The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-06-02
June Z,
ST. ROBERT OF NEwM1NsTER.

| ST ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER.
In 1872 Robert was q monk at Whitby,
when news arrived that thirteen religious
| had been violently expelled from the abbey
of ST. Mary in York. for having proposed
to restore the strict Benedictine rule. He
at once set out to join them, and found
them ON the banks of the Skeld near Ri
pom, living 10 the midst of winter in q hut
made of hurdles and rooted with turf. In
the spring they affiliated themselves to St.
years they struggled on in extreme power
| ty. At length the fame of their sanctity
brought another novice, Hugh, Dean Of
York, who endowed the community with
all his wealth, and thus laid the foundation
of Fountains Abbey. In 1137 Raynulph,
Baron of Morpeth, was 80 edited by the
example of the monks at Fountains that
he built them a monastery in Northumber-
land, called Newminster, of which st.
Robert became abbot. The holiness of his
life, even more than his words, guided his
brethren to perfection, and within the next
ten years three new communities went
forth from this one house to become CEN
tres of holiness in other parts. At tho
moment of Roberts death, in ll59, st.
Godric, the hermit of Finchale, saw his
soul, like globe of fire, borne up by the
angels, in pathway of light; and as the
repeated twice, "Enter now, My friends"
The abstinence of st. Robert in refectory
alone suf1ced to maintain the mortified
spirit Of the community. One Easter day
his stomach, weakened by the fast of Lent,
could take no food, and he at last consent
ed to try to eat some bread sweetened
with honey. Before it was brought he felt
this relaxation would be a dangerous ex-
ample for his subjects, and sent the food
untouched to the poor at the gate. The
plate was received by a young man of
shining countenance, who straightway dis
kho ol-Ao
descended empty, and by itself, to the
abbot's place in the refectory, proving that
what the Saint sacrificed for his brethren
bad been accepted by Christ.
Junes
ST. WILLIAM OF YORK.
William was son of Earl Herbert and
Emma, Sister of King Stephen. He was
elected Archbishop of York at the time
when the great struggle concerning the
election of bishops was going on between
the Holy See and princes. King Stephen
favored his nepheW's election. ST. Bernard
complained of it as uncanonical, and St.
William was deprived of his see by Pope
Eugenius III. The Kings party and the
people of York took up his cause. Henry,
A blot of Fountains, had been elected IN
his place. The sdherents of the king made
an attempt on Henry's life, and burned the
abbey, and for years the people Of York
refused to admit him within the walle. While
the desperate passions of sinful men were
thus raging on his account, st. William,
who had ever looked on the episcopate
with trembling, retired peacefully to Win
chester, where he remained buried in soli-
tude, by supplication and penance seeking
to avert the anger of God. His pray ers
were heard, and peace was at length re-
stored. On the death of Henry, William
was again elected, and, joarneyipg to
Rome, presented himself to AnastasiuR,
who had succeeded Eugenius, and from him
he received the pallium. Then the old
man, worn with austerities, came back to
his people, who had been led astray by
their love and thirty days after his retnrns
on June 9th, 1154, he went to join st. Ber-
nard in the brightness of that Presense
where zeal and love are never mistsken.
When st. William came to Winchester,
after he had been deprived of his see, the
bishop, Henry of Blois, who was his uncle,
offered him a place in bis palace, and
wished him to live wiSh all his former
state. st. William was conscious of HE
Innocence, but preferred to appear as q
peuitent; and by the life which ne led he
silently preached obedience to bis rebellious
adherents.
June
ST. COLUMBIA, ABBOT.
st. Columbia, the apostle of the Picts,
was born at Gartan in the county of Tyr