Humbeline, Bl.

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HUMBELINE, BL.

Sister of bernard of clairvaux; b. c. 1091; d. before 1136. Humbeline was married to a wealthy nobleman and lived a worldly life until a visit to her brothers at clairvaux. Her magnificent dress and splendid retinue caused Bernard to refuse to see her. She burst into tears, moaning, "I may indeed be a sinful woman, but it was for such as me that Christ died on the Cross and because I am so sinful that I seek and need the help of godly men." Bernard then urged her to shun the dictates of the world and follow the holy example of her mother, Bl. Alice. She thereafter lived a life of prayer and fasting and two years later, with her husband's consent, entered the Benedictine priory of Jully where she was prioress when she died in the presence of her surviving brothers.

Feast: Aug. 21 (formerly Feb. 12).

Bibliography: a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 193338) 1:203205. william of saintthierry, Vita prima sancti Bernardi, Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v. (Paris 187890) 185:244245; Eng. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, tr. g. webb and a. walker (Westminster, Md. 1960) 5152. m. raymond, The Family That Overtook Christ (Boston 1986) 258292.

[j. r. sommerfeldt]