Saint Jerome Emiliani

Life story

Jerome Emiliani was born in 1486 in Venice, into a noble family. He became a soldier and was put in charge of the fortress of Castelnuovo di Quero. In 1511 the fortress fell to enemy forces and he was taken prisoner. According to tradition he made a vow to Mary while in captivity, was released and changed his life from then on.

He returned to Venice, looked after his nephews and gradually gave time to the poor, and was ordained priest in 1518. During the years of famine and disease in northern Italy in the early 1530s he took in orphans and the sick, and set up orphanages and hospitals in Venice, Verona, Brescia, Bergamo and Milan. He taught the children catechism and a trade.

In 1532, with several companions, he founded a society of clerics regular at Somasca, later called the Somascans, to continue the care of orphans. The society was approved by Paul III in 1540. He died on 8 February 1537 at Somasca after catching plague while nursing the sick. He was beatified in 1747 and canonised in 1767 under Clement XIII. In 1928 Pius XI named him patron of orphans and abandoned children. His remains rest in the sanctuary at Somasca, which remains the centre of the Somascan order. The order still runs schools and works for young people in Italy and in other countries. He is counted among the founders of the Catholic tradition of caring for orphans.

Works and witness

• Served as a soldier and was taken prisoner at Castelnuovo di Quero in 1511
• Ordained priest in 1518
• Set up orphanages and hospitals in several northern Italian cities
• Founded the Somascan society in 1532, approved in 1540
• Died of plague on 8 February 1537

Patron of

Orphans, Abandoned children

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), entry on Jerome Emiliani
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.