Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Writers
Blessed Guerric of Igny
Abbot († c. 1155) Feast: August 19
Guerric was born in Tournai, Belgium, and he became both a monk and a priest at the cathedral in his hometown. Later he was made headmaster of the cathedral’s Benedictine school.
However, he had heard great things about the new Cistercian order, and he decided to find out more by traveling to Clairvaux abbey in France. There Guerric met the man we now call Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who was a profound mystic, charismatic preacher, and strong proponent of monastic reform. Bernard was also very persuasive, and Guerric soon joined the Cistercian order.
Guerric is often overshadowed by Bernard today, and some of his writings have been incorrectly attributed to Bernard in the past. But Guerric was a prolific writer in his own right, and he too became a Cistercian abbot. Only fifty-four of Guerric’s sermons still survive, but they show us how he sought to help his monks draw close to God through the liturgy. He knew that singing, chanting, reading, and meditating during the Mass and the Divine Office could help us raise our hearts and minds to God in a powerful way. He emphasized the importance of interiorizing the words from the liturgical texts, allowing God’s sacred word to unite us with him. He died at Igny Abbey of natural causes.
Lord God, help us to draw close to you
through the words of the Mass.
