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THE 
 
 LIFE OF SAINT GAETAN, 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF TH^TINS. 
 
 FKOM i. BIOGEAPHY OF THE SAINT BY 
 
 THE REVEREND P. DE TRACY, 
 
 PUBLISHED IN 1774, AND FROM 
 
 THE BOLLANDIST LIVES OF THE SAII^TS. 
 
 " I exhort you afresh to propose to yourself continually the example 
 of the Saints in all your actions, words, and thoughts. They are our 
 Masters : we must learn in their school. They are our Brothers : we 
 must resemble them. They are our Fathers : we must imitate them. 
 Let their lives be models for ours. Let not their admirable lessons be 
 one day a subject of confusion to us, nor expose us to a late repentance 
 for having disdained to follow such sure and lofty guidance." — Extract 
 of Letter from St. Bernard to his Sister. 
 
 TRANSLATED' BT^LADY HGRBERT. 
 
 DUBLIN : 
 CHEISTOPHEE SMYTH, 57, DAME-STEEET. 
 
 MDCCCLXXIII. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The name of Lady Herbert, so well known to Catholic 
 readers, is in itself sufficient recommendation to this 
 new publication which she presents to them in an 
 English form. 
 
 Like St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and St. 
 Charles Borromeo, St. Cajetan was raised up by God to 
 oppose the evils brought on Christendom by the heresy of 
 Luther. Born in 1480 — three years before the apostate 
 monk — St. Cajetan, by his holiness of life and apostolic 
 preaching, prevented the spread of heresy and healed 
 the corruption of morals. The only end our saint had 
 in view was the greater glory of God, his zeal to 
 promote which is shown in the adornment of the house 
 of God and the exact observance of the ceremonial of 
 the Church, by which means he raised the minds of 
 the people to a due respect for God's majesty, excited 
 by the splendour of His worship. 
 
 43805.1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 By promoting the frequentation of the Sacraments, 
 and especially of the Holy Eucharist, so much attacked 
 by heresy, he laid the foundation of solid and true devo- 
 tion, and promoted the worship due to that hoKest of 
 sacraments. 
 
 The devotion of our saint to the Blessed Virgin was 
 most filial. His confidence in God's providence was 
 most striking, as shewn in his life, and the rules he laid 
 down for his congregation. To carry out more fully 
 these pious ends, and spread the devotion so dear to 
 him, our Saint founded the Congregation of Clerics 
 Regular — called after him, Theatins. 
 
 By founding seminaries where the young aspirants to 
 the ecclesiastical state were imbued with the spirit and 
 zeal of their holy founder, the sons of St. Cajetan spread 
 widely the good begun by the saint, and continue to do 
 so down to our own time. 
 
 The good done by St. Cajetan was nurtured by prayer, 
 and owes its success to the fervent devotion of the saint. 
 Ours is an age in which even good people are led away 
 by what catches the eye, attach all importance to exter- 
 nal work, and undervalue or make no account of a life 
 hidden with God in prayer, when holy souls, away from 
 the distractions of a busy world, .devote their lives not 
 only to their own sanctification but also to that of 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 others. When the world forgets God, they are mindful 
 of Him : when sinners provoke God's anger, they ask for 
 pardon. When God's ministers are engaged in the ex- 
 ternal labours of the ministry, they, by their prayers 
 prepare the way for them by obtaining the grace of 
 conversion and perseverance for sinners. 
 
 St Teresa in her cloister had chiefly in view the sal- 
 vation of souls. In the third chapter of the Wai/ of 
 Perfection she explains to her children how they, shut 
 up in their convent, may labour for the salvation of 
 souls, namely, by praying, suffering, performing acts of 
 mortification, with the intention that the Lord may give 
 to his Church zealous and enlightened ministers, and 
 make their ministry more fruitful. 
 
 She tells them that from the moment they cease to 
 direct their good works to these truly Apostolic ends, 
 they no longer do what God expects from them, and 
 cease to fulfil the purpose for which they were brought 
 to Carmel. 
 
 The Carmelite nuns, daughters of St. Teresa, carry 
 out in the cloister the ends proposed to them by their 
 holy mother. They promote by their prayers and good 
 works the spirit which St. Cajetan and so many holy 
 ministers of the Church spread by their ministry. In 
 addition to the many other religious orders they possess, 
 
ym PREFACE. 
 
 who are engaged in active duties, such as the care of the 
 sick, or the instruction of the children of the rich and poor, 
 the people of Cork have the blessing of a new foundation 
 of Carmelite nuns. Like the holy house of Nazareth, 
 they, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin and 
 St. Joseph, guard in their little chapel the infant Jesus. 
 They spend their lives in returning thanks to God in 
 the most Holy Sacrament. By their care this book is 
 published, that devotion to St. Cajetan may be spread in 
 this city. By their prayers, they promote the spirit 
 he promoted. 
 
 Their chapel is open to the public, where from the 
 noise of the world the faithful may come into the pre- 
 sence of Jesus exposed to their adoration in the most 
 Holy Sacrament. The profits arising from the sale of 
 this book will be devoted to helping them in their pious 
 undertaking. They take this opportunity of thanking 
 the Catholics of Cork for the uniform support, and 
 the many acts of kindness received since their coming 
 amongst them, and above all for the kind interest shown 
 in their welfare by his Lordship, the Right Rev. Dr. 
 Delany, who has gladly given his approbation to this 
 book. 
 
 Carmelite Convent, Cork, 
 Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, 
 May the ^th, 1873. 
 
THE LIFE OF SAINT CAJETAN ; 
 
 OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 
 
 : F the life of ordinary saints be full of 
 ^^^J^^ instruction and edification, to those who 
 deavour by such studies to advance in the 
 career of Christian perfection, still more 
 should we endeavour to collect every possible 
 detail of the biography of those Pastors and Bishops of 
 the Church who have become, by their zeal and holiness, 
 founders of distinct religious orders, and thus added such 
 lustre to their sacred profession. Among men like 
 these, few have been more eminent than St. Gaetan ; 
 although perhaps he is less known in England than St. 
 Francis, St. Dominic, or St. Benedict, whose children 
 are so widely spread over all lands that their dress 
 and their rule have become familiar to us all. But, 
 if the religion of a people depend on the holiness of 
 
10 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^'TttK li:^E OF t?T.^ CAJETAN ; 
 
 their priests, it is surely one of the greatest works 
 to found and cement sueli orders of clergy as shall 
 raise the tone and character of the priesthood, and this 
 was one of the principal labours of St. Gaetan, as it 
 was of St. Charles Borromeo, and others. 
 
 He was bom at Vincenza, in the Venetian territory, 
 in the year 1480. His father was Gaspar, Count of 
 Thiene, and his mother, Mary Porta, was also of one 
 of the noblest families in Lombardy: but both were 
 as remarkable for their piety as for their high rank. 
 From the moment of his birth, the young Gaetan was 
 offered by his holy mother to the Blessed Virgin, to 
 whom she had the greatest devotion; and our Lady 
 accepted her offering and took the little child under 
 her special protection, so that from his very infancy he 
 seemed to be endowed with special grace, and was 
 beyond his years both in goodness and knowledge. 
 He had been named Gaetan at his baptism out of 
 respect to the memory of a great uncle, who bore that 
 name, a canon of Padua, and one of the most famous 
 theological professors of his day. 
 
