Saint Norbert

Norbert was born around 1080 at Xanten, in the Rhineland, into a noble family. He received minor orders and an income as a canon but lived a comfortable life at the court of Emperor Henry V. In 1115 he was thrown from his horse by a bolt of lightning during a storm; shaken, he changed his life, was ordained a priest and became a barefoot itinerant preacher calling people to penance and peace.

In 1120, at Prémontré in northern France, he founded a community of canons who lived under the Rule of Saint Augustine, known as the Premonstratensians or Norbertines. He defended faith in the Real Presence in Antwerp, where a preacher was denying the sacraments. In 1126 he became archbishop of Magdeburg and worked to reform the clergy there. He died on June 6, 1134, and was canonized in 1582.

Norbert is usually shown holding a monstrance, a sign of his love for the Eucharist. His relics were moved in 1627 to the Strahov Abbey in Prague, where Norbertines still celebrate his feast.

Norbertine abbeys in the United States, such as St. Norbert Abbey in Wisconsin, mark the day with Mass and community celebrations.