Glisente

Glisente was a Frankish hermit and is venerated as a saint in the Western Church; he reposed on 6 or 7 August 796 and is commemorated on 6 August. His life is not historically documented and is preserved mainly by tradition.

According to tradition he belonged to the army of Charlemagne. After the campaign against the Lombards in Val Camonica, ended by their defeat at the foot of Mount Mortirolo, he left military life to devote himself to proclaiming the Gospel in that valley, then led a hermit's life on a mountain near Berzo Inferiore. He lived in a natural crypt almost two thousand meters high, in prayer and penance. The legend says that, lacking food because of the harshness of the place, he asked God's mercy, and a she-⁠bear brought him food every day, together with a sheep with full udders. His body is said to have been found by shepherds guided by a dove and taken to Berzo, to the church of San Lorenzo. Another story, without historical basis, says that the people of Collio, envious, wished to steal the relics but were punished with blindness and regained their sight only after returning the body.

According to tradition he had two brothers, Saint Fermo and Saint Cristina, who came like him to Val Camonica in the wake of Charlemagne's army and also withdrew into solitude. His cult is attested at least from the 13th century, and in the 17th century his name entered the calendar of the saints of Brescia. At Berzo Inferiore there is a church dedicated to him, with a Romanesque crypt beneath it. His liturgical commemoration was formerly on 26 July and is now on 6 August.