Alberic

ON BLESSED ALBERIC, FIRST ABBOT OF CITEAUX.

At the beginning of the twelfth century.

Alberic, first Abbot of Citeaux in Gaul (Bl.)

From various sources.

[1] Citeaux, in the diocese of Chalon in Burgundy, is a most renowned monastery, the head of the Cistercian Congregation spread throughout the whole world. Some make St. Robert its first Abbot; others, Alberic. And indeed Alberic inhabited Citeaux even before St. Robert. For thus in the Life of St. Robert, which we shall give on April 29, Bl. Alberic with companions withdraws from Molesme: it is said: Among them (the monks of Molesme, over whom Abbot Robert presided) were four stronger men, namely Alberic, Stephen, and two others, who after the rudiments of claustral exercise aspired to the singular combat of the desert. Going forth, therefore, from the monastery of Molesme, they came to a place called Vivificus. After they had lived there for some time, at the insistence of the monks of Molesme, they received a sentence of excommunication from the venerable Jocerannus, Bishop of Langres, unless they returned. Compelled, therefore, to leave the aforesaid place, they came to a certain forest called Citeaux by the inhabitants. There, constructing an oratory in honor of the Blessed Mother of God, He goes to Citeaux: they could not thereafter be recalled from their purpose by threats or entreaties, being fervent in spirit and tirelessly serving the Lord day and night.

[2] Blessed Robert, hearing of their holy manner of life, took with him twenty-two Brothers and went to them, St. Robert follows, that he might be a sharer and helper in their holy purpose. Received by them with the greatest devotion, he presided over them for some time with paternal solicitude, instructing their life and conduct according to the Rule, and presenting himself as a model and example of religious life and probity. But the monks of Molesme, grieving that they were deprived of so great a Shepherd, approached the Supreme Pontiff that the man of God, Blessed Robert, might be compelled to return to the church of Molesme, but is soon ordered to return to Molesme. which he had first founded. The Supreme Pontiff, hearing that the new plantation of the Cistercians was firmly rooted in Christ, rejoiced greatly, finding that they excelled in all probity of conduct, and that, formed by Blessed Robert's example, they more fervently observed the Rule of St. Benedict. But seeing that the monks of Molesme would be threatened with ruin if they were deprived of the presence of the man of God, he wrote to the Bishop of Chalon to appoint another Abbot for the Cistercians and to compel Blessed Robert to return to Molesme.

[3] When Blessed Robert learned of this, knowing that obedience is better than sacrifice, and that it is like the sin of idolatry to refuse to acquiesce, Alberic is made Abbot. having arranged everything there pertaining to the observance of the new institution, he appointed as their Abbot the man worthy of God, Alberic, who had been one of the first monks of the Church of Molesme. And so, having thus salutarily ordered all things, he returned to the monastery of Molesme, which he himself had founded in honor of the Blessed Mary. After Alberic died two years later, Stephen succeeded him, appointed Abbot of the Cistercians by Blessed Robert. And so, being the founder of the new plantation, since the ordering of both monasteries — Molesme and Citeaux — was entrusted to his judgment, he returned to Molesme with two monks. We shall say more about the foundation of both monasteries in the Life of St. Robert.

[4] In the book entitled Conferences of the Holy Fathers on the Beginning of the Cistercian Order, by an anonymous monk of Clairvaux, no mention is made of that prior withdrawal of Alberic, Stephen, and two others to the hermitage of Citeaux before St. Robert; but in chapter 10 it is said that when those holy Brothers asked St. Robert for permission to migrate elsewhere, he voluntarily offered himself as their companion. In chapter 12, the first inhabitants of Citeaux are named — seven in all: Robert, Alberic, Odo, John, Stephen, Letaldus, His first companions. Peter. But nowhere there is mention made of the office committed to Alberic; rather, when Robert was compelled to return to Molesme, it is said that St. Stephen was elected Abbot by the Brothers.

[5] But in the additions to Sigebert of Gembloux's Chronicle, in the edition of Laurent de la Barre, by an ancient author — whether Robert of Mont-Saint-Michel or another — the following was added at the year 1098, after various matters about the origins of Citeaux: Therefore in this year, namely the year 1098 from the Incarnation of the Lord, strengthened by the counsel and authority of the venerable Hugo, Archbishop of the Church of Lyon, then Legate of the Apostolic See, and of the devout Walter, Bishop of Chalon, and also of the most illustrious Prince Odo, Duke of Burgundy, they began to construct the discovered hermitage into an abbey; the aforesaid Abbot Robert receiving from the Bishop of that diocese, namely of Chalon, the pastoral care and staff, while the rest under him established their stability in that same place. But not long after it came about that the same Abbot Robert, at the request of the monks of Molesme, by order of Pope Urban II and with the permission and assent of Walter, Bishop of Chalon, was brought back to Molesme, and the devout and holy man Alberic was installed in his place. This arrangement between the two houses was maintained for the sake of peace, and confirmed by Apostolic authority: that from that time forward neither house should receive a monk of the other for residence without a regular commendation. Promotes Citeaux: This being done, the new monastery through the care and industry of the new Father, with God cooperating, in a short time made no small progress in holy conversation, grew famous in reputation, and increased in the necessities of life. These same things are found in Vincent's Mirror, book 23, chapter 94.

