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Waccar, Gundekar, Elleher, Hathawulf June 5
+ 754. Monks martyred with St Boniface in Germany.

Walbert (Vaubert) May 11
+ c 678. A noble of holy life born in Belgium, he was the husband of St Bertilia and father of Sts Waldetrudis and Aldegundis.

Walburgh (Walburga) Feb 25
c 710-779. Sister of Sts Willibald and Winebald. She became a nun at Wimborne in Dorset in England with St Tetta and followed St Lioba to Germany. She reposed as Abbess of Heidenheim, from where her relics were translated to Eichstätt. Miraculous healings come from the oil which still flows from the rock on which her shrine is placed.

Waldalenus May 15
7th cent. Founder of the monastery of Bèze in France and brother of St Adalsindis.

Waldebert (Walbert, Gaubert) May 2
+ c 668. A monk and from about 628 Abbot of Luxeuil in France. The monastery was very influential and St Waldebert helped St Salaberga found a convent in Laon.

Walderic Nov 29
+ c 817. Founder of the monastery of Murrhardt in Germany.

Waldetrudis (Vaudru) Apr 9
+ c 688. Daughter of Sts Walbert and Bertilia, wife of St Vincent Madelgarus and mother of Sts Landericus, Dentelin, Madalberta and Aldetrudis. When her husband became a monk she founded a convent and became a nun. The town of Mons in Belgium grew up around the convent.

Waldrada May 5
+ c 620. First Abbess of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnais in Metz in France.

Walericus (Valéry) Apr 1
+ c 622. A monk at Luxeuil in France, he later founded the monastery of Leuconay at the mouth of the Somme. Two towns in that area are named Saint-Valéry after him.

Walfrid (Gualfredo) della Gherardesca Feb 15
+ c 765. Born in Pisa in Italy, he married and had five sons and one daughter. In later life he joined two other married men in founding the monastery of Palazzuolo and a convent nearby for their wives and Walfrid's daughter. Walfrid was the first abbot and was succeeded by one of his sons.

Walhere June 23
? A priest in Belgium murdered for his righteousness and venerated as a martyr.

Walstan May 30
975-1016. Born at Bawburgh in Norfolk in England, he spent his life as a farm labourer in Taverham and Costessey, being remarkable for his charity to all in need.

Wando (Vando) Apr 17
+ c 756. A monk and Abbot of Fontenelle in France. As a result of a false accusation he was exiled to Troyes but was reinstated after his innocence had been proved.

Wandrille (Wandregisilus, Vandrille) July 22
c 600-668. Born near Verdun, he served in the king's palace and married. After a pilgrimage to Rome his wife became a nun and he became a monk at Roumain-Moutier. Some ten years later he founded the monastery of Fontenelle in the north of France which came to have over three hundred monks.

Waningus (Vaneng) Jan 9
+ c 686. Born near Rouen, he became a monk and helped St Wandrille found Fontenelle. Soon after he himself founded another important monastery in Fécamp in France.

Wannus (Guarinus, Warren) Aug 25
7th cent. The son of St Sigrada, he was martyred in France by the tyrant Ebroin who was at war with his brother St Leodegarius.

Wastrada July 21
+ c 760. Mother of St Gregory of Utrecht in Holland, she became a nun at the end of her life.

Wenceslas (Viacheslav) Sept 28
907-929. Prince of Czechia, he was brought up in the Orthodox Faith by his grandmother, the future martyr Ludmilla. During a pagan reaction in 922, which he tried to stop through patience and mildness, he too was martyred as a result of a political conspiracy. He is the patron-saint of Czechia.

Wendolinus (Wendelinus, Wendel) Oct 21
+ 7th century. A shepherd who was famous for his holiness and is venerated at St Wendel on the Nahe in the west of Germany.

Wenog Jan 3
? An early saint in Wales.

Werburgh Feb 3
+ c 785. A widow who became a nun, probably at Bardney in England, where she later became abbess.

Werburgh Feb 3
+ c 699. Daughter of St Ermenhild and King Wulfhere of Mercia. She became a nun at Ely under St Etheldred (Audrey) and later founded three convents. She reposed at Trentham but her body was transferred to Chester, of which she is the patron saint.

Werenfrid Aug 14
+ c 760. Born in England, he worked with St Willibrord among the Frisians in Holland.

Wiborada (Guiborat, Weibrath) May 2
+ 925. A Swabian noble in Germany. When her brother became a monk at St Gall in Switzerland, she became an anchoress not far away, and here she lived the rest of her life. She was martyred by invading Hungarians.

