Guerric of Igny

{{Infobox saint|name=Guerric of Igny|image=Guerric d'Igny.jpg|titles=Abbot|feast_day=19 August|honored_in=Catholic Church|canonized_date=1889|major_shrine=Igny Abbey|major_works=Sermons}}

Guerric of Igny (c. 1070/80-1157) was a Cistercian abbot. Little is known about his early life. He may have been educated at Tournai's cathedral school, perhaps under Benedictine monk, Odo of Cambrai. Guerric appears to have lived a life of prayer and study near the Tournai Cathedral. His monastic formation was directly influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux, who praises him in several letters. In 1138, he became abbot of Igny Abbey, in the diocese of Rheims, a house dependent on Clairvaux. Here Guerric ruled as abbot until his death on 19 August 1157. It was here that he composed the 54 liturgical sermons that constitute his surviving works.Bernard McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, (1994), p277.Note that a treatise known as the Liber amoris, sometimes ascribed to Guerric, is actually an anonymous Cistercian work heavily influenced by Bernard's thought. See J Morson and H Costello, ' Liber amoris: Was it actually written by Guerric of Igny?', Cîteaux 16, (1965), 114-135.

His spirituality was said to be influenced by Origen.{{cite web|url=http://liturgy.slu.edu/7EasterB052012/theword_journey.html|title=Commentary: Guerric of Igny|publisher=St. Louis University|accessdate=29 August 2012|archive-date=21 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721060533/http://liturgy.slu.edu/7EasterB052012/theword_journey.html|url-status=dead}} Guerric was raised to the rank of Blessed; his relics are still venerated in Igny.{{cite web|url=http://www.arcis-le-ponsart.fr/le-village/L-abbaye-d-Igny|title=L'abbaye d'Igny|publisher=Arcis-le-Ponsart|language=French|accessdate=30 August 2012}}