of Magdeburg, who looked upon Norbert as their special Protector in those evil days, were loath to part with the remains. [C-8-9]

Thirty years more passed during which numerous efforts were made, but always in vain. Meanwhile John Lohelius had died, and Gaspar von Questenburg had succeeded him in the abbatial dignity. He went to the Emperor, Ferdinand II, in the year 1625, and obtained a letter from him in which His Majesty urged his civil and military officials in the district of Magdeburg to support the request made by the abbot of Strahov. The abbot went to Magdeburg in person and saw the tomb of his spiritual Father; but, influenced by the Lutheran Provost of St. Mary's, the officials still refused to let him have the body. Abbot Gaspar returned to Prague, sick at heart, and in utter despair of ever being able to obtain the sacred relics of Norbert. Repeatedly did he return to Magdeburg and use his eloquence as well as the influence of powerful friends, but without success. At one time he even went with forty armed men to take the relics by force, but still in vain. Only after the people of Magdeburg had suffered defeat upon defeat in battle, and had begun to fear provoking the anger of the Emperor, did they consent.

It was on December 3, of the year 1626, that the Abbot of Strahov once more entered Magdeburg, in company of the Provost of Doxan, and was allowed to proceed to an official inspection of the tomb of St. Norbert in the presence of the Lutheran Provost and canons of St. Mary's, the civil and military authorities, and numerous lay and clerical witnesses. He made the verification and found the body of the Saint intact, robed in the sacred vestments in which Norbert had been buried nearly 500 years before. [C-8-10]

On the following day Abbot Gaspar and the Provost left Magdeburg under good escort, carrying their precious treasure to the convent of Norbertine Nuns at Doxan, where the relics of the Saint were first deposited. The good Sisters received them with indescribable joy, on the 16th of December, 1626. On the same day a message was sent to Prague, where the people at once began to make preparations for a solemn reception. The relics had been deposited only temporarily at Doxan, six miles from Prague. In Prague there was a universal rejoicing when the good people heard of the great treasure they were about to possess. On the 30th day of April the civil and ecclesiastical authorities solemnly proclaimed Norbert as their chosen Protector and as the Patron Saint of the kingdom of Bohemia. Great festivities were arranged for the Solemn Translation of Norbert's Body, which finally took place on the 2nd day of May, 1627.

Meanwhile the Abbot of Strahov had invited the abbots of Bohemia, Poland, Germany, France, Holland and Belgium to come to Prague to take part in the triumph of their Holy Father, and thus was the Solemn Translation carried out in the presence of an immense crowd of people with the greatest magnificence. The Sacred Remains were carried in triumph through the city on the shoulders of eight abbots vested in pontifical attire, and were followed by a countless multitude carrying banners and singing hymns in honor of St. Norbert. Silver coins made in remembrance of this occasion, were distributed among the people, and the festivities lasted for a whole week. [C-8-11] During the Octave, sermons, in which Norbert's glory was proclaimed, were preached in every church of Prague, and on the last day the procession was repeated with the same solemnity.

God deigned to work a great many miracles through the intercession of St. Norbert during the solemn celebrations. A record of these is still preserved in the office of the Chancellor of the Diocese, among which is related, as the greatest and the most remarkable of all, the abjuration of not less than 600 Protestants, who, during this Octave, were reconciled to the Church. [C-8-12]

Part of the relics of St. Norbert were transferred to Antwerp, in Belgium, where, upon their arrival, the festivities were no less glorious, and it is a most remarkable fact that in these two countries, Bohemia and Belgium, where the Saint's relics have been kept and venerated, the Order has ever since flourished. The Premonstratensians in Germany and in France, who had withstood the Protestant Reformation, came to dishonor in the days of the Revolution, while the abbeys of Belgium and Bohemia were never in a more flourishing condition than in those very days of rebellion; and what is more, they have continued their glorious record until our times.

The canons of Strahov are still the custodians of the relics of St. Norbert, and whenever the feast of the Solemn Translation is being commemorated, thousands of people sing before the shrine:

"This Saint is a vessel of election filled with the Holy Ghost. This is Norbert, the great friend of God. He is the valiant champion who fought with the serpent of old. An angel of peace, a herald of penance, he is powerful in words and deeds by miracles and prophecies. We, his children, approach Him, our Father; we, his clients, approach Him, our Patron. O, let us pray to Him and say: O, Saint of God! O, Friend of the Spouse! Father and Guardian, Thou the glory of our holy mountain, pray to the Lord for us. Hear us, O hear us, St. Norbert! Make those whom thou hast deemed worthy to guard the treasure of thy sacred body, ever feel the benefit of thy powerful intercession. Amen."

These great celebrations naturally gave a new impetus to the cultus of St. Norbert, and thus it is that since this memorable event especially, historians in their annals, poets in their verses, and artists on their canvas, began anew to proclaim the greatness of our dear Saint. His statue soon decorated the portico of the Vatican, and was placed also within the walls of St. Peter 's. It is seen in the left transept between the statues of St. Juliana Falconieri and St. Peter Nolascus, with this inscription:

S. NORBERTO

PATRI SUO INSTITUTORI

POSTEA ARCHIEP. MAGDEBURG.

CANONICI PRAEMONSTRA. EREXERUNT

ANNO MDCCLXVII.

Different paintings from the hand of the great Rubens himself, representing the Saint, were at one time found in the Abbey of St. Michael, in Antwerp. One of these, representing St. Norbert, St. Clare and St. Thomas of Aquin, in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, decorates even to this day the entrance of the museum Kensington in London. But it is especially in the city of Antwerp that one finds numerous representations of St. Norbert, because since his victory over Tanchelm he has been rightly considered the apostle of that city.

In closing the "Life" of the glorious patriarch, we know of no more fitting tribute we can give to his greatness than a sketch of the history of his Order, which is about to celebrate its eighth centenary, and this will form the second volume.

<<END OF VOLUME A>>

<<Start of Footnotes for Chapter C-8>>

[C-8-1]

Rosenmund. "The most ancient biographies." Sect. IV. "The Norbert of History," pp. 122-123.

[C-8-2]

Cfr. Madelaine, p. 458—Le Paige Biblioth. Ord. Praem. p. 304—also Lienhart "Spiritue literarius Norbertinue," pp. 6-8.

[C-7-3]

Cfr. Cath. Enc., Vol. IX, p. 525.

[C-7-4]

See Madelaine, p. 471.

[C-8-5]

Cfr. Migne "Orateurs sacres" T. LIII., col. 844.

[C-8-6]

Thus VandenElsen, op. cit., p. 375.

[C-8-7]

Miraeus Chron. Ord. Praem., p. 232, App. No. XV.

[C-8-8]

Acta SS. T. XX

[C-8-9]

Cfr. VandenElsen, p. 383—Madelaine 492—Le Paige Biblioth. Ord. Praem., p. 408—and Pere Alphonse de Liguori "Vie de saint Norbert," p. 314.

[C-8-10]

The various circumstances related here are taken from a process-verbal made up on this occasion by a Lutheran notary of the senate of Magdeburg. Cfr. Madelaine, p. 494. VandenElsen, on p. 387, relates the same facts, and has taken them from VanderSterre, who received them from the mouth of' some of' the canons old the abbey of' Steinfeldt, who had been present on this occasion. Further confer also Le Paige, loc. cit.

[C-8-11]

Cfr. VandenElsen, p. 390.

[C-8-12]

Cfr. Madelaine, p. 495.