Robert of Molesmes (1025–1110)

Biography

Some hermits, aware of his reputation for holiness, asked him to lead them, and he went with them to the Molesmes forest where, living in humble cabins and around a small chapel, the life of the monks of the Thebaid was reborn. But little by little, donations and more people poured in. The primitive cabins disappeared, replaced by a beautiful monastery whose occupants abandoned manual work and everything that could disturb their comfort. Not being able to get them out of the misery, Roberto left them and went to live alone. As his departure had exhausted the generosity of his benefactors, they asked him to return to his position, promising that they would make amends. He returned but they did not do so, so he abandoned them again, taking with him about twenty monks who aspired to sainthood. Saints Alberic and Stephen of Harding were part of the group. Roberto moved with them to Burgundy and stopped at Citeux. There he established the kind of life he dreamed of when founding the abbey that gave rise to the Cistercian Order and Roberto was its first abbot. Then came an order from the pope for him to return to his old monastery of Molesmes, where he lived for a few years and died almost in his nineties with the consolation of having converted all the monks.