St. Jerome Emiliani (July 20) — From Dom Guéranger’s Liturgical Year

A meditation for the Feast of St. Jerome Emiliani (or Aemilian), from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume IV of the Time after Pentecost.Saint Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) was an Italian soldier who transitioned from a chaotic military life to become a pioneer in social work and the patron saint of abandoned children. While serving as a commander in the Republic of Venice's army, he was captured and chained in a dark dungeon, an ordeal that led to a profound spiritual awakening. Following a dramatic escape that he credited to the Virgin Mary, he abandoned his military career, received ordination as a priest, and dedicated his life to the desperate underclass of northern Italy, which had been devastated by war, famine, and plague. Jerome focused intensely on orphans and vulnerable youth, providing them not just with food and shelter, but with vocational training to lift them out of poverty. He founded the Somascan Fathers to carry on this specialized care, leaving a lasting legacy in Catholic social history by transforming the standard of institutional care for children.Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering the entire cycle of seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and the Time after Pentecost—as well as feast days of saints. Guéranger’s work, rooted in a deep contemplative spirit, aims to immerse the faithful in the Church’s prayerful life, emphasizing the unity of faith through the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), and remains a cherished resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875) was a French Benedictine monk, liturgical scholar, and founder of the Solesmes Abbey, renowned for his pivotal role in reviving the Benedictine Order in France and restoring the Roman liturgy after the disruptions of the French Revolution. Born in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, he entered the priesthood in 1827 and, inspired by a vision to restore monastic life, reestablished the Benedictine community at Solesmes in 1833, becoming its first abbot. A staunch defender of ultramontanism and traditional Catholic worship, he also championed the revival of Gregorian chant, significantly influencing the liturgical renewal movement.Link to the Dom Guéranger's Liturgical Year playlist (updated daily): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZKdyYnV_bkh7rH6piW0ShgsdcefFoOvJPlease support this channel!  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/InprincipioPodcast PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=U5EZ9X2CE2V7W Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/InPrincipioPodcast Zelle: [email protected]; or search for Zelle tag “inprincipiopodcast”  Checks may be written out to ‘InPrincipio Podcast’ and mailed to: P.O. Box 117 Cedar Ridge, CA 95924Sincere thanks to all who are able to contribute, by your prayers, your patronage, or otherwise. Your support sustains this work and helps make these readings available to others.Artwork: "St. Jerome Emiliani entrusting orphans to the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Alessandro Revera (1813–1895)Music: Ave Maria (Gregorian chant)From Vesperae de Confessore non Pontifice in honor of Saint Vincent PallottiPerformed by Schola Gregoriana, Pallottine Seminary (Ołtarzew, Poland)Conductor: Fr. Dariusz SmolarekLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Changes: noneExcept where otherwise noted, original content © InPrincipio Podcast.Chant audio used under CC BY-SA 3.0.