GUGLIELMO da VERCELLI, saint. - Founder of the hermits of Montevergine, born at Vercelli about 1085, died in the monastery of Guglielmo near Nusco
(Avellino) in 1142. Having devoted himself from his youth to a life of penance and pilgrimage, after an unsuccessful journey to the Holy Land, he settled at Montevergine, also called « Mons Virgilii » and « Mons Virginis », near Avellino, where around 1114 he founded a hermitage which, owing to his reputation and the support of King Ruggero II, became a great cenobium, from which in 1119 arose the Benedictine monastic Congregation that bore his name.
Together with several disciples and with the favour of the same sovereign, G. built other monasteries, including women’s monasteries, in various cities and towns of southern Italy, among them that of Guglielmo, where he died, while his institutions were developing extensively. His feast is celebrated on 25 June, the day of his death.