St. Norbert

 For the letter 'N' today we will feature St. Norbert of Xanten. Xanten is a town in the northwestern part of Germany. Norbert was born here around 1075 as a member of the high nobility. 

Through the influence of his family, he obtained a financial subsidy from the parish church when he accepted ordination to the subdiaconate. His only duty was to chant the Divine Office at the Church, but he apparently paid someone to take his place in the choir when he was appointed as chaplain to the Emperor Henry V. The salaries from the church and the royal treasury equipped him to live in the style of the nobility. He avoided ordination to the priesthood and the implied responsibilities that accompanied that profession. 

In the spring of 1115, a thunderstorm came up while he was riding his horse. A bolt of lightening struck suddenly and his horse bolted, throwing him to the ground. He lay unconscious for nearly an hour. This brush with mortality gave Norbert a change of heart. He renounced his position at court and turned to a life of prayer and penance. He submitted to instruction for the priesthood and founded the Abbey of Furstenberg. He sold all his property, gave the proceeds to the poor and became an itinerant preacher preaching throughout what is now western Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France. 

In 1120, Norbert founded the Canons Regular of Premontre in the Diocese of Laon France at the request of Pope Calixtus II. He gained adherents in Germany, France, Belgium and Transylvania. In 1126, Pope Honorius II appointed him Archbishop of Magdeburg. Several assassination attempts were made upon the Archbishop as he began to reform the lax discipline of his see. He was especially vigilant at protecting the Church's rights against the secular power. 

Norbert died on June 6, 1134 at the age of 53. His feast day is June 6.