St Gerlach of Valkenberg / Houthem

St Gerlach of Valkenburg / Houthem

"Gerlach of Houthem (name variants: Gerlachus, Gerlac, Gerlach von Valkenburg, and others; * around 1100 in Valkenburg aan de Geul; † between 1164 and 1177 in Houthem near Valkenburg aan de Geul) was a knight and later a hermit from the Duchy of Limburg. He was later canonized and is venerated in various ways, especially in the Maastricht and Aachen area. His Catholic feast day is January 5.

Life and Work

Gerlach was of noble birth and participated as a knight in various battles and tournaments. During one of these away tournaments, he was informed that his wife had died at home. Gerlach was deeply saddened that he had not been present during her final days and regretted his absence." A frivolous life. He then made a pilgrimage to Rome and asked the Pope for appropriate penance. The Pope advised him to first make a seven-year pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to lead a permanently ascetic Christian life.

Gerlach then gave away all his possessions and luxury goods and embarked on the imposed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There he worked in a hospital run by the Order of St. John and as a simple shepherd in the fields.

It must have been around the year 1151 when Pope Eugene III imposed a penance of seven years of servitude in Jerusalem on him.

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, he went to the hospital where the poor and sick were cared for. It was the hospital of the Order of St. John. The brothers wanted to give him easy tasks, but he refused. He desired humble, hard work and became quite talkative after tending to the hospital's livestock.

Wikipedia continues:

"Gerlach then settled as a hermit in the small hamlet of Houthem near Valkenburg in the Göhl Valley.