Trees of the Saints
Tree of the Saints of Pernegg
Arbor candidissimae Norbertinae familiae –
“The Tree of the Brilliant White Norbertine Family.” Such is the title
given to a representation which shows a tree growing out of the left side (from
the heart) of St. Norbert with the saints (beati) of our Order. They are arranged
like fruits and flowers on branches which shoot forth from the huge trunk rooted
in S. Norbertus and passing for the most part through B. Hugo at the center of
the branches. “Like a growing olive tree extends its branches in a fertile
garden, so may your family extend, St. Norbert, throughout all the earth.”
This engraving on leather is the work of Tobias Bidenherter from the Lower Austrian
abbey of Pernegg. It is found on the interior plate of a bookcover from which
it was recently removed and restored. It is the most ancient of the family trees
of the saints. The abbey of Geras gifted Abbot General Thomas Handgrätinger
with an enlarged copy of this tree with the dedication: