Saint Bertold
Encyclopedia
Saint Bertold of Mount Carmel (also known as Bartoldus of Calabria) was born in Limoges
in south west France
. He went to the Holy Land
s as a Crusader and was in Antioch
during its siege by the Saracens. It was around this time had Bertold had a vision of Christ
denouncing the evil ways of the soldiers. Some accounts hold that in 1155 he came to Mount Carmel
and built a small chapel there, gathering a community of hermits about him living in imitation of the prophet Elijah. This community has sometimes been thought to have given rise to the Order of Carmelites
, but this is not supported by any clear evidence and is generally discounted by historians of the Order. Bertold died circa 1195, and tradition holds that he was replaced as leader of the hermits by Saint Brocard
.
His Catholic feast is on March 29.
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
in south west France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He went to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
s as a Crusader and was in Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
during its siege by the Saracens. It was around this time had Bertold had a vision of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
denouncing the evil ways of the soldiers. Some accounts hold that in 1155 he came to Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
and built a small chapel there, gathering a community of hermits about him living in imitation of the prophet Elijah. This community has sometimes been thought to have given rise to the Order of Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
, but this is not supported by any clear evidence and is generally discounted by historians of the Order. Bertold died circa 1195, and tradition holds that he was replaced as leader of the hermits by Saint Brocard
Saint Brocard
Saint Brocard is said to have been one of the first group of hermits at Mount Carmel, and was perhaps the leader of the community on the death of Saint Berthold around 1198. Circa 1207 the hermits incorporated their existing customs into a formal rule which was accepted by the Latin Patriarch of...
.
His Catholic feast is on March 29.
See also
- HermitHermitA hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
- Discalced CarmelitesDiscalced CarmelitesThe Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers...
- Carmelite Rule of St. AlbertCarmelite Rule of St. AlbertThe eremitic Rule of St. Albert is the shortest of the rules of consecrated life in existence of the Roman Catholic spiritual tradition. St. Albert Avogadro, a priest of the Canons Regular and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote the Rule in the early 13th century. The Rule is directed to Brother...
- Book of the First MonksBook of the First MonksThe Book of the First Monks is a medieval Christian work in the contemplative and eremetic tradition of the Carmelites. It is one of the most important documents of the Order, because it shaped many of the Saints from the Carmelite Order in the basic spirituality of the first Hermits...
- Constitutions of the Carmelite OrderConstitutions of the Carmelite OrderThe stand as an expression of the ideals and spirit of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.Foundational sources for the Constitutions include the desert hermit vocation as exemplified in the life of the Prophet Elijah. For the Carmelite the contemplative vocation is exemplified par excellence...
- Dialogues of the CarmelitesDialogues of the CarmelitesDialogues of the Carmelites , is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. In 1953, M. Valcarenghi approached Poulenc to commission a ballet for La Scala in Milan; when Poulenc found the proposed subject uninspiring, Valcarenghi suggested instead a screenplay by Georges Bernanos, based on the...