St. Cajetan

Born to a noble family in Vicenza, Cajetan studied law at Padua and rose to a post in the papal court of Rome, but he set aside ambition for the priesthood and a life hidden in works of mercy. He nursed the incurable sick in hospitals the wealthy would not enter, and he founded the Theatines — a community of reform-minded priests who took no endowments and lived entirely on providence — at the dawn of the Catholic Reformation.

Cajetan believed the renewal of the Church had to begin with the renewal of its priests. He and his companions bound themselves to apostolic poverty, frequent Communion, and care for the poor and the dying, modeling the reform the Council of Trent would later carry through the whole Church. In Naples he helped establish the charitable pawnshops, the montes pietatis, that lent to the poor without usury — an institution that endured for centuries.

He was called a "hunter of souls," and his trust in God was total: he taught that the faithful should serve God "not as hirelings but as loving children," leaving the outcome of every good work to providence. He died in Naples in 1547, worn down by grief over the wars and divisions of his age.