From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

May 18th - Bl. William of Toulouse
d. 1369

AT a very early age Bl. William de Naurose joined the Hermits of St.
Augustine in his native city of Toulouse. Young though he was, he had
already begun to tread the path of perfection, and with the triple
promise he made at his profession he dedicated himself to the Holy
Trinity. With the vow of obedience he offered himself to the Father
under whom all things are in subjection, with the vow of poverty to
the Son who for our sake became poor, and with the vow of chastity to
the Holy Ghost, the spouse of our Lady and all pure souls.

After his ordination he was sent to pursue higher studies at the
University of Paris, then the educational centre of Christendom. His
course completed, he was entrusted with mission work and soon became
celebrated as a preacher and as a director of souls. A great promoter
of prayer for the holy souls in Purgatory, he was once visited by a
wealthy woman who gave him gold, requesting his prayers for her
deceased relations. Bl. William at once said aloud, =E2=80=9CEternal rest g= ive
to them, 0 Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they
rest in peace,=E2=80=9D and stopped short--much to the disappointment of hi=
s
visitor, who plainly intimated that she expected more prayers for her
money. The holy priest replied by bidding her write down his prayer
and weigh it in a balance with her bag of gold. She did so, and lo! it
was the money which kicked the beam, while down came the scale with
the prayer. Bl. William had a reputation for delivering those
possessed by devils, but was himself said to be troubled by evil
spirits, who sometimes appeared to him in visible form and tried to do
him bodily harm. He died on May 18, 1369, and his cult was confirmed
in 1893.

The short life by Nicholas Bertrand which is printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. iv, was written a century and a half after the
death of Bl. William. There is also a brief historical summary in the
decree approving the cult and a compendious account of the beatus by
N. Mattioli, in Italian, was published in 1894.


Saint Quote:
Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for
such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children.
--Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church

Bible Quote:
=C2 What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but
hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? And if a brother or
sister be naked and want daily food:=C2 And one of you say to them: Go
in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that
are necessary for the body, what shall it profit? So faith also, if it
have not works, is dead in itself.=C2 [James 2:14-17] DRB


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May God's Holy Will Be Done O Lord, do to me whatever shall seem good
in Thy sight. If Thou willest that I should be in darkness, blessed be
Thou! If Thou willest that I should be in light, still blessed be
Thou! If Thou deignest to comfort me, blessed be Thou! And if Thou
willest that I should be afflicted, equally blessed be Thou forever! I
will willingly suffer for Thee, O Lord, whatever Thou willest should
come upon me. I am ready to receive alike from Thy hand good and evil,
sweet and bitter, joy and sadness, and to give thanks for everything
that befalls me. Keep me only from all sin and I will fear neither
death nor Hell. Cast me not off forever, nor blot me out of the Book
of Life, and whatsoever tribulation befalleth me shall not hurt me.
--Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, Ch. 17


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