[6] But concerning Alberic's death, the following is found at the year 1107: Alberic, Abbot of Citeaux, seized the prize of the heavenly calling, toward which he had not run in vain for nine years in that place, and attained it in the tenth. He was succeeded by Lord Stephen, etc. And so there is a divergent opinion about the time he governed Citeaux. how long he was Abbot. For no one should suppose that Alberic died in the year 1107 and presided over that monastery for two years, having spent all the remaining time there under Abbot Robert beforehand. For since in the year 1098, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of April — the solemn feast of the most holy Benedict (as that same book of Conferences relates) — which a doubled joy had made illustrious on that occasion because Palm Sunday fell upon it — with the Angels rejoicing and the demons wasting away, the religious life of the house of Citeaux, and through it of the entire Cistercian Order, had its beginning through men thoroughly prepared for the Christian philosophy; and in the following year, 1099, on the fourth day before the Kalends of August, Pope Urban II died — nevertheless, by his command Robert was compelled to return to Molesme; and below the privilege of Paschal II will be cited, granted at Troia on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of May, Indiction VIII, in the year 1100, to Alberic, Abbot of the New Monastery, that is, of Citeaux. Therefore, if he lived until the year 1107, he was Abbot for nearly nine years.

[7] In the Cistercian Martyrology, as Claudius Robert writes, Alberic is said to have died on the seventh day before the Kalends of February. On that day the Cistercian Calendar published at Dijon reads: Alberic, second Abbot at Citeaux, founder of the Order. his feast day, Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology: Alberic, second Abbot of Citeaux, a man to be admired for his sanctity, having laid aside the burden of mortality, passed to the joys of the heavenly city. Saussay abstains from the title of Saint or Blessed. But the Cistercians, as we have learned from the most grave men of that Order, call him Saint, even though they do not venerate him with an ecclesiastical office; others write Blessed. Hugh Menard: At Citeaux, the title of Blessed: of Blessed Alberic, Abbot. He is likewise listed among the Saints and Blessed of the Cistercian Order found at the end of the Missal of that Order published at Paris in the year 1526. Chrysostom Henriquez, who in his Fascicle of Saints of the same Order had written that he died on July 10, in his Menology, tacitly retracting that, celebrates him on January 26 with this eulogy: eulogy from Chrysostom Henriquez. In Gaul, the feast of our most blessed Father Alberic, second Abbot of Citeaux, who together with Blessed Robert and Stephen began our holy Order; which he himself placed under the title and patronage of the Virgin Mother of God; from whom in turn the pious Father received a white cowl. Whence, laying aside the black habit of the Cluniacs, the Cistercians from then on began to wear white garments. Indeed, the constitutions which he first established are said to have been received from the Most Blessed Virgin. To him the same pious protectress of sinners once appeared and said: I will protect and defend this Order until the end of the world. And since he was often visited by her and other citizens of heaven, and shone bright with various miracles, he fell into illness, and promising his monks the propagation and increase of the Order, he recited the Apostles' Creed in a clear voice, then read through the Litanies: and when he had come to that place, suffused with divine light, he dies. Holy Mary, pray for us, his face began, as if suffused with divine light like the sun, to send forth glittering rays. And presently, as if gently dissolved into sleep, he breathed forth his most holy soul. In his Notes he adds, as a testimony to his wondrous sanctity, that his body and tomb flourished with an infinite number of miracles, enrolled among the Saints. and that his name was inserted in the catalogue of canonized Saints of the Cistercian Order.