 It is a trite observation that most great men owe 
 their noblest qualities to the influence of their mothers. 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 11 
 
 The pious Countess of Thiene devoted herself to the 
 education of our saint with all the zeal which her 
 love for him inspired, and never ceased setting before 
 his eyes the example of our Divine Redeemer's 
 humility, meekness, purity, and other virtues. But 
 her own daily life, and continual practice of self-denial 
 and charity, worked more powerfully on the mind of 
 her boy than all her exhortations. He saw that 
 religion was to her a reality ; the moving principle, 
 in fact, of her whole life ; and such was his docility 
 to her teaching, that from his cradle he was called 
 by his nurses the " little saint." When he was quite 
 a child he lost his father, who commanded a body of 
 cavalry, in a battle fought by the troops of Sixtus V., 
 under General Malatesta, on the 22nd of August, 
 1482, in which he was grievously wounded ; and died 
 soon after, leaving the Countess of Thiene sole guar- 
 dian of their children, the eldest of whom was but 
 eight years old. When the first burst of natural 
 grief was over, the poor widowed mother felt that she 
 must now redouble her efforts on their behalf; and 
 her whole life was henceforth spent in devotion to 
 her fatherless little ones. But, with Gaetan she had 
 
12 THE ]JFE OF ST. CAJETAX ; 
 
 no difficulty. The principle of obedience seemed to 
 be so rooted in liis nature that it never occurred to 
 him to dispute either her will, or that of the tutors 
 whom she appointed over him. His compassion and 
 love for the poor were such, that he denied himself every 
 childish pleasure to be able to relieve them ; and when 
 he had exhausted all his own stores, he would beseech his 
 mother Avith tears to give him the means of helping 
 them more effectually. He had even to be watched 
 so as to ensure his taking sufficient nourishment, as 
 he had a thousand ingenious devices for concealing a 
 portion of his dinner or supper, so as to give it to the 
 poor children who flocked round the palace gates, as he 
 went in and out. 
 
 The unalterable sweetness of his temper seemed to 
 be the natural result of his constitution. As he grew 
 older, the love of prayer and a spirit of constant re- 
 collection made him shun all loss of time, either in 
 amusement or in idle conversation. Everything seemed 
 to be uninteresting to him save his studies and church 
 ceremonies, in which he took a marvellous pleasure. 
 To serve mass, to deck the church with fresh flowers, 
 or to take part in any of the imposing functions on 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 1') 
 
 holy-days or great festivals, was his greatest delight. 
 His gentleness, modesty, and sweetness, endeared him 
 to every one around him ; but especially to his mother, 
 who would often praise and bless God for the way in 
 which He had fulfilled her fondest hopes in this child. 
 
 But his life of prayer and constant recollection did not 
 interfere with his progress in his studies ; on the con- 
 trary, they only served to strengthen his powers and 
 purify his judgment. That habit of concentration of 
 mind on any particular subject resultad in his attaining 
 to a wonderful degree of eminence in whatever he un- 
 dertook. After a time, his mother sent him to complete 
 his education at the University of Padua, where he soon 
 outstripped all his companions ; while,.by his irreproach- 
 able conduct, he won the esteem and respect of the 
 Professors, who held him up as an example to the 
 whole College. So far from being puffed up by their 
 praise he became only more and more humble and 
 devout. After having gone through the courses of 
 philosophy and history, he devoted himself to the study of 
 civil and canon law, in which faculty he took the degree 
 of doctor, which was conferred upon him with unusual 
 honour ou the 17th of July, 1504. After this, he gave 
 
14 THE LIFE of' ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 himself up entirely to the study of divinity, and with 
 his mother's full consent, determined to embrace the 
 ecclesiastical state. But first he returned home for a 
 short time — and, during this brief holiday, he persuaded 
 his elder brother, John Baptist, Count of Thiene, to 
 build a beautiful church at Rampazzo, near their country 
 home, for the benefit of the peasants who lived at a 
 considerable distance from the parish church. This 
 church was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdelene, and 
 Gaetan endowed it out of his own private fortune, and 
 appointed a holy chaplain who should say a daily mass 
 for the inhabitants. '^ Thus," as an old biographer of 
 the saint expresses it, " he who was so greatly to edify 
 the Church hereafter began as a youth by raising a 
 sanctuary to the honour and glory of Him to whom his 
 whole life was henceforth to be devoted." 
 
 It is to be regretted that we have no further details 
 of his early manhood; but his humility threw a veil 
 over all his actions, and the secrets of this beautiful and 
 hidden life were known but to his confessor and to God. 
 
 Having thus provided, as far as he could, for the spi- 
 ritual welfare of the peasantry near his old home, he 
 gave himself up altogether to the preparation for his 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 15 
 
 reception of Holy Orders. During this time he was a 
 model to all the other candidates, from his wonderful 
 spirit of prayer, his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, 
 and his unwearied care of the sick and suffering. He 
 resided in a parish of Vincenza itself, where, by the 
 fervour of his exhortations and his extraordinary love 
 of God, he, in spite of his youth, converted the whole 
 town. Every one flocked to hear and see him, till his 
 humility becoming alarmed, he resolved to retire pri- 
 vately from a place where he was so well known and 
 where his family was so much esteemed, and go to 
 Rome. He was strengthened in this purpose by his 
 extreme anxiety to pray at the tombs of the Apostles ; 
 and also, by his wish to lead a hidden life, and advance 
 more secretly in the way of perfection. But his extra- 
 ordinary piety, together with his learning and high/ank, 
 soon brought hiin into notice, and the Pope, Julian II, 
 discovering the eminent treasure whom God had placed 
 within his reach, appointed him Prothonotary Apostolic, 
 one of the highest dignities in the Roman Prelacy. 
 This elevation did not suit Gaetan's views or wishes in 
 any way, but he was compelled to obey. Finding 
 resistance impossible, his first care was to endeavour, by 
 
16 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 precept and example, to reform the manners and habits 
 of the Papal Court by which he was surrounded, so as 
 to conform them more nearly to the Christian maxims of 
 mortification and holy poverty. There was at that time 
 at Rome a congregation called of " The Divine Love," 
 which was established in the Church of St. Sylvester and 
 St. Dorothy, and the principal object of which was to 
 kindle in men's hearts a more fervent love of Grod, and 
 to check that luxury, libertinage, and love of pleasure, 
 which were the characteristics of the age. Gaetan at 
 once enrolled himself in this holy congregation, which 
 numbered among its members some of the most illus- 
 trious families in Rome. No sooner had he joined 
 them than he infused into the whole body a wonderful 
 new life, and a determination to work out not only their 
 own perfection but that of their neighbours. Frequent 
 communion was then almost unheard of, and the very 
 best people never dreamt of approaching the Holy Table 
 more than three or four times a year. But Gaetan 
 remonstrated with the members of the Congregation of 
 ** Divine Love '' so strongly on this subject, that very 
 soon monthly, then weekly, and even in some cases 
 daily communions were the residt ; while their example 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 17 
 
 greatly influenced others, and this holy practice began 
 to spread into other places, to the great spiritual profit 
 of the faithful. 
 
 The Pope, more and more delighted with Gaetan's 
 zeal and fervour, hastened his final consecration to the 
 Divine service, and by a Brief d^ extra tempora conferred 
 upon him the four grades on four successive days, that 
 is, on the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of September, he 
 being then thirty-three years old. He had prepared 
 himself for these solemn acts by an entire immolation of 
 his body, soul, and spirit to the service of God ; and 
 when once invested with the sacred offiice of priest, he 
 prepared himself for the first celebration of the Holy 
 Mysteries with so vivid a faith and love, and so profound 
 a humility, that he amazed everyone around him. 
 Jesus Christ seemed to have taken possession of his 
 whole heart ; and by the entire mortification of his 
 passions, and his wonderful purity of intention, he 
 seemed (as his biographer states) *' less a man than a 
 seraph at the altar." 
 
 It was during this time that a singular and extra- 
 ordinary grace was vouchsafed to him. Having gone 
 on Christmas- eve to pray in the Church of Sta. Maria 
 
18 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 Maggiore, Our Lord revealed Himself to him as a 
 Baby, and the Blessed Virgin placed Him in Gaetan's 
 arms, " so that he might actually touch the corporal 
 frame of the ^ Word made flesh ' and tangibly feel His 
 presence.'' 
 
