Saint William of Norwich

The body of the Saint, which had been glorified by miracles, was carried, in 1144, into the cemetery of the cathedral church, dedicated to the Holy église cathédrale, dédiée à la Sainte-Trinité Final resting place and site of veneration for the saint's relics. Trinity; six years later, it was placed in the choir of the same church.

We learn from Mr. Weever that in former times the Jews of the principal cities of England would abduct male children to circumcise them, crown them with thorns, scourge them, and crucify them in mockery of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was in this manner that Saint Richard of Pontoise died. Matthew saint Richard de Ponteise Child martyr cited as a similar example. Paris and Capgrave also report that Saint Hugh, a child, was saint Hugues Child martyr of Lincoln mentioned by Matthew Paris. crucified by the Jews at Lincoln in 1254. Some authors have claimed that these horrible cruelties had been practiced by this people at all times: but this is a calumny, and natural equity forbids holding the body of the nation responsible for the crimes of a few individuals. The name of Saint William of Norwich is marked on March 24 in the English calendars.

Pope Ben edict XIV Benoît XIV Pope who beatified Jerome Emiliani. shows, in book 1 of Canoniz. c. 14, p. 163, that one should not canonize children who die after baptism and before the age of reason, even though they are Saints. He bases this on: 1° the fact that they have not practiced virtues to the degree of heroism required for canonization; 2° the fact that such canonizations have never been in use in the Church. An exception is made for children, even those not baptized, who were massacred in hatred of the name of Jesus Christ. We have an example of this in the Holy Innocents, to whom Saint Irenaeus, Origen, etc., and the oldest Missals, give the title of martyrs, and whose cult dates back to the first centuries of the Church, as we see from the homilies of the Fathers on their feast day. It is for the same reason that the children massacred by the Jews in hatred of Jesus Christ, such as Saint Simon of Trent, Sai nt William of Norwich saint Simon de Trente Child martyr whose cult was confirmed by the papacy. , Saint Richard of Paris, etc., have been placed among the martyrs. The diocesan bishop granted the former a public cult with the status of martyr, and this cult was confirmed by the decrees of Popes Sixtus V and Gregory XIII. The latter, who was twelve years old, and consequently of the age of reason, should rather be called an adult than a child.

See the history of his martyrdom and miracles, by Thomas of Monmouth, a co Thomas de Monmouth Contemporary author and principal hagiographer of Saint William. ntemporary author; the Saecense chronicle, which is from the same century, and the history of Norfolk, by Bremfield.