Uguzo of Carvagna

Who they were

Lucio, also known locally as Uguzzone or Luguzzone, was a shepherd and cheesemaker of the Val Cavargna, on the border between Como and Ticino, who probably lived between the 12th and 13th centuries. He worked for a wealthy livestock owner and, moved by compassion for beggars and travellers crossing the mountain passes, gave them mascarpa, a poor kind of ricotta he made from the whey left over from cheesemaking; tradition says his master's stores were never diminished by his generosity.

Accused of theft for his charity, he was dismissed, but his new master prospered while his old one's herds and business declined; consumed by envy, the former master attacked and killed him in the high pastures. A spring of pure water is said to have burst forth where his blood was shed, forming a small lake whose waters were soon held to heal eye diseases. He is patron of cheesemakers, herders and shepherds, and his feast is kept on 12 July.

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

Shepherd and cheesemaker of the Val Cavargna martyred out of envy for giving cheese-whey to the poor; feast 12 July.