St Gilbert
The Life of St Gilbert
A narrow track from the main road in the Lincolnshire village of Sempringham leads eventually to the tiny church dedicated to St. Andrew. Standing on a hilltop and noticably isolated are the visible remains where St. Gilbert of Sempringham began his work which resulted in the only English monastic order for nuns, canons,lay brothers and sisters being founded. Little may be known about him but his influence, even after some 900 years has not been forgotten.
Gilbert was the eldest son of Jocelyn, a Norman knight and his low born Anglo-saxon wife. He was born between 1083-89,(in most biographies it is 1083), his mother had a vision that he would be special before his birth. It was a time within memory of the Norman invasion of England and he was half Norman half Saxon.
He is said to have been born with some form of disability and a variety of suggestions have been made as to the form that this was manifest - curvature of the spine being one. Whatever it was, the household servants would not eat at the same table with him. He was unfit for military service and in his very early childhood seemed to have no enthusiasm of learning and is said to have been cared for by his mother and this is maybe why he had such an affinity and kindness for women in an age when women were not generally allowed an education. At some point, however, his education led him to France . He returned having acquire the title of Master, by which he was known for posterity.
When he returned we see him educating the local children, of both sexes, which was unusual for the time in his district of Lincolnshire. His father was impressed with his education and abilities and his religious manner and presented him with the rectories of Sempringham and West Torrington so that he had an income.
He only held minor orders but for a time joined the household of the Bishop of Lincoln, firstly with Robert Bloet (died 1123)and with Alexander (1123-1148) as a clerk.
He did not take holy orders until he reached his 40th year, due to his reservations of being unworth, and for similar reasons he refused the position of archdeacon in the diocese which stretched from the Humber to the Thames and was the largest diocese in Europe .
In 1131 he founded a home for girls whose residence was attached to his church at Sempringham and hired a priest named Geoffrey, and they shared rooms above the church entrance. In 1139 he moved his small community to a new site a field's distance from his church and in due course this became the mother-house for the Gilbertine Order of Sempringham. He was later to add lay sisters, ministering priests (ordained canons) and lay brothers.
In 1147 Gilbert travelled to France hoping to persuade the Cistercian Order to adopt his community of nuns. This was refused but with the encouragement of Pope Eugenius III, who himself had been a Cistercian monk, and Bernard of Clairvaux, he drew up the Institutes of the Gilbertine Order. Back in England Gilbert became "Master" of the Order by the Popes rule. He was not attached to any particular house and was not the Prior of Sempringham. It was his responsibility to visit all the houses in his care, there being no visitation rights given to the diocesan bishops.
At the point when in old age he became blind he transferred with the consent of the Order, his responsibility to Roger, the prior of Malton. Gilbert did not take the vows of the Gilbertine Order until he was close to death. He felt that doing so would be a sign of arrogance as he had written the Gilbertine Rule.
Miracles were attributed to him during his lifetime as well as after his death. Some are said to have taken place at Chicksands. When he reached his centennial year he felt compelled to "pass from this life in which he was so greatly broken for penance which he had endured in God's service, but yet all his members were whole as we have said before, save his sight."
On Christmas night in 1188, whilst at his island house of Cadney (Newstead in Ancholme) he was taken ill. He was given the last rites (then known as extreme unction) and carried by his companion Roger and chaplain to Sempringham, a distance of forty miles. On the 3rd February of 1189, the priors of all his churches went to Sempringham to receive his blessing. On the last day, he lay unconscious with Roger (Prior of Malton), his successor, at his bedside. He died the following morning about the hour of Matins. He was buried three days later. His tomb was placed between the altars of St. Mary and St. Andrew, on either side of the wall which divided the canons from the nuns, so that all alike might see him. During his lifetime Gilbert had built 13 monasteries, nine for men and women together, four for men only. Besides these had had also built hostels for the poor, the sick, the leper, the widow and the orphan
Eleven years after his death, Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury sent the Priors of the Lincolnshire Gilbertine houses of Swineshead, Bourn and Croxton to make inquisition to write an account of his life about him and his miracles. King John and some of his nobles visited Gilbert's tomb, 9th January 1201 . The Abbots arrived the same day and were satisfied as to the truth of the miracles. The King, Archbishop, Bishops and the three Priors sent letters to Pope Innocent III, asking for the canonisation of Gilbert of Sempringham. The pope decreed a three day's fast on the whole Order and a further investigation into the life and miracles of Gilbert; the fast took place, 24 September 1202 with the inquisition on the third day.
Five canons and six men cured of infirmities by Gilbert, set out for Rome arriving on 31 December 1202 . The Pope gave the decree on 11th January and the feast of St. Gilbert was commanded to be on 4th February, The Papal Bull was issued 30 January 1202 and sent to the two Archbishops ( Canterbury & York) and the Gilbertine Order.
The occasion of St. Gilbert's translation (death) is detailed in depth, 13 Oct 1202 . Brian Golding tells us that it was "marked by the usual manifestations of bright lights, sweet odours, and incorrupt clothing". Additionally the archbishop of Canterbury was privileged with a cure from illness which threatened to prevent him continuing with the lengthy ceremonies. The archbishop issued an indulgence of 40 days and an additional one of 169 days from bishops assisting at the translation, to all those visiting the shrine or making grants to the priory."
In the centuries which have followed the life and death of St. Gilbert of Sempringham, little is now visible of the convents and monasteries that he founded.The Priory church of Malton in Yorkshire is in use, Chicksands, however, has the most substantial remains of a cloister of the twenty five that were built in England .
