Walter van Bierbeek
Feast: 22 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Bl. Walter, baron of Bierbeke, a Cistercian monk of Hemmenrode in Brabant, was a soldier before he put on the cowl of a monk. An experience at a tournament prompted him to abandon a soldier’s life and devote himself to the service of God. He cherished a deep veneration for the Blessed Virgin, in whose honor he fasted every Friday and on every vigil of a feast of Our Lady. To ensure his salvation he became a monk at Hemmenrode, where, on account of his cheerfulness and piety, he was given charge of the guests’ house. He is said to have died at Villers in 1222.
The miracles
The source does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Benedictine Martyrology (1922) remembers him on 22 January.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- A Benedictine Martyrology (Alexius Hoffmann OSB, 1922), 22 January
- Wikidata Q2115039 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.