Ailbertus of Antoing

Ailbertus von Antoing (* 1060 or 1065 in Antoing ( Belgium ), † September 19, 1122 near Sechtem ) was a priest from Wallonia . It comes from the place Antoing near Tournai in Hainaut . A process for beatification by the Catholic Church was initiated in 2000 by the Archbishop of Cologne .

Childhood, youth and early adolescence

In this abbey in Tournai (nl: Doornik) Ailbertus was brought up to be a canon. Here he was also ordained a priest.

Little is known about Ailbertus and his brothers' childhood and youth. His name was first mentioned in 1087. At that time he was already living as a canon in a monastery near Tournai. He followed the teaching of St. Augustine .

Foundation of the Rolduc Abbey near Herzogenrath

Together with his two brothers Thyemo and Walgerus , he built a small, wooden chapel in 1104 on the site of today's Rolduc Abbey . This formed the nucleus of the abbey, which later became very important in the region . The land for this was made available by Count Adelbert von Saffenberg , who was lord of the castle in the neighboring Herzogenrath . The first wooden chapel soon gave way to a stone church with a crypt. This stone building was financed by the wealth of the wealthy nobleman Embrico von Mayschoss , after he and his family entered the monastery.

In the annals of the Rolduc monastery, the Annales Rodenses , which were written long after the death of Ailbertus, Ailbertus is described as an extremely modest man living in extensive asceticism, who even if he had to starve or freeze himself still gave food and clothing to needy people who were suffering from severe famine at that time.

Move to Clairfontaine

After some differences of opinion with Mayschoss regarding the way of life in the monastery, Ailbertus left the Rolduc Abbey in 1111. While he advocated a modest life of asceticism and wanted to establish it for the young monastery community, Mayschoss seemed by no means averse to material well-being. The founder of the monastery and its most important financier fell out over this. The irony of fate: for more than five centuries, the complex subsequently served the Augustinian canons, who were considered strict, as a monastery and later as a training center for priests and pastors.

Ailbertus then ended up in Claire-Fontaine near Vervins in Picardy . There he was, it seems, involved in building another abbey, which was besieged and destroyed in the 17th century during the Eighty Years' War . Shortly before the completion of the abbey, Ailbertus moved back to Klosterrath , but he died on the way there while he was staying in Sechtem . Against his last will, he was buried there before the rushed Adolf von Saffenberg, the son and successor of Adelbert von Saffenberg, could transfer his remains to Klosterrath.

Final rest

At the end of the 19th century, the bones of Ailbertus were finally to be transferred to the Rolduc monastery and laid to rest there. In fact, the bones that were believed to be those of Ailbertus were also transferred to Kerkrade and solemnly buried in the crypt of the abbey church of Rolduc Abbey. However, recently it turned out that these bones cannot be those of Ailbertus.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Annales Rhodenses (online; Dutch) .
2. ↑ cf. P / E ratio
3. ↑ cf. on the monastery at Clairefontain: Information on Clairfontaine (fr) ( Memento from September 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive )