ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 3rd of September
BLESSED GUALLA, BISHOP OF BRESCIA
Blessed Gualla, whose name is also spelled Guala, Wala and Gaula, was born in Bergamo (not in Brescia) of the noble Romanoni family. He also studied there, and when Saint Dominic happened to preach in Bergamo, Gualla was deeply touched and felt called by divine grace to become a member of the new Order.
He then went on to found new religious houses himself, first in Bologna near St Agnes,
and then in Brescia (in 1220 or 1221). As prior of the new monastery he earned so much trust through his virtues that his mediation between the Bolognese and Modena residents, who were engaged in bloody warfare with one another, brought about a ten-year peace. The death of Saint Dominic had been known to him by divine revelation in a vision.
Elected Bishop of Brescia in 1228, he accepted the dreaded office at the special request of Pope Gregory IX, but resigned in 1239 or 1242. Until 1244, he then lived in the house of the Vallumbrosans at Astino, not far from Bergamo, in contemplation, prayer and penance. Near the altar of St Martin in the church of this monastery, his tomb and his portrait can be seen. Next to it is a marble tablet bearing the inscription: Beatus Gualla Episcopus, cujus ossa hac in ara quiescunt (Blessed Bishop Gualla, whose bones rest in this altar).
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 532)
*A hagiography source used by the authors
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Blessed Gualla may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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