St. Ubald - May 16th
When he was only a child, this son of a noble Italian family became an orphan. His uncle, a bishop, took charge of him and gave him a good education. When he finished his schooling, Ubald had the chance to marry any one of a number of lovely noblewomen, but he wanted to dedicate his life to God. He became a priest, and since his virtue was outstanding, the Pope made him bishop of Gubbio, Ubald’s own city.
St. Ubald was so mild and patient that he did not seem to mind any insult. Once a workman repairing the city wall damaged his vineyard very much. The Saint gently pointed it out to him. The workman, who probably did not recognize the bishop, shoved him so hard that he fell into a pile of wet cement and got up all covered with it. Yet he said not one word of complaint and went into his house. The city officials were going to punish the man, but Ubald wanted him to be set free and her himself gave him the kiss of peace.
The holy Bishop did indeed love peace, and he had the courage it takes to keep it. Once, when the people of Gubbio were fighting in the streets, he seemed unafraid of the swords clashing and the rocks flying. Suddenly he fell to the ground. The people stopped fighting at once, for they thought the Saint had been killed. But he got up and showed them that he was not even hurt. Then all together, the people thanked God for having stopped them from doing each other more harm. Another time, when the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was going to attack the city, St. Ubald went out on the road to talk to him, and he convinced this bold emperor to leave Gubbio alone.
The Saint also had much to suffer from sicknesses. Yet he never spoke about his pains, and if someone tried to show sorrow over them, he would change the subject at once. Even in his last sickness he managed to get up to say Mass and give the people his blessing.
Let us learn from St. Ubald never to give in to anger, and to forgive those who may hurt us in any way.