 He thus describes this wonderful favour in a letter to 
 Sister Laura, a nun of the Convent of the Holy Cross at 
 Brescia. And in this way he is often represented in 
 his pictures. It is not difiicult to guess how such a 
 vision must have inflamed the Divine Love in his 
 heart, and strengthened his resolve to devote his whole 
 life to the " Little Babe of Bethlehem." It was about 
 this time that he contracted a warm friendship with a 
 gentleman named Barthelemi Stella, who was a member 
 of the Congregation of ^' Divine Love." This gentle- 
 man, writing to a pious religious of his own family, 
 says : " I have been advised to make the acquaintance 
 of a wonderful servant of God here, the Count Gaetan 
 of Thiene, who left his family, came to Rome, and has 
 become a priest, although now an only son, and the 
 idol of his mother. He is thirty-four years old, won- 
 derfully clever, very rich, and a devoted minister of the 
 altar." This letter was addressed to Laura Mignani, a 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 19 
 
 fervent Augustinian Nun, who afterwards died in the 
 odour of sanctity ; and it was through Barthelemi Stella 
 that Gaetan became acquainted with her. Although it 
 does not appear that they ever met in life, they carried 
 on a regular correspondence on spiritual subjects, which 
 was an immense help and comfort to both. The follow- 
 ing is an extract from one of the letters which Gaetan 
 wrote to her at that time from Rome : — 
 
 *' I have every day the inexpressible consolation of 
 approaching Him who has said : ^ Learn of me for I am 
 meek and lowly of heart ; ' and yet I am still full of 
 pride. I receive every day Him who came ^ to bring 
 fire and a sword,' and yet I am cold and idle, and still 
 cling to earthly affections. I have the boldness to offer 
 Him, from whom the sun itself receives its light, and 
 who has created the whole world! What wonderful 
 love to be chosen a minister to such a God ! Oh ! pray 
 for me that my icy soul may become a fiery furnace." 
 
 He then describes the vision we have 
 
 mentioned above, and continues : ''I believe my heart 
 must be as hard as a diamond not to have melted at 
 such a moment ! " 
 
 St. Gaetan's estimate of himself proves what was the 
 
20 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETA^i ; 
 
 humility of one who was already looked upon as the 
 glory of the priesthood and the reviver of the sanctuary. 
 
 Ten years had elapsed since Gaetan had arrived in 
 Rome, when, on the death of Pope Julian, he found 
 himself at liberty to return to Vicenxa, where the fail- 
 ing health of his mother, and the death of his elder 
 brother, rendered his presence in every way desirable* 
 He writes to Laura " that his return seemed to have given 
 new life to his holy and venerable parent." But he 
 was soon called upon by God to sacrifice this the fondest 
 affection of his heart on earth. The Countess received 
 for only a short time at the sight of her favourite child, 
 and very soon all the bad symptoms returned. Gaetan 
 thus describes her last illness in a letter to Lanra : — 
 
 " During all her sufferings, which were at times exces- 
 sive, no trace of sadness appeared on her countenance. 
 She, who had edified us all during her whole life, was 
 to give us proofs of equal piety up to her latst breath. 
 She never omitted any of her usual acts of devotion, 
 and even practised several mortifications. During the 
 whole of her last illness, which lasted fifteen days, the 
 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered up every day at 
 the foot of her bed, in which she assisted with the 
 
OTJ, G VET AX OK 'I'HIE^E. 21 
 
 utmost fervour. She had the happiness of receiving the 
 Holy Communion four or five times, and would have 
 done so every day if she had been able." 
 
 After describing her edifpng end, and touching on 
 his own sorrow, he adds : " that his only fear is lest she 
 should have sinned through too sensible an affection for 
 himself, and from not having sufficiently warned him 
 of his faults.'^ He recommends her earnestly to the 
 prayers of the nuns at Brescia ; but, it appears from one 
 of the old Chronicles, that while he was weeping and 
 praying by her inanimate remains that night, he re- 
 ceived by revelation the happy assurance that she had 
 escaped passing through Purgatory through his inter- 
 cession. Scarcely were these last and touching duties 
 accomplished than, with renewed zeal, he devoted him- 
 self to his sacerdotal duties ; and, among other things, 
 enrolled himself in a congregation which he found estab- 
 lished in Vincenza, that of St. Jerome. His family en- 
 deavoured to dissuade him from taking this step, as the 
 congregation was composed almost entirely of artisans 
 and poor. But as he sought for neither grandeur nor 
 the esteem of men, but only a means of advancing in 
 virtue, he laughed at their remonstrances, and inscribed 
 
22 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 his name among these poor people with the greater 
 pleasure that it drew down upon him the scorn of those 
 of his own class. It is impossible to oyer estimate the 
 good that he did in this congregation. He continually 
 invited them to conferences and little exhortations, in 
 which he spoke with such unction and such wonderful 
 love of Grod, that his audience would often melt into 
 tears, and nothing could resist his influence over them. 
 On the subject of the Blessed Eucharist, especially, he 
 seemed to have an inexhaustible eloquence. And his 
 words had such an effect on these poor people that they 
 adopted the custom of receiving the Holy Communion 
 three and four times a week ; and in all ways began to 
 lead new and devout lives, in accordance with his 
 teaching and example. Not content, however, with the 
 effect he had produced on their minds, he desired to 
 associate them also in active works of charity ; and for 
 that purpose persuaded them to undertake the care of 
 the Incurable Hospital, which was affiliated to that of 
 St. James at Rome, and considered one of the best in 
 Italy. Gaetan added greatly to the size and comfort of 
 the building, and went from house to house, to seek out 
 the sick and miserable, and convey them to the new 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 23 
 
 Hospital, where he tended them himself with the 
 greatest devotion. No disease however loathsome, and 
 no service however revolting to the senses, ever seemed 
 to deter him in these pious offices. He made their 
 beds himself, dressed their wounds, washed their linen, 
 &c.,' but above all, never missed the opportunity of 
 reconciling them to God, and preparing them for a 
 holy and edifying death. The Eector of the con- 
 gregation of St. Jerome, John Dominic Zaninelli, 
 having ventured to represent to him that he was ex- 
 hausting his resources altogether by the munificence of 
 his alms, he made this heroic answer : "I shall never 
 cease to give all I can to the poor and suffering, until 
 the time comes when I shall be so despoiled of my 
 goods that I shall have to be buried by charity." 
 
 About this time, Gaetan, whose humility made him 
 always doubt his own judgment, put himself under the 
 direction of a holy Dominican Father, Jean Baptiste de 
 Creme. By his advice, Gaetan went to Verona, where 
 the Members of the Oratory of St. Syr wished to be 
 united to the congregation of St. Jerome, and participate 
 in their good works. He begged to be enrolled among 
 the St. Syr Oratorians, and inscribed his name in that 
 
24 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 confraternity on the 10th July, 1519, as ^' Gaetan, un- 
 ivorthy priest. ^^ His advice and exhortations had as much 
 weight at Verona as in his native town : but he devoted 
 himself especially to the poor, encouraging them to 
 bear all their trials with faith and patience. 
 
 On his return to Vincenza, he gave up living in his 
 own palace, and took up his abode in the Incurable 
 Hospital, so as to be able to devote himself more en- 
 tirely to his " dear patients, " as he termed them. He 
 did not, however, neglect the duties of his position as 
 head of a noble family ; for we find him soon after en- 
 gaged in the establishment of his brother's only child, 
 the Countess Elizabeth of Thiene, who married Count 
 Porto, on the 22nd of April, 1521, at which marriage 
 Gaetan performed the ceremony. He wrote to her, 
 soon after, a beautiful letter of advice on the duties of 
 her new position, and the urgent need of her sanctify- 
 ing herself in the world by the frequentation of the 
 sacraments. " How much those art to be pitied," he , 
 continued, '^ who do not realise the blessing of the Holy 
 Eucharist! We may possess our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and we mil not ! Woe to that soul who can be thus 
 indifferent to receive her God and Saviour ! The 
 
OR, GAETAIS OF THIENE. 25 
 
 enemies of our salvation suggests doubts and difficulties 
 only that they may obtain a triumph over us. Let us 
 hasten to receive Him, who, in giving Himself to us, is 
 ready also to give us all the graces of which we stand in 
 need." 
 
