Blessed Alberto da Bergamo

Alberto da Bergamo, TOSD (1214 – 7 May 1279) was an Italian Catholic farmer from Bergamo and a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was married in his adulthood to a wife who disapproved of his generous nature to the poor before her conversion and death, and he spent his initial widowhood going on several pilgrimages to Rome as well as visits to both Spain and Jerusalem. He was beatified in 1748 after Pope Benedict XIV confirmed that there existed a longstanding local 'cultus' - or popular devotion - to the late farmer. Alberto da Bergamo was born in Bergamo in 1214 to modest and pious farmers. From aged seven he began fasting for half a week and foregone all the food he did not have during that time to the poor. He maintained his father's farm in Villa d'Ogna after following his father's pious and industrious example and he later married. His father had also taught him penitential practices that later fructified in his son's life. Alberto's wife made no initial objections to his generous example and his giving to the poor but the death of her father-in-law saw her begin to criticize his work. She soon ceased her nagging and in a sudden conversion began to follow his example though she later died not long after - the couple were childless. His parents and wife died sometime between 1240 and 1255. He gained a formidable reputation as one who dedicated his life to aiding the poor in whatever manner was available. He travelled on nine pilgrimages to Rome and also made eight visits to Santiago de Compostela and one to Jerusalem. While in Rome he manifested his obedience to the pontiffs of the times that he visited such as Pope Celestine IV and Pope Alexander IV. He would also visit the hospitals of Rome to comfort the ill and to encourage them to confess their sins. The farmer later settled in Cremona in order to continue his farming and arrived there at harvest time working in the fields with the moniker of "the diligent worker".