Saint of the day for 9 February: the story of San Girolamo Emiliani

A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Girolamo was captured in a skirmish in an outpost city and chained in a prison. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think and gradually learned to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took care of the education of his grandchildren and began his studies for the priesthood. In the years following his ordination, events once again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. The plague and famine hit northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon decided to dedicate himself and his possessions exclusively to others, especially abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.

Around 1532, Jerome and two other priests founded a congregation, the Clerks Regular of Somasca, dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of young people. Girolamo died in 1537 due to an illness contracted while taking care of the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius Xl appointed him protector of orphans and abandoned children. Saint Jerome Emiliani shares his liturgical feast with Saint Giuseppina Bakhita on February 8th.

Reflection

Very often in our life it seems that it takes a kind of "imprisonment" to free us from the chains of our egocentrism. When we are "caught" in a situation we do not want to be in, we finally come to know the liberating power of an Other. Only then can we become another for the "prisoners" and "orphans" that surround us.