Wicterp (Wiho, Wicho) Apr 18
+ 749. Abbot of Ellwangen in Germany. He helped found monasteries at Fussen, Wessobrunn and Kempten, all of which became famous. He later became the tenth Bishop of Augsburg.

Widradus (Waré) Oct 3
+ 747. Restorer of the monastery of Flavigny near Dijon in France, he also founded the monastery of Saulieu.

Wifred Dec 13
+ 1021. A monk and abbot of the monastery of St Victor in Marseilles in France.

Wigbert Apr 12
+ 690. Born in England, he became a disciple of St Egbert in Ireland. He spent two years in Friesland in Holland but later returned to Ireland.

Wigbert Aug 13
+ c 738. Born in England, he became a monk and went to Germany. St. Boniface appointed him Abbot of Fritzlar and a few years later he Abbot of Ohrdruf in Thuringia.

Wilfetrudis Nov 23
+ c 670. Second Abbess of Nivelles in Belgium, founded by her aunt St Gertrude.

Wilfrid the Younger Apr 29
+ 744. A monk and favourite disciple of St John of Beverley in England, whom he succeeded. Before his repose he lived at the monastery at Ripon.

Wilfrid Oct 12
633-709. Born in Ripon in England, he became a monk at Lindisfarne. After a short stay in Canterbury he went to France and Rome (653-657). On his return to Northumbria he founded the monastery of Ripon and in 668 played a leading part in the Council of Whitby. The rest of his life was occupied with journeys and missionary work among the Frisians and in Sussex. His zeal made him an important if controversial figure.

Wilfrida Sept 13
+ c 988. Mother of St Edith of Wilton in England. After Edith's birth, Wilfrida went to Wilton where she became a nun. As a nun, and later as abbess, she led a repentant and edifying life.

Wilgils Jan 31
7th cent. Father of St Willibrord, born in Northumbria in England, he settled on the banks of the River Humber and lived as a hermit.

Willa Oct 15
+ c 1050. A nun at Nonnberg near Salzburg in Austria who reposed as an anchoress.

Willehad Nov 8
+ c 789. A Northumbrian monk who in c 766 left England to enlighten the Frisians in Holland. Later he preached to the Saxons, but had to abandon this mission and retired to the monastery of Echternach. In 787 he was ordained Bishop of Bremen in Germany.

Willeic March 2
+ 726. A disciple of St Swithbert who made him Abbot of Kaiserwerth in Germany.

William of Dijon Jan 1
962-1031. William was born near Novara in Italy and became a monk near Vercelli, from where he went to France. Here he was sent to restore the monastery of St Benignus in Dijon, Gentle with the poor, he showed great firmness in his dealings with the great. Towards the end of his life he founded the monastery of Fruttuaria in Piedmont and rebuilt that of Fécamp.

William of Peñacorada March 20
+ c 1042. Monk at the monastery of Satagún in León in Spain. In 988 he fled with the other monks from the Saracens and settled at Peñacorada, where he built the monastery of Santa Maria de los Valles, later named after him San Guillermo de Peñacorada.

William of Gellone May 28
755-812. After a military career, he built a monastery at Gellone in France not far from Aniane which he filled with monks. Later the monastery was named after him Saint-Guilhem-du-Desert.

Willibald July 7
c 700-786/7. Born in Wessex in England, he was a brother of Sts Winebald and Walburgh and a cousin of St Boniface. At the age of five he was given as a monk at Waltham in Hampshire. In 722 he accompanied his father St Richard and his brother St Winebald on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. Here he visited all the holy places and many monasteries, staying in Constantinople for two years. On his return to Italy he lived at Montecassino for ten years. Then he was sent to Germany to help St Boniface and in 742 was consecrated Bishop of Eichstätt. With his brother St Winebald he founded the monastery of Heidenheim where their sister Walburgh became abbess. His relics are still in the Cathedral in Eichstätt.

Willibrord (Clement) Nov 7
c 658-739. Born in Northumbria, he went to Ireland. From there he went to Friesland in Holland (c 690) accompanied by eleven other monks from England. Six years later he was consecrated bishop with the name of Clement and he founded his Cathedral in Utrecht. His work with the Frisians bore much fruit, as also in Heligoland and Denmark. He founded the monastery of Echternach in Luxembourg in 698 where his relics remain.

Willigis Feb 23
+ 1011. The son of a wheelwright, he became a priest at Hildesheim in Germany. Two years later he became Archbishop of Mainz. Although a statesman, Willigis was first and foremost a churchman and always remained humble and charitable to others.

