Blessed Gerard of Clairvaux ( la, Gerardus de Clara Valle, french: Gérard de Clairvaux) (c. 1120 – 1177) was the sixth

abbot of Clairvaux Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a ...

. He was murdered by a rebellious monk and is counted as the first

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

martyr.

Life

Gerard was a native of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and as a young man entered the then- Benedictine Fossanova Abbey, to the south of Rome. He became its first abbot after the monastery joined the young Cistercian Order, at first for about five years, and again from 1158. In 1170/1171 Gerard was chosen abbot of Clairvaux. He also quoted some of St. Bernard's most notable quotes. He was known as a strict disciplinarian and during a visitation of

Igny Abbey ; , other_names = ''Abbaye Notre-Dame du Val d'Igny'' , order = Cistercian, Trappist , established = 1126-1128, 1876, 1929 , disestablished = 1790-1874 and 1914-1929 , mother = Cîteaux Abbey, France , diocese ...

, a daughter house of Clairvaux, was murdered by a monk named Hugh of , whom he had threatened with disciplinary punishment.

Veneration

The most important source for Gerard's life and death is the ''Exordium magnum Ordinis Cisterciensis'' by

Konrad of Eberbach Conrad of Eberbach (german: Konrad von Eberbach, la, Conradus Eberbacensis) (died 18 September 1221) was a Cistercian monk, and later abbot, of Eberbach Abbey, Germany, and historian of the early Cistercian Order. Life Nothing is known of Con ...

, written some decades after the events in Clairvaux. It already portrays Gerard as a martyr, recounting that Petrus Monoculus, who was the abbot of Igny at the time of the murder and from 1179 Gerard's next successor but one at Clairvaux, had a vision of him during the funeral mass together with Saint Bernard in the light of heaven.The vision is given a
trappistevitorchiano.it
. His liturgical veneration in the Cistercian Order was first permitted however by

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

in 1702. His feast day is 8 March.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard of Clairvaux 12th-century births 1177 deaths Abbots of Clairvaux Italian Cistercians Italian people murdered abroad Italian beatified people Italian emigrants to France People from Lombardy 12th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Benedictine martyrs Cistercian saints 12th-century assassinated people Assassinated religious leaders