Abbey Magazine Fall/Winter 2020

ABBEY MAGAZINE
Saints & Blesseds
BLESSED HUGH OF FOSSE – NORBERT’S FIRST DISCIPLE
By Kathie Tilot, Communications Assistant at St. Norbert Abbey
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If it is true that teamwork makes
the dream work, then Norbert of
Xanten and Hugh of Fosse
were destined for great things.
Norbert’s first disciple was born
in Fosses-la-Ville in present day
Belgium in 1093.
While Norbert possessed the
vision and the ability to inspire
others to an apostolic way of
life, it was Hugh of Fosse who
helped create the structure that
allowed the Premonstratensian
Order to flourish. He was the
detail person of the team, Norbert’s
right-hand man. He was a
source of unity in the Order and
under his leadership the number
of Norbertine foundations grew.
Hugh was the first prior of
Prémontré and later was elected
its first abbot. He built the first
medieval abbey church and
monastery there, helped develop
the statutes of the Order,
compiled the first book of ceremonies
with liturgical directives,
and may have contributed
to the earliest biographies of
Norbert's life.
Hugh of Fosse played a crucial
role in the founding of the Norbertine
Order. Hugh died on
February 10, 1164, and was
buried in the abbey church
at Prémontré. After the suppression
of the abbey during
the French Revolution, Hugh’s
remains were eventually laid to
rest at the abbey of Bois-Seigneur-Isaac
in Belgium.
Kathie Tilot is a spiritual director,
spiritual direction coordinator, and
communications assistant at the
Norbertine Center for Spirituality
at St. Norbert Abbey. She is a
graduate of St. Norbert College.