An 18th century drawing of St Cajetan

"The Presentation Of The Holy Child To St Cajetan"

pen & ink drawing by Gaetano Gherardo Zompini

1770s Venice

Monthly Commemoration of St Cajetan/Conmemoracion mensual de San Cayetano

At the threshold of a new year we entrust ourselves and all

we hold dear to God, his Holy Mother & St Cajetan.

May we go forward trusting in God's Holy Providence

that everything that now afflicts us will be put right and turned to the good.

We especially pray for all those who are unemployed and fear for their futures.

St Cajetan on his monthly day of commemoration asks us to have hope and to trust in God's bounty, to look to the future and not to surrender to our doubts and fears.

O Glorious St Cajetan, Father of Divine Providence, help all those who are unemployed, who search for employment and who fear for their jobs, lead them towards what they are looking for and pray for us all that we may be courageous in the face of adversity

Safe Under Our Holy Mother's Mantle

Beneath your compassion,

We take refuge, O Mother of God:

do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:

but rescue us from dangers,

            only pure, only blessed one.

Hymn To The Mother Of God - John Taverner

"In You, O Woman full of Grace,
The angelic choirs and the human race,
All creation rejoices!

O sanctified Temple,
Mystical Paradise, and glory of Virgins.

In You, O Woman full of Grace,
All creation rejoices.
All praise be to You!"

The Radiant Vision Of St Cajetan On Christmas Eve

St Cajetan receives the newly born Christ Child from the hands of his spotless Mother.

At the very hour of his most holy birth, I drew close to the crib, and given strength by my beloved father, Blessed Jerome, who was devoted to the holy crib, and with the confidence that he gave to me, I received from the hands of the spotless Virgin, my protectress, who had recently become a mother,

the Holy Infant, Word Incarnate. 

The fact that my heart did not stop and melt, pierced through by divine love is a sign that it must be as hard and unfeeling as a diamond. 

(from a letter from St Cajetan to Sister Laura Mignani 28th January 1528)

 

 

Saint Cajetan, Helper in Difficulties

As Christians we have a father in God, a Mother in the Blessed Virgin

and friends in all God's Holy Saints.

Let us have recourse to these heavenly friends in

our times of trouble since they are so anxious to help us.

The World is in trouble because for too long money has been its only god and the only place to which it has looked for help. Where then charity, mercy, love and hope?

These all can be found in the examples of the Saints

who we are called to emulate in our daily lives.

Imagine a world where charity, mercy, love and hope ruled

instead of greed and self-interest, what a paradise of peace!

O Glorious St Cajetan, Father of Divine Providence, help all those who are unemployed, who search for employment and who fear for their jobs, lead them towards what they are looking for and pray for us all that we may be courageous in the face of adversity.

7 Monthly Commemoration of St Cajetan/Conmemoracion mensual de San Cayetano 7

Our Lady Of The Rosary Pray For Us!

St Cajetan Pray For Us!

On the 7th October 1571 at Lepanto, a Christian fleet faced the overwhelmingly superior fleet of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans were at the peak of their naval power in the Mediterranean and threatened to overrun Christian Europe and in this extremity Pope Pius V formed a league against them. The Christian fleet, furnished by Venice, Genoa, and Spain was commanded by Don Juan of Austria.
As early as September 17, Pope Pius enjoined the recitation of the Rosary on all Christendom for the success of the Christian arms. He had ordered all the churches to have the Forty Hours Devotion, with public processions and recitation of the Rosary. On that fateful October 7th, he himself spent the entire night in prayer.
Before moving to the attack at Lepanto the Christian sailors devoutly recited the Rosary while the Papal Legate gave the Apostolic Benediction to them. For three hours, the sixty-five thousand men, all of whom had received Holy Communion that morning, continued to recite the Rosary. Then on each ship general absolution was given for the last time by one of the chaplains. The attack began. The wind which had been against the Christians, suddenly dropped. The battle raged until late in the afternoon, when the Turks gave way. The victory gave the naval power of the enemy a blow from which it never recovered and ended their threat in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ever since the 7th October has been celebrated as the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in gratitude for that victory.


So faced by huge odds the Chrsitian army knelt in prayer, confident in God's loving Providence, and then fought  with tremendous courage and with an unshakeable trust and faith that God would help them. It must be remembered that courage is not the absence of fear, far from it, it is in fact the overcoming of fear and the tackling of any given problem despite that fear.
So we are provided with an example of men who faced with overwhelmingly massive odds and gripped by fear, fought for what they prayed for.
Today we are faced by massive odds as well, we perhaps feel powerless against a world situation which seems to get bleaker by the day and it is very difficult not to feel unsettled. BUT we should follow the example of those men at Lepanto and have courage, pray and then go to work with a strong will and a faith in God's Holy Providence. Because if everyone pulled together and boldly redoubled their efforts to work their way out of the present situation then that situation will indeed diminish and eventually disappear through sheer hard work. On the other hand if we allow ourselves to be paralysed by fear then the situation will only get worse.
St Cajetan on his monthly day of commemoration asks us to have hope and to trust in God's bounty, to look to the future and not to surrender to our doubts and fears.

O Glorious St Cajetan, Father of Divine Providence, help all those who are unemployed, who search for employment and who fear for their jobs, lead them towards what they are looking for and pray for us all that we may be courageous in the face of adversity.

Paolo Veronese
"The Holy Virgin interceding for the Christian fleet at Lepanto"