JOHN GERSEN DE CANABACO, ABBOT

JOHN GERSEN DE CANABACO, ABBOT - 27 NOVEMBER

JOHN GERSEN DE CANABACO, ABBOT

Johannes Gersen de Canabaco [John, Giovanni] was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Stephen in Vercelli in Piedmont. His name Gersen (Gerzen) indicates descent of a German family that probably moved to Italy along with the German emperors. Some writers claim that John was an offspring of the noble von Rohrbach family, which (according to Zedler, 32, 571) is documented as early as A.D. 934. It flourished in Bavaria especially from the 12th century onwards and had its ancestral home in the Upper Bavarian town of Rohrbach (Cannabacum) on the Ilm in the diocese of Augsburg. Bucelin*, who mentions our John as venerable on November 27, states that he was of Canabaco, commonly known as Cavaglia, a town near Vercelli, where this German family might have settled.

Be that as it may, John was born at the end of the 12th century, and after turning to monastic life, he became abbot of St Stephen, which monastery he led with great blessing from 1220-1240. He was so famous for his wisdom, learning and piety that (according to Bucelin*), Saint Francis of Assisi sent his distinguished students, Saint Anthony of Padua and Adam of Marisco, to John's monastery school. They found their time there to be of great benefit for their progress. Lechner* lists our John on July 3. He elaborates that the Codex Cavensis depicts him as a Benedictine monk with a cross in his hands. John Gersen de Canabaco is considered by many to be the true author of the highly famous book "On the Imitation of Christ", which has been translated into all major languages and is published in more than 2,000 different editions. Weighty facts that prove John to be the undisputed author of this momentous book are provided in Weigl's "Memorial" (Sulzbach, 1832); on the other hand, there are a number of reasons why the authorship is attributed to the Augustinian canon Thomas Hämmerken of Kempen [Thomas à Kempis].

What is certain is that our abbot John Gersen's name (the actual author does not reveal his identity in the work), appears on the title page of numerous old hand-copied manuscripts of the "Imitation of Christ." Weigl (p. XXIII) cites a note by a certain knight of the Legion of Honour, Caspar de Gregory, detailing that a Joseph de Advocatis in Italy, as part of dividing the property, made over to his brother Vincentius a valuable codex of the "Imitation of Christ" inherited from his ancestors as a sign of his brotherly love on February 15, 1349. This circumstance would speak against Thomas à Kempis' authorship, since the latter was only born in 1379 or 1380 (i.e. 30 years after the above deed was made). Without going into too much detail of this great dispute regarding the origins of the "Imitation of Christ" which has been going on for centuries, we content ourselves with just providing the final result that Weigl arrived at by all his investigations: our abbot John Gersen of Rohrbach (Johannes Gersen de Canabaco) was the true author of the book in question. The monk Thomas à Kempis copied the book numerous times [before the arrival of the printing press, all manuscripts had to be copied by hand in the religious houses] and thus ensured that it was spread widely throughout Germany. Again, it was during his exile in Germany that the Chancellor Jean Gerson (born in 1363) got to know it, translated it into French and brought it to France. Other writers assume that nothing but a mere mix-up of very similar names has brought about the connection between the Parisian Chancellor and the world-famous book. The fact that a German was the author of this "little golden book" is clear from the many Germanisms that can be found in the Latin original, which is probably intentionally written in a very simple, unadorned, generally understandable style. The author says in his book (I. 5, 1): "Instead of asking who says this, rather pay attention to what is said." This utterance probably indicates his humility and subsequent desire to remain hidden. Therefore the authorship of this work which, after the Bible, is the most widely circulated spiritual book, can still not be fully ascertained, although the Frenchman Migne also notes that the latest research on the author of this major work of asceticism strongly indicates that it was the abbot John Gersen.

Sources: Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 3, Augsburg, 1869, pp. 113-14) - 🎨 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l_IRRgGA5mMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August WELCOME! SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS (Patron Saint of Altar Servers.) The eldest boy of a poor cordwainer, in a small Belgian town, John was ever a dutiful, prayerful, and studious child. Our Lord called him when but young to leave his father and his father’s house, to serve Him in the Society of Jesus. And because he was so good a son, it cost his father much to give him up to God; but he was too good a Christian to refuse outright. HE WAS SENT TO ROME John had hardly taken his religious vows when he was sent to the centre of Christendom, the holy city of Rome. His modesty, his purity, shone out as great virtue always does; and the young laymen who attended the lectures would come to gaze upon his beautiful and holy face, and go away the better for the sight. GREAT VIRTUE Three short years, and his last sickness found him sighing for heaven, and three days before the great feast of Mar...

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

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