CONTEMPLATION ON THE LIFE OF TWO SAN
GUILLERMOS
When I was a child while attending a Sunday mass with my family, one
icon caught my curiosity and I asked my Dad of who the statue was. He told me
that he was San Guillermo ang Ermitanyo or San Guillermo the Hermit. From that
moment on, the name San Guillerno ang Ermitanyo is always at the back of my
mind, and all the while as I grew up, I always believe that He is the Patron
Saint of Catmon.
During my golden years in Catmon, not a hint would tell me that San
Guillermo the Hermit is not San Guillermo De Aquitania. Not even during the
early 80’s when the Fiesta Souvenir Program was first produced until 2009 did I
realize that San Guillermo the Ermitanyo IS NOT San Guillermo De Aquitania when
I came across with an article. So this prompted me to do some research and the
article was right, St. William the Hermit IS NOT St. William of Aquitania… is not one person as I thought.
The confusion of their life stories is not new; even some historians
cannot factually categorize their exact, young and vicious life story before
their time of penance. Many have mistaken one from the other, interpolated
their life story one to the other. But the question is not how they lived their
days to become saints. The question is WHO?
Who between the two saints
venerated by the Augustinians is the real Patron Saint of our Parish?
It is not a question of my belief; I am a devout Christian, who
believes in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I believe in angels
and saints, and life everlasting. If we could have both saints as our patron
saints, I will be happier, and it will be merrier for Catmonanons who will now
have two fiestas in a year… February 10 for St. William of Maleval (A.K.A.
the Hermit or the Great) and May 28 for St. William of Aquitania
(A.K.A. the Mailed Soldier), the day these saints died, respectively.
Research materials during those periods were very limited. This may be
the primary reason of this confusion, why some believe our Patron Saint is San Guillermo De
Aquitania but we honor him on February 10 which is the feast day of San
Guillermo De Maleval. The world remembers and honors San Guillermo De Aquitania
every 28th of May, the day he died; and San Guillermo De Maleval
every 10th of February, also the day of his death.
Nowadays, you have the world in
your finger tips, you don’t have to go to libraries, you don’t have to carry
books, and you don’t have to burn candles to find the answers of your queries. All
you need to have is interest in the subject matter.
I am positive that some of us will just scratch our heads and say, “
sige na lang na, kay mao may naandan!” Well, not me! “…kay mao may naandan!”…
this is a thing of the past, let’s leave this attitude behind and move on for
the betterment of our society. It’s time to patch the loopholes for good. We
did not armed ourselves with education just to say “sige na lang na, kay mao may
naandan!” when facing what seems to be formidable. This is one of the many
reasons for education, not just to deal our day-to-day existence, but somehow
defining and securing our past, present, and future profoundly and truthfully.
So, we may be able to impart to the younger generation not the winding
story of our past, but this time the straightforward truth. Let me present a summary
of their stories, as follows:
St. William of Aquitaine AKA St.
William of Gellone … Knight and Benedictine Monk.
Born: 755
Died:
28 May, c. 812
Beatified in 1066
Depicted as a mailed soldier.
Feast Day: May 28, the day of
his death.
St. William of Aquitaine was
regarded as the exemplar of Christian knighthood and was said to be
related to King Charles the Great or King Charles the 1st. King
Charles was the King of Franks from 768, the King of Italy from 774, and the
first Roman Emperor in Western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman
Empire three centuries earlier. St. William spent at least most part of his
youth at King Charles’s court as courtier.
St. William was chosen by the Great Emperor to lead his army in a
campaign against the invaders from Moors in France
and Spain,
He fought with distinction. William defeated the invaders at Orange, as a result King Charles named him
Duke of Aquitaine to repay him for his service.
Throughout his military career, he displayed exemplary
chivalry and
was honored as the ideal knight. However, he gave up the sword and became
dedicated to the promotion of the faith. In 804, William founded a monastery at
Gellone, and assigned the direction of this monastery to the famed St. Benedict
of Aniane, father of Western monks. In 806, with King Charles permission,
William entered the monastery as a monk, practicing the angelic habit until his
holy death in May 28, 812. He was
canonized in 1066.
