St. William the Confessor,
Archbishop of Bourges

When I was assigned as pastor of St. William parish, one of the first questions I asked myself was, "Who is St. William?" I searched the Internet and came up with about 45 St. Williams – monks, martyrs, missionaries and a metropolitan. On my first visit to the parish I asked Father George Behan who our patron saint was. He told me he was not sure but he thought that the saint's feast was in early January. I also inquired of our former pastor, Father Nicholas Iacovacci, but neither did he know which St. William was our patron. He had hoped that it might be one whose feast was in warm weather.

Parish documents indicate that the parish was actually named for Providence Bishop William A. Hickey, who died in 1933, the year St. William Church was formally established as a parish. I went to the Rhode Island Historical Society to review the old Providence Visitors for that era. The Visitor simply states that in 1926 the celebrated Father John Sullivan, pastor of St. Matthew parish in Cranston, named his newly established mission church in Norwood after Bishop Hickey "in honor of St. William." The saga ends there.

The Internet actually lists two St. Williams with feasts in January. St. William of Dijon has a feast on January 1 and St. William the Confessor, Archbishop of Bourges, has his feast on January 10. Since a pastor originally chose St. William as a patron, it seems fitting that a pastor should now specify who among the several St. Williams is our special intercessor. Using January as my only clue, I am nominating St. William the Confessor whose biography appears below as our official patron saint. Since St. William of Dijon's feast comes on January 1, it would always be over shadowed by New Year's Day and the Solemnity of Mary. And, frankly, when people hear the name St. William of Dijon, they think more of the mustard than of the saint.

Both of these St. Williams had similar monastic backgrounds. They were both saintly and zealous monks and abbots, very intent on reforming and improving their various monasteries. But what impressed me most was the observation that St. William the Confessor was noted "for his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and for the time he spent praying at the altar." Note also that he died "while at prayer." Since our parish church is the very center of our religious lives, St. William the Confessor's devotion to Christ present in the Holy Eucharist is a mandate for us all to relish, respect, revere and adore Christ sacramentally present in our midst.

St. William the Confessor was a member of the noble family of the Counts of Nevers, born in the 12^th century in Nevers, France. His father, Baldwin, planned a military life for the young William. He was educated, however, by his maternal uncle, Peter the Hermit, archdeacon of Soissons, and was drawn toward religious life from an early age. He first was a Monk in the Order of Grandmont. He became a priest and then a canon at Soissons and finally a canon at Paris. He was noted for his austere life, for his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and for the time spent praying at the altar. Internal dissension in his religious order caused him to leave Grandmont for the recently formed Cistercian Order, taking the habit at Pontigny. He became abbot at Fontaine-Jean in Sens, France. And then he was elected abbot at Chalis near Senlis, France in 1187. He reluctantly assumed the position of archbishop at Bourges in central France in 1200, accepting the position only after receiving orders from the general of his order and from Pope Innocent III himself. St. William then lived an even more austere life, defended clerical rights against the state, cared personally for the poor, sick, imprisoned and debauched, and converted many Albigensian heretics in his diocese to orthodox Christianity. He died January 10, 1209 at Bourges, France, of natural causes while at prayer. Witnesses claim he performed 18 miracles during his life and another 18 after his death. He was canonized on May 17, 1217 by Pope Honorius III.
From Butler's Lives of the Saints

St. William, you were a father to your monks and a shepherd to your people. Pray now before God's heavenly altar that we might form a truly Eucharistic community, alert to the Presence of Christ in our hearts and in our church, eager to share our Catholic faith with people everywhere, and especially intent on welcoming our disadvantaged brothers and sisters. Amen.