From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity [III]   
      
   CHRIST.   
   I have said, exchange what men consider desirable and honorable for   
   that which they hold in low esteem. For true heavenly wisdom, having   
   no exalted opinion of itself (Rom.12:16) seeks no recognition from the   
   world, is almost disregarded by men and seems to them useless and of   
   no importance. Many pay it lip-service, but it plays no part in their   
   lives. Yet this is the precious pearl that remains hidden from   
   many.(Matt.13:46)   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 32   
      
      
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   February 8th - St. Jerome Emiliani   
      
   Born in Venice, Italy, 1481; died Somascha, Italy, February 8, 1537;   
   canonized in 1767, and in 1928 declared patron saint of orphans and   
   abandoned children by Pope Pius XI; feast day formerly July 20.   
   Son of a distinguished Venetian family, at age 15 Jerome Emiliani ran   
   away from home and his mother Eleanor Mauroceni after the death of his   
   father Angelo. He became a soldier in the army of the Republic and   
   commander of the League of Cambrai forces at the fortress of   
   Castelnuovo in the Italian mountains near Treviso. The Venetians took   
   the fortress and chained Jerome in a dungeon. Until that time, Jerome   
   had led a careless, irreligious life. Now he sanctified his sufferings   
   by prayer and conversion to God. In circumstances that appear   
   miraculous, he escaped after praying to our Lady, carrying his chains   
   with him, and--thanking God for this in a church at Treviso--hung his   
   chains on the church wall in happiness.   
      
   His gratitude inspired the rest of his life. He dedicated himself to   
   the Blessed Virgin and reformed his carefree lifestyle. He became   
   mayor of Treviso because of his brilliant defense of Castelnuovo, and   
   later returned to Venice to oversee his nephews' education and to   
   pursue his own theological studies. In 1518, he was ordained to the   
   priesthood in Venice when the city was suffering an appalling plague.   
      
   Jerome devoted himself to relieving as much suffering as he could. His   
   heart especially ached for the abandoned children who were suffering   
   particularly, since starvation set them doubly at risk. Taking as many   
   as he could into his own house, he fed and clothed them, nursed them   
   back to health, and taught them the Christian faith. At night, he   
   buried the dead who had collapsed in the streets. He caught the plague   
   (spotted fever) himself, but was strong enough to recover.   
      
   In 1531, Jerome resolved to give himself and all that he owned to   
   God's service. He established orphanages in six Italian towns (Venice,   
   Brescia, Bergamo, Como, and two others), a hospital in Verona, and a   
   home for repentant prostitutes. About 1532 with two other priests, he   
   founded the Congregation of Somaschi (from the town of Somasca in   
   Lombardy where they started), a society of clerks regular devoted   
   primarily to the care and instruction of orphans, although it also   
   instructed young children. At Somaschi he founded a seminary for those   
   entering his congregation. Jerome is said to have been the first to   
   teach children Christian doctrine with a question-and-answer   
   technique. The society gained papal approval in 1540.   
      
   His attentive care to the poor of Somascha led them to attribute to   
   him the gift of healing. He tried to share their lives, even working   
   with them in the fields while talking to them of God. He continued to   
   care for the sick, regardless of his own health, until he succumbed a   
   second time to the plague, which killed him (Attwater, Benedictines,   
   Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Sandoval, Schamoni, Walsh, White).   
      
   In art Saint Jerome's emblem is a ball and chain which are always near   
   him. At times the chain may be in his hand, a child near him, and the   
   Virgin and Child appearing to him, or he may be shown tending sick   
   children or delivering a possessed child (Roeder, White). He is   
   venerated in Somasca, Lombardy (Roeder).   
      
   Saint Jerome is the patron of orphans and abandoned children (Bentley,   
   Sandoval).   
      
      
   Quote:   
   Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely   
   resume our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ...   
   Devout conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to   
   spiritual progress, most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit   
   find their ground of fellowship in God.   
   --Thomas à Kempis, from the Imitation of Christ   
      
      
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   Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. —Lk. 14:11   
      
   "Whoever is not very humble, can never draw profit from contemplation,   
   in which any little atom of insufficient humility, though it may seem   
   nothing, works the greatest harm"   
   --St. Teresa   
      
         Because the blessed Clara of Montefalco experienced a vain   
   pleasure in some things she had done, the Lord withdrew from her, for   
   fifteen years, His lights and celestial consolations, which she could   
   not regain during all that time, though she begged for them earnestly,   
   with tears, prayers, and the use of the discipline.   
      
   ( "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)