William Firmatus

Infobox Saint
name=William Firmatus
birth_date=1026
death_date=1103
feast_day=24 April
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=
caption=
birth_place=Tours, Francecite web | last =Jippé | first =Pégé | title =Prénoms de GUDULE à GUILLAUME | date =2006-09-17 | url =http://pgjp.free.fr/Prenoms.php?Lettre=G&Page=10 | accessdate =2007-04-24 fr]
death_place=
titles=Hermit
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=a man thrusting his arm into a fire; a man with a raven showing him the way to the Holy Land
patronage=headache
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint William Firmatus (in French: Guillaume Firmat) (1026–1103) was a Norman hermit and pilgrim of the 11th century.

Life

William Firmatus was a canon and a physician of Tours in France. Following a spiritual prompting against greed, he gave away all his possessions to the poor.cite web | last = Jones | first = Terry | title = William Firmatus | work = Patron Saints Index | url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintw47.htm | accessdate = 2007-04-24] He lived a reclusive life with his mother until he entered a hermitage near Laval, Mayenne.cite web | title =St. William Firmatus | work =Saints and Angels | publisher =Catholic Online | url =http://www.catholiconline.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2118 | accessdate =2007-04-24] He spent the rest of his life on pilgrimages and as a hermit at Savigny and Mantilly.

According to legend, he saved the people of Choilley-Dardenay during drought by striking the ground with his pilgrim's staff, which caused a spring of water to bubble up. He died in 1103 of natural causes.

Relationship with wild animals

William is especially noted for his love of wildlife and the unusual level of communication he seemed to have with animals. This was so much so that the local people used to ask his help with animals that raided their crops.cite web | last =Michaelian | first =William | title =The Conversation Continues | work =I'm Telling You All I Know | url =http://www.williammichaelian.com/conversation/conversation24.html | accessdate =2007-04-24] One particular story to this effect involves a wild boar, which William is said to have led by the ear from a farmer's plot, instructing it to fast for the night in a solitary cell.cite web | last= Whisson | first= Michael | title =The Feasts of April | work =The Spire | publisher =Cathedral of St Michael and St George | date =April 2002 | url =http://scifac.ru.ac.za/cathedral/spire/apr02/feasts.htm | accessdate =2007-04-24]

The Little Bollandists go on to record, along with the boar miracle, that

Veneration

Upon William's death, three townships disputed possession of his remains. The winner was Mortain, which, to procure the relics, used the full force of "its entire clergy and an innumerable crowd of its people."cite book | last =Murrary | first =Alexander | title =Reason and Society in the Middle Ages | publisher =Oxford University Press | date =1978 | pages =400 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=ybF9MyWGLTgC&pg=PA400&dq=william+firmatus&sig=pGRNAfnhWfirkhwcewSRD9TJPbY | isbn=0198225407]

Saint William is also venerated at Savigny and Mantilly.cite web | last =Rabenstein | first =Katherine | title =William Firmatus, Hermit (AC) | work =Saints O' the Day for April 24 | date =April 1999 | url =http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0424.htm | accessdate =2007-04-24] Catholic Encyclopedia mentions William in its article on Coutances, which accords him special honor as well, and mentions his patronage of the collegiate church of Mortain.cite encyclopedia | last=Goyau| first=Georges | title =Coutances | encyclopedia =The Catholic Encyclopedia | volume =4 | publisher =Robert Appleton Company | date =1908 | url =http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04455b.htm | accessdate =2007-04-24] He is a patron against headaches.

Iconography

In art, Saint William is often shown thrusting his arm into a fire. Also, he may be depicted with a raven, which is guiding him to the Holy Land.

References