…bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
O God, Who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put in practice by Thy grace what he taught us, both in word and work. Awake, […]
Friends, As we approach the great feast of Easter –joy, hope, promise, salvation– let us consider the words from the 2019 Easter message of the Norbertine Abbot General, Jos Wouters. Let us keep each other in prayer and friendship. The Abbot writes: Some years ago, I preached the retreat during Holy Week at […]
“Sometime later he was wearing himself out by severe fasting and abstinence, pushing himself day and night with vigils and prayer. While he was celebrating Mass as customary in a certain crypt, a spider fell into the already consecrated chalice.[6-2] When the priest saw it he was shocked. Life and death hovered before his eyes. […]
Brian Fitzgerald’s 2014 essay, “Teaching by Word and Example: St Norbert of Xanten”(Crisis Magazine online) gives an insightful glimpse into a man we in the USA don’t know too much about but who continues to impact the way we live our common Catholic faith in communio. In some ways, the 11th century Norbert was a […]
This hymn text by J. Michael Thompson was published before, but it bears repeating again because as a prayer, it names the desires of the heart and puts us in right-relation to the Lord through the life of Saint Norbert. “I myself shall lead my sheep, Guarding them from danger; They shall hear and follow […]
This past summer –so this is old news for some– the Sisters of the Mountain, the Norbertine Canonesses, established the first monastery for women in the USA. The Norbertine vocation is different from being a Dominican, Augustinian or Benedictine. The new monastery, The Bethlehem Priory of St Joseph, is located in Tehachapi, California. A life of […]
The Litany in honor of our holy father Saint Norbert Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, hear us, Christ, graciously hear us, God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us, God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, God, the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, one God, […]
The Nortbertine Order is not that well known in the USA, though it is a venerable way of living one’s vocation: canons praying the Divine Office, living together in community, and being apostolically engaged in the local Church. In the USA, we have the primary Norbertines abbeys of St Norbert’s Abbey (WI), Daylesford Abbey (PA), […]
On August 27, 2012, the Abbot of Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, PA, vested two secular priests in a traditional rite as novices of the Norbertine Abbey. The video digest of vocation story of Father Herb Sperger being vested with the Norbertine habit can be viewed here. Father David Driesch gives us his vocation story on […]
Saint Norbert is often overlooked in this country, perhaps because he lived so long ago that he hardly matters today, or because meeting his spiritual sons and daughters is a rarity unless you live in Paoli, PA, DePere, WI or Silverado, CA, New Mexico (or a handful of other places places) where you might encounter […]