St. William of Perth

 We are in the home stretch of the alphabet of Saints for November 2020. For the letter 'W', I have chosen St. William of Perth (also known as William of Rochester) in honor of Adoption Awareness month.

William was born in Perth, one of the principle cities of Scotland, in the twelfth century. After a wild youth, he grew up to devote his life to God. He was a baker and was accustomed to setting aside every tenth loaf he baked to feed the poor. One early morning on his way to daily Mass, he found an abandoned child on the threshold of the Church. He adopted the boy and taught him his trade. In the stories about William, the child's name is given as "Cockermay Doucri" which is said to be Scots for "David the Foundling."

In 1201, William and David set out on Pilgrimage to the Holy Places. They stopped in in Rochester, England on the way to Canterbury (and from there to Jerusalem). On their way out of town, David mislead his benefactor on a "short-cut", felled him with a blow to the head, robbed him and slit his throat. His body was discovered by a mad woman who made a garland out of honeysuckle, placed it on his head and then on her own and was instantly cured of her madness. On learning of this, the monks of Rochester carried the body to their monastery and buried him there. William was honored as a martyr as he was killed while on his way to holy places.

Although this is a really tragic story of adoption, William is a patron saint of adoption. His feast day is May 23.