[8] The same Chrysostom in the Fascicle of Saints of the Cistercian Order, book 1, distinction 2, describes the life of Blessed Alberic more fully, Who else wrote of him. from various authors and monuments of the Order, which we give here from him. The same was published in Spanish before Chrysostom by Barnabas de Montalvo, Chronicle of the Cistercians, part 1, book 1, chapter 22, and the five following chapters. All who treat the origins of the Cistercian Order speak of this same Alberic. Caesarius of Heisterbach, book 1, chapter 1: Alberic, a holy and devout man, was installed in his (Robert's) place. Through whose care, with the grace of God cooperating, that valley flourished not a little and increased in the necessities of life. Aubert Miraeus also writes at length about Alberic and the origin of Citeaux in his Cistercian Chronicle. Angel Manrique in the Evangelical Laurel, where he calls him absolutely Saint, book 3, distinction 7, section 3, as does Montalvo. Baronius also mentions him in the Notes to the Martyrology at April 29, though he errs greatly when he writes that St. Robert died in the year 1098.

Side Note* Sur. Vinicus.

LIFE

By Chrysostom Henriquez.

Alberic, first Abbot of Citeaux in Gaul (Bl.)

By Chrysostom Henriquez.

CHAPTER I.

He is appointed Abbot over the Cistercian congregation, and by the common vote of all consecrates his Order to the Blessed Mary.

[1] We have recounted above how St. Father Robert, recalled by the monks of Molesme, left Citeaux. The monks therefore in his absence, being without a head in the wilderness, coming together among themselves in the presence of the Bishop of Chalon, elected Blessed Alberic as Abbot — a man outstanding in integrity of life and most observant of the monastic rule.

[2] Bl. Alberic, Prior of Molesme This man, entering the monastery of Molesme as a youth, having renounced the enticements and allurements of the world, taking the religious habit, bound himself to the service of God, and advanced to the point of serving as Prior under Father Robert. And since he was afflicted with many injuries and insults, contrary to the dignity of his name, suffers much from the monks: by the Religious, and had endured imprisonment and beatings, he resolved to leave their company and seek another place, where, more easily consigning the injury to oblivion, he might observe the austerity of the Rule. Thus St. Alberic was the first who, when Father Robert left Molesme, came to Citeaux and restored the Order already nearly collapsed; withdraws to Citeaux: and following in the footsteps of Blessed Robert, with the Order reformed, he led the Religious back to the observance of the Rule and the norm of right living. When Abbot Robert and with him certain monks who did not love the desert abandoned Citeaux, Blessed Alberic remained with twelve or thirteen monks, who by regular election promoted him to be their Abbot.

[3] Presently, as the Religious devoted their minds and bodies to the construction of the monastery — digging the earth, felling trees, and carrying on their shoulders what was needed for the building — he himself, shunning no part of the labor, led them not by words labors with his own hands alongside his companions, but by deed and example; and notwithstanding his old age, he mortified his body in a wondrous manner with vigils and fasting. While intent upon work, lest his spirit be idle, taking the Psalter of David into his hands, with frequent sighs from the inmost depths of his heart meanwhile devoted to prayer, and with the fervent prayers of a devout mind, he penetrated the heavens. After sunset, while the others refreshed themselves from their labors by rest, he spent the greater part of the night in disciplines; and indulging in sleep not for pleasure sparing of sleep: but to restore the forces of nature, he lay upon bare boards; and quickly roused, he would rise and on bended knees read the Psalter of David with great devotion of soul, which he would finish before the Brothers rose for the singing of Vigils.

[4] Amid all these things, he and his own were outstanding devotees of the Virgin Mother of God, He adopts the Blessed Virgin as patron of the Order. adopting her as the Patroness of the newly founded Order, under whose protection the Cistercian congregation might make progress in every kind of virtue and be preserved from all the filth of vice. And so they decreed to establish all their monasteries under her name, through whose interceding patronage that small spring of Citeaux overflowed into many waters, and whose professors shone with various titles of virtue. Hear this from the Supreme Pastor of the Church himself, Gregory XI, who speaking of the profession and perfection of the Cistercians, said with most deserved right: In the gilded vestment of the Church, the spouse of Christ, who, surrounded by variety, stood at the right hand of her Spouse, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, wondrous in the integrity of faith and the solidity of hope, the Cistercian Order, devoted to divine service and, among other religious orders, singularly dedicated to the Virgin by its devotion, from its original institution and through the pursuit of its professors — insofar as it is granted from on high — gleams with charity, is white with chastity, and shines with the beauty of its way of life. The white Nazarites of this Order — that is, the aforesaid professors of the same, living under the strictness of austere observance — in the sight of their King of Kings and heavenly Queen, present vials full of perfumes in the assiduity of their prayers, serve the good pleasure of those by works of piety, etc. James of Vitry also, Bishop of Acre, in his Western History, chapter 14: The fame, he says, and reputation of the sanctity of the Cistercians, as from the fragrance of ointment, has so filled the entire house of the Church of Jesus Christ, that there is no province or region to which that blessed vineyard has not extended its branches. The Lord and their Blessed Patroness the Virgin Mary (whom they unanimously and with one shoulder serve most devoutly everywhere) have enlarged the place of their tent; and have not only extended their shoots even to the sea, so that they now acknowledge by experience to be fulfilled in them what the Lord says in the Gospel: They shall receive a hundredfold in this world, and eternal life in the world to come. Matt. 19:29; Mark 10:30.

