St. Jerome Emiliani

Their story

Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486 to a noble family. He became a soldier and, by his own later account, lived a careless and worldly life. In 1511, during a war between Venice and an alliance of European powers, he was put in command of a fortress. When it fell, he was captured and chained in a dungeon. Alone in prison, Jerome began to pray, and he turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary for help. He promised to change his life. Not long afterward he escaped, and he went to a shrine of Mary in Treviso, where he left his chains as a sign of thanks. Back in Venice he began to study and pray seriously, and in 1518 he was ordained a priest. In 1528 famine and plague swept through northern Italy. Jerome gave away his belongings and spent himself caring for the sick and the hungry. He was especially moved by the many children left orphaned and alone in the streets. He took them in, fed and clothed them, taught them a trade and taught them the faith, often with simple questions and answers. He opened homes for orphans, a hospital and a refuge for women leaving prostitution. In 1532 he gathered helpers into a new religious community, later named the Somascans after the village of Somasca where they settled. Jerome died on February 8, 1537, after catching the plague while caring for the sick. In 1928 Pope Pius XI named him the patron of orphans and abandoned children.