Saint Cajetan, Confessor A.D. 1547
by VP
Posted on Wednesday August 07, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"HE was born in Italy, and after his youth spent in virtue and learning, invested with ecclesiastical dignity, and brought into the court of Rome. But soon renouncing this state, he applied himself to the care of the poor and sick. Being desirous to revive the discipline of the apostles, he founded an Order of regular clergy, who depending wholly on Divine Providence, should possess nothing, but live on such alms as were freely brought by the faithful without being asked. In this method he lived many years, charitable in all Christian offices, fervent in prayer, and so rigorous in all manner of mortification, that as he had often professed, so he was resolved to make good that death should never find him but in sackcloth and ashes. At length, an excessive trouble, occasioned by the wickedness of the people, brought his last sickness upon him, of which he died at Naples, in the year 1547.
Pray for all of this Order, that they may live up to the spirit of their founder. Be as charitable to the poor
and sick, as your condition will allow. This was his first step to that
great virtue, which God was pleased to raise him; and you may hope for
plenty of heavenly blessings from the like practice. Imitate something of his mortification; and if you cannot approve of treating your body with his rigors, at least let it not be your daily study
to please it. It is an enemy, and has very treacherous inclinations,
and cannot receive your favors without abusing them to your ruin. Pray
and endeavor to obtain some degree of his confidence in God, and to be freed from all excesses of solicitude.
It is very prejudicial to all Christian duties, and you are bound to
fight against it, as an enemy. This you are called to by Christ himself.
Despise not his advice: he that gave it knew better the extent of this evil than you do. It is hard for some to observe it; but where the difficulty is greater, there must be greater efforts by labor and prayer to stand against it." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
THE ORIGIN OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE PERPETUAL ADORATION AND THE EXPOSITION OF THE FORTY HOURS. A.D. 1517.
Several Fathers of the Theatine Order, taking example by the zeal of their saintly founder, could not endure that our Divine Redeemer, who in His love tarrieth with us poor men in the Most Holy Sacrament under the form of an insignificant Host, should be so little sought, honored, and praised with thanksgiving. The thought therefore occurred to them to found a congregation whose members should undertake in turns to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. All the hours of the year were distributed amongst the members, so that every hour of the year the Most Holy Sacrament should be adored in deepest humility.
Besides the devotion of the perpetual adoration, which was the result of the love of our Lord, the same congregation founded that of the Exposition of the Quarant' Ore, or Forty Hours, in honor of the forty hours during which the body of Jesus lay in the grave. ( Legends of the Blessed Sacrament: Gathered from the History of the Church and the Lives of the Saints, Emily Mary Shapcote Burns and Oates, 1877, p 63)
Prayer to the Most Holy Sacrament for the first Thursday of the Month. (attributed to St. Cajetan)
Look down, O Lord, from thy sanctuary and from the high habitation of thy glory, and behold this sacred oblation, which our great High Priest, thy holy servant, the Lord Jesus, immolates unto thee for the sins of his brethren, and be propitious to the multitude of our iniquities. The voice of Jesus, our brother, cries to thee from the cross; graciously hear it, O Lord! and be appeased. Delay not to show us thy mercy, because thy name is invoked upon this city, and upon thy people!
I profoundly adore thee, O Lord Jesus, really present in the most holy sacrament. I acknowledge thee to be true God and true man; and, by this act of adoration, I desire to make amends for the coldness of the multitude of Christian, who pass indifferently before thy temples, and even before thy tabernacles, showing by their insensibility that, like the Hebrews in the desert, they loathe the sacred manna of heaven. I ardently wish I could repair the tepidity and ingratitude of all creatures, and I beseech thee to receive my fervent desire that "glory, honor, and eternal praise" be given to thee, in the adorable sacrament of thy love. Amen
The Treasury of Prayer; a New Manual of Devotional Exercises. With the Masses and Prayers Used by the Society of Saint Vincent of Paul, and the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holy Days, 1853 page 281
