May 16, 2021: ST. UBALD
May 16, 2021: COMMEMORATION OF ST. UBALD, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR
Thy power, O Ubaldus, has often manifested itself, by rescuing unhappy victims of the devil's jealousy; and holy Church, on this day, celebrates the special prerogative conferred on thee by our Heavenly Father. Relent not in the exercise of thy charitable office. And yet, O holy Pontiff, thou knowest that the snares of the wicked spirits are more injurious to the souls than to the bodies of men. Have pity, then, on the unhappy slaves of sin, who, though the divine Sun of the Pasch has risen upon them, are still in the darkness of guilt.
May 14, 2021 - May 22, 2021: Novena for Pentecost.
Prayer (Collect).
Help us, O Lord, we beseech thee, in thy mercy; and grant, by the intercession of blessed Ubaldus, thy Bishop and Confessor, that we may be defended, by thy right hand, against all the snares of the Devil. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in unity of the Holy Ghost, God, World without end. Amen.
In order to honour her Eternal High Priest, the Church presents to him, this day, the merits of a Pontiff, who, after his mortal career, was admitted into a happy Immortality. Ubaldus, here on earth, was the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like his Divine Master, he received the holy Anointing of Priesthood; he was a Mediator between God and man; he was the Shepherd of a flock; and, now, he is united with our Risen Jesus,—the great Anointed, the Mediator, the Shepherd. In proof of his influence in heaven, our Ubaldus has had given to him a special power against the wicked Spirits, who lay snares for our perdition. It has frequently happened, that the simple invocation of his name has sufficed to foil their machinations. It is with the view of encouraging the Faithful to have recourse to his protection, that the Church has fixed this day as his Feast.
Let us now read the account she gives of the virtues of the saintly Bishop.
Ubaldus was born at Gubbio in Umbria, of a noble family. He was, from childhood, formed, in the most admirable way, to piety and learning. When grown up, he was frequently urged to marry; but nothing could shake his resolution of leading a life of celibacy. On being ordained Priest, he divided his fortune between the poor and the Churches, and entered among the Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine. He established that Institute in his own country, and was for some time a most fervent observer of all its regulations. The fame of his virtue spread far and wide. Pope Honorius the Second compelled him to accept the charge of the Church of Gubbio; and, accordingly, he was consecrated Bishop.
Having taken possession of his See, he changed little or nothing of his mode of life; but he began to apply himself more than ever to the practice of every virtue, in order that he might the more effectually, both by word and example, procure the salvation of souls, for he was a pattern of the flock in all earnestness. His food was scanty, his dress unpretending, his bed hard and most poor. Whilst always bearing about, in his body, the mortification of the Cross, he every day refreshed his spirit with prayer, in which he seemed insatiable. The result of such a life was meekness of so admirable a nature, that he not only bore the worst injuries and insults with patience, but he even treated his persecutors with surprising affection, and showed them all possible kindness.
During the last two years of his life, he suffered much from sickness. In the midst of the most acute pains, whereby he was made pure as gold that is cleansed in the furnace, he ceased not to give thanks to God. Finally, on the holy Feast of Pentecost, after governing for many years, and in a most laudable manner, the Diocese that had been intrusted to him, he slept in peace, venerated for his holy life and miracles. He was canonised by Pope Celestine the Third. God has given him a special power for driving away unclean spirits. His body, which has remained incorrupt for several centuries, is honoured with much devotion, by the Faithful of the city of Gubbio, which he has more than once rescued from the calamities that threatened it.
Another account of St. Ubaldus, Bishop of Gubio.
