Saint of the Day – 6 August – Saint Gezelin of Schlebusch O.Cist. (Died 1149)

Saint of the Day – 6 August – Saint Gezelin of Schlebusch O.Cist. (Died 1149) known as “The Apostle of Hainaut” – Lay Brother of the Cistercian Order, Hermit, Gezelin’s duties included shepherding the sheep of the Monastery, Miracle-worker. Died on 29 July 1149 in Gut Alkenrath, Schlebusch, Germany. Patronages – children, against epilepsy in children, against eye disorders, against headaches. Also known as – Gezelin of Altenberg, Gezelinus of… Gezzelin of… Gezzelino of… Ghislain of… Gisle of… Gozelin of… Jocelin of… Schezelinus of… Gezelin was Canonised by the Bishop of Cologne, Germany, which was a common practice at that time.

Gezelin was a lay brother in the Cistercian Monastery of Morimond – in today’s Fresnoy-en-Bassigny. In around 1135 he came to the new Altenberg Abbey and worked as a shepherd on the Alkenrath estate belonging to the Monastery in Schlebusch. Even during his lifetime, he was highly praised and revered for his always kind and helpful support of the rural population and the news of miraculous deeds spread more and more. For example, during a drought – in which even the Rhine had dried up – a copious Spring spurted out by his fervent prayers.

In his modesty, Gezelin requested not to be buried in the Abbey in Altenberg but, in the Parish Church near his sheep in Alkenrath. His bones were collected there in 1814. After the demolition of this Church, In 1890, the Relics were taken to the Andreas Church in Schlebusch where they now rest in an oak Shrine made in 1903. More of Gezelin’s Relics were enshrined in Altenberg Cathedral.

A Chapel dedicated to him, renovated in 1659 and rebuilt from 1864 to 1868, still stands above the Holy Spring in Gut Alkenrath, which Gezelin caused to rise and whose water heals head and eye ailment and which is still a site of pilgrimage. Many local residents used to fetch their drinking water there and to this day the Baptismal water for the Andreas Church in Schlebusch, is fetched from it. A pilgrimage takes place on the Sunday after Corpus Christi and on his Feast day . The source flow was disturbed by canal work in the 1950s, since then the water is pumped at certain times to the outflow on the west side of the Chapel. The St Gezelin Chapel is normally locked except, of course, during Mass but the Miraculous Spring flows everyday – a sign is posted outside the Chapel of the times when it is pumped.