 But even in the holiest lives there are moments of 
 darkness and perplexity, and Gaetan was not to be 
 exempt from such trials. He writes to his venerable 
 friend, Laura, on the 8th of June, 1520 : " I am much 
 troubled as to the future, and cannot make up my mind 
 whether I shall give up my charge (of Protonotary 
 Apostolic) and remain in my own country ; or leave it. 
 I feel as if my path at present were all darkness. . . . 
 But I have only one wish and that is to do the will of 
 God in whatever place or way He may appoint. I feel 
 that He demands of me a complete sacrifice of myself, 
 and I am willing to obey. It is not only by fervour of 
 feeling but by fervour in action that we attain to entire 
 detachment of purity and heart/' 
 
 His obedience was soon to be put to the test in a way 
 which he little expected. In the very midst of his great 
 work at the H(5spital, where his presence seemed abso- 
 lutely necessary to the very existence of the charity, his 
 
 
 
26 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 Director suddenly told him to give up everything and go 
 and live at Venice. Gaetan obeyed with the simplicity 
 of a child, and, disregarding all human considerations 
 and the remonstrances of every one around him, left Vin- 
 cenza and his home, and after the manner of Abraham, 
 *' went into a strange country/' He confesses that in so 
 doing he acted entirely contrary to his own judgment, 
 as he feared that his new congregation would greatly 
 suffer by his absence. But, if Vincenza sorrowed for the 
 saint's departure, Venice was no less rejoiced at his 
 arrival. He made no change in his habits or way of 
 life, lodging at the new hospital, which had just been 
 built, and introducing into it by degrees all the improve- 
 ments he had carried out at Vincenza. Before many 
 weeks had elapsed he became the friend, the consoler, 
 and the adviser of every one in Venice who was in need 
 of aid. But what astonished the people more than any- 
 thing else was to see a man of his high rank and posi- 
 tion, after labouring day and night among the sick and 
 suffering, live upon little else than bread and water, and 
 wear a ragged cassock and an old cloak which the poorest 
 village curate would have » disdained. The Venetians 
 profited much by this example of self-abnegation, and 
 
OR, GAETAN OF TlllENE. 4i 
 
 attributed to his prayers their escape from the terrible 
 disasters inflicted by the Turks at that time on the 
 neighbouring provinces. He himself, however, was not 
 so well satisfied with the Venetians. He wrote to Paul 
 Justiniani, the reformer of the Camaldoli Monastery, in 
 the following terms : *' Although this city is a beautiful 
 one, and full of every kind of attraction, one can only 
 weep over her : for the people are dead to sentiments of 
 piety ; no one dares publicly come to confession or com- 
 munion. I shall never be happy till I see Christians 
 hungering for this Divine Food ! '' But his Director, 
 although marvelling more and more at the spiritual pro- 
 gress of his beloved disciple, and at the good everywhere 
 eflected by his presence, felt convinced that Venice was 
 not a proper sphere for his labours, and that he was 
 destined by God to do great works, not only for indi- 
 vidual towns, but for the universal Church. He, there- 
 fore, a second time, desired him to break up his home 
 and go to Rome. 
 
 Gaetan obeyed with the same ready alacrity; and 
 returning to his old congregation of ''Divine Love,'' 
 resolved to devote himself with greater zeal than ever to 
 the reform of the clergy. The civil wars which had 
 
28 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 ravaged all Christendom liad more or less demoralised 
 every class in society, and the abuses which had crept 
 in among the clergy were so great that it might have 
 been said in the words of the Prophet : *' A planta pedis 
 usque ad verticem, non est in ea sanitas/' Gaetan, 
 therefore, conceived the project of forming a congrega- 
 tion of Evangelical Priests, whose one and only aim 
 would be to save souls. A great friend of his, Boniface 
 de Colle, warmly seconded him in this pious enterprise. 
 Peter Caraffa, Bishop of Theate, in the kingdom of 
 Naples, and Archbishop of Brindisi, heard of Gaetan's 
 design, and entreated to be allowed to give up his eccle- 
 siastical dignities and join him. St. Gaetan at first 
 refused, representing to him the importance of the 
 charges he then held, and the great loss which would 
 accrue to his flock from the absence of such a pastor. 
 But Carafi*a (who had acted as Papal Nuncio in Eng- 
 land and Spain, and as Regent of the latter country 
 under Charles Y,) was more and more determined to 
 put himself under St. Gaetan' s guidance, and so impor- 
 tuned the Pope, Clement VII, to allow him to resign 
 his high functions. The Pope naturally objected to his 
 proposal ; but, iinully, was a\ on over by the disinterested 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 29 
 
 entreaties of one whose only object was to extend the 
 kingdom of God in the hearts of men. Paul Consigli^ri, 
 a great friend of CaraflPa's, of the noble Roman family of 
 Gislheri, and a member of the Roman Senate, deter- 
 mined to follow his example ; and so these four noble- 
 men, " being united in one heart and one soul " (as their 
 old biographer states) determined to relinquish all their 
 dignities, and, binding themselves by solemn vows, to 
 form a congregation which should be entitled simply of 
 '^ Regular Clergy T 
 
 The first thing to be done was to obtain the Papal 
 approbation of their new Order. This was attended with 
 some difiiculties. The Roman Prelates looked upon the 
 whole movement as a singular innovation, and, especi- 
 ally objected to the clause which prohibited their receiv- 
 ing ecclesiastical revenues. St. Gaetan, however, stuck 
 to his point. He asserted that the only msh of himself 
 and his associates was to imitate the lives of the Apos- 
 tles, who had no certain revenues, and that priests bound 
 by solemn vows would edify the Church all the more as 
 they were detached from all worldly ties or riches. 
 Matthew Ghiberti, Bishop of Verona, finally induced the 
 Pope to listen to their petition and grant the Bull of 
 
30 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 approbation. This being obtained, they separated for 
 three or four months in order to arrange their worldly 
 affairs. But on the 14th of September, 1524, the day 
 of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, these four holy 
 founders, having renounced their dignities and all their 
 worldly goods (of which the poor had the largest share), 
 made their solemn profession in the Church of St. Peter, 
 on the Vatican Hill ; Bonziero, Bishop of Caserta, having 
 been deputed by the Pope to receive their vows. They 
 proceeded at once to the election of a Superior, which 
 fell upon Caraffa, whom the Pope insisted should keep 
 his dignity of Bishop of Theate. Hence the name given 
 to these religious of *' Theatins.^' 
 
 The principal objects of their institution were as 
 follows : 
 
 1. To set an example to the clergy, who at that time 
 were often living bad and disorderly lives. 
 
 2. To give an example of perfect poverty. 
 
 3. To restore the beauty and cleanliness of the altars 
 and churches, and the pomp of the Divine ceremonies, 
 which, from neglect and want of reverence, had become 
 a perfect scandal to the heretics. 
 
 4. To kindle in the hearts of the faithful a keener 
 
OK, GAETAN OF THIEVE. 31 
 
 desire for the frequentation of the Sacraments, which 
 had fallen into such disuse that the greater portion of 
 the people went to confession only once a year, and that 
 without contrition or purpose of amendment of life. 
 
 5. To preach the Word of God, which at that time 
 was often mingled in the pulpit with profane and even 
 ridiculous subjects. 
 