He was born of a noble family at Gubio, a city of the Ecclesiastical State, near the marquisate of Ancona. He had his education in the seminary of SS. Marian and James, and made great progress in his studies both profane and sacred; but the holy scriptures, those springs of living waters, were his chief delight. Many honourable matches were proposed to him by his friends; but he rejected all such offers, and made a vow of celibacy. His ardour in the perfect practice of virtue strengthened him against the bad example of many tepid companions. However, not approving certain irregularities which he saw tolerated among them, he exchanged this house for the seminary of St. Secundus, where he finished his studies. The bishop of Gubio made him prior of his cathedral that he might reform several abuses in the behaviour of the canons. Ubaldus prepared himself for this important work by fasting, prayers, and tears, by which he hoped to engage the divine assistance. He easily prevailed on three of his canons who were the best disposed, to join with him in his exercises and rules of life; and their example soon began to work upon the rest. The saint visited a community of regular canons, esteemed for their regularity and sanctity, which had been established by Peter de Honestis, a person of singular piety, in the territory of Ravenna. He staid there three months in order to take an exact view of the discipline of the house; and he carried its rule back with him to Gubio, and in a short time got it received by the whole chapter to render their reformation complete. After some years, their house and cloister being burnt down, Ubaldus looked upon this as a favourable opportunity of leaving his post, and retiring into some desert. In this view he made his way to that of Font-Avellano, where he found Peter of Rimini, to whom he communicated his design of quitting the world. That great servant of God opposed the motion as a dangerous temptation, and exhorted him to return to his former vocation in which God had fixed him for the good of others. The saint therefore returned to Gubio, rebuilt the cloisters, and rendered his chapter more flourishing than it had ever been, to the great edification of the whole country. In 1126, Saint Ubaldus was unanimously chosen bishop of Perugia; but he hid himself in the country, so that the deputies of that city were not able to find him; and when they were departed, he went to Rome, threw himself at the feet of pope Honorius II. and with many tears begged that he might be excused; employing all the interest he had in the world to obtain the favour he desired. Honorius granted his request; but the see of Gubio becoming vacant two years after, the pope directed the clergy of that city to proceed to his election according to the forms prescribed by the canons; in consequence of which his Holiness consecrated him with his own hands in the beginning of the year 1129. The new bishop made it his whole business to adorn the dignity of his station with all the virtues of a true successor of the apostles. He practised a perpetual mortification of all his senses, and lived dead to all the enjoyments of the world: he was indefatigable both in the exercise of penance, and in the labours of his ministry; frugal, humble, sincere, and full of compassion for all the world. But mildness and patience, by which he appeared insensible to injuries and affronts, was one of the brightest parts of his character. Once it happened, that in repairing the wall of the city the workmen encroached upon his vineyard. The bishop mildly put them in mind of it, and desired them to forbear. The overseer of the work moved with brutish fury, scornfully pushed him into a great heap of mortar. The good bishop got up all covered with lime and dirt, without making the least expostulation. The people demanded that the overseer, in punishment for the offence, should be banished, and his goods confiscated. The saint endeavoured to make it pass for an accident; but when that could not satisfy the people who knew how it happened, he being desirous to deliver the man out of the hands of the magistrates, maintained that the cognisance of the misdemeanor belonging to his own court, he would take care to do himself justice. The workman stung with remorse, proffered to accept of any punishment the bishop should think proper to inflict on him, even though his life was to pay for the offence. The holy prelate rising from his chair, went up to him, and told him with a smiling countenance, that by way of satisfaction for the injury received, he insisted on his giving him a kiss of peace, as a token of a perfect reconciliation, and that he begged of God to pardon him that and all other offences. After which he saluted him.
The saint often defended his flock in public dangers. Hearing one day that a sedition was raised in one of the streets, wherein some were wounded, others killed, he ran out, and venturing himself between the combatants, fell down amidst their naked swords. The mutineers thinking him dead, all threw away their weapons, running to take him up, and every one condemned himself as the murderer of their holy bishop. Then the saint thanking God that the tumult was appeased, dispelled their fears by assuring them that he had received no hurt. The emperor Frederic Barbarossa, in his cruel wars in Italy, having taken and plundered Spoleto, threatened to do the like by Gubio. Ubaldus moved by a more than fatherly tenderness for his flock, met the emperor on the road, and on his first interview softened the heart of that tyrant to compassion, and obtained of him the safety of his people. The two last years of his life, he laboured under a complication of painful distempers, which he bore with the patience of a saint. On Easter-day in 1160, his devotion to the glorious mystery of that festival, made him forget his infirm condition, get up, say mass, and give the people a discourse on eternal life. From the cathedral he would be carried to the church of St. Laurence, near which he had an apartment. He continued there till the feast of the ascension in retirement, to prepare himself for death. After that, he was removed into his own house, where he repeated his last instructions to his clergy and people who came to visit him and beg his last blessing. Having received the rites of the church, he expired on the sixteenth of May 1160. The people from all the neighbouring provinces attended his funeral in crowds, and were eye-witnesses of the many miracles God performed at his tomb. So tender was the devotion which this spectacle excited in every one, that animosities and dissensions over the whole country were extinguished, and a most wonderful spirit of charity was infused into all hearts. Injuries were forgotten, and cities which had been long at variance, renewed the most sincere league of friendship. St. Ubaldus had been favoured with the miraculous gift of curing diseases in his life-time, which he performed by the sign of the cross and prayer; yet, when a certain blind man addressed himself to him to be cured, the bishop told him that his corporal sight would be prejudicial to his soul, and that his temporal blindness would be recompensed with the clear vision of God in heaven for all eternity: at which the good man was so well satisfied, that he no longer desired to be cured. St. Ubaldus was canonized by pope Celestine III. in 1192.
Taken from: The Liturgical Year
- The Paschal Time, Vol. II, Dublin, Edition 1871;
The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. V, 1821; and
The Divine Office for the use of the Laity, Volume II, 1806.
May 14, 2021 - May 22, 2021: Novena for Pentecost.
May 16, 2021: St. Simon Stock, Confessor.
St. Ubald, pray for us.