Blessed Guerric (c. 1070/80–1157) was abbot of Igny near Rheims, France, for nineteen years from 1138 till 1157. He died at age 79 or even 89 if the earliest date of his birth is accepted; however the later date, 1180, is more likely. The chronology is far from firm. Guerric became abbot at around 60 years of age, when his health had begun to decline. He was too ill to follow the common life, especially the manual labor.
Guerric came from Tournai, Belgium near the border of France, and received an excellent education in his native city. After studies, he preferred to continue his prayerful and studious life by living as a hermit near a church in Tournai (before the construction of the cathedral that is now a World Heritage Site). His attraction for solitude may have always remained close to Guerric’s heart, even though he chose cenobitic life at Clairvaux under St. Bernard. Bernard, in letters from around 1125, refers to Guerric as a novice. Guerric may have entered at age 45, already mature and formed in his intellectual life. However, he became a student again under his younger master for around thirteen years, before being installed as second abbot of Igny. All knew that he was Bernard’s choice for that office.
Fifty-four of Guerric’s sermons have been preserved. They are assigned to feast days or to the liturgical seasons. One of Guerric’s major themes, although it does not appear in his first sermon, is that our spiritual life consists in taking on the form of Christ as marked by the major events in his life. Christ is born in us, grows to maturity in us, prays and praises in us, is tempted in us, helps others in and through us, suffers and dies in us, and even shares his risen life with us. Thus we take on the form of Christ’s life and become other Christs.
