Folia Theologica et Canonica 10. 32/24 (2021)
Sacra theologia
56 SZABOLCS ANZELM SZUROMI, O.PRAEM. tivities of individual members55. This movement also played a significant role in the reform of the life of the contemporary clergy56. In the light of the above, the answer to the question of whether monasticism and the way of life of canons regular rivalled each other within the Norbertine religious community, and how the balance between the two - essentially different - ways of life could be achieved, is clearly drawn from the sources and the life histories of the individual communities as well as of the first leading figures of the Norbertine Order. The so-called ‘canonical way of life’ itself already offered the possibility of living a monastic life and of following an active, pastoral one. This kind of internal ‘vita mixta’ was the basis for the rapid spread of the Norbertine Order in Europe and its considerable influence on the internal life of the Church.57 The essence of harmony was the coherence of community life and individual identity, which together were aimed to promote the salvation. III. Centralized Activity of the Orders of Canons Regular The central function of the abbot of Prémontré played an important role in the structure of the order from the very beginning.58 The first abbot of Prémontré - and thus the first abbot general of the Order - was Hugo de Fosses (f 1164), who was later beatified.59 Thus, the gradually developing network of Norbertine religious houses had already undergone a strict centralization during the life of the founder, and indeed by the founder himself, closely following the Cistercian example. The most important stage in this process was the adoption of the institution of the abbot general.60 The other key central institution was the General Chapter, which was responsible for joint and personal contact with the individual abbots, for supervising the observance of the Rules and the norms of the Order, as well as for controlling the functioning of the abbeys and provostries (including their financial resources). This is that centralized form of operation, which was made compulsory in a more precise form for all approved religious institutions much later, by the Fourth Fateran Council 55 Foulon, J.-H., Die Entstehung und die Besonderheit des Ideals der Regularkanoniker, 12-16. 56 Ibid, 16-20. 57 In detail cf. Foulon, J.-H., Die Entstehung und die Besonderheit des Ideals der Regularkanoniker, 20-28. 58 Ardura, B., Premonstratensi, nove secoli di storia e spiritualitä, 50-56. Petit, F., Norbert et I’origine des Prémontrés, 56. 59 pExrr p Spirituality of the Premonstratensians, 44-52. 60 About the foundation of the Cistercian Order cf. Zakar, F. P., La fundación del monasterio de Cister, in Para conocer mejor la Orden Cisterciense, Roma 2002. 13-28.
