Solider, Mayor, Saint

Today marks the Feast of St. Jerome Emiliani (1481-1537). A native of Venice, he served as a soldier and as mayor of Treviso before he entered religious life. Ordained a priest in 1518, he felt a strong call to help the urban poor, particularly abandoned children. He founded orphanages, hospitals and homes for ex-prostitutes. In 1532 he founded an order dedicated to working with youth, the Company of the Servants of the Poor. They are called Somascans for the city where they were founded. He died in 1537 of the plague while serving the afflicted. He was canonized in 1767. Later, in 1928 Pope Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children.