Blessed Contardo Ferrini (†1902) was a noted Italian legal scholar and a fervent Roman Catholic, who lived a devout life of prayer and service to the poor. In 1909 Pope Pius X authorized Cardinal Andrea Carlo Ferrari, the Archbishop of Milan, to open a process to promote Ferrini's canonization. He was subsequently declared Venerable by Pope Pius XI and he was beatified by Pope Pius XII on 13 April 1947. His body is venerated in a chapel of Milan's Catholic University. Ferrini is the patron saint of universities, professors and Homeric scholarship. His Feastday is celebrated on 17 October (22 October (in the Archdiocese of Berlin).