St. Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) was a Venetian nobleman and soldier who, after a dramatic escape from prison that he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, gave the rest of his life to orphans, the poor and the victims of famine and plague, and founded the Somascan Fathers to care for them. He died of the plague caught while nursing the sick. Pope Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children in 1928. His feast day is February 8, which he shares with St. Josephine Bakhita. Below are his story, Scripture and prayers to St. Jerome Emiliani for orphans and children in need.
A short prayer to St. Jerome Emiliani, written for this page:
St. Jerome Emiliani, father of orphans, you gathered abandoned children and gave them a home.
Pray for orphans, foster children and children without a family,
and for all who care for them. Amen.
Who was St. Jerome Emiliani?
Girolamo Miani was born in Venice in 1486 into a noble family and became a soldier in the service of the Republic. In 1511, defending the fortress of Castelnuovo, he was captured and chained in a dungeon. In his misery he prayed to the Blessed Virgin and vowed to change his life; he escaped, according to his own account through her help, and laid his chains before her image at the shrine of Treviso.
He studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1518. When famine and plague struck northern Italy in 1528, he sold his possessions, fed the hungry, buried the dead, and took in children left orphaned and homeless, teaching them the faith and a trade. He founded orphanages, hospitals and a home for women escaping prostitution, and gathered companions into a society that became the Clerics Regular of Somasca, the Somascan Fathers, named after the village where he settled. He also taught the catechism to children with questions and answers, an early example of that method. Caring for the sick during a new epidemic, he caught the plague and died at Somasca on February 8, 1537. He was canonized in 1767.
Scripture
True religion, according to St. James (James 1:27, Douay-Rheims):
Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.
What is St. Jerome Emiliani the patron saint of?
- Orphans and abandoned children, named universal patron by Pope Pius XI in 1928
- Foster parents and those who care for children in need
- The Somascan Fathers
Prayers
Written for this page.
For orphans and foster children
St. Jerome Emiliani, protect children who have lost their parents or have no one to care for them.
Lead them to loving homes and to the love of God our Father. Amen.
For foster and adoptive parents
St. Jerome Emiliani, bless foster and adoptive parents with patience, wisdom and great love. Amen.
Feast day
The optional memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest, is February 8, the day of his death.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the patron saint of orphans?
St. Jerome Emiliani, named universal patron of orphans and abandoned children by Pope Pius XI in 1928.
Who are the Somascans?
The Clerics Regular of Somasca, founded by St. Jerome Emiliani to care for orphans and the poor.
When is his feast day?
February 8.
More saints
- St. Josephine Bakhita
- Patron saint of children
- Catholic prayer for children
- St. Joseph Calasanz
- Works of mercy
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- James 1:27 (Douay-Rheims).