12 Facts About Ludovico Morbioli

Ludovico Morbioli was an Italian Roman Catholic from Bologna who led a dissolute life before adopting a life of repentance.

Ludovico Morbioli's beatification received full approval on 24 October 1843 after Pope Gregory XVI confirmed the late penitent's longstanding and enduring local 'cultus' - or popular veneration.

Ludovico Morbioli was born in 1433 in Bologna to Francesco Antonio and Agnes Morbioli as one of six children.

Ludovico Morbioli led a dissolute life of vice that included drinking and other forms of pleasure-seeking.

Ludovico Morbioli married Lucia Tura - the daughter of Giovanni who knew Ludovico Morbioli's father.

Ludovico Morbioli returned to Bologna sometime in 1470 in order to start a life of penitence with austerities he would undertake as a particular penance.

Ludovico Morbioli separated from his wife and put on a plain shirt - hence being confused for a Carmelite - and then put on a white one with a cross on his chest that he wore all the time.

Ludovico Morbioli preached penance and self-mortification to the people that he encountered and he would often go with those condemned to the scaffold for merciful comfort and solace.

Ludovico Morbioli visited Modena and Ferrara on a mule and travelled with a cross in his hands.

Ludovico Morbioli slept on the pavement and in other places like the homeless did and he let his hair become wild and his beard grow.

Ludovico Morbioli spent his last months in a basement that he transformed into a cell like those in convents.

Ludovico Morbioli's remains were interred in the Cathedral of Saint Peter but could not later be relocated in its restoration that took place under Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti from 1566 until 1597.