Saint Norbert was born in Xanten in Rhineland, Western Germany, in the year 1080. During the early part of his life, he was engaged in all sorts of worldly pleasures. He moved away from the comforts of his noble family to the pleasure-loving German court. To ensure his success at court, he had no hesitation in accepting holy orders as a canon and enjoy the financial benefices that came along with that position. However, he was reluctant to become a priest and take up the responsibilities that came with that vocation.
Once, while Norbert was out on a ride, a thunderstorm boiled up and a sudden flash of lightning split the dark and his horse bucked, throwing him to the ground. He lied down there for almost an hour and when he woke up, his first words were, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" - the same words Saul spoke to Jesus his way to Damascus. In response, Norbert heard in his heart, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."
He immediately returned to the place of his birth, Xanten, to devote himself to prayer and penance. He embraced the instruction for the priesthood and was ordained in 1115. Norbert gave away everything he owned to the poor and went to the pope for permission to preach.
He became an itinerant preacher, traveling through Europe with his two companions. Contrary to his old ways, he chose the most difficult ways to travel - walking barefoot in the middle of winter through snow and ice. Unfortunately the two companions who followed him died from the ill-effects of exposure.
At the Council of Reims in October 1119, Pope Calixtus II requested Norbert to found a religious order in the Diocese of Laon in France. On Christmas Day, 1120, Norbert established the Canons Regular of Prémontré.
The bishop of Laon wanted Norbert to help reform the canons in his see and offered him land where he could start his own community. He began his community with thirteen canons in a lonely valley called Premontre. Despite the strictness of his regulation, his reforms attracted many disciples until eight abbeys and two convents were involved. Even the canons who had originally rejected him asked to be part of the reform.
In 1126, Pope Honorius II appointed Norbert to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, where he put into practice the precepts he instituted at Prémontré. Several assassination attempts were made as he began to reform the lax discipline of his see. He was instrumental in protecting the Church's rights against the secular power during the Investiture Controversy.
When two rival popes were elected after the death of Honorius II in 1130, Norbert supported Innocent II and resisted Antipope Anacletus II.
During Norbert's last years, he was chancellor and adviser to Lothair II, the Holy Roman Emperor, persuading him to lead an army in 1133 to Rome to restore Pope Innocent to the papacy. At the end of his life he was made an archbishop but he died soon after on June 6, 1134 at the age of 53.
Norbert was canonized by Pope Gregory XIII in the year 1582 and his statue appears above the Piazza colonnade of St. Peter's Square in Rome.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Alexander
2. Saint Bertrand
3. Saint Ceratius
4. Saint Gudwal
5. Saint Nilammon
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