Saint Cajetan, August 7th

 

Today is the memorial of St. Cajetan. He was born in 1480 at Vicenza of noble parents who dedicated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary. From childhood he was known as a saint and in his later years as “the hunter of souls.”

He went to Rome and was forced to accept office at the court of Pope Julius II. When the pope died, he returned to his hometown of Vicenza and started the Confraternity of St. Jerome, whose members were drawn from the lowest classes.

He spent his fortune on building hospitals and devoted himself to nursing the plague-stricken. To renew the lives of the clergy, he instituted the first community of Regular Clerics, known as the Theatines. They devoted themselves to preaching, administering the sacraments, and the careful performance of the Church’s rites and ceremonies.

He was the first to introduce the 40 hours devotion of the blessed sacrament as an antidote to the heresy of Calvin. Forty hours devotion is continuous adoration for 40 hours with special sermons on the Eucharist and also Mass each day.

He had a tender love of our Blessed Lady, and his piety was rewarded; for one Christmas Eve She placed the Infant Jesus in his arms.

When the Germans sacked Rome, St. Cajetan was barbarously scourged, to exhort from him riches which he had long before securely stored in heaven.

When he was on his death-bed, resigned to the will of God, eager for pain to satisfy his love, and for death to attain life, he beheld the Mother of God, radiant with splendor and surrounded by ministering seraphim. In profound veneration, he said, “Lady, bless me!” Mary replied, “Cajetan, receive the blessing of my Son, and know that I am here as a reward for the sincerity of your love, and to lead you to paradise.” She then exhorted him to patience in fighting an evil spirit who troubled him, and gave orders to the choirs of angels to escort his soul in triumph to heaven. Then, turning Her countenance full of majesty and sweetness upon him, She said, “Cajetan, my Son calls thee. Let us go in peace.” Worn out with toil and sickness, he went to his reward in 1547.

When speaking about attending Mass regularly and receiving Holy Communion, in a letter to a woman by the name of Elizabeth Porto, he said, “He (Jesus) has offered himself to be our food. How wretched is the man who knows nothing of such a gift! To us has been given the opportunity to receive Christ, son of the Virgin Mary, and we refuse him. Woe to the man who does not care enough to receive him. My daughter, I want what is good for myself; I beg the same for you. Now there is no other way to bring this about than to ask the Virgin Mary constantly to come to you with her glorious Son. Be bold! Ask her to give you her Son, who in the blessed sacrament of the altar is truly the food of your soul. Readily will she give him to you, still more readily will he come to you, giving you the strength to make your way fearlessly through this dark woods. In it large numbers of our enemies lie in wait, but they cannot reach us if they see us relying on such powerful help. Nor, my child, must you receive Jesus Christ simply as a means to further your own plans; I want you to surrender to him, that he may welcome you and, as your divine Savior, do to you and in you whatever he wills. This is what I want, this is what I beg of you, this, as far as I can, is what I compel you to do.”