• February 8th - St. Jerome Emiliani

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Fri Feb 7 08:18:59 2020
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    February 8th - St. Jerome Emiliani

    Born in Venice, Italy, 1481; died Somascha, Italy, February 8, 1537;
    canonized in 1767, and in 1928 declared patron saint of orphans and
    abandoned children by Pope Pius XI; feast day formerly July 20.
    Son of a distinguished Venetian family, at age 15 Jerome Emiliani ran
    away from home and his mother Eleanor Mauroceni after the death of his
    father Angelo. He became a soldier in the army of the Republic and
    commander of the League of Cambrai forces at the fortress of
    Castelnuovo in the Italian mountains near Treviso. The Venetians took
    the fortress and chained Jerome in a dungeon. Until that time, Jerome
    had led a careless, irreligious life. Now he sanctified his sufferings
    by prayer and conversion to God. In circumstances that appear
    miraculous, he escaped after praying to our Lady, carrying his chains
    with him, and--thanking God for this in a church at Treviso--hung his
    chains on the church wall in happiness.

    His gratitude inspired the rest of his life. He dedicated himself to
    the Blessed Virgin and reformed his carefree lifestyle. He became
    mayor of Treviso because of his brilliant defense of Castelnuovo, and
    later returned to Venice to oversee his nephews' education and to
    pursue his own theological studies. In 1518, he was ordained to the
    priesthood in Venice when the city was suffering an appalling plague.

    Jerome devoted himself to relieving as much suffering as he could. His
    heart especially ached for the abandoned children who were suffering particularly, since starvation set them doubly at risk. Taking as many
    as he could into his own house, he fed and clothed them, nursed them
    back to health, and taught them the Christian faith. At night, he
    buried the dead who had collapsed in the streets. He caught the plague
    (spotted fever) himself, but was strong enough to recover.

    In 1531, Jerome resolved to give himself and all that he owned to
    God's service. He established orphanages in six Italian towns (Venice,
    Brescia, Bergamo, Como, and two others), a hospital in Verona, and a
    home for repentant prostitutes. About 1532 with two other priests, he
    founded the Congregation of Somaschi (from the town of Somasca in
    Lombardy where they started), a society of clerks regular devoted
    primarily to the care and instruction of orphans, although it also
    instructed young children. At Somaschi he founded a seminary for those
    entering his congregation. Jerome is said to have been the first to
    teach children Christian doctrine with a question-and-answer
    technique. The society gained papal approval in 1540.

    His attentive care to the poor of Somascha led them to attribute to
    him the gift of healing. He tried to share their lives, even working
    with them in the fields while talking to them of God. He continued to
    care for the sick, regardless of his own health, until he succumbed a
    second time to the plague, which killed him (Attwater, Benedictines,
    Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Sandoval, Schamoni, Walsh, White).

    In art Saint Jerome's emblem is a ball and chain which are always near
    him. At times the chain may be in his hand, a child near him, and the
    Virgin and Child appearing to him, or he may be shown tending sick
    children or delivering a possessed child (Roeder, White). He is
    venerated in Somasca, Lombardy (Roeder).

    Saint Jerome is the patron of orphans and abandoned children (Bentley, Sandoval).


    Quote:
    Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely
    resume our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ...
    Devout conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to
    spiritual progress, most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit
    find their ground of fellowship in God.
    --Thomas =C3 Kempis, from the Imitation of Christ


    <><><><>
    Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. =E2=80=94Lk. 14:11

    "Whoever is not very humble, can never draw profit from contemplation,
    in which any little atom of insufficient humility, though it may seem
    nothing, works the greatest harm"
    --St. Teresa

    Because the blessed Clara of Montefalco experienced a vain
    pleasure in some things she had done, the Lord withdrew from her, for
    fifteen years, His lights and celestial consolations, which she could
    not regain during all that time, though she begged for them earnestly,
    with tears, prayers, and the use of the discipline.

    ( "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)