Guala of Bergamo, Bl.
GUALA OF BERGAMO, BL.
Dominican bishop; b. Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, c. 1180; d. Astino, Sept. 3, 1244. When (St.) dominic preached at Bergamo in 1217 Guala (Walter) Roni (Romanoni) received from him the habit of the dominicans. In 1221 he became prior of the convent at Brescia. At this time he had a vision of the glory of Dominic, whose death, unknown to Guala, had just occurred. He founded the convent at Bergamo (1222), was associated with the founding of the nuns' convent of St. Agnes at Bologna (1225), and soon after became prior of St. Nicholas in that city. Both honorius iii and gregory ix recognized his prudence and tact by employing him on difficult missions. In 1229–30 he became bishop of Brescia where he continued his diplomatic activities. Exiled from his see in 1239, Guala spent his last years in penitential retirement with the Benedictines at Astino. Pius IX beatified him in 1868.
Feast: Sept. 3.
Bibliography: Année Dominicaine, September 1:67–77 (Lyons 1900). a. mercati and a. pelzer, Dizionario ecclesiastico, 3 v. (Turin 1954–58) 2:282. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 3:482–483. g. gieraths, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 4:1258.
[m. j. finnegan]