Our special intention for the month of February is for all abandoned and unloved children and we invite you to include this intention in your weekly holy hour.
On the 8th February we celebrate the feast day of St. Jerome Emiliani who is the patron saint of abandoned and unloved children. St Jerome was born in Venice, Italy in 1481 and as a young man served in the Venetian army where he was captured and imprisoned. During this imprisonment in a dungeon in Treviso he repented of his earlier life, turned to prayer and vowed himself to our Lady. Having escaped prison he devoted himself to caring for abandoned orphans at a time when plague and famine were widespread. He rented a house for them to live in, providing clothing and food for them out of his own resources and instructed them in the doctrine and practice of the Faith. St Jerome himself caught an infectious disease from the children he cared for and died on February 8th 1571. St Jerome was canonised on the 12th October 1767 and in 1928 Pope Pius XI declared him patron saint of abandoned and unloved children.
Prayer
Saint Jerome Emiliani, watch over all children who are abandoned or unloved. Give us the courage to show them God's love through our care. Help us to lose the chains that keep us from living the life God intended for us. Amen.
Saint Jerome Emiliani, watch over all children who are abandoned or unloved. Give us the courage to show them God's love through our care. Help us to lose the chains that keep us from living the life God intended for us. Amen.
“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs". (Mark 10: 14)
"Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me”. (Matthew 18, 5:6)