CHAPTER II.

On the change of habit of the Cistercian monks from black to white; and how Blessed Alberic received a white cowl from the hand of the Mother of God.

[5] And so, when they had thus by mutual suffrages elected the Holy Mother as their Patroness and President, she also, to repay their affection, He and his own are cherished by the Blessed Virgin, adopted them not only as clients but as sons, attesting this by frequent visitation. Coming at one time attended by hosts of blessed spirits, to fill the hearts of her servants with heavenly consolation, and as a lover of the flower of inviolate chastity, in token of the friendship with which she regarded the religious company, she gave the monks a white habit, signifying by this exquisite whiteness of garment the integrity and purity of their souls, as by a most certain symbol. For when our first Fathers had departed from Molesme, they retained the black habit of the Cluniac congregation, until in the time of Blessed Alberic the Queen of Angels herself commanded them to change the color. This happened in the following manner.

[6] While the Blessed Father Alberic and his monks were devoutly singing Lauds and the morning Hours, there was present, and from her he receives a white garment; as I have said, the Virgin Mother of God, attended by a phalanx of celestial spirits, bearing in her hands a white and most brilliant cowl, which she placed upon the head of the amazed Alberic. But behold, miracle followed upon miracle. For as soon as that white habit was placed upon Alberic, the cowls of the monks chanting in choir changed their color: those which had previously been black were suddenly dyed the most brilliant white, like snow; and immediately the Most Blessed Virgin vanished from the sight of her servants. This wondrous change of habit is admitted by many most grave and trustworthy authors, who endeavor to prove it with various arguments. Among them: Barnabas de Montalvo, Cistercian History, book 1; Angel Manrique, Cistercian Sanctoral, book 1, discourse 3, part 12, and Evangelical Laurel, book 2, discourse 10; John Alvarus, Bishop of Solsona, in the Life of St. Bernard; Lawrence of Zamora, as various authors testify. Mystical Monarchy; Louis Bernard, Monastic Republic, book 5, on chapter 55 of the Rule, concerning the garments of the Brothers; Athanasius Jovera, in the Life of Saints Attilanus and Froilan, chapter 17; also John, General of the Cistercian Order, a man of outstanding sanctity (whom Boniface Simoneta, book 3, testifies to have been favored from his mother's womb by the Lord with blessings of sweetness), confirms what we have said — namely, that the habit of the Cistercian Order was given by the Most Blessed Virgin — in the exhortatory conclusion of his book of privileges, in these words: This sacred religious order, which is properly called a Reform for the observance of the holy Rule of St. Benedict, as the writings of the most holy Bernard and other Fathers relate, is on earth the particular family of the most glorious Mother of the Lord, who assuredly inspired the manner of living in her devoted servants, our first Fathers. For beyond spiritual revelations The Blessed Virgin often visits them: and intimate consolations, she visited them most frequently, attended by the most brilliant retinue of the citizens of heaven, consoling them even visibly, teaching, assisting, and directing them. On this account she herself is called Patroness, Lady, Protectress, and Advocate of this holy Order. Just as the Order itself is the first of all Orders dedicated in her honor, whose habit — both of monks and of nuns — she is reported to have given, with such authority, merit, and virtue of that great dignity that the devil has no power over anyone who dies clothed in it, etc. Behold, a man of such great authority testifies that they received not only the habit but also the constitutions and rule of life from the Most Blessed Virgin. But let us now proceed further.

[7] When once Blessed Alberic, intent upon prayer, was lifting his spirit to the heavens, the most pious Mother appeared to him, and promised the propagation and increase of his Order, She promises Alberic she will defend the Order. and added: I will protect and defend this Order until the end of the world. How she fulfilled her word, and with what solicitude she protected her sons in their necessities and tribulations, no one even moderately versed in Cistercian antiquities is unaware. Our witness is the Supreme Pontiff Innocent himself, She rebukes one who opposed it; who, when he was endeavoring to suppress the Cistercian Order, was sharply rebuked by the most pious Mother herself and heard these words: You are striving to destroy the Cistercian Order, of which I am the Advocate; but you shall not prevail, and unless you repent more quickly of your evil purpose, I will crush you and all your power. To a certain young man of Cologne also, likewise another who detracted from that Order: who, having conceived an incredible hatred against the Order, did not cease to detract from the Cistercian religion, the Virgin Mother of God appeared with a stern countenance, and as if turning her face away from him, said: Wicked boy, do you curse and detract from my best friends whom I have in the whole world? And having said this she disappeared. But what wonder, if she protects her servants on earth, who cherishes and loves them in heaven with a singular affection of love. On this matter receive a memorable example, which Caesarius narrates in these words, book 7, chapter 60.

