Guerric from Igny

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The blessed Guerric of Igny (lat. Guerricus even Werricho , * around 1070/80 in Tournai ; † 19th August 1157 in igny abbey , Arcis-le-Ponsart ) was a Cistercian , disciple and contemporary of St. Bernard .

Life

Guerric's life has come down mainly from documented sources from the Diocese of Tournai: Not much is known from his early life, he was probably a canon and taught at the Tournai Cathedral School. We also know that he lived for a few years as a hermit near Tournai Cathedral, where he was walled up in a cell. Guerric may have used the hermit life of Magister Odo von Tournai and some others as a model, which they had chosen out of the desire to live a life in radical following of Christ. His time as a hermit is probably a reflection of his preoccupation with the works of the monks of Christian antiquity and those of the church fathers. In addition, Guerric was already busy at this point in time with the writings of Plato (Timaeus and Commentaries), which he would later receive.

In 1122 Guerric met Bernhard von Clairvaux during his trip to Flanders, became his pupil and subsequently, around 1124, entered the Cistercian monastery in Cîteaux . In Cîteaux he led a quiet life, fully devoted to the liturgy, until he was appointed abbot of the daughter monastery Igny by Bernhard von Clairvaux in 1138 . Ten years later, in 1148, Guerric was able to found the daughter monastery Valroy in the diocese of Reims from his monastery in Igny .

Guerric von Igny died very old in 1157 in Igny and was venerated as a saint within the Cistercian order in the Middle Ages. His feast is the anniversary of his death on August 19th. Because of his sermons , he is one of the "Four Evangelists of Cîteaux", along with Bernhard von Clairvaux, Aelred von Rievaulx and William von Saint Thierry , who shape the spirituality of the Cistercians to this day.

Guerric's work

During his time as Abbot of Igny, Guerric wrote his sermones , which are characterized by realism and humor. Due to their easy readability - Guerric used rhetorical stylistic devices of antiquity - and the inclusion of lay topics and problems of everyday life, they became particularly well known.

In his work Guerric deals with the riddle of man and takes up ideas from Plato. Central to Guerric is a new spiritual birth of man, which can be achieved through a three-part process of following Christ and at the end of which stands the spiritually renewed man, in whose soul God - metaphorically speaking - can be born. The ability to bring Christ to the world in this way through his own actions, he basically ascribes to every person.

Originally, Guerric had not intended to “publish” his work: he decided to have his unfinished work - which he had written without the consent of the General Chapter - burned on his deathbed . We owe the sermons to his students, who had already copied the work, which quickly became widely known among the contemporaries who followed immediately and with the support of the Order.

Other works:

  • In the Gardens of the Word of God (Discourse)
  • Book of love (sermon parable)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Guerric from Igny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guerric by Guerricus; Guerric from Werricho
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cistercians
DATE OF BIRTH between 1070 and 1080
PLACE OF BIRTH Tournai
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 1157
Place of death Igny Monastery , Arcis-le-Ponsart