Henry of Vitskól, Bl.
HENRY OF VITSKÓL, BL.
Abbot; d. February 11, late 12th century. He joined the cistercians at the Abbey of clairvaux, where he was listed first among 90 novices on the occasion of a meeting with the saintly Abbot bernard, who predicted at that time that one day Henry's spiritual labors would take him far from the monastery. In fact, Henry was sent in 1143 to the Abbey of alvastra in Sweden, and in 1150 he was founder and first abbot of Varnhem. He was forced to leave there because of severe external disorders, and in 1158 he assumed the direction of the monastery of Vitskól in Denmark when it was founded by King Waldemar I (d. 1182). He also undertook from there a new foundation in Oem or Clara-Insula in 1166. Although he is listed in the Cistercian calendar, there is no official cult.
Feast: Feb. 11.
Bibliography: Scriptores rerum Danicarum medii aevi, ed. j. langebek and p. f. suhm, 9 v. (Copenhagen 1772–1878) 4:458. conrad eberbacensis, Exordium magnum cisterciense bk. 6.10, ed. b. griesser (Rome 1961) 366. e. ortved, Cistercieordenen og dens klostre i Norden, 2 v. in 1 (Copenhagen 1927–33) 2:53–141. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:203; 4:21.
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