[8] A certain monk of our Order, loving our Lady exceedingly, a few years ago, being transported out of his mind, was led to the contemplation of heavenly glory. When he beheld the diverse orders of the Church Triumphant — namely, of Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors — distinguished by certain characters; likewise the Canons Regular, Premonstratensians, and Cluniacs; being anxious about his own Order, as he stood looking about and could find no person from it in that glory, he looked toward the Blessed Mother of God with a groan and said: What is this, most holy Lady, and she cherishes the Cistercians under her mantle. that I see no one here from the Cistercian Order? Why are your servants, who most devoutly serve you, excluded from the fellowship of such blessedness? The Queen of heaven, seeing him troubled, answered: Those who are of the Cistercian Order are so dear to me that I cherish them even under my arms. And opening her mantle with which she seemed clothed, which was of wondrous breadth, she showed him an innumerable multitude of monks, lay brothers, and nuns. He, exulting greatly and giving thanks, returned to his body, and narrated to his Abbot what he had seen and heard.

CHAPTER III.

By a certain wondrous vision, the sanctity and perfection of the Cistercian Order is commended by Christ in the very beginnings of its foundation.

[9] Under the patronage of so great a Protectress, in the solitudes of Citeaux, our first Fathers flourished with an uncommon kind of holiness, bearing about in their bodies the mortification of the Christian Cross. For they, devoted to divine service, strove to put on Christ crucified, rejecting riches, despising the pleasures of the world, and entering upon a heavenly manner of living, so that the whole world marveled at the heavenly conversation and angelic purity in these men. The sanctity of Alberic and his companions, Alberic, the humble master and Father of that family, rendered himself pleasing to the Most High by every beauty of holy virtues and by the uncorrupted fragrance of good conversation, and illuminated the minds of his disciples. By his example his disciples progressed to such a degree that in vigils, fasts, mortification of the flesh, zeal for prayer, pious meditations, loftiest contemplation, profound humility, and in the most ardent charity toward God and neighbor, they were true imitators of the holy Father Alberic. Thus the Master followed Christ, and the disciples followed their Master's footsteps, deviating not even in the least from the path of perfection, but holding with the firmest fortitude and constancy of spirit the way that leads to life. Nor would I have dared to assert this so absolutely, had He Himself who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life not confirmed it by His own authority, in a certain wondrous and glorious revelation showing the perfection of the most holy Alberic and of all the Cistercian ascetics who served the Most High under the same Father's guidance.

[10] In the year of the Lord 1104, a certain cleric from Vendopera (I use the words of Vincent of Beauvais), while studying at the schools at Lyon, saw in a night vision a valley beneath a mountain, upon which was situated a most beautiful city, the sight of which greatly delighted those who beheld it, declared by a vision. so that whoever saw it could not be satisfied with its appearance and labored in every way to find how he might reach it. Book 25, chapter 106. Meanwhile he saw a certain river at the foot of the mountain, and as he was going around it, seeking how he might cross it, he saw on the bank of the river twelve poor men washing their tunics in the river. Among them was one clothed in a most brilliant white garment, unlike the others, who helped the others in washing their tunics; after helping one, he went on to help another. Then the cleric who was watching this approached the one who was helping the others and said: What people are you? He replied: These poor men are doing penance and washing themselves from their sins; and I am the Son of God, Jesus Christ, without whose help neither they nor others can do well. This beautiful city that you see is Paradise, where I dwell; and when anyone has washed his tunic and completed his penance, he shall enter it. You yourself have sought long enough for the way that leads to it, but no other way than this leads to it. Having said this, the cleric awoke from sleep and began to wonder at the vision. Not long after, returning from school to his homeland, he narrated this vision to the Bishop of Chalon, with whom he was familiar. The Bishop, hearing it, persuaded him to leave the world and enter religious life, commending to him above all Orders that new Cistercian Order. The location of the Cistercian monastery. He came to Citeaux and found the place uncultivated and deserted, and the Brothers living among the beasts. At the gate of the monastery, which was made of wicker, hung an iron hammer, by whose sound the porter was summoned to the gate by those wishing to enter. The porter, summoned by this sound, came out to him and, bowing, saluted him. The cleric, looking at him, immediately recognized that he had seen him among those who were washing their tunics in the river; and he asked him to lead him to the Abbot. The Abbot, therefore, and the whole Community came to him, and the cleric recognized that he had seen them all washing their tunics in the river. Immediately he fell at the Abbot's feet, asking with tears to be received; and being received, he not long after was made Prior. Thus far Vincent, book 25, chapter 106.

