One Minute Reflection – 16 May – “The Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – St Ubaldus Baldassini (c1085-1160) Bishop and Confessor –Sirach 44:16-17.22-23:45,3.7.15 – Matthew 25:14-23 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Well done, good and faithful servant … Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”- Matthew 25:21
REFLECTION – “The Word of the Father, Only-begotten Son of God, Sun of Justice (Mal 3:20), is the great Merchant Who has brought us the price of our redemption. It is a truly precious exchange which we can never value sufficiently, when a King, Son of the King Most High, has become the Coin, the Gold has paid our dues, the Just Man is given for the sinner. Truly unmerited mercy, perfectly disinterested love, astonishing goodness … it is a completely disproportionate purchase, in which the Son of God is delivered up for the servant, the Creator is put to death for the one He has created, the Lord is condemned for His slave.
O Christ, these are Thine Works, Thou Who descended from Heaven’s brightness into our hellish darkness, to bring Light to our gloomy prison. Thou came down from the Right Hand of the Divine Majesty, into our human misery, to redeem the human race, Thou Who descended from the Father’s glory, to death on the Cross, to triumph over death and its author. Thou art the only One and there is no other but Thee, Who could have been drawn to redeem us through Thine Own Goodness…
Let all the merchants of Teman (Bar 3:23) withdraw from this place … it is not they but Israel [Thy] beloved whom [Thou hast] chosen, Thou Who hide these mysteries from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to those babes and humble servants of Thine (Lk 10:21) … O Lord, I willingly embrace this purchase since it concerns me!… I remember all the things Thou hast done, Thou Who desire that I should keep them alive … Therefore, I shall profit by this talent which Thou hast lent to me until Thy return and will stand before Thee with great joy. O God, grant that I may then hear these sweet words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Mt 25:21).” – St Bernard O.Cist. (1091-1153) Cistercian Monk, known as the Last Father and the Mellifluous Doctor of the Church (Selected sermons, no 42: The Five Purchases).
PRAYER – Mercifully give us Thine help, we beseech Thee, O Lord and by the intercession of blessed Ubaldus, ThyConfessor, stretch over us the Right Hand of Thy mercy against all wickedness of the devil. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Saint of the Day – 16 May – St Ubaldus Baldassini (c1085-1160) Bishop and Confessor, Reformer, untiring Shepherd and protector of his flock both in spiritual and temporal affairs, Apostle of all the needs of the poor and Defender of his City, Miracle-worker. Born in c1085 in Gubbio near Ancona, Umbria, Italy as Ubaldo Baldassini and died in the same City at around sunrise on Monday 16 May 1160 . Also known as – Ubaldus of Gubbio, Ubaldo… Ubald… Ubalde… Patronages – of Gubbio and Montovi, in Italy, St Ubaldus was Canonised in 1192 by Pope Celestine III.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Gubbio, St Ubaldus, a Bishop renowned for miracles.”
Ubaldus was born into the noble Baldassini family in c1085. His parents died while he was still a child and he was raised by an uncle. He was educated at St Secondus Monastery and then at St Marianus. However, he disapproved of the way of life of the Clergy of San Marianus and, in 1104, he return to St Secondus.
The old Bishop Rusticus died and was succeeded by St John of Lodi. At the request of the new Bishop, St Ubaldus returned to Sant Marianus.
Ubaldus was Ordained in 1114 and was elected Prior of the St Marianus Canonric some four years later He was sympathetic to the cause of Church reform and imposed an ascetic Rule on his community. [He imposed what is known as the Portuense Rule which Pope Paschal II had confirmed in 1116 for a community of Regular Canons at the Church of Santa Maria in Portu on the Island of Corizo near Ravenna. This Rule subsequently became widely diffused in Italy, France, Spain and Germany.]
In 1126, when a fire destroyed much of Gubbio, including the Cathedral and the Monastery, Ubaldus fled to the Eremo di Fonte Avellana, intent on dedicating himself to the monastic life. Ubaldus had donated his inheritance to the poor and to the restoration of Monasteries. Several bishoprics were offered to him,but he refused them all. However, when in 1128, the Episcopal See of Gubbio becoming vacant, he was sent, with some Clerics, by the faithful, to ask Pope Honorius II, for a newBishop. The Pope immediately Consecrated Ubaldus and sent him back to Gubbio. To his people he became a perfect pattern of all Christian virtues and a powerful protector in all their spiritual and temporal needs.