St. William of Maleval AKA St. William the Great and St. William the Hermit
Born:
Died: 10 February, 1157
Feast Day: February 10, the
day of his death.
Depicted as a man:
a) with armor lying beside him.
b) holding a cross.
c) bearing a shield with four fleur-de-lys.
e) with a pilgrim's staff (walking stick).
Born in
France. His youth and young
adulthood were spent in the army, living freely and licentiously, common among
soldiers of that time period. William came to understand the error of his ways
and experienced a change of heart, becoming penitent, and made a pilgrimage to
the tombs of the holy apostles in
Rome.
Pope Eugenius III enjoined him to make a pilgrimage to the
Holy
Land in 1145. William followed his counsel and spent eight years
on the journey, returning to
Italy
a changed man. He lived as a hermit and then became head of a monastery near
Pisa (Siena) in Tuscany, then move on to Monte Bruno, and finally
in
1155 in
the
desert valley
of Stabulum Rodis, later known as Maleval, in the territory
of
Siena.
There, he lived
in an underground cave until the lord of Buriano discovered him some months
later and built him a cell. He lived with the wild beasts, ate nothing but
herbs, and drank nothing but water. He slept in bare ground and a stone for his
pillow. He spent his waking time in prayers, penitence, manual labor, and
extreme penances, for the atonement of his sinful deeds. He considered himself
as the worst criminal and deserved the severest punishment until the last of
his breath.
In his later years, William was noted for his
gifts of
prophecy and
miracles, for which he was frequently sought and found himself besieged
by pilgrims and those seeking his spiritual counsel and guidance. He accurately
predicted his death, seeing his end draw near, he received the sacraments from
a priest of the neighboring town of
Chatillon,
and died on the 10th of February, in 1157, on which day his feast is
celebrated.
William was
buried by two disciples (Albert and Renauld) in his garden and the duo studied
to live according to William's maxims and example. Later their number increased
and they built a chapel over their founder's grave with a little hermitage.
This was the origin of the Gulielmites, or Hermits of Saint William, which
spread throughout Italy, France, Flanders, and Germany. They went barefoot, and
their fasts were almost continual. Pope Gregory IX, mitigating their
austerities, gave the Rule of Saint Benedict to the group organized as the
Order of Bare-Footed Friars, and eventually absorbed into the Augustinian
Canons.
Comparison Summary:
Both Saints share
certain characteristics, both were French, and both were soldiers before
withdrawing from the world. However, let me point out what makes one unique
from the other.
ST. WILLIAM OF AQUITAINE: Duke
William of Aquitaine
was considered the very model of a Christian Knight. He was one of the
Commanders of King Charles against the Moors before becoming a monk in 806. He
was a Knight, a person of noble character. There was no mention of him being
either a dissolute commander or a young man living an abandoned life. In fact,
He spent most of his youthful life as King Charles Courtier, an Aristocrat… a
person of noble character. He was not a Hermit; He spent his
life in a monastery and remained a lay brother until his death in May 28, 812.
His feast day is on May 28, the day he died.
ST. WILLIAM OF
MALEVAL: William of Maleval was a dissolute soldier, he led a life of sin, a
happy-go-lucky young man. Through the grace of God, William came to understand
the error of his ways, and becoming penitent, he embraced the eremitical life… became a hermit. He developed the
gift of miracle and prophecy. He died in his cell in the cave on February 10,
1157. His feast day is on February 10, the day he died.
Attracting a group of followers, the hermits received
papal sanction. They later developed into the Hermits of St. William (the
Gulielmites) until absorbed into the Augustinian Canons.
Again, who between the two
saints venerated by the Augustinians is the real Patron Saint of our Parish?
It’s your turn Catmonanon!
Months back Politicians were very busy jumping from one political party to the other... these politicians are called political butterflies... hopping from one flower to the other, and to the other... and to the other... LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BETTER... FOR SOMETHING JUICY AND SWEET!?
