Today’s saint was seemed headed for an ordinary life – he was a lawyer, then became a priest who is engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. Shortly after his ordination, his life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome – i.e., a group devoted to piety and charity. Later on, he founded a hospital for the incurables at Venice. When he was at Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community which is consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life – there he sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them. Worn out by the troubles he saw in his Church and his home, Cajetan fell ill. When doctors tried to get him to rest on a softer bed then the boards he slept on, Cajetan answered, “My savior died on a cross. Let me died on wood at least.” He died on August 7, 1547.
