Olcese

Saint Olcese, also called Ursicinus, was a bishop in Gaul in the 4th century. Little is known of him: around 407, in the time of the Vandal invasion, he fled together with Bishop Saint Clarus and found refuge in the Valpolcevera near Genoa in Liguria, a place that has borne his name ever since, Sant'Olcese, and of which he is patron. Clarus settled at Voirè (today Valleregia). The two exiles are thought to have been sent there by Bishop Romulus of Genoa, to teach the inhabitants the faith and to evangelize those still pagan.

Olcese lived in the village a life of penitence and prayer, teaching the people the faith. The day of his death is not known and is placed around 410. His remains have rested since 1155 in the church of Sant'Olcese. A legend says he tamed a bear that terrified the region: the bear killed one of the two oxen with which the saint hauled the building materials for the church, and the saint ordered it to take the ox's place at the cart, and the beast obeyed. He is commemorated on 21 January (22 according to other sources). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.