Vuillerme de Léaval

Who they were

Also called Villermo, Guglielmo de Leaval belonged to the Leaval family and lived between the 12th and 13th centuries as parish priest of Morgex in the Valdigne, in the Aosta Valley, renowned for his holiness, chastity and spirit of mortification, with wonders attributed to him in his own lifetime. His tomb was discovered by chance in 1687 during rebuilding work on the parish church of Morgex, exactly where tradition had long located it, beside an altar the people already called 'of Blessed Guglielmo'; a chalice and paten found with the remains confirmed he had been a priest and helped date the burial to the 12th-13th century.

After his death, bells were said to have rung of their own accord to announce it, and legumes are said to have sprung up miraculously on his tomb on 7 February, the day his memory is still kept and on which the church would collect both money and legumes. Blessed Pius IX approved his veneration 'from time immemorial' on 3 February 1877, and his relics are still venerated in Morgex, where he is patron of the town.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Parish priest of Morgex in the Aosta Valley, venerated for holiness of life; veneration approved by Pius IX in 1877.