Saint Jerome Emiliani, born in 1481, was a member of one of the Christian patrician families of Venice, and in early life a soldier.
While initially he showed an inclination to virtue, a call to arms at age fifteen led him to become worldly and to seek promotion. Appointed governor of a fortress in the mountains of Treviso, he was defending his post with outstanding bravery, but was made prisoner by the enemy. While in prison, he invoked Our Lady and promised her, if she would set him free, to lead a new and better life. Miraculously, he escaped from the prison and set about fulfilling his promise.
On reaching his home in Venice he undertook a life of active charity, with a special love for the deserted orphan children whom he found wandering in the streets. He converted his house into a hospital, selling even its furnishings to clothe and feed the poor. He acquired a house for the children, and himself taught them Christian truths. He was entrusted with the Venetian Hospital for the Incurables.
Jerome founded a hospital in Verona and orphanages in other places. Two holy priests joined him in Bergamo, soon followed by other noble gentlemen – the origin of the Congregation of Regular Clerics. Saint Jerome died in 1537 at the age of 56, from the illness he contracted while caring for the sick during an epidemic in the region of Bergamo. Saint Jerome, obtain for us a devotion to the sick and suffering.