CHAPTER IV.

The holy Abbot Alberic procures the confirmation of his Order by Pontifical authority, and establishes the first laws for the Cistercians.

[11] Gladdened by this delightful vision, by which the Lord deigned to convert that cleric to a better life and to commend their institute above all others, the holy Abbot gave thanks to Almighty God, Alberic sends to obtain the protection of the Apostolic See. as did the rest of the Religious. Meanwhile the holy Abbot, as a man of wondrous prudence, began to foresee what storms of tribulation might at some time shake and vex him and his Order; and providing for the future, with the counsel of the Brothers, he sent two monks, John and Ilbodus, to Rome, beseeching through them the Lord Pope Paschal that his Church, under the wings of Apostolic protection, might sit in perpetual safety from the oppression of all ecclesiastical or secular persons. These aforesaid Brothers, armed with sealed letters from Archbishop Hugo, from John and Benedict, Cardinals of the Roman Church, and from Walter, Bishop of Chalon, went prosperously to Rome and returned, bringing back a privilege of the Supreme Pontiff drawn up in all respects according to the wishes of the Abbot and his companions. We have deemed it fitting to insert these letters and the privilege here, that all may understand with what great counsel and authority our religion was founded.

Letter of Cardinals John and Benedict to Pope Paschal II, in favor of the Cistercian Order.

[12] To the Lord Father, Pope Paschal, worthy of outstanding praise everywhere, John and Benedict offer themselves in all things. Since it pertains to the governance of your office to provide for all Churches and to extend a hand to the just petitions of those who ask, and since the Christian religion, supported by the aid of your justice, ought to receive increase, we most earnestly beseech Your Holiness to deign to incline the ears of your piety to the bearers of these letters, sent to Your Paternity by our counsel from certain devout Brothers. For they ask that the precept which they had received from your Predecessor, our Lord of blessed memory, Pope Urban, concerning the peace and stability of their religious life, and what, according to the tenor of that same precept, the Archbishop of Lyon, then Legate, and the other Co-bishops and Abbots defined between them and the abbey of Molesme (from which they had departed for the sake of religion), may remain inviolable forever by the privilege of your authority. For we ourselves have seen them, and we bear witness to their true religious life.

Letter of Hugo, Archbishop of Lyon, to the same, in favor of the same.

[13] To the Most Reverend Father and his Lord, Pope Paschal II, Hugo, servant of the Church of Lyon, offers himself in all things. These Brothers, bearers of the present letters, making their way to the eminence of Your Paternity, passed through us; and since they have their residence near our province, namely in the diocese of Chalon, they asked to be commended to Your Eminence by the letters of our humility. Know that they are from a certain place called the New Monastery, to which they came from the Church of Molesme, departing with their Abbot for a stricter and more secluded life, The monks of Molesme and others harass Alberic and his companions. in order to observe the Rule of Blessed Benedict which they had proposed, having laid aside the customs of certain monasteries that judged their weakness unequal to so great a work. Whence the Brothers of the Church of Molesme and certain other neighboring monks do not cease to harass and disturb them, thinking themselves held as cheaper and more contemptible in the eyes of the world if these men, as if singular and novel monks, are seen to dwell among them. Wherefore we humbly and with confidence beseech Your most desired Paternity, that you would graciously look upon these Brothers, who place all their hope in you through the Lord and therefore take refuge in the authority of your Apostolate, in your accustomed manner; and that you would fortify them and their place with the privilege of your authority, freeing them from this harassment and disturbance — as poor men of Christ, preparing no defense against their rivals by riches or power, but placing their hope in the sole clemency of God and of yourself.

Letter of Walter, Bishop of Chalon.

[14] To the Venerable Father, Pope Paschal, Walter, Bishop of Chalon, sends greeting and due submission. Just as Your Holiness ardently desires the faithful to advance in true religion, so it is not fitting that the shade of your protection and the comfort of your consolation be wanting to them. We therefore humbly petition that what has been done concerning those Brothers who, out of desire for a stricter life, departed from the Church of Molesme by the counsel of holy men — whom divine piety has placed in our diocese, and from whom the bearers of the present letters, who now stand before you, have been sent — you would deign to approve in accordance with the precept of your predecessor and the definition and document of the Archbishop of Lyon, then Legate of the Apostolic See, and of the Co-bishops and Abbots (of which matter we were present and among the authors, together with others), and to strengthen by the privilege of your authority, so that that place may remain a free abbey in perpetuity, with canonical reverence to your person and your successors preserved. Moreover, the Abbot whom we have ordained in that same place and the rest of the Brothers earnestly request this confirmation from your piety, as a safeguard for their peace.

