Saint John Gualbert, Abbot
S. Ioannis Gualberti Abbatis
Saint John Gualbert, moved by the grace of forgiveness, forsook the world to become a monk, and founded the religious order of Vallombrosa near Florence.
Saint John Gualbert was born about the year 985 near Florence, in Tuscany, of a noble family. The tradition handed down in his honour relates a turning-point that shaped his whole life. A kinsman of his had been slain, and the young John, bound by the custom of his age to avenge the death, came upon the unarmed slayer on a Good Friday. The man, unable to flee, stretched out his arms in the form of a cross and begged mercy for the sake of Christ crucified, who on that very day had prayed for his enemies. Moved to the depths of his heart, John forgave him, embraced him as a brother, and turned aside from vengeance.
From the world to the cloister
Going on into a nearby church, John knelt before the crucifix, and according to the pious tradition the figure of the Crucified bowed its head toward him, as if in approval of his act of mercy. From that hour he resolved to leave the world. He entered the Benedictine monastery of San Miniato above Florence and gave himself to the monastic life of prayer, obedience, and penance, seeking God alone.
Desiring a stricter observance and a life of greater solitude and poverty, Saint John Gualbert withdrew at length to a wooded valley called Vallombrosa, the “shady valley,” in the hills above Florence. There he gathered companions about him and founded a religious community, which grew into the Order of Vallombrosa, following the Rule of Saint Benedict in a spirit of austerity, silence, and charity. He governed his monks as a wise and gentle father and laboured for the reform of religious life in his day.
His holy death
Saint John Gualbert spent the remainder of his long life in the service of God and of his brethren, esteemed for his humility, his charity to the poor, and his zeal for the purity of the Church. He died on the twelfth of July in the year 1073, and was afterward canonised.
The collect of his feast asks that the intercession of the blessed Abbot John Gualbert may commend us to the Lord, so that what we cannot obtain by our own merits we may gain through his patronage. In him the Church honours one whom an act of Christlike forgiveness drew from the world to God, and who founded a family of monks dedicated to penance and prayer. He is fittingly remembered as a patron of foresters and of those who care for woodlands, for the love he bore to the forest valley where he served God.
The Collect
May the intercession of blessed John Gualbert the Abbot commend us, we beseech thee, O Lord: that what by our own merits we cannot obtain, we may gain by his patronage.
Intercéssio nos, quæsumus, Dómine, beáti Ioánnis Gualbérti Abbátis comméndet: ut, quod nostris méritis non valémus, eius patrocínio assequámur.
Patronage
He is venerated as the founder of the Vallombrosan Order and is honoured as a patron of foresters and forest workers.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar he is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint John Gualbert?
His feast is kept on 12 July in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint John Gualbert?
He was an eleventh-century nobleman of Florence who, after forgiving the slayer of his kinsman for the love of Christ, left the world to become a Benedictine monk and founded the Order of Vallombrosa. He died in 1073 and was later canonised.
What is Saint John Gualbert remembered for?
He is remembered above all for his act of forgiveness on Good Friday, which turned his heart to God, and for founding the austere Vallombrosan Order in a wooded valley above Florence. He is honoured as a patron of foresters for the love he bore to that valley.
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