Saint Jerome Emiliani

Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486 to a noble family and became a soldier in the service of the Republic. In 1511, while defending the fortress of Castelnuovo, he was captured and chained in a dungeon. In his distress he turned to God and to the Virgin Mary, and after his escape he went to the shrine of Our Lady in Treviso to leave his chains as a thank offering.

He changed his life completely, studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1518. When famine and plague struck northern Italy, he opened his home to orphans, fed the hungry and cared for the sick, even catching the plague himself. He founded orphanages, hospitals and homes for repentant women, and in 1532 gathered companions who became the Order of the Somascan Fathers. He died caring for plague victims at Somasca on February 8, 1537. He was canonized in 1767.

Pope Pius XI declared him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children in 1928. The Somascan Fathers, present in Italy, Spain, Latin America, the Philippines and the United States, keep his feast with their children's homes and schools.

In Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, Somascan institutions organize festivals and Masses for the children in their care.