Marzio da Pieve di Compresseto

Who they were

Marzio was a layman of Umbria who, after working as a mason, embraced the eremitic life at Valdigorgo near Gualdo Tadino, in a place already marked by an early Franciscan presence. His story rests on a particularly old medieval tradition, a 14th-century Franciscan legendary whose anonymous author claimed to have known him personally. He is remembered as a man of great poverty, devoted to prayer, penance and helping the poor, the sick and prisoners, keeping for himself only what he needed to live.

For around sixty years he lived at the hermitage, becoming a guide to a small community of fellow hermits and sharing with them what food and shelter he had. In his last years he was struck by blindness and other infirmities. After his death in 1301 a lasting local devotion grew up around his tomb, with accounts of wonders and healings, though the veneration was never formally confirmed by the Holy See. His feast, 8 October, is recorded in the Franciscan Martyrology, though one medieval manuscript gives his death as 24 October.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Umbrian hermit at Valdigorgo near Gualdo Tadino known for his poverty and charity to the poor and sick; local veneration with reports of miracles grew after his death in 1301, never formally confirmed by the Holy See.