Jerome was born in
Venice, the son of Angelo Emiliani (popularly called Miani) and Eleonore Mauroceni. His father died when he was a teenager and Jerome ran away at the age of 15 to join the army. In 1508, he participated in the defense of Castelnuovo against the
League of Cambray (this was two years before
Pope Julius II joined the
Venetians). He was appointed governor of a fortress in the mountains of
Treviso, and while defending his post he was taken prisoner. Prior, he had not cared about God, but attributed his escape to the intercession of the
Mother of God; and he made a
pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Treviso, in fulfillment of a vow, and left his chains as an offering. He was then appointed
podestà (Venetian magistrate) of
Castelnuovo di Quero, but after a short time returned to Venice to supervise the education of his nephews. All his spare time was devoted to the study of theology and to works of charity. In the year of plague and famine (1528), he seemed to be everywhere and showed his
zeal, especially for the orphans, whose number had so greatly increased. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. He rented a house for them near the church of St. Rose and, with the assistance of some pious laymen, ministered to their needs. To his charge was also committed the hospital for incurables, founded by
Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene. In 1531 he went to
Verona and induced the citizens to build a hospital; in
Brescia,
Bergamo,
Milan and other places in northern Italy, he erected
orphanages, for boys and for girls. At Bergamo, he also founded a hostel for repentant prostitutes. Blessed Pope John Paul II described him as a "lay animator of the laity." Note that some sources, such as recent versions of ''
Butler's Lives of the Saints, state clearly that he was ordained to the priesthood, other sources , such as the Martyrologium Romanum'', do not say that he was a priest. ==Congregation of Regular Clerics==