 6. To visit the sick and prepare the dying for the 
 last Sacraments. 
 
 7. To accompany criminals to the place of execution, 
 so as to save their souls, if possible, from eternal chas- 
 tisements. 
 
 8. To counteract and combat the heresies which had 
 sprung up in Germany and elsewhere through the apos- 
 tacy of Luther and his disciples. 
 
 After this solemn profession, the four friends retired to 
 a house belonging to Boniface de CoUo, a little outside 
 Rome, on what was called II Campo di Marzo. Here 
 they joined the exercises of a contemplative with an 
 active life, and edified the whole city of Rome by their 
 indefatigable charity ; so much so, that when the people 
 wished to describe any one of eminent piety they would 
 say, ^' He is as holy as a TMatin'^ A number of novices 
 
32 THE lAFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 joined them towards the end of the year, so that they 
 were compelled to remove to a larger house on the 
 Monte Pincio. The love of God and the wish to make 
 Him known and loved by all men, was the bond of 
 union which made this little band of workers irresis- 
 tible. 
 
 But this new order was destined to be strangely tried 
 by an event which at that time carried ruin and desola- 
 tion throughout Italy. On the 6th of May, 1527, Rome 
 was besieged by Charles, Connetable de Bourbon, who 
 
 had .betrayed the service of his master, Francis the 
 First, and gone over to that of Charles the Fifth, The 
 army was composed of every kind of barbarian and 
 heretic, and they, exasperated by the death of the Con- 
 stable, (mortally wounded during the siege) committed 
 every sort of excess, horror, and sacrilege in the capital 
 of Christendom. The Theatins multiplied themselves 
 to succour the wounded, to aid the dying, to bury the 
 dead, and to console the inhabitants, whom the cruelty 
 and rapacity of the conquerors had rendered almost 
 desperate. Gaetan alone performed prodigies of charity 
 during this terrible time. But being unhappily recog- 
 nized by one of the soldiers, who had known him at 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIEKE. 33 
 
 Yincenza, and imagined the apparent poverty of their 
 house to be only feigned, he was put to the torture in 
 order to force him to reveal the gold he was supposed 
 to have concealed ; hung up by his feet, his fingers 
 squeezed between the lids of a chest, and his whole 
 body torn with whips. His companions were treated 
 with similar barbarity, and at last thrown into a loath- 
 some dungeon. Their patience and courage under these 
 terrible sufferings amazed their inhuman persecutors ; 
 and when, after the example of the Apostles, they com- 
 menced singing the praises of God in their prison, this 
 act brought about their deliverance, for, the officer in 
 command, overhearing them, desired to be admitted into 
 their dungeon, and was so struck with the dignity and 
 modesty of their behaviour, that he ordered their instant 
 release. 
 
 The terrible state of Rome at that moment induced 
 them for a time to leave the city and strive elsewhere 
 to exercise their ministry. They embarked on board a 
 fisherman's boat on the Tiber for Ostia, but were fired 
 on by an officer who thought they were carrying off 
 some treasure, till he fortunately recognised one of the 
 party as his nephew, and instantly overwhelmed them 
 
34 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETA^ ; 
 
 with kindnesses, and provided them with the provisions 
 necessary for their voyage. At Ostia they found another 
 protector in Dominic Veniero, Venetian Ambassador at 
 Rome ; and in the Commander of the Venetian Fleet, 
 Augustine Amuleo, who gave them a free passage on 
 board his vessel, which carried them safely to Venice. 
 There they were received with open arms by the 
 Republic and lodged, first at St. Euphemia, then at St. 
 George's on the Great Canal, and, finally, at St. Nicolas 
 de Tolentino, where a house and church were assigned 
 to them, of which they took possession on the 29th of 
 September, 1527, and where their Order has remained 
 to this day. 
 
 During their stay at St. George's, the three years 
 superiorship of the Bishop of The ate having expired, St. 
 Gaetan was unanimously chosen in his place. The 
 wonders that he did at Venice for the reform of both 
 clergy and people are dwelt upon at great length by his 
 biographers, and a new occasion for showing his pastoral 
 zeal soon presented itself in a fearful plague, which 
 ravaged the city and spread such terror among all 
 classes that none but the Theatins could be found to 
 administer to the dying and the dead. A famine fol- 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 35 
 
 lowed this terrible visitation of God, and Gaetan seemed 
 to forget that he was the father of his religious to be- 
 come the father of the starving multitude around him. 
 Poor as he was himself, he found means to relieve thou- 
 sands who would otherwise have died of hunger ; and by 
 his exhortations and entreaties opened the purses of the 
 rich, and induced them to contribute liberally to their 
 wants. Scarcely was this great distress over, than he 
 was summoned to Verona to settle a quarrel which had 
 arisen between the Bishop of that town and his flock, 
 and succeeded in arranging matters to the satisfaction of 
 both parties. On his return to Venice, the Bishop of 
 Theate being again elected Superior, Gaetan went back 
 with fresh pleasure to the care of the sick in the Incurable 
 Hospital; and, also, devoted himself to inspiring a 
 stronger love for the Blessed Sacrament in the minds of 
 the people. For this purpose he instituted the '^ Forty 
 Hours '' Adoration ; and also a Grand No vena at 
 Christmas to honour the Incarnation of Our Blessed 
 Lord. He decreed likewise that, at sunset, after the 
 " Angelus," a pause should be made to pray for the dead, 
 which custom is followed in many towns of Italy to this 
 day. He was also empowered by the Pope to correct 
 
36 
 
 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN I 
 
 certain abuses which had crept into the Breviary and 
 Missal, in which several changes were proposed by St. 
 Gaetan, which were approved of by Clement VII in a spe- 
 cial Brief. He was most careful in the selection of those 
 who were to join his Congregation ; and, on one occa- 
 sion, when a gentleman of high birth and great talent 
 offered himself as a novice on certain conditions, Gaetan 
 refused him in an admirable letter, in which he pointed 
 out the necessity of all who entered his Institute being 
 ready to submit their wills unreservedly to the Superior, 
 as the representative to them of Jesus Christ, and con- 
 cluded with the words : " Humility is a better passport 
 for admission among us than temporal goods or great 
 talents. We do not despise learning ; but we care more 
 that those who embrace our rule should be animated 
 with the spirit of God. 'Knowledge puffeth up, but 
 charity edifieth.' " 
 
 A short time after, our saint was chosen by the Pope 
 to open a House of their Order at Naples. The Bishop 
 of Theate begged him to select whichever of his com- 
 panions he preferred to accompany him. The humility 
 of St. Gaetan took alarm at this proposal : " What," he 
 exclaimed, *' I am to choose the person I like best ? 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 37 
 
 No, no ; it is not thus one practises holy obedience ; 
 on the contrary, I will pray to our Lord (turning to a 
 Crucifix on the table) that He may inspire your rever- 
 ence with the thought to send the father who shall be 
 the least congenial to my taste and humour/' 
 
 The Bishop's admiration of St. Gaetan was only in- 
 creased by these words, and he assigned to him as com- 
 panion his favourite disciple, Jean Marinon, who was 
 not only a devout priest but an excellent preacher. 
 They started for Rome in the dog-days, and went to kiss 
 the Pope's feet on their way and to crave his blessing. 
 The Pope, seeing them almost scorched by the heat 
 of the sun, exclaimed : '' How is it, my children, 
 that you have set out at this season at the risk of your 
 lives?" 
 
 St. Gaetan replied : *^Holy Father, it were better for 
 us to die on the road than to hesitate a single day in 
 obeying your commands." 
 
