St. Ubald of Gubbio

Ubald was educated at Gubbio and became prior of its cathedral clergy. Asked to restore their common life, he began with prayer and his own example. He visited a community of regular canons near Ravenna to learn its discipline, then brought that rule back to the cathedral.

After a fire destroyed the community's buildings, he considered leaving for solitude. Advice persuaded him to return and rebuild. He later became bishop of Gubbio, carrying into that ministry the same restraint, compassion and patience. Butler tells how he sought reconciliation with a workman who had pushed him into mortar during a dispute over building work.

He also intervened when quarrels threatened the public peace and pleaded for his city before the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Illness marked his final years, but he continued to instruct and bless his people. He died on May 16, 1160, after receiving the Church's last rites. Pope Celestine III canonized him in 1192.