GUERRICO d'IGNY (di TOURNAI), blessed. – Aesthetic writer and Cistercian abbot, b. at Tournai ca. 1075, d. at Igny (diocese of Reims) on 19 Aug. 1157. CAMBIO (v.), he was soon appointed canon and « magister scholarum » of Tournai. Fascinated by a conversation with St. Bernard, ca. 1123 he became a monk at Clairvaux, whence in 1138, at the Saint’s wish, he went to Igny as abbot. The cult of G. was approved in 1899 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
His exegetical writings (Postillae super Psalmos, Commentaria in Mt., in Paul., in epistolas canonicas) are lost. There remain: De languore animae amantis, of little value, and the Sermones de tempore (Pl. 185, 11-214), to which G.’s fame is attached. Written in lucid Latin and suffused with singular sweetness, while developing Marian and Christological themes dear to St. Bernard, they are rich in personal insights, truly worthy of Mabillon’s judgment: « bernardinis stilo et pietate affines, non minori reverentia legendi » (Pracatio: Pl. 185, 9).