The Life of Saint Gaetan

This is taken mainly from the work of the Bollandists, who have compiled much on the lives of the Saints. 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. 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 external 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 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 external labours of the ministry, they, by their prayers prepare the way for them by obtaining the grace of conversion and perseverance for sinners.