Gerardo dei Tintori

Saint Gerardo dei Tintori or Tintore (1134(?) – 6 June 1207) is a saint of the Catholic Church, joint patron saint (with Saint John the Baptist) of Monza in Italy, where he is particularly noted as the founder of a hospital.

Biography Gerardo's year of birth is not known with certainty: according to the Monza historian Bartolomeo Zucchi, it was 1134. The name "Tintore" or "dei Tintori" means "dyer" or "of the dyers" and very probably refers to the occupation of his ancestors. His family was wealthy but not noble.

After the death of his father, Gerardo used his inheritance to found a hospital for the aid of the poor and sick. The hospital was apparently established in Gerardo's own house, which stood on the left bank of the River Lambro, near the bridge now called "San Gerardino" and the church of the same name.

The founding of the hospital had certainly taken place by 1174. In this year Gerardo made an agreement with the authorities of the city of Monza and with the chapter of Monza Cathedral to define the legal and administrative status of the hospital: it was to depend formally on ecclesiastical authority, but in fact maintained substantial autonomy, while the municipal authority assumed the avvocazia (the protection of the hospital at law).

The hospital services were provided by lay brothers, who lived together in the same way as monks but without taking religious vows. Gerardo himself was a lay brother and also held the post of "minister", or director of the hospital. As appears from later documents, he retained this post until his death on 6 June 1207.

After death Gerardo was initially buried in the churchyard of the nearby church of St. Ambrose (now the church of San Gerardo al Corpo), but his body was exhumed forty days later at the insistence of the population of the nearby town of Olgiate Comasco and placed in a sarcophagus next to the altar of the church. In 1740, the sarcophagus was replaced by a crystal urn with silver decorations, inside which the skeleton of Gerardo is visible to the faithful. The urn is now kept in a chapel at the far end of the south transept.

Gerardo's hospital continued his work until the 18th century, when the Austrian government merged it with the city's other health institutions. In 1946, the municipal authorities of Monza decided to commemorate his achievements and named after him the City Hospital which had been built in the 19th century and had formerly borne the name of King Umberto I. The new hospital built later, which also houses the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Milan-Bicocca, has kept the dedication to Saint Gerardo.

Veneration

The veneration of Gerardo began soon after his death: he is called "blessed" in a document of 1230, and "holy" or "saint" in one of 1247. After making an investigation, around 1582, Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, obtaining from Pope Gregory XIII confirmation of the cult of San Gerardo. It is said that, in a time of famine (perhaps in 1162), when the hospital supplies were almost exhausted, Gerardo ordered that all that remained should be distributed to the poor, and then took to prayer: the steward found the barn so full that he could not even open the door and the cellar filled with barrels of good wine. Saint Gerardo is also venerated by the faithful of Olgiate Comasco for another miracle: he had been dead for forty days when the citizens were afflicted by a serious disease called "syncope" (it is uncertain exactly what disease it was), and on the advice of a hermit went on a pilgrimage to his tomb in Monza, when the disease disappeared. In gratitude they vowed to repeat the pilgrimage every year in perpetuity, and indeed it still takes place every 25 April. The people of Olgiate also spread the cult of Saint Gerardo into nearby towns: in 1740 the historian Antonio Francesco Frisi of Monza lists over 14 places where the saint was venerated, including Como and Mendrisio. To Saint Gerardo were attributed different cures. Particularly important among them is the healing of Nazario of Sesto (Sesto San Giovanni), to which Morigia refers (and in fact claims to have witnessed in person): Nazario while drunk fell under the wheels of a heavy cart which crushed his throat; he was believed dead, but awoke after an hour perfectly healthy. Morigia further reports a rather curious event, which also was considered miraculous: in 1324, during a war, some soldiers went up on the roof of the Church of San Gerardo and began to dismantle for firewood. Faced with protests from the citizens, one of the soldiers swore and offended the saint, whereupon all immediately fell from the roof and the blasphemer died instantly. Morigia also describes a miracle that features a woman in San Fruttuoso (a district of Monza): a married woman named Onorina of Cascine Bovati had grown old and lost her sight, but insisted that her relatives take her to the church where Gerardo's relics were preserved. Conducted to the tomb, she kissed the saint's mantle and at once regained her sight. The miracle was witnessed by a priest, chaplain of the church of St. John and confessor of the woman.