Saint Ubald, Bishop & Confessor
S. Ubaldi Episcopi et Confessoris
Saint Ubald was the twelfth-century Bishop of Gubbio in Umbria, a gentle and patient shepherd remembered for his peacemaking, his austerity of life, and his love for his people.
Saint Ubald Baldassini was born at Gubbio in Umbria around the end of the eleventh century, and served his native city as bishop for many years. The Church honours him on the sixteenth of May as a Confessor: a holy pastor who, though not called to martyrdom, bore faithful witness to Christ through a long life of charity, penance, and patience.
His life
Left an orphan in youth, Ubald was educated by the clergy of Gubbio and chose the priestly life, embracing a strict and prayerful discipline. He reformed the canons of his cathedral, drawing them to live together in common and in good order. Against his own wish he was made Bishop of Gubbio, and he governed that see for some thirty-five years with great gentleness.
He was especially remembered for his patience under insult and his zeal for peace. Tradition recalls that he laboured to reconcile the quarreling factions of his city and to spare it from the violence of war, going out himself to plead for his people. He bore bodily sufferings in his last years with serene resignation, and died at Gubbio in 1160.
So great was the love of the people of Gubbio for their bishop that his memory has never faded among them; he was canonised within a few years of his death, and his feast is still kept with solemnity in his own city. In the universal calendar of the 1962 Missal his feast falls on the sixteenth of May.
His witness today
Saint Ubald is honoured as a peacemaker and a patient sufferer. His life reminds the faithful that holiness is found not only in the great deeds remembered by history but in the daily fidelity of a pastor to his flock — in bearing wrongs gently, seeking reconciliation, and serving God’s people without seeking honour for oneself.
The Collect
Mercifully grant us Thine aid, O Lord, we beseech Thee, and by the intercession of blessed Ubald, Thy Confessor and Bishop, stretch forth over us the right hand of Thy mercy against all the wickedness of the devil.
Auxílium tuum nobis, Dómine, quæsumus, placátus impénde: et, intercessióne beáti Ubáldi Confessóris tui atque Pontíficis, contra omnes diáboli nequítias déxteram super nos tuæ propitiatiónis exténde.
Patronage
He is the patron of Gubbio, where his feast is kept with great solemnity, and is invoked against demonic temptation and certain illnesses.
In the Modern Calendar
This feast does not appear in the universal calendar of the modern Roman rite, though it is kept locally where he is venerated.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Ubald?
His feast is kept on 16 May in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint Ubald?
He was Bishop of Gubbio in Umbria (Italy) in the twelfth century, dying in 1160. He is remembered as a gentle and patient shepherd, a reformer of his cathedral clergy, and a peacemaker for his city.
Why is he venerated in Gubbio?
He served the city as bishop for many years and was deeply loved by its people, who have honoured him without interruption since his death. He remains the patron of Gubbio, where his feast is celebrated each year with a famous procession.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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