Saint Ubald of Gubbio

Ubaldo Baldassini was born in Gubbio around 1084 — the date is worked out from his biographer Theobald, who in 1105 calls him adolescens. After losing his father, Rovaldo, he was entrusted to his uncle, who was also named Ubaldo and set him on the path of religious life. He studied with the canons of San Secondo, then at San Mariano, where he wasn’t happy: the clergy of that house lived with women, and he went back where he had come from. He was ordained a priest in 1114 and appointed canon of the cathedral, where he restored discipline. After the fire of 1125 he took charge of the rebuilding. He became bishop of his city, and his biographers describe him with two phrases that say it all: pleasant company, patient with everyone. They don’t credit him with miracles as a boy; they credit him with a character. That character came through when it was needed. In 1155 Frederick Barbarossa arrived with his army outside Gubbio, determined to raze it to the ground as he had done elsewhere. Ubald went out alone to meet him, outside the walls, and the city was spared. The people of Gubbio have never forgotten it. He died on May 16, 1160. Every year on the evening of May 15, Gubbio runs the Festa dei Ceri: three towering wooden structures carried on shoulders at a run up the mountain to the basilica where his body lies. It is one of the oldest popular festivals in Italy and it has never been interrupted. If your name is Ubaldo, today is your name day.