|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 77
Gregory had retired to Salerno, where he passed his days in the
contemplation of heavenly things, and in reading the lives of the Saints
and ecclesiastical history. Gilbert soon heard of his increasing
weakness. The sun that had poured its light over the world, despite the
mists and clouds of error and vice, was setting at last. How his dying
words bespeak the Saint: "My best-loved friends, I count my labors
nothing. That which gives me confidence is the consciousness of having
loved justice and hated iniquity!" When his assistants, groaning in
anguish, adverted to their desolate condition after his death, he
raised his arms to heaven, exclaiming, "I will ascend there, and plead
your cause before a God supremely good!"
On the twenty-fifth of May, 1085, were uttered those memorable words
that smote the forehead of guilty Europe as if with a burning hand: "I
have loved justice and hated iniquity--therefore I die in exile."
* * * * *
Years passed by. Peace smiled once more in the lordships of Hers and
Stramen. A new dwelling had risen from the ashes of Stramen Castle. The
Church of the Nativity was repaired, and again rose in beauty over the
faithful who flocked there to worship. Yet there was a stranger priest
at the altar, and often after Mass the people would gather around a
marble slab just before the altar, on which was written:
"_Credo quod Redemptor meus vivit._"
This was the tomb of Father Omehr; his epitaph was written and treasured
in the hearts of all who knew him, and, transmitted from sire to son,
required no foreign chisel to deepen the impression upon the living
tablet.
The Lords of Stramen and Hers were often together, and were beloved by
their vassals for their uniform courtesy and charity. Their hairs were
whitening, and when Sir Sandrit walked to the churchyard he leaned upon
Henry's arm.
* * * * *
Years passed by. Henry IV, worn down by misfortune and the rebellion of
his eldest son, for his own offspring held up the poisoned chalice to
his lips, had followed his sainted antagonist to the eternal tribunal,
and his body had been cast out as excommunicated from its sepulchre. The
male line of the Franconian emperors had expired in Henry V; Lothaire of
Saxony, a zealous champion of Rome, had been raised to the throne. Time
was revealing that Gregory VII was triumphant even in death, for the
right of investiture was conceded to the Pope, and the celibacy of the
clergy strictly enforced.
The Lords of Stramen and Hers were sleeping with their fathers. The hill
on which the Pilgrim's Chapel stood was no longer crowned with a castle,
but with a monastery occupied by Benedictine monks. The whole lordship
of Hers was blooming under their munificent administration. Humbert,
whose long locks had now seen eighty winters, still lived at the foot of
the hill, surrounded by a goodly number of stalwart sons and fair-haired
daughters. And sometimes in the long winter evenings, when the fire
sparkled brightly and the old man was garrulous with joy, he would tell
how he once entered a hostile castle as a minnesinger with a noble
lover, and how the knight defied the angry father. Yet he never revealed
that this knight was the generous abbot who now supplied them with the
means of innocent mirth, who ministered to all their wants, and whose
life was so meek and blameless. For Gilbert de Hers was abbot in the
cells that had once been the halls of his sires.
And one word, reader. It was not after the Lady Margaret's death that he
embraced the resolution of dedicating himself to God, but on the
battle-field of the Elster, and over the corpse of Rodolph of Suabia.
He had proved his sincerity in the wars of Matilda, and when he quitted
the princess for Monte Cassino, it was to assume the habit of the
novice.
* * * * *
One bright afternoon in the fall of 1126, two aged men were walking
arm-in-arm toward the Church of the Nativity. One was attired as a
Benedictine, the other as a knight. They stopped at the church and
before a cluster of tombs. On one of the slabs was carved a Greek cross
with a single tear under it, and beneath the tear the words:
"_O crux sancta adjuva nos._"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|