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Feb. 16 Saint Gilbert of Sempringham. breski1 February 16, 2008 Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083 – 4 February 1190) became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the …More
Feb. 16 Saint Gilbert of Sempringham.

breski1 February 16, 2008

Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083 – 4 February 1190) became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the abbot of Citeaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148. In turn he founded a monastery of Canons Regular.
Irapuato
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
DAILY PRAYER WITH REGNUM CHRISTI
JESUS, HIS WAY
February 16, 2011
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Scott Reilly, LC
Mark 8:22-26
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to
him a blind man and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind
man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on
his eyes he laid his hands on him …More
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
DAILY PRAYER WITH REGNUM CHRISTI
JESUS, HIS WAY
February 16, 2011
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Scott Reilly, LC
Mark 8:22-26
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to
him a blind man and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind
man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on
his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?"
Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking."
Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his
sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he
sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe you are leading me, but
sometimes I sense insecurity creeping within me. So I renew my
confidence in you once more. I know that you can desire only what is
good for me. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. In return, take
my love and my desire to please you in everything.
Petition: Deepen my humility and increase my trust in you, dear
Jesus!
1. Jesus Leads From the very get-go, we push ahead for
self-sufficiency. Think of a little child who strives to walk by
himself, without his parents helping him keep his balance. In the
spiritual life, it's the opposite: We need to reach out to Christ for
guidance, support and strength. Admitting our faults can be a
humbling, but fruitful experience. Pride prevents us from doing this
gracefully, but--have faith--if we do, Jesus will unleash his power
within our lives. "Holiness is not in one exercise or another, it
consists in a disposition of the heart, which renders us humble and
little in the hands of God, conscious of our weakness but confident,
even daringly confident, in his fatherly goodness" (St. Therese of
Lisieux).
2. Patience, God has a Plan "I want it now" is a modern cliché.
Our wanting it now, though, doesn't always work with God. His plan is
a plan for our greater good—even if it isn't our plan. The
blind man's sight wasn't healed instantly, but gradually. How we want
to be holy now and never return to the valley of filth and pride!
Yet we seem to fall again and again. Holiness is always a work in
progress, but that doesn't faze Jesus. He knows the power his grace
can work in our lives. Simply turn your difficulties over to him and
keep trying. Our failures teach us to be humble, and this can only
bring us closer to God. "This I know very well: although I should
have on my soul all the crimes that could be committed, I would lose
none of my confidence; rather, I would hasten, with my heart broken
into pieces by sorrow, to cast myself into the arms of my Savior. I
know how greatly he loved the prodigal son; I have marked his words
to Mary Magdalene, to the adulterous woman, to the Samaritan. No, no
one could make me afraid, because I know to whom to cling by reason
of his love and mercy. I know that all this multitude of offenses
would disappear in the twinkling of an eye, as a drop in a roaring
furnace" (St. Therese of Lisieux).
3. Humble Jesus He tells the man not to go into the village. Is
Jesus afraid or in a hurry? No, his humility simply beckons him to
move on quietly without anyone knowing. Jesus is fascinated with
humility and thus practices it. We, on the other hand, love to get
the credit; we crave recognition. Simply enter a professional office
and behold the recognition plaques lining the walls like wallpaper.
Jesus had no plaques; he had only a reputation of doing good deeds.
He teaches us the power of purity of intention, which shuns any type
of self-aggrandizement.
Conversation with Christ: Jesus, help me to abandon myself to your
care; I trust in you completely. Knowing that I am weak and you are
my strength gives me confidence. Help me to keep in mind that I am
little and you are great. You are the one who deserves the glory, and
you ought to be the protagonist in my life. Help me to go about
quietly doing good like you.
Resolution: I will make an act of charity, praying, "Jesus, I do
this only because I want to prove my love for you."
meditation.regnumchristi.org
Irapuato
Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083 – 4 February 1190) became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the abbot of Citeaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148. In turn he founded a monastery of Canons Regular.
Biography
Gilbert was born at Sempringham, near Bourne in Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin …More
Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083 – 4 February 1190) became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the abbot of Citeaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148. In turn he founded a monastery of Canons Regular.
Biography
Gilbert was born at Sempringham, near Bourne in Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin, an Anglo-Norman lord of the manor, who bucked the usual trend of the day and actively prevented his son from becoming a knight, instead sending him to the University of Paris to study theology. Some physical deformity may have made him unfit for military service, making an ecclesiastical career the best option. When he returned in 1120 he became a clerk in the household of Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln, started a school for boys and girls (the existing primary school at Sempringham is still named after him) and was finally ordained by Robert's successor, Alexander.
When his father died in 1130 he became lord of the manor of Sempringham, and immediately began using his inherited wealth to fund expansion of the Gilbertines, his new order. Eventually he had a chain of twenty-six convents, monasteries and missions; in 1148 he approached the Cistercians for help. They refused because he included women in his order. The male part of the order consisted of Canons Regular.
He was imprisoned in 1165 on a charge of aiding Thomas Becket when Thomas had fled from King Henry II after the council of Northampton, but he was eventually found innocent. Then, when he was 90, some of his lay brothers revolted, but he received the backing of Pope Alexander III. Gilbert resigned his office late in life because of blindness and died at Sempringham in about 1190, at the age of 106.[1]
[edit] Veneration
He was canonized in 1202. His liturgical feast day is on 4 February, commemorating his death.
[edit] References
^ Graham, Rose. S. Gilbert of Sempringham and the Gilbertines: a history of the only English monastic order (London: Elliott Stock, 1903)
[edit] Further reading
Müller, Anne, "Entcharismatisierung als Geltungsgrund? Gilbert von Sempringham und der frühe Gilbertinerorden," in Giancarlo Andenna / Mirko Breitenstein / Gert Melville (Hgg.), Charisma und religiöse Gemeinschaften im Mittelalter. Akten des 3. Internationalen Kongresses des "Italienisch-deutschen Zentrums für Vergleichende Ordensgeschichte" (Münster u.a., LIT, 2005) (Vita regularis. Ordnungen und Deutungen religiosen Lebens im Mittelalter, 26), 151-172.
[edit] External links
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Gilbert of Sempringham
Catholic Forum: St. Gilbert of Sempringham
St. Gilbert of Sempringham
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_of_Sempringham