WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, Saint. - Founder of the hermits of Montevergine, b. at Vercelli around 1085, d. in the monastery of Guglielmo near Nusco

(Avellino) in 1142. Devoting himself from youth to a life of penance and pilgrimages, after a failed 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 that, through his fame and the support of King Roger II, was transformed into a great cenobium, from which in 1119 originated the Benedictine monastic Congregation that took its name.

Together with some disciples and with the favor of the same sovereign, G. built other monasteries, including female ones, in various cities and towns of southern Italy, among them that of Guglielmo, where he died, while his institutions developed extensively. His feast is celebrated on June 25, the day of his death.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: Acta SS. Iunii, VII, Paris 1867, pp. 112-39; C. Mercuro, Una leggenda medievale di s. G. da W., in Rivista storica bened., 1 (1906), pp. 312-33; 2 (1907), pp. 74-100, 345-70; E. De Palma, Intorno alla leggenda: De vita et abita s. Guilielmi, in Irpinia, 4 (1932), pp. 59-75; Martyr. Romanum, p. 254.

Martino Bertagna

@incollection{ec6_guglielmo_da_vercelli_santo, author = {Bertagna, Martino}, title = {Guglielmo da Vercelli, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1270--1271}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/guglielmo-da-vercelli-santo} }

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William of Vercelli, Saint

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