Also known as Lucio, Lucius, Luguzzone, Uguzon, Uguzzone. Died before 1200. He was a poor shepherd who lived near Cavargna and was extremely generous in charity towards the poor and needy. According to legend, he discovered that the yield from cheese-making is greater if the milk is heated before it is made into cheese. According to another legend, he heated the whey produced during cheese-making and collected the flocculated protein to make cheese.
Uguzo gave the surplus cheese obtained by his discovery to the poor to feed. Suspecting that the shepherd was giving away his property, Uguzo’s employer drove him away, only for his land to go foul and his sheep to stop producing milk. Uguzo’s subsequent employer prospered from the moment he hired him, and he was blessed with a miracle as when he cut cheese from his employer’s cheese rounds to distribute to the needy, the rounds would miraculously be reformed. Hatred and envy of Uguzo and his blessings and reputation drove the first employer to kill the shepherd. The cult of Uguzo was authenticated as early as 1280 at Milan and has been honored by various popes.
The San Lucio Pass, where he was murdered, is named for him, and at the summit is a 14th-century church, dedicated to him. At the place where Uguzo was slain, a spring gushed forth that is said to this day to have healing powers, especially for eye ailments.
He is the patron of cheese-makers and is invoked in cases of cattle and eye diseases, and favorable weather conditions. He appears in iconography with a cheese-cutter and a cheese with a slice cut out of it.
AnaStpaul 