Gualber´to

( St. ), heir of Valdespe´sa, and brought up with the feudal notion that he was to be the avenger of blood. Anselmo was the murderer he was to lie in wait for, and he was to make it the duty of his life to have blood for blood. One day, as he was lying in ambush for Anselmo, the vesper bell rang, and Gualberto (3 syl. ) fell in prayer, but somehow could not pray. The thought struck him that if Christ died to forgive sin, it could not be right in man to hold it beyond forgivene . At this moment Anselmo came up, was attacked, and cried for mercy. Gualberto cast away his dagger, ran to the neighboring convent, thanked God he had been saved from blood-guiltine , and became a hermit noted for his holine of life.—Southey, St. Gualberto .