St. Galdinus of Milan

St. Galdinus was born about 1100 into the noble della Sala family of Milan, in northern Italy, and served long and faithfully in the Church of Milan as archdeacon and chancellor. He lived in a turbulent age, when the city was locked in conflict with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who besieged and in 1162 largely destroyed Milan, and when a schism divided the Church between the true pope and imperial antipopes.

Made a cardinal and, in 1166, Archbishop of Milan, Galdinus returned to a devastated city and set himself to rebuild both its walls and its spiritual life. He labored to restore the churches and the discipline of the clergy, to relieve the poor, and above all to uphold the unity of the Church around the lawful pope against the schism, and he preached vigorously against the Cathar heresy that was spreading in the region. Zealous to the end, he is said to have died on 18 April 1176 immediately after preaching a final sermon against the heretics. He is venerated as a saint, his memory kept on 18 April.