St. Gilbert

St. Gilbert of Sempringham

Gilbert of Sempringham, born 1083, died 1189.


His father was a Norman knight Jocelin and his mother was Anglo Saxon. He studied in France and became a cleric. Returning to Lincolnshire, he founded a school for boys and girls, unusual in those times. Later he became a priest and in 1131 he was settled at Sempringham where he founded an order for both monks and nuns with 13 monasteries; nine were "double" houses for monks and nuns and four for monks only.

 

He supported Thomas a Becket and helped him to escape to the Continent, disguised as an ordinary lay brother.
Gilbert lived to be nearly 106 and founded orphanages and hospitals for lepers.


He was buried at Sempringham and declared a saint in 1202.

His Order, the Gilbertines, flourished until the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries; it was the only order founded by an Englishman and his Feast Day is February 4th.


This information comes from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.

 

Click here for an excellent version of the story of St. Gilbert from Lincoln Cathederal.