St. Gerolamo Emiliani

Gerolamo Emiliani was born in 1486 in Venice. At age 15, he ran away to join the army. While defending a fortress in the mountains of Treviso, he was taken prisoner after all but three other soldiers abandoned the post. Though not particularly religious before, in prison he began to pray.

One month late, he was able to escape, and he attributed his escape to Mary’s intersession. He claimed a woman clothed in white appeared and handed him the keys to unlock his chains and the door of the prison tower. He even made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Treviso and left his prisoner’s chains there.
He served the army for a few more years. In 1516, he returned to Venine to help supervise his nephews and nieces, who had been orphaned. He also spent time studying theology and doing works of charity. He began caring for the city’s poor and sick, particularly orphans. He ran the hospital for incurables. He also travelled around northern Italy encouraging other cities to build hospitals and orphanages.

He found community in meetings with members of the Community of Divine Love, a lay apostolate dedicated to the poor, the sick, and the union of hearts. Some accounts say that Gerolamo was ordained, while others suggest that he wasn’t. However, he begin to work with two priests, and together, they began to plan a religious community based on Gerolamo’s charity, also probably influenced by the Community of Divine Love.

In 1532 Gerolamo founded the Congregation of Regular Clerics in Somasca, a small town between Milan and Bergamo. The principal work of the community was care for orphans, poor, and sick. The members of the order became known as Somachi or Somascans.

In 1537, Gerolamo contracted the plague while assisting the inflicted during an epidemic. He died on Feb. 8, 1537. He is the patron of orphaned and abandoned children. His feast day is Feb. 8. The Somascans still care for orphans all around the world.