Lenten campaign 2026
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Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486. His life was a series of sufferings which were all eventually transformed into fuel for holiness. His father died when he was young, and in the wake of this heartbreaking trauma, he ran away from home. Stemming from this experience, Jerome Emiliani is a patron saint of abandoned and orphaned children.
He joined the military and became a prisoner of war near Treviso, Italy, in 1508. He had not been particularly religious prior to his imprisonment, but while chained in the dungeon, he prayed to Mary for her intercession and promised that if she saved him he would dedicate his life to her. He was able to escape not long afterwards. His gratitude for this escape became his charism, as a spirit of thankfulness pervaded all he did from then on.
He began to study for the priesthood and was ordained in 1518, right at a time the city of Venice was in the grip of a plague. St. Jerome Emiliani began to minister to the needs of the sick as he spent time caring for them in hospitals and among the poorest of the poor.
St. Jerome Emiliani was deeply concerned about the needs of the poor. He went on to found and work in hospitals and homes for orphans, on behalf of abandoned children, acquiring them food and clothing and teaching them the faith. He founded the Clerks Regular of Somascha in 1531, and that group continued his work on behalf of the needy, eventually becoming a religious order. St. Jerome Emiliani was so selfless and dedicated to the needs of the suffering that he died from the plague after caring for those who were battling it.
In the spirit of St. Jerome Emiliani who cared for the poor, why not bring canned food to the parish food pantry, or give gently-used clothing to the needy? In the spirit of St. Jerome Emiliani’s care for abandoned children, let us donate to a pro-life cause such as Good Counsel Homes.
St. Jerome Emiliani exemplified many virtues, but notable is the virtue of hope even in the face of great obstacles. Here are three quotes by St. Jerome Emiliani on the subject of hope. These words offer excellent advice for our own lives, especially as we prepare to enter Lent, a time in which we are called to more deeply search our souls and forge deeper hope in Christ therein as we pray, fast, and give alms:
“God ... does impart the fullness of His love upon those who possess a deep faith and hope; for them He does great things.”
We often hear about the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and love … but it is interesting to see the connection St. Jerome Emiliani makes between the practice of those virtues and God’s bestowed blessings.
“Let us have confidence in our gracious Lord and have true hope in Him alone because those who hope in Him will never be confounded, but will be firmly established upon solid rock.”
St. Jerome Emiliani would advise that in order to obtain this divine grace of authentic hope in the Lord, we ought to invoke the intercession of the Blessed Mother, she who is Full of Grace, by saying a Hail Mary.
“Do not doubt, my sons, the Lord will take care!”
St. Jerome Emiliani said these words to a group of 28 hungry people who had been praying with the saint at a hospital, and had nothing to eat. While the saint continued praying confidently, the doorbell rang and four loaves of bread were delivered. After their prayers were ended, all 28 were miraculously able to eat their fill from only those four loaves!
In a letter to his brothers, St. Jerome Emiliani wrote these words of great hope, "... God wants us to be holy, he wants us to trust him and he also wishes to test us like gold in the furnace -- we are like gold! So we shouldn't be shaken in times of distress, we must always trust God and trust that He is bringing us towards him; towards holiness.”
Catholic art depicts St. Jerome Emiliani carrying the ball and chain with which he was shackled as a prisoner. The very symbol of his pain is now the symbol of the saint’s triumph. For through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, St. Jerome Emiliani was able to take the ball and chain of his imprisonment and turn it into an anchor of hope.
Sign up here for a free guided holy hour with St. Jerome Emiliani, and reflections on sacred Scripture on the subject of hope, to lead you on a journey of deeper and more authentic hope in the Lord as you prepare for Lent.
