Carthusian Saints (PDF) - Charterhouse of the Transfiguration

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SAINT ANTHELM
- FRANCE -
(JUNE 26, 1178)
Anthelm of Chignin was born into a noble family of Savoy,
France, in 1107. He chose the ecclesiastical state, became a canon and
received important prebends and dignities (1). Nevertheless, by the
grace of God, he refused to find his joy in these exterior possessions
and human glory. He had a brother who was Procurator at the Charterhouse
of Portes. Conversations with his brother when he visited
him and with the Prior convinced him of the excellence of Christian
abnegation in the monastic life. He asked for the Carthusian habit (2)
at Portes in 1135 and soon surpassed the other monks there in the
monastic virtues.
This came to the ear of the superior of
the Grande Chartreuse, Guigo, who asked
the Prior of Portes to send Anthelm to the
Mother house, where an avalanche had
killed seven of the monks a short time earlier.
So it was at the Grande Chartreuse that
Anthelm made profession. Under Guigo’s
successor, Hugh, Anthelm was made Procurator.
He humbly accepted this charge,
although he did not feel any attraction to it,
and fulfilled his office with much profit for
the House without overlooking his own
spiritual needs.
When a new Prior was needed, the
community, by a unanimous vote, elected
Anthelm (1139). As Prior, he rebuilt the
Mother house at a site less susceptible to
avalanches. But his principal endeavor was the spiritual progress of
the community which soon experienced his firmness, tenderness, wisdom
and humility. He visited his monks with frequency in their cells
and the gentleness of his words filled their hearts with peace. The
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