 The Pope was greatly touched at their zeal, and gave 
 them the most flattering reception. The pious Bishop 
 of Verona joyfully received them in his own palace at 
 liome. But they only stayed a few days, being anxious 
 to begin their new mission and not disappoint the Count 
 
38 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 d'Oppido, who had prepared everything at Naples for 
 their reception. Finding, however, that the house 
 • chosen by the Count was too far from the town, they 
 resolved to seek another lodging ; but met with great 
 opposition from their determination not to accept lands 
 or revenues. The Count represented to St. Gaetan how 
 impossible it would be for so large a community to con- 
 tinue to exist without definite means — that the present 
 charity of the people would cool — and that then they 
 would be left destitute. Failing in moving the Saint's 
 determination, the Count sent some noted religious of 
 other Orders to convince him. Gaetan asked them : 
 " How they could be certain of being maintained ? " 
 They replied : *' That they had lands and houses secured 
 to them by lease." '' Well," answered the Saint, '' we 
 have a better contract than you, for we have the pro- 
 mise of Jesus Christ, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God 
 and His righteousness and all these things will be added 
 unto you.' Our Congregation has subsisted very well 
 at Venice for ten years in spite of the fearful famine 
 w^hich has decimated Italy, and the same Providence 
 A\ill sustain us at Naples." On the still further objec- 
 tion being made that ''Naples was not so rich as 
 
OK, GAETAN OF THIENE. 39 
 
 Venice," he replied: '' I believe that the God of Venice 
 is equally the God of Naples.'' 
 
 To cut short their arguments, St. Gaetan at last sum- 
 moned his companions, and closing the doors of the 
 house, and sending the keys to the Count, told them to 
 take only their Breviaries with them and come into the 
 town. Here they were received by a holy woman named 
 Maria Lorenzo Longuo, a widow lady, and the Superior 
 of the Hospital for Incurables, who offered them a little 
 lodging in the Hospital, and welcomed them ^^ as if they 
 had been angels from on High," as Caraffa writes in a 
 letter of thanks addressed to her from Venice. Soon 
 after, she purchased an adjoining house for them, in 
 which they built a chapel, which St. Gaetan called '^ Sta. 
 Maria della Stalla," from his great devotion to the 
 mystery of the Crib of Bethlehem. St. Gaetan became 
 the Director of this holy Superior, and by his advice she 
 gave up an intended journey to the Holy Land, and 
 embraced the rule of St. Clare. She became afterwards 
 the foundress of the Capucines in Naples, who, by their 
 fervent and penitent lives, gave great edification to the 
 Church. There was another lady, the Duchess d'Ayerbo 
 de Tremoli, who listened eagerly to St. Gaetan's teaching. 
 
40 THE I.IFE OE ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 and wlio, in consequence of his advice, opened a 
 House of Refuge for penitent women ; one of the very 
 first of the kind which had been attempted. A third 
 ReKgious House (that of the " Sapienza") was also 
 inspired by St. Gaetan, of which Maria Caraffa became 
 Superior^ and thus revived the primitive spirit of St. 
 Dominic. 
 
 It would be tedious to our readers to detail all the 
 good which St. Gaetan and his companions effected in 
 Naples, and especially among the priests, who began to 
 be ashamed of their irregular lives, and to imitate the 
 holy example of the Theatins. Several miracles worked 
 at this time by St. Gaetan increased the veneration in 
 which he was already held by the people. A lay 
 brother having been seriously injured in a work he had 
 undertaken from obedience, was condemned by the sur- 
 geons to lose his leg. St. Gaetan begged them to defer 
 the operation till the next day, and that night, going in to 
 the sufferer, he wiped the wound, made over it the sign 
 of the cross, and telling the sick brother to trust in God 
 and ask the aid of St. Francis, he returned to his cell, 
 and spent the rest of the night in prayer. The fol- 
 lowing morning when the surgeons came they found the 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 41 
 
 leg entirely healed and no sign of the fearful wounds of 
 the day before. 
 
 Another of his Community, who had gone out of his 
 mind, was also restored by St. Gaetan's intercession. 
 But he endeavoured to keep all those things as quiet as 
 possible, and it was not until his canonization that these 
 miracles were proved incontestably by the evidence of 
 the doctors. 
 
 The Pope Paul III, who had succeeded Clement VII, 
 having conferred a Cardinal's Hat on the Bishop of 
 Theate, Gaetan was obliged to go to Rome for a 
 General Chapter of his Order. He appointed one of the 
 most eminent of his Congregation as Superior in his 
 place at Naples, Peter Foscarini. The humility of 
 this true follower of St. Gaetan shrank from the posi- 
 tion, and he declared he had not sufficient authority to 
 be Superior. St. Gaetan replied : ^' My Father, you 
 will have plenty of grace for the charge assigned to you 
 if you strive to win the love in the Lord of those under 
 you." 
 
 Finding that the house near the Incurable Hospital 
 had become too small for them, the Vice-Roy assigned 
 to the Theatins the Parish Church of St. Paolo Maggioi-e, 
 
42 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 with a house alongside, of which they took possession in 
 1538. 
 
 All the zeal, learning, and eloquence of St. Gaetan 
 were now called into play to answer and detect the 
 heresies of three noted apostates, John Valdasio, Peter 
 Vermiglio, and Bernardin Ochino, who, at that time, were 
 filling Naples with their false doctrines. The first was 
 a Lutheran, the second an Augustinian, and^ the third a 
 Capuchin, whose vanity and ambition had induced them 
 to rebel against the authority of the Church, and pro- 
 mulgate everywhere their heretical tenets. Gaetan 
 wrote to his Theatin Cardinal, and the apostates were 
 summoned to Rome, but made their escape to Zurich, 
 and soon after perished miserably. 
 
 The remaining years of St. Gaetan' s life were spent 
 as Superior alternately at Venice, Verona, and Naples. 
 But these changes did not in any way affect his way of 
 life. It was always the same — severe to himself, but 
 full of gentleness and sweetness towards others. His 
 mortification of spirit was so great that when the Empe- 
 ror Charles V passed through Naples on his return 
 from Turin, and the magnificence of his reception ex- 
 ceeded anything that had ever been heard or thought of. 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIEIVP:. 43 
 
 St. Gaetan, who had only to open his window to see the 
 whole procession, refrained, from the love of God, and 
 spent the whole time in prayer. Never was there any 
 man more possessed with the love of souls, or with a 
 more ardent desire for the glory of God ; so much so 
 that he received the honourable name of ^^ Venator ani- 
 maricm.'' His spirit of prayer was such, that he would 
 sometimes remain five or six hours on his knees, so 
 absorbed in God that he forgot the time. Often he was 
 favoured with wonderful visions and revelations during 
 these ecstasies. On one occasion our Lord appeared to 
 him covered with wounds ; on another, bearing His 
 Cross and inviting him to help Him. His principal 
 devotions after those to our Lord were to his Blessed 
 Mother ; and he rarely mentioned the name of Jesus 
 without adding " Son of Mary." He was also very 
 devout to St. Andrew, on account of his ardent desire to 
 sufi'er for Christ ; and to St. Francis of Assisi, from his 
 great love of holy poverty. The latter virtue he 
 esteemed so highly that he nearly gave up his house at 
 Verona because the bishop there would insist on over- 
 whelming them with food and comforts. His own 
 penances were continual. His temperance was so great 
 
44 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 that it may have been called a perpetual fast. He con- 
 stantly wore a hair shirt, and took the discipline with 
 such vehemence that it seemed as if his flesh were posi- 
 tively hateful to him ; and he was once heard to say, 
 *' that he loathed it as he did the devil." Of his charity 
 we have already spoken — his whole life was, in fact, an 
 act of devotion to the poor and sick and sufi*ering mem- 
 bers of Christ's body. To sum up all in one word, he 
 was one of those whose whole soul was absorbed in God, 
 and who was entirely detached from all things here 
 below ; so much so, that, on one occasion, during his 
 prayers, he confessed to feeHng as if his heart had left 
 his body and flown upwards to heaven. 
 
