By Dr. Jose Murickan O.Praem –
The Norbertines across the world are celebrating 900 years of the foundation of our Order (1121-2021). The jubilee year was inaugurated by Most Rev. Jose Wouters O.Praem the Abbot General, in Prague, by opening the tomb with relics of St. Norbert. The Norbertines or White Canons are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St Norbert of Xanten in 1121, who was also the archbishop of Magdeburg, Germany. They are the fifth oldest surviving religious order in the Catholic church.
St. Norbert is often portrayed holding a monstrance, displaying his fervour for the Eucharist and his unfailing support in fighting the heresies against holy Eucharist in his time. It is for this reason that the Church honours him with the title “Apostle of Holy Eucharist”. The olive branches that are depicted with his image signifies his untiring efforts to make peace in the society of 11 century which also won him the title—St. Norbert, Minister of Peace. St. Norbert’s contribution to the Universal Church will ever be remembered for two reasons. Firstly, for his passionate efforts to bring renewal in the clergy as the Church was facing a serious crisis due to the unbecoming life style of priests and religious of that time. Secondly, Norbert is renowned in the history of the Church for his contributions in bridging the gap between the monastic life and clerical life; namely for introducing active ministries as part of religious life. Thus, Norbertines from the very beginning are a clerical Order, supporting the mission of the local church.
The Norbertine life is characterized by the ideal of communion and the centre of our life is focused on to Holy Eucharist, devotion to Blessed Virgin Mary, commitment to common prayer and meals. And it’s from this common living and prayer that we draw strength for our pastoral work outside the abbey supporting the local church.
St. Norbert was born of a noble parents in the year 1080 in Xanten, Germany. Already as a small child he was presented to the collegiate church of St. Victor in Xanten where he was later ordained sub-deacon. In the year 1115, Norbert was thrown off from his horse and nearly affected by the thunder storm. He interpreted this as an invitation to repent and immediately began to lead the life of penitent, barefoot and dressed in sheepskin.
After his Ordination he wandered about the countryside preaching the gospel and railing against the abuses of the clergy. Pope Calixtus encouraged him to settle and found a community in the diocese of Loan in Northern France. There, in the desolate valley of wilderness of Premontre, Norbert laid the foundations for his religious order in 1121. Thus, Norbertines are traditionally known as Premonstratensians. Norbert chose the rule of St. Augustine as the guiding light for the new community, becoming one of the most avid Augustinian reformers of the day.
Today Norbertines; priests, brothers and sisters, are engaged in various ministries like pastoral, educational, social, health and media and support the mission of the Church in 22 Countries across the world. It was in early 1920s that the Dutch Norbertines came to India. Though they initially settled in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, they were called to serve the Church in Central India. Thus, Norbertines established their presence in Madhya Pradesh with Jamtara in Jabalpur being their centre. Later, in 1979 the German Norbertines came to Kerala and founded their community in Mananthavady. Today the Norbertines serve the Church in India under these two Canonries; Jamtara and Mananthavady and serve the local churches in different dioceses of India.
Our Abbot General, Most Rev. Jos Wouters O.Praem, serves a sign of unity and integration among all Norbertine communities around the world. He resides in the general house in Rome and, from there, in tune with the prelates, presides, guides and leads our Order in fraternal charity. Abbot Marcus Champia O.Praem and Rev. Dr. Vincent Mattammel O.Praem are the prelates of Jamtara and Mananthaday Norbertines respectively. The words of Pope Pius XII are very remarkable in this context. He says, the Norbertine Order is liturgically glorious and gloriously liturgical. Let this jubilee year be an occasion for the Norbertines to re-discover the charism of St. Norbert, so that our lives and ministries become more relevant even after years to come.