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Stephen Harding (french: Étienne Harding) ( 106028 March 1134) was an English-born
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
and
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...
, who was one of the founders of the
Cistercian Order 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 Sain ...
. He is honoured as a
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...
in the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.


Life

There is little archival evidence, yet all sources agree that Stephen was English and spent some time at the monastery of Sherborne as a young man. The main source about his youth, William of Malmesbury, states that Stephen then went to France and became friends with another Englishman, called Peter. The two made a pilgrimage to Rome, took new religious names and then went to
Molesme Abbey Molesme Abbey was a well-known Benedictine monastery in Molesme, in Laignes, Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, on the border of the Dioceses of Langres and Troyes. History Molesme Abbey was founded in 1075 by Robert, a former prior of the Abbey of Montie ...
upon returning to
Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...
, around 1085. On their return from Rome, they also experienced the monastic traditions of the
Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermita ...
and
Vallombrosians The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa ( la, Vallis umbrosa, sha ...
. In 1098, Stephen went to the new monastery (soon to be known as Cîteaux) together with
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
and Alberic, was elected abbot in 1108, and died in 1134. Stephen was the third abbot of Cîteaux. Under his administration, very few novices were joining the community and the monks were suffering from hunger and sickness. In 1112,
Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through t ...
entered the community, bringing with him thirty companions. Between 1112 and 1119, a dozen new Cistercian houses were founded to accommodate those joining the young order. Harding's organizational skills were exceptional; he instituted the system of general chapters and regular visitations. In 1119, he received official approbation for the ''
Carta Caritatis ''Carta Caritatis'' () is the constitution of the Cistercian Order. The document, approbated in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II, regulates relations among the Cistercian abbeys. The text was continually revised and adapted until 1155. In terms of canon l ...
'' (Charter of Charity), an important document for the Cistercian Order, establishing its unifying principles. Many of his policies and decisions were influenced from his time with the Vallombrosians. Stephen Harding served as abbot of Cîteaux for twenty-five years. While no single person is considered the founder of the Cistercian Order, the shape of Cistercian thought and its rapid growth in the 12th century were certainly due in some part to Harding's leadership. He was the abbot who accepted Bernard of Clairvaux. Insisting on simplicity in all aspects of monastic life, Stephen encouraged the severity of Cistercian architecture and the simple beauty of the Order's liturgy and
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
. He was an accomplished scribe; his highest achievement is considered to be the ''
Harding Bible Harding may refer to: People *Harding (surname) *Maureen Harding Clark (born 1946), Irish jurist Places Australia * Harding River Iran * Harding, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province South Africa * Harding, KwaZulu-Natal United St ...
''. In 1133, he resigned as abbot because of poor eyesight.Huddleston, Gilbert. "St. Stephen Harding." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
He died on 28 March 1134. Veneration for Stephen began in the modern era. His feast was celebrated on 28 March until 1683 and then moved to 17 April, where it remained until the liturgical reforms following the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
, when it was moved back to 28 March. In a joint commemoration with Robert of Molesme and Alberic, the first two abbots of Cîteaux, the Cistercians and
Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
today celebrate Stephen Harding's
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...
on 26 January.


References


Bibliography

* Claudio Stercal, ''Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts'' (Trappist, Kentucky: Cistercian Publications, 2008) (Cistercian Studies Series, 226). {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Stephen 1050s births 1134 deaths People from Sherborne English Cistercians Founders of Catholic religious communities 11th-century Christian saints 12th-century Christian saints Medieval English saints Medieval European scribes English Roman Catholic saints Year of birth unknown Cistercian abbots general Cistercian saints Canonizations by Pope Urban VIII