Privilege of Pope Paschal II granted to the Cistercians.

[15] Paschal, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the venerable Alberic, Abbot of the New Monastery, which is situated in the parish of Chalon, and to his successors to be regularly installed in perpetuity. The desire which is shown to pertain to the purpose of religious men and the salvation of souls is, God being the author, to be fulfilled without any delay. Whence, O sons most beloved in the Lord, we admit without any difficulty the petition of your prayers, we who congratulate your religious life with paternal affection. We therefore decree that the place which you have chosen to inhabit for the sake of monastic quiet shall be safe and free from the annoyances of all mortals, and we confirm that it shall perpetually be held as an abbey The Pontiff grants immunity to the monastery of Citeaux, and be specially protected under the guardianship of the Apostolic See, with the canonical reverence of the Church of Chalon preserved. By the document of the present decree, therefore, we forbid any person whatsoever to change the state of your manner of life, or to receive monks of your monastery, which is called the New, without regular commendation, or to disturb your congregation by any deceit or violence. That settlement of the controversy, moreover, which our brother the Bishop of Lyon, then Vicar of the Apostolic See, together with the Bishops of his province and other religious men, carried out between you and the monks of the cloister of Molesme, by precept of our predecessor of Apostolic memory, Urban II, we confirm as reasonable and praiseworthy. he exhorts the monks to perfection; You therefore, sons most beloved and most desired in Christ, ought to remember that some of you have left the breadth of the world, some even the less austere narrowness of a laxer monastery. That you may therefore always be judged more worthy of this grace, strive always to have the fear and love of God in your hearts, so that the freer you are from worldly tumults and pleasures, the more you may aspire to please God with all the powers of mind and soul. he excommunicates those who disturb them. But if hereafter any Archbishop or Bishop, Emperor or King, Prince or Duke, Count or Viscount, Judge, or any ecclesiastical or secular person, knowing this page of our constitution, shall attempt to act against it, and if, warned a second and third time, he shall not make amends with fitting satisfaction, let him be deprived of the dignity of his power and honor, and know himself guilty before the divine judgment for the iniquity committed, and be made a stranger to the most holy body and blood of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and be subject to appointed vengeance at the last examination. But to all who preserve justice toward that place, may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be granted, so that they may receive here the fruit of good action and find with the strict Judge the rewards of eternal peace. Given at Troia, on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of May, Indiction VIII, in the year 1100.

[16] Thereupon the venerable Abbot Alberic and his Brothers, not unmindful of their pledge, The austerity of the Cistercians. resolved to order and unanimously observe the Rule of Blessed Benedict in that place, casting away from themselves whatever was contrary to the Rule — namely, fur garments and pelisses, and linen shirts and combed coverlets and straw mattresses for beds, and various dishes of food, also suet, and all other things that were opposed to the purity of the Rule — holding above the entire tenor of their life, both in ecclesiastical and in all other observances, that they be conformed and made equal to the footsteps of the Rule.

[17] Rejoicing, therefore, to have put off the old man and put on the new, and because they read that neither in the Rule nor in the life of St. Benedict Their remarkable institutions. had that same Teacher possessed churches, altars, offerings, burials, or the tithes of other men, nor ovens or mills, nor estates or peasants; nor that women had entered his monastery, nor that the dead were buried there except his sister — therefore they renounced all these things, saying: Where the Blessed Father Benedict teaches that a monk should make himself a stranger to the affairs of the world, there he clearly testifies that these things ought not to be found in the actions or hearts of monks, who ought to pursue the etymology of their name by fleeing such things. They also said that tithes, They refuse to accept tithes. distributed by the Holy Fathers (who are the instruments of the Holy Spirit, and whose statutes it is sacrilege to transgress) into four portions — one for the Bishop, another for the Priest, a third for guests coming to that church, or for widows and orphans, or for the poor who do not have sufficient sustenance, and a fourth for the restoration of the church — since in this reckoning they could not find the person of a monk who possesses his own lands and lives by his own labor and that of his cattle, they therefore refused to usurp these things for themselves, as being the property of others, unjustly.

