Saint Ubaldesca Taccini | |
|---|---|
 Ubaldesca Taccini, fresco at theMuseum of the Order of St John,London | |
| Religious | |
| Born | 1136 Calcinaia |
| Died | 1206[1] Pisa |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Majorshrine | Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista (Calcinaia) |
| Feast | 28 May |
| Patronage | Calcinaia, Les Useres - Barri de Santa Ubaldesca (España) |
Ubaldesca Taccini (Calcinaia, 1136 –Pisa, 1206) was an ItalianCatholicnun and member of theOrder of Saint John. Herfeast day is celebrated on 28 May.[2]
Ubaldesca was born in theRepublic of Pisa from a modest family, she dedicated herself to charity helping the poor and sick since early years. At the age of about sixteen, she went to Pisa and entered the hospitaller Order of St. John.[3] For all 55 years of religious life, Ubaldesca practiced humility and charity in the monastery and in the "Spedale" of the city, serving the sick and injured.
Among the miracles attributed to her the most famous is the ability to turn water from the water well in theChurch of the Santo Sepolcro in Pisa into wine. Her relics are kept in the Church of Saint John the Baptist inCalcinaia, her native town.
"In Pisa in Tuscany, in the year 1206, Saint Ubaldesca, virgin, who for fifty-five years, from the age of sixteen until her death, carried out with charity the works of mercy in the hospital of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem." (Roman martyrology)[4]
Ubaldesca is considered one of the most influential saints of Pisa along withBona of Pisa, Guido della Gherardesca andRainerius. The church ofSanto Sepolcro, Pisa holds a bust-reliquary of St. Ubaldesca (15th century) with a pail which, according to the tradition, belonged to the saint.St. Ubaldesca Church inPaola (Malta) is dedicated to her.
Ubaldesca is the patron saint of Calcinaia. TheRegata Storica sull'Arno (Historic Regatta on the Arno) is held in May in her honor and re-enacts the centuries-old activity of the ferrymen, who transported sand, brick and wood from Calcinaia to the port of Livorno.[5][6]
"In the town of Les Useres (Spain), there are some ancient gozos of the Saint dated in the second half of the 18th century with the characteristic iconography of the military Order of Malta or Sanjuanista..."[7]
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