In 1984 a group of parishioners met at the Cistercian abbey of Mount St. Bernard , Leicestershire. As a result a devotional society, The Oblates of St. Gilbert, meet regularly to recite the Gilbertine liturgy.
Gilbert was the eldest son of Jocelyn, a Norman knight and his low born Anglo-saxon wife. He was born between 1083-89,(in most biographies it is 1083), his mother had a vision that he would be special before his birth. It was a time within memory of the Norman invasion of England and he was half Norman half Saxon.
He is said to have been born with some form of disability and a variety of suggestions have been made as to the form that this was manifest - curvature of the spine being one. Whatever it was, the household servants would not eat at the same table with him. He was unfit for military service and in his very early childhood seemed to have no enthusiasm of learning and is said to have been cared for by his mother and this is maybe why he had such an affinity and kindness for women in an age when women were not generally allowed an education. At some point, however, his education led him to France . He returned having acquire the title of Master, by which he was known for posterity.
When he returned we see him educating the local children, of both sexes, which was unusual for the time in his district of Lincolnshire. His father was impressed with his education and abilities and his religious manner and presented him with the rectories of Sempringham and West Torrington so that he had an income.
He only held minor orders but for a time joined the household of the Bishop of Lincoln, firstly with Robert Bloet (died 1123)and with Alexander (1123-1148) as a clerk.
He did not take holy orders until he reached his 40th year, due to his reservations of being unworth, and for similar reasons he refused the position of archdeacon in the diocese which stretched from the Humber to the Thames and was the largest diocese in Europe .
In 1131 he founded a home for girls whose residence was attached to his church at Sempringham and hired a priest named Geoffrey, and they shared rooms above the church entrance. In 1139 he moved his small community to a new site a field's distance from his church and in due course this became the mother-house for the Gilbertine Order of Sempringham. He was later to add lay sisters, ministering priests (ordained canons) and lay brothers.
In 1147 Gilbert travelled to France hoping to persuade the Cistercian Order to adopt his community of nuns. This was refused but with the encouragement of Pope Eugenius III, who himself had been a Cistercian monk, and Bernard of Clairvaux, he drew up the Institutes of the Gilbertine Order. Back in England Gilbert became "Master" of the Order by the Popes rule. He was not attached to any particular house and was not the Prior of Sempringham. It was his responsibility to visit all the houses in his care, there being no visitation rights given to the diocesan bishops.
At the point when in old age he became blind he transferred with the consent of the Order, his responsibility to Roger, the prior of Malton. Gilbert did not take the vows of the Gilbertine Order until he was close to death. He felt that doing so would be a sign of arrogance as he had written the Gilbertine Rule.
Miracles were attributed to him during his lifetime as well as after his death. Some are said to have taken place at Chicksands. When he reached his centennial year he felt compelled to "pass from this life in which he was so greatly broken for penance which he had endured in God's service, but yet all his members were whole as we have said before, save his sight."
On Christmas night in 1188, whilst at his island house of Cadney (Newstead in Ancholme) he was taken ill. He was given the last rites (then known as extreme unction) and carried by his companion Roger and chaplain to Sempringham, a distance of forty miles. On the 3rd February of 1189, the priors of all his churches went to Sempringham to receive his blessing. On the last day, he lay unconscious with Roger (Prior of Malton), his successor, at his bedside. He died the following morning about the hour of Matins. He was buried three days later. His tomb was placed between the altars of St. Mary and St. Andrew, on either side of the wall which divided the canons from the nuns, so that all alike might see him. During his lifetime Gilbert had built 13 monasteries, nine for men and women together, four for men only. Besides these had had also built hostels for the poor, the sick, the leper, the widow and the orphan
Eleven years after his death, Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury sent the Priors of the Lincolnshire Gilbertine houses of Swineshead, Bourn and Croxton to make inquisition to write an account of his life about him and his miracles. King John and some of his nobles visited Gilbert's tomb, 9th January 1201 . The Abbots arrived the same day and were satisfied as to the truth of the miracles. The King, Archbishop, Bishops and the three Priors sent letters to Pope Innocent III, asking for the canonisation of Gilbert of Sempringham. The pope decreed a three day's fast on the whole Order and a further investigation into the life and miracles of Gilbert; the fast took place, 24 September 1202 with the inquisition on the third day.
Five canons and six men cured of infirmities by Gilbert, set out for Rome arriving on 31 December 1202 . The Pope gave the decree on 11th January and the feast of St. Gilbert was commanded to be on 4th February, The Papal Bull was issued 30 January 1202 and sent to the two Archbishops ( Canterbury & York) and the Gilbertine Order.
The occasion of St. Gilbert's translation (death) is detailed in depth, 13 Oct 1202 . Brian Golding tells us that it was "marked by the usual manifestations of bright lights, sweet odours, and incorrupt clothing". Additionally the archbishop of Canterbury was privileged with a cure from illness which threatened to prevent him continuing with the lengthy ceremonies. The archbishop issued an indulgence of 40 days and an additional one of 169 days from bishops assisting at the translation, to all those visiting the shrine or making grants to the priory."
In the centuries which have followed the life and death of St. Gilbert of Sempringham, little is now visible of the convents and monasteries that he founded.The Priory church of Malton in Yorkshire is in use, Chicksands, however, has the most substantial remains of a cloister of the twenty five that were built in England .
In 1984 a group of parishioners met at the Cistercian abbey of Mount St. Bernard , Leicestershire. As a result a devotional society, The Oblates of St. Gilbert, meet regularly to recite the Gilbertine liturgy.