The patron of Nocera Umbra is Saint Rinaldo, bishop of the city. Elected in 1213 on the death of Bishop Ugo, his kinsman, for three years he was «the holy bishop»: prayer and charity towards the poor and widows, visits to priests in the remote parishes of the diocese, and an orphan boy whom he adopted and always kept with him in the episcopal house, so that the child would remind him of the poor Jesus. He died on 9 February 1217 and was declared a saint by popular acclaim; his successor Pelagius, after a short inquiry into the miracles attributed to him, proclaimed him a saint and had his body carried into the cathedral.
The relics then travelled a good deal, between wars and earthquakes: the cathedral was destroyed in 1248 by a military action of Frederick II, in 1257 the body went temporarily to Santa Maria vecchia, in 1487 it returned to the rebuilt cathedral, in 1579 beneath the high altar and in 1657 above it; after the earthquake of 1751 it was taken to the church of San Francesco. Since 14 August 2012 it has been back beneath the high altar of the cathedral.
