Stephen Harding

St. Stephen Harding, O.Cist.
Saint Stephen Harding portrayed in Apátistvánfalva, Hungary
Monk, priest and co-founder of the Cistercian Order
Born	ca. 1050 Sherborne, Dorset Kingdom of England
Died	28 March 1134 Citeaux Abbey, Duchy of Burgundy
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church (Cistercian Order)
Feast	17 April
Attributes	Dressed in the Cistercian habit, abbot's crozier, holding the Carta caritatis ("Charter of Charity"), a founding document for the Cistercian Order

Stephen Harding, O.Cist., (French: Étienne Harding),(born c. 1060, Sherborne, Dorsetshire, England - died 28 March 1134) was an English-born monk and abbot, who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. He is honoured as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

Life

Harding was born in Sherborne, Dorset, in the Kingdom of England, and spoke English, Norman, French, and Latin.^[2] He was placed in Sherborne Abbey at a young age, but eventually left the monastery and became a travelling scholar, journeying with one devout companion into Scotland and afterwards to Paris and then to Rome.^[3] He eventually moved to Molesme Abbey in Burgundy, under the Abbot Robert of Molesme (c. 1027-1111). During in Molesme abbey he seemed to have assumed the name Stephen.^[1]

When Robert left Molesme to avoid what he perceived to be the abbey's increasing wealth and overly strong connections to the aristocracy, Harding and Alberic of Cîteaux went with him. Seeing no hope of a sufficient reformation in Molesme, Robert appointed another abbot for the abbey and then, with Alberic, Harding, and twenty-one other monks, received permission from Hugh, the Archbishop of Lyons and legate of the Holy See, to found a new monastery in Citeaux, a marshy wilderness five leagues from Dijon. There, they formed a new, more austere monastery.^[3] Eudes, afterwards Duke of Burgundy, built them a little church which was placed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, as all the churches of the Cistercians from that time have been.

Stephen became the third abbot of Cîteaux. However, very few were joining the community and the monks were suffering from hunger and sickness.^[4] In 1112, Bernard of Clairvaux entered the community, bringing with him thirty companions.^[5] Between 1112 and 1119, a dozen new Cistercian houses were founded to accommodate those joining the young order. Harding's organisational skills were exceptional; he instituted the system of general chapters and regular visitations. In 1119, he received official approbation for the Carta Caritatis (Charter of Charity), an important document for the Cistercian Order, establishing its unifying principles.^[5]

Stephen Harding served Cîteaux Abbey as abbot for twenty-five years. While no single person is considered the founder of the Cistercian Order, the shape of Cistercian thought and its rapid growth in the 12th century were arguably due to Harding's leadership. Insisting on simplicity in all aspects of monastic life, he was largely responsible for the severity of Cistercian architecture and the simple beauty of the Order's liturgy and music.^[6] He was an accomplished scribe for the monastery's scriptorium; his highest achievement is considered to be the Harding Bible, famous among medieval manuscripts. In 1133, he resigned as head of the order because of age and infirmity.^[5] He died on 28 March 1134,^[7] and was buried in the tomb of Alberic, his predecessor, in the cloisters at Cîteaux.^[6]Stephen was largely responsible for the severity of Cistercian architecture because he was an adherer of simplicity in all aspects of monastic life.^[1]

In a joint commemoration with Robert of Molesme and Alberic, the first two abbots of Cîteaux, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates Stephen Harding's feast day on 26 January.^[8] His feast is celebrated on March 28 (in the Julian calendar, now 17 April) in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. There is a Catholic Baroque Church established by 1785, the patron saint of which is Stephen Harding, it is located in Hungary, in the village Apátistvánfalva.^[9]

The north aisle of the Church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in London was formerly a chapel dedicated to him (it became the Musicians' Chapel in the 20th century).

He was canonized by the Catholic church in 1623.^[1]

See also

• Correctory

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Stephen Harding.

• Claudio Stercal, Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts (Trappist, Kentucky: Cistercian Publications, 2008) (Cistercian Studies Series, 226).