The knight Gilbert belonged to the high nobility of Auvergne. Following the
advice of Ornifius, the Norbertine abbot of Dilo, he participated in the Second
Crusade (1147-1149) which was preached by St. Bernard at Vezelay and led by
the French king, Louis VII. This crusade ended in military disaster. Having
survived this dangerous endeavor, Gilbert decided, together with his wife Petronilla,
and his daughter Ponzia, to dedicate himself to God and enter the monastic life.
He distributed a portion of his considerable wealth to the poor and also founded
a convent which his wife and daughter entered. At first Gilbert himself lived
as a hermit. After completing his novitiate in the Norbertine abbey of Dilo,
he founded the abbey of Neuffontaines around 1150 and became its first abbot.
Following the example of St. Norbert, he also built a hospital attached to the
abbey, which soon became famous because of the many miracles that occurred there.
Penitent and filled with compassion, he cared for a great number of sick and
sinful people, whom he wished to heal both spiritually and physically. Children
with severe sickness were brought to him from all over. He laid his hands on
them and gave them back to their parents healed. This gave rise to the later
custom of parents bringing their sick children to Neuffontaines, clothed in
white, seeking the intercession of St. Gilbert for healing.
Gilbert died on June 5, 1152, consumed by penance and hard work. He had expressed
his desire to be buried in the cemetery of the poor who died at the abbey. But
because of the many miracles which God worked through his intercession his earthly
remains were eventually transferred to the abbey church of Neuffontaines, and
after being lost for a time, later rediscovered in the abbey in October of 1645.
The relics were transferred for greater safety to St. Didier in 1791 and, nevertheless,
were lost during the tumult of the French Revolution. St. Gilbert’s feastday
(October 26) falls on the anniversary of his translation of the 17th century.
Pope Benedict XIII confirmed the veneration of St. Gilbert on January 22/March
8, 1728.