Blessed Theobald Roggeri

Blessed Theobald Roggeri Also known as

Theobald of Vico
Theobald of Alba
Theobald Roggeris
Teobaldo…

1 June
1 February (part of the miracle of the bells at the discovery of his relics)

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Born to a wealthy, noble Piedmont family, his reading of the Gospel caused him to abandon position for a simple life. Cobbler in Alba, Italy. Theobald proved himself a skillful craftsman, and his master hoped that the young apprentice would marry his daughter and carry on the business. Theobald, however, had made a private vow of chastity, and abandoned the trade. Following a pilgrimage to Compostela, Spain, he worked as a porter, spending his day carrying sacks of grain. He gave away as much of his wages as he could to people even more poor than himself, and there are ballads about him in which he gave away the grain and flour he was supposed to deliver. Venerated in Liguria and the Piedmont regions.

Born

late 11th century in Vico, Liguria, Piedmont, Italy

Died

1150 of natural causes
at his request, Theobald was buried in a patch of ground between the church of San Lorenzo and the church of San Silvestro
his grave became a place of pilgrimage and healing miracles, but after many decades it faded into obscurity and its location was lost
relics re-discovered late in the evening of 31 January 1429 by Blessed Alarinus de Rambaldis, the bishop of Alba, Italy; legend says the bells of all the area churches rang on their own at sun-up the following day in celebration
relics enshrined in a chapel in the cathedral of Alba