[18] He provides sustenance for himself and guests. Behold, having despised the riches of this world, the new soldiers of Christ began to contend with the poor Christ by what ingenuity, what skill, or what exercise they might sustain themselves, guests, and the poor who came to them in this life. And then they resolved that they would receive lay brothers with beards, and also hired men (for without the help of these they did not see how they could fully observe the precepts of the Rule, day or night); that they would also receive lands remote from the habitation of men, and vineyards, meadows, forests, and waters for making mills, for their own use only, and for fishing; and horses and various livestock useful for human necessity. And when they had established farms in certain places for cultivating the land, they decreed that the aforesaid lay brothers should govern those houses, not monks, because the dwelling of monks according to the Rule ought to be in their own cloister. Because also the holy men knew that Blessed Benedict had built his monasteries neither in cities, nor in towns, nor in villages, but in places removed from the frequenting of the people, they pledged to emulate him in this. And just as he arranged his monasteries by groups of twelve monks with a Father added, so they confirmed that they would do likewise.

CHAPTER V.

He departs most happily from this life, and after death frequently appears to his monks.

[19] When therefore the time of recompense had come, at which Christ had decreed to bestow upon His servant the crown of victory, Alberic falls ill: he was seized by illness, full of days, and fell upon his bed; and fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, he came to the end of life, having lived sufficiently for praise and glory in piety and virtues. He consoled his monks, who followed his passing with tears and grief — declaring him to have been the pillar and foundation stone of the Order — with honeyed speech, commanding that every cloud of sorrow be banished and that they put on a more joyful countenance, promising them the propagation and increase of his Order. Then, as the affliction of his illness grew more severe, turning his face toward the monks, he beholds the heavenly glory. he said with a smile: O my brothers, how merciful is the Lord, for whose love you have left all things! O how well He knows how to repay those who serve Him! Do not be saddened, considering my pains, for they shall bring me the greatest glory. For if you had seen that heavenly glory which I have already beheld prepared for you all, the present life would be wearisome to you, and the future life an object of desire. With the monks refreshed by the sweetness of this word, he himself recited the Apostles' Creed in a clear voice, as if singing like a swan, and afterward read through the Litanies. The face of the praying man shines. And when he had come to that place, Holy Mary, pray for us, his face began, as if suffused with divine light like the sun, to send forth glittering rays. He dies: And presently, as if gently dissolved into sleep, he breathed forth his most holy soul on the tenth day of July, after having governed the monastery of Citeaux for nine and a half years with an incredible example of sanctity. Through his merits and intercession God deigned to work many miracles even after the death of the holy man, and his name has been inscribed in the catalogue of Saints, as Brito testifies in his life.

[20] After his death he frequently appeared to his monks, rousing them to every work of holiness. He often appears to his own. For they saw him while they were chanting in choir, intent upon prayer, or engaged in external labors. And the Cistercian family devoutly offered to his funeral the due office of commendation and exequies with the sweetest affection of mind.

[21] What the most holy Father Stephen, Prior of the same Alberic, thought of his holy manner of life, he declared in the assembly of the Brothers in the following sermon: If grief has made us equal in the loss of so great a good, Sermon of St. Stephen at his obsequies. a feeble consoler will be one who himself needs consolation. You have lost a venerable Father and the governor of your souls; I have lost not only a Father and governor, but a companion, a fellow soldier, and a singular athlete in the wars of God, whom the venerable Father Robert had nurtured from the cradle of the religious life, in one house, with singular teaching, with equal devotion. He is absent from us, but not from God; and if not from God, he will not be absent from us either. For this is the peculiar and proper characteristic of the Saints: when they depart from life, they leave their body to their friends and carry their friends in their minds. We have the little body, the singular pledge of our dearest Father, and he has carried us all in his mind with pious affection. And if he, led to God, has been joined to Him with inseparable love, then us also, who are in Him, he has likewise joined. What more is there to grieve? Happy lot! Happier he to whom it has thus befallen! Happiest are we, raised to such a presence. For nothing more joyful can befall the athletes of Christ than, having left behind the garment of the flesh, to fly to Him for whose love they have endured so many labors. The combatant has received the prize; the runner has seized the reward; the victor has gained the crown; the possessor intercedes for us to obtain the palm. Why then do we grieve? Why do we weep over one who rejoices? Why do we mourn over one who exults? Why do we, with sad voices and plaintively, prostrate ourselves before the Lord, if he who has been raised to the stars grieves over this (if the blessed can grieve) — he who with constant desire prays that a similar end may be granted to us? Let us not grieve over a soldier now secure: let us grieve over ourselves, stationed in battle, and let us turn our sad and mournful voices into prayers, beseeching the triumphant Father not to allow the roaring lion and savage adversary to triumph over us.