 During one of his visits to his old friend. Cardinal 
 Carafl'a, at Rome, he became acquainted with St. Ignatius 
 Loyola, who was so touched by the fervour and zeal of 
 the members of his institute that he wished to join them. 
 But God had other designs for his servant, although 
 the friendship those two saints contracted for each other 
 from that moment never ceased. But if the zeal of good 
 men was thus kindled in the Church during that century, 
 the enemy of all good was busier than ever in stirring 
 up heresies and rebellion against all spiritual authority. 
 
OR, GAETAN OF TIlIENEv 45 
 
 A terrible sedition broke out in Naples in consequence 
 of an attempt on the part of the Vice-Roy, Don Pietro 
 di Toledo, to establish the Inquisition in that city. The 
 people rose as one man against this tribunal, and the 
 idea was abandoned ; but the rescue of a debtor by some 
 young noblemen ha^'ing fanned the flame, a civil war 
 was the result. St. Gaetan endeavoured to appease the 
 tumult, though for a long time in vain. He caused 
 public prayers to be said, and processions, singing lita- 
 nies, to traverse the principal streets, with the addition 
 of the following petition and antiphon : — 
 
 " Tit civitatem istam defendere, pacificare, custodire 
 et conservare digneris, te rogamus, audi nos ! " 
 
 *' Exaudi Domine, placare Domine, a^ttende et fac, ne 
 moreris propter temetipsum Deus mens, quia nomen 
 tuum invocatum est super civitatum istam et super 
 populum tuum." 
 
 After a time peace was restored ; but the evils of the 
 Church did not thereby diminish. The Council of Trent, 
 which had been convoked to condemn the new heresies 
 and reform the errors in the Catholic body, was obliged 
 to be dispersed for a time omng to the plague; and 
 there seemed no immediate prospect of any cessation of 
 
46 THE LlbE OF !ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 the disorders which at that time afflicted all Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 These great calamities so deeply affected St. Gaetan 
 that he became dangerously ill ; his health had likewise 
 been undermined by his extraordinary labours and aus- 
 terities, so that the doctor who was called in became 
 much alarmed, and desired to have a further opinion ; 
 but St. Gaetan refused. '* As a poor religious I am too 
 thankful to have one doctor without calling in a second. 
 It is only too much to have the benefit of your skill.'* 
 The doctor then entreated him to allow himself to be 
 laid on a softer mattress. " I lie on a soft bed ! " ex- 
 claimed the saint, '' God forbid ! When my Lord and 
 Saviour died on a Cross, I will only die on ashes.'' 
 
 He received the last sacraments with that fervour of 
 devotion which characterised all his actions. His spiri- 
 tual children gathered eagerly round him, fearing to lose 
 any of his last words. Filled with the most profound 
 humility the saint turned to them and said : *' I do not 
 know, my dear brethren, that I have ever offended any 
 one of you intentionally ; at least, I do not remember 
 having done so ; but if I have ever given pain to any one 
 I now most humbly beg his pardon." They all burst 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIEXE. 47 
 
 into tears at these words, assuring him that he had 
 always been to them as the tenderest father. He con- 
 tinued : '^ If I have lived as a poor man, and if I am 
 now dying, by my own wish, in extreme poverty, it is 
 because I have always so highly esteemed that virtue. 
 I earnestly commend the love and practice of holy 
 poverty to you all." He then exhorted them to pray 
 for the grace of perseverance ; to have no object save 
 the glory of God and the salvation of souls ; to combat 
 energetically the heresies of the day ; and, above all, to 
 live in peace and unity among themselves. Then look- 
 ing at his Crucifix with an expression of intense love, 
 and with his eyes bathed in tears, he repeated the words 
 of Daniel : " Placare, Domine, attende et fac ! " and 
 then breatted his last, without a struggle, on the 7th of 
 August, 1547, in the twenty- third year of the foundation 
 of his Order, and the sixty- seventh of his age. 
 
 His body was solemnly interred in the Church of St. 
 Paul at Naples, where it is still held in the greatest 
 veneration. On the day of his death the troubles of the 
 town were suddenly appeased, which every one attri- 
 buted to the effect of his powerful intercession with God ; 
 vhile an innumerable number of miracles attested his 
 extraordinary sanctity. 
 
48 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 An eye-witness of his daily life, Erasmus Danesi, a 
 secular priest, has left us the following account of St. 
 Gaetan, which contains some details not already men- 
 tioned in these pages : — '' I know not (he writes) how 
 to describe one whose whole life was so exemplary. He 
 was wonderfully humble, gentle, and modest, speaking 
 little and praying much. Nothing could be more per- 
 suasive or more touching than his exhortations. It was 
 impossible to prevent his doing the most menial work in 
 the community. He was the first to rise at the sound 
 of the bell for matins, and would remain prostrate 
 before the Blessed Sacrament from the time office was 
 over till he said his mass. His delicacy of conscience 
 was such that he went to confession every day before 
 going up to the altar. His frugality was excessive, and 
 very often he dined on bread and fruit alone. He was 
 most grateful to the benefactors of his missions, and 
 would have their names written down and read out aloud 
 to the Community that they might not be forgotten in 
 their prayers. He had a peculiar tenderness towards 
 any who were sick among his religious, nursed and 
 attended to them himself, and would beg for anything 
 for them which he could not procure. The furniture of 
 his own cell was as poor as possible : a table, a chaii'. 
 
OK, GAETAN OF THIEXE. 49 
 
 a Drie-pieu, a few old books, and a paper picture, were its 
 only ornaments. He slept upon straw. His clothes 
 were of the commonest and coarsest description. He 
 was about the average height, and wore his hair very 
 short according to the custom of the time. From the 
 severity of his penances, and his perpetual abstinence, 
 he was extremely thin ; but his natural fresh colour 
 remained. His face was round : his eyes large and full : 
 and the greatest sweetness was expressed in his look and 
 in his mouth, which attracted people at first sight." 
 
 Another of his biographers writes : 
 
 " Gaetan, who appeared to us all as an angel of God 
 when praying or officiating at the altar, and whose 
 touching eloquence no one could resist, was in his own 
 sight ' a very worm and the outcast of the people.' He 
 always reminded me of those words of our Lord : * My 
 meat is to do the will of Him that sent me,' for it was 
 really true that the winning of souls was to him as meat 
 and drink, and at such times he would forget all else. Half 
 his nights were spent in prayer. Poor and humble as 
 he was in his own person and cell, he was never satis- 
 fied with anything less than splendour in the decoration 
 of his churches, and in all that pertained to the Divine 
 
50 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN ; 
 
 Worship. That arose partly from his intense devotion 
 to the Blessed Sacrament, for the honouring of which 
 nothing was too costly or too beautiful. In his quality 
 of Superior, he enforced authority and obedience solely 
 by love and by his own example. He had a wonderful 
 discrimination of character, and such good judgment 
 that his advice was eagerly sought for on all sides. 
 Nothing seemed to ruffle his peace and inward tran- 
 quillity. In any emergency he would use his utmost 
 endeavours to bring about the desired result; but, 
 having done that, he would leave the issue to God with- 
 out any further trouble or anxiety. So great was his 
 humility that he refused to receive the visits of his rich 
 and noble relations, saying, ' that they came with too 
 much pomp.' Everything about him showed an angeli- 
 cal purity, and he rarely lifted his eyes from the ground 
 in the presence of women. If any wonderful cures were 
 the result of his prayers, he would always strive to 
 attribute them to other causes, or to. the intercession of 
 some saint. In a word, his life was hid with Christ in 
 God, and with Him he is gone to reign for ever and for 
 ever." 
 