Ubaldus became its Bishop, just a year before the start of the Papal schism. His support Pope Innocent II (perhaps because this was the candidate supported by St Bernard) seems to have been influential in deciding the obedience of the Cities of Umbria.
One of his first acts as the Bishop was to begin the rebuilding of the City. During the years 1135-1140, our Saint Ubaldus, calmed the civil unrest which culminated in the establishment of the government of the region and the election of Consuls. In 1151, exiled nobles from Gubbio seem to have mobilised support from some eleven neighbouring Cities and a force under Perugian leadership attacked Gubbio. However, Ubaldus had rebuilt the walls of the City and the invaders were forced to mount a siege. Fortunately, St Ubaldus was able to dispatch soldiers to the surrounding mountains under cover of darkness. The following day the besieging army found itself surrounded and was forced to withdraw.
His assistance was again needed in 1155, when the Emperor Frederick I, who was camped with a large army after the sack of Spoleto, demanded a huge payment from Gubbio to prevent a similar seige. St Ubaldus pleaded with Frederick I, who was so impressed that he left the City in peace and granted it a number of territorial privileges.
St Ubaldus left and St Fredianus right
Ubaldus was known for his patience and heroic gentleness and was considered to have the gift of healing. 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 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 present the incident as an accident but when that did 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 consideration of the misdemeanour belonging to his own jurisdiction, he would take care to render justice himself. Ubaldus then pardoned him.
Numerous miracles were attributed to St Ubaldus during his life and after his death. A number of miraculous cures were attributed to his intercession. The life of St Ubaldus was written by Theobald, his immediate successor in the Episcopal See.
St Ubaldus Shrine
When St Ubaldus died in 1160, he was buried in the old Duomo, beside the Relics of Sts Marianus and James. In 1188, Pope Clement III gave permission to Bishop Benedetto Bentivoglio, for the translation of the Relics of the saints of Gubbio, (presumably including the body of the future St Ubaldus) from the olf City to the site on the mountain, where the new City Cathedral had been constructed. Now known as the Basilica of St Ubaldus, it is frequented by numerous pilgrims.
Dante mentions Ubaldus in the Divine Comedy (Heaven Canto XI): “Between Tupino and the stream which falls from the blest Ubaldus’ chosen hill, the slope is green, a lofty mount below.”
The festival of La Corsa dei Ceri at Gubbio. The statue of Saint Ubaldo leads the procession, followed by ceri topped with the statues of Saint George and Saint Anthony the Great.
St Ubaldus Statue on the South Colonnade, Curved Arm, at St Peter’s Basilica.
St Abdas of Cascar Bl Adam of Adami Bl Adam of San Sabine
St Andrew Bobola SJ (1591-1657) Priest of the Order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Missionary, known as the Apostle of Lithuania and the “Hunter of Souls.” Beatification: 30 October 1853 by Pope Blessed Pius IX Canonisation: 17 April 1938 by Pope Pius XI His Holy and Zealous Life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/saint-of-the-day-16-may-st-andrew-bobola-sj/
St Carantac St Carantoc St Diocletian of Osimo St Felix of Uzalis St Fidolus of Aumont St Fiorenzo of Osimo St Fort of Bordeaux St Francoveus St Gennadius of Uzalis St Germerius of Toulouse St Hilary of Pavia
St Ubaldus Baldassini(c1085-1160) Bishopand Confessor
St Victorian of Isauria Bl Valdimir Ghika
Martyrs of Saint Sabas: A group of Monks, whose names have not come down to us, who were massacred by Moors at the monastery of Saint Sabas in Palestine.
Martyrs of Caramasi Albertin-Marie Maisonade Ignace-Alexandre-Joseph Cardon Jan Chrysostom Zavrel Maturin-Marie Pitri Modeste-Marie Burgen Zosimo Maria Brambat
Martyrs of Osimo Diocletian Fiorenzo
Martyrs of Uzalis Felix Gennadius
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