CONTEMPLATION ON THE LIFE OF TWO SAN GUILLERMOS

                  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 28^th of May, the day he died; and San Guillermo De Maleval every 10^th 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 1^st. 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

                  Beatified in 1202

                  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.

                            d) wearing a monastic habit over armor.

                            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!