 The many miracles worked on his tomb brought about 
 
OR, GAETAN OF THIENE. 51 
 
 his beatification by Pope Urban VIII, and his canoniza- 
 tion afterwards by Pope Clement X, on the 12th of 
 April, 1671. He is specially venerated at Naples, of 
 which town he is one of the principal patrons. His 
 houses were quickly multiplied in Italy, Sicily, Spain, 
 and Germany, and although no branch of the Theatins 
 exists in Paris, yet great devotion is felt for St. Gaetan 
 among the Capuchins at Marseilles, the Augustinians at 
 Amiens, and the Carmelites at St. Denys. The latter 
 placed their infirmary under his patronage, and had the 
 principal events of his life represented on their walls. 
 May we not consider St. Gaetan the special protector 
 of these spouses of Jesus Christ, among whom the 
 Princess Louise of France was one of the most fervent 
 and saintly ? 
 
 St. Gaetan was at first buried, by his own desire, in 
 the common cemetery of the Theatins, and without any 
 peculiar distinction ; but a few years after his death, 
 his body was removed to the crypt of St. Paul, where 
 a chapel was afterwards built and dedicated to him. A 
 handsome staircase leads down into this chapel where 
 his remains rest, together with those of his faithful dis- 
 ciple the Blessed Marinon. His letters have been carefully 
 
52 THE LIFE OF ST. CAJETAN. 
 
 preserved in the different houses of the Theatins, and 
 the same spirit of disinterestedness and zeal for the 
 glory of G-od still marks the Order of which he was the 
 founder. 
 
 We cannot do better than conclude our biography of 
 this eminent servant of God in the words of the Rev. 
 P. de Gracy, one of his own congregation, from whose 
 life of the saint the principal facts related in this history 
 are taken. 
 
 *^ St. Gaetan lived only for God and for the salvation 
 of his neighbour. Do you, my reader, look upon life 
 in the same way ? 
 
 ^' St. Gaetan was the father of the poor and served 
 them with his own hands. Do you visit the sick and 
 the suffering yourself, and endeavour, as far as you can, 
 to relieve them ? 
 
 ^^St. Gaetan was specially devoted to the Blessed 
 Sacrament, and full of fervour in the daily celebration 
 of the Holy Sacrifice. 
 
 "How often do you assist at mass, and with what 
 dispositions ? 
 
 "St. Gaetan, notwithstanding the innocence and 
 purity of his life, practised the severest mortifications. 
 
OR, GAETAiS OF THIENE. 53 
 
 What penance do you inflict upon yourself for your 
 faults ? and how do you watch over your senses ? 
 
 To die like the just, you must live as they did. And 
 thus alone can you hope to reign with them for ever in 
 the kingdom of our Lord." 
 
MAXIMS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 SENTENCES OF ST. GAETAN 
 
 Taken from his Biography, by the Rev. P. D. G. Silos. 
 
 1. Pious exercises are a necessary means to maintain 
 a religious spirit in the heart, but the essence of re- 
 ligion consists in an entire conformity of our will to 
 the will of God. 
 
 2. All the enjoyments of this life are deceptive, 
 because they do not satisfy, but only puff one up ; God 
 alone who made our hearts can fill them with conso- 
 lations. 
 
 3. He who fully realises his own vileness in the sight 
 of God, will naturally be patient, gentle, and sweet, in 
 dealing with his neighbour. 
 
 4. No one should be foolish enough to meddle in 
 
56 MAXIMS ; OR, SENTENCES OF ST. GAETAN. 
 
 affairs which do not concern him. It is a sufficiently 
 grave responsibility to have to render an account to 
 God of all our special obligations. 
 
 5. A Christian who lives in forgetfulness of his true 
 country, which is Heaven, is like a traveller who, 
 blinded by drink, cannot find his way home. 
 
 6. He who has the most care for his own life and 
 most esteem for himself, feels most the weight of 
 human misery. 
 
 7. If we study with all our hearts to please God, 
 we shall find Him ever ready to remember us in all 
 our necessities. 
 
 8. Never let us forget that as, day by day, we 
 draw nearer to the end of our mortal life, we ought 
 to rejoice, because we are drawing so much nearer to 
 
 the beginning of eternity. 
 
 9. Never let us trust in our own merits, or in the 
 certainty of our eternal salvation, for God alone holds 
 in His hand the grace of final perseverance. 
 
 10. To be satisfied with not being in mortal sin 
 is the worst peril for a soul, because the most insiduous ; 
 and is a real offence against the infinite love and 
 mercy of God. 
 
MAXIMS ; OR, SENTENCES OF ST. GAETAN. 57 
 
 11. Let us fear lest by deceiving ourselves in over- 
 indulging our bodies, we become really cruel towards 
 our souls. 
 
 12. In combating our infernal enemy let us always 
 consider ourselves as new and untried soldiers, without 
 arms and full of worldly affections ; above all, let us 
 remember that he never sleeps. 
 
NOVENA FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GAETAN. 
 
 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. Glorious saint, who at the sacred crib wast 
 favoured with an angelic vision, and with the presence 
 of the Holy Child and of His blessed mother, deign to 
 guard, console, and protect my soul. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 2. Glorious saint, who by thy merits wast permitted 
 to see the bread changed into flowers which thou hadst 
 hidden for the poor, beseech our Lord to fill my heart 
 with a true charity towards my neighbour. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 3. Glorious saint, who didst receive from the Holy 
 Spirit the gift of peace in the visible form of a dove, 
 beseech our Lord to grant me strength to resist my evil 
 
NOTENA FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GAETAN. 59 
 
 passions, and resign myself in all my labours and 
 troubles to the Divine will. 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 4. Glorious saint, who didst receive in thine arms 
 from the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Child Jesus, pray for 
 me that I may have but a spark of that love with 
 which thine own soul was filled for our most amiable 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 5. Glorious saint, who relying entirely on Divine 
 Providence, wert frequently relieved in thy dire neces- 
 sities by the special ministrations of angels, pray that 
 I may have a firm and unwavering trust in God's 
 mercy. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 6. Glorious saint, who, absorbed in Divine contem- 
 plation, felt thy whole heart enclosed in that of the 
 Redeemer, obtain for me an ardent wish to be con- 
 tinually united to Him, and to detach myself more and 
 more from the things of this world. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 7. Glorious saint, who, wrapped in ecstacy, wert 
 admitted to taste of the joy of the pure heart of Mary, 
 
60 NOVENA FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GAETAN. 
 
 and to partake of the ineffable sweetness of her Son 
 Jesus, obtain for me a thorough purity of heart and 
 intention. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 8. Glorious saint, who wast permitted in spirit to feel 
 some of the bitter pains of our Lord on the cross, pray- 
 that I may be inspired with the same thirst as thyself 
 to suffer with Jesus Christ and to be crucified with 
 Him. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 Glorious saint, whose death was mainly caused by 
 thy sorrow for the sins of others, and who at thy last 
 passage wast cheered by the presence of Mary, who 
 called thee to a glorious throne in the kingdom of her 
 Son, obtain for me a hearty sorrow for my many sins 
 and shortcomings, and that grace which I most need, so 
 that I may arrive at eternal life. 
 
 Pater, Ave, Gloria. 
 
 Ora pro nobis, BeatsB Cajetane. 
 
 XJt digni efficiamur, etc. 
 
 Or emus, 
 Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui S. Cajetanum Con- 
 fessorum mirabiliter in tua Providentia confidentem. 
 
NOVENA FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GAETAN. 61 
 
 terrena fecisti despicere, et donis coelestibus abundare, 
 
 concede propitius, ut qui ejus commemorationem colimus, 
 
 coelestis ejusdem Providentiae prsesidia sentiamus, et ad 
 
 sempiterna jugiter aspiremus. Per Christum, &c. 
 
 Note. — Tliis NoTena was publislied at Vincenza on the 5tli of August, 
 1871, on the occasion of the second centenary of his canonization. 
 
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