Willigod and Martin Sept 28
+ ? c 690. Monks at Moyenmoutier in France who founded the monastery of Romont.

Wiltrudis Jan 6
+ c 986. After her husband's death (c 947), she founded (c 976) the convent of Bergen near Neuburg in Germany and herself became a nun and the first abbess.

Winaman, Unaman and Sunaman Feb 15
+ c 1040. Monks and nephews of St Sigfrid whom they followed to Sweden. They were martyred by pagans.

Winebald (Vinebaud) Apr 6
+ c 650. A monk at Saint-Loup-de-Troyes in France where he became abbot.

Winebald Dec 18
+ 761. Born in England, he was the brother of Sts Willibald and Walburgh. While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his brother Winebald, he was taken ill and remained in Rome. Eventually he returned to England and went to Germany where he became Abbot of Heidenheim and then Bishop of Eichstätt.

Winewald Apr 27
+ c 731. The successor of St Berchtun as Abbot of Beverley in England.

Winefred Nov 3
7th cent. Born in Wales and a niece of St Beuno, she was beheaded by a prince for refusing his advances. A spring of water gushed forth where her head had fallen. This was the origin of her holy well which has been a centre of pilgrimage ever since.

Winnow, Mancus and Myrbad May 31
Probably 6th cent. Three saints from Ireland who lived in Cornwall where churches are dedicated to them.

Winoc Nov 6
+ ? 717. Born in Wales, he became a monk at Sithin in France. He was sent to found a new monastery at Wormhoult in Belgium where he became abbot and he enlightened the surrounding area from that centre.

Winwaloe March 3
6th cent. Born in Brittany, he became a disciple of St Budoc on Lauren Island and founded the monastery at Landevennec. Several churches in Cornwall are dedicated to him, indicating that the saint had some connection there.

Wiomad (Weomadus) Nov 8
+ c 790. A monk at St Maximinus in Trier in Germany. He became Abbot of Mettlach and finally Bishop of Trier (c 750-790).

Wiro, Plechelm and Otger May 8
Born in England, Wiro reposed in c 753. He became Bishop of Utrecht in Holland and is one of the Apostles of Frisia. He and his two companions founded a monastery at Odilienburg.

Wistan (Winston) June 1
+ 850. Of the royal house of Mercia in England, he was murdered at Wistanstow in Shropshire and was buried at Repton. His relics were later enshrined in Evesham.

Wite June 1
? Martyred by the Danes in Dorset in England. Her relics still exist in their shrine at Whitchurch Canonicorum: the only ones to have survive in a parish church in England. Pilgrims still honour her at the shrine and there is a holy well at Morcombe Lake nearby.

Withburgh (Withburga) July 8
+ c 743. Youngest daughter of King Anna of East Anglia in England. After her father had fallen in battle, she became a nun and lived as an anchoress at East Dereham in Norfolk, founding a convent there.

Wittikund Jan 7
+ c 804. A noble from Westphalia in Germany, he was converted by a vision and baptised in 785. He was zealous in spreading Christianity and restoring churches.

Wolfeius Dec 9
c 1000. A hermit at St Benet Hulme in Norfolk in England.

Wolfgang Oct 31
924-994. Born in Swabia in Germany, he became a monk at Einsiedeln in Switzerland (964). In 971 he was ordained and with a group of monks went to convert the Magyars, but in 972 he was made Bishop of Regensburg. He was a great benefactor of the poor.

Wolfrid June 21
+ c 990. Founder of the monastery of Hohentwiel in Germany.

Wulfhad and Rufinus (Ruffin) July 24
7th century. Two princes of the royal family of Mercia in England, baptised by St Chad and then put to death by their father, unconverted, at Stone in Staffordshire.

Wulfhild Sept 9
+ c 1000. Abbess of convents at Barking and Horton, both in England.

Wulfram March 20
7th Cent. Bishop of Sens, he worked to enlighten the Frisians, helped by monks from the monastery of Fontenelle. After many years among the Frisians, he returned to Fontenelle where he reposed. His relics are still in Abbeville in the north of France.

Wulgan Nov 3
8th cent. A holy man born in Canterbury in England, where his relics were later venerated.

Wulmar (Ulmar, Ulmer, Vilmarus, Volmar) July 20
+ 689. Born near Boulogne in the north of France, he became a monk and later founded the monastery of Samer near Boulogne, later called Saint-Vulmaire after him. He also founded a convent at Wierre-aux-Bois.

Wulsin Jan 8
+ 1002. A monk whom St Dunstan loved as a son and made Abbot of Westminster in 980. In 993 he became Bishop of Sherborne.