Feast of San Guglielmo di Montevergine

The Vision of St. William by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro

June 25th is the Feast of San Guglielmo di Montevergine (St. William of Montevergine), hermit and abbot. Patron saint of Irpinia in Avellino, St. William was the founder of the Benedictine Williamites, the now defunct monastic Order of Mount Virgin. He built several monasteries in Southern Italy, including that of Montevergine in 1119, and served as a trusted advisor to HRH King Ruggero II of Sicily. 

According to tradition, while living as a hermit on a mountain near Atella in Potenza, St. William restored site to a blind man. News of the miracle brought unwanted attention and compelled him to leave and find a new place of solitude. Moving to Monte Virgiliano (named after the Roman Poet Virgil) he had a vision of the Blessed Mother holding the Divine Infant. With only his donkey, he started building a shrine in her honor on the site of an earlier temple to Cybele. One day while working, a wolf killed his donkey. St. William scolded the beast and commanded it to take the donkey’s place. The wolf obeyed the saint and started hauling timber and stone.

In celebration, I'm posting a Prayer to St. William. The accompanying photo of The Vision of St. William (Visione di San Guglielmo) by the great Neapolitan artist Domenico Antonio Vaccaro (1678-1745) comes courtesy of Museo Abbaziale di Montevergine. San Guglielmo, ora pro nobis.

Prayer to St. William

O God, Who hast set for us in Thy saints an example and a help to our weakness, to assist us to tread the path of salvation, grant us so to venerate the virtues of the blessed abbot William, that we may share in his prayers and follow in his footsteps. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God forever and ever. Amen.