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William of Maleval
William of Maleval
	San Guglielmo by Antonio Nasini
Hermit
Born	Poitiers, France
Died	10 February 1157; Maleval
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	8 May 1202, Rome, Papal States by Pope Innocent III
Major shrine	Laoag City
Feast	10 February
Attributes	cross; skull
Patronage	Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Talisay, Batangas, Bacolor, Pampanga, Buting, Pasig, Dalaguete, Cebu, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur

William of Maleval (French: Guillaume de Malavalle), also known as William the Hermit or William the Great, was a French Christian and the founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites, an early branch of the Hermits of St. Augustine. He was beatified in 1202.

Sources

The account of his life, written by his disciple Albert, who lived with him during his last year at Maleval, has been lost. Written accounts of his life by Theodobald, or Thibault, given by the Bollandists, is unreliable because it has been interpolated with the lives of at least two other Williams.^[1]

Life

A Frenchman by birth, he spent some years in a dissolute life in the military. ^[2] After a number of chapters in which Theodobald confuses him with St. William of Gellone, Duke of Aquitaine, he says that William went to Rome, where he had an interview with Pope Eugene III, who ordered him to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in penance for his sins.^[1]

Though Theodobald's account of his interview with the pope does not carry conviction, the fact of this visit and his subsequent pilgrimage to Jerusalem is supported by excerpts from the older life, which are preserved by responsories and antiphons in his liturgical feast Office. He seems to have remained at Jerusalem for one or two years, not nine as Theodobald relates.

About 1153 he returned to Tuscany, sometimes living as a hermit, sometimes as a member of a religious community. At first he led a hermit's life in a wood near Pisa. He was prevailed upon to undertake the government of a monastery in the area, but being unsuccessful in attempting to reform the monks tepidity and indolence, he retired first to Monte Pruno,^[3] and finally in 1155 in the desert valley of Stabulum Rodis, later known as Maleval, in the territory of Castiglione della Pescaia, Diocese of Grosseto,^[4] where he was joined by Albert.^[1]

He died on 10 February 1157 (his feast day). His cult soon spread throughout much of Tuscany, and he was canonized in 1202. After his death, two of his followers formed the Order of Saint William, which later joined the Augustinians.

Veneration

William is the patron saint of Castiglione della Pescaia.^[5] William is honored by the Augustinians, who founded a number of parishes in the Philippines named for him.

Cathedral of Saint William the Hermit, San Fernando, La Union
Saint William's Cathedral, Laoag, Ilocos Norte
St. William the Hermit Cathedral Parish, Bulanao, Tabuk, Kalinga
San Guillermo Parish Church, Bacolor, Pampanga
St. William the Hermit Church, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines
San Guillermo de Maleval Parish, Buting, Pasig, Metro Manila
San Guillermo Parish, Talisay, Batangas

Other churches include:

Parish of St. William of Maleval, Passi City, Iloilo, Philippines
San Guillermo de Maleval Parish, Iponan, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Webster, Douglas Raymund. "St. William of Maleval." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 30 May 2021 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Book of Saints – William of Maleval".
^ "CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Butler's Lives of the Saints – Saint William of Maleval, Hermit, and Institutor of the Order of Gulielmites".
^ "St. William the Hermit". Midwest Augustinians.
^ "Castiglione della Pescaia - Between sin and holiness: the life of Saint William of Maleval". www.toscanaovunquebella.it.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. William of Maleval". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.