Devotion to San Gaetano

Italy:
San Gaetano was so loved by the sick and poor that he was invoked during the great plague of 1656 in Naples where he lived the latter part of his life. The result of his intervention was reported and sworn to in written testimony by the governor of the biggest hospital in Naples, Don Filippo di Dura.

"In the months of June and July we had more than 7,000 sick in the hospital with many more arriving at all hours. During these months the daily mortality rate was between 600-700 people and deprived of all aid in the midst of such a pestilence, we turned to God and Beato Gaetano (he was yet to be canonized) as our only hope of help, and as his feast grew nearer the mortality rates started dropping sharply.

In the morning of the 7th of August, we celebrated the feast of Beato Gaetano with a Mass accompanied by music and a general confession and communion and on that day not one death was reported whereas before many hundreds had perished daily. After this the plague receded and the city was soon liberated from its terrible grip."

The same was reported from the Loreto hospital in Naples where not one person died of the contagion on the feast of St Cajetan, and the whole area was soon clear of the plague.

The Americas:
Devotion to San Cayetano spread in the vast territories that the Spanish Crown controlled in the Americas that is from the present state of Colorado in the United States right down to Patagonia. This sounds more like a miracle than history.

We cannot forget that in 1622 the Madrid Court knew the Sanctity of Cayetano, who died in Naples as a subject of Charles V of Spain in 1547. Theatine members of Cayetano's order arrived at the Capital of Spain to take care of the hospital and of the Italian colony established there. After the Canonization of Cayetano in 1672 the devotion to him began to branch out at such a pace from the Madrid of the 17th century, that nearly all the provinces of Spain had their own monasteries and chapels dedicated to the Saint of Divine Providence.

The Spaniards, who, in that century traveled to the New World or 'New Spain' as they called it, did so embarking from Seville. They disembarked in Veracruz and spread out passing by Cordoba and Pueblo de los Angeles, from where they arrived in Mexico. From there the news of our Saint traveled down South through Central America to South America, right down to the tip of Patagonia. It is a coincidence that most of the more popular Saints in Latin America are Italian: Saint Anthony of Padova (Portuguese by birth and Italian by adoption), Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint Francis of Assisi and even San Cayetano of Thiene, but it all started with the Viceroys and the Spanish nobility who settled down in the new continent bringing books about Saints' lives with them to the newly found continent. Of course Cayetano's life and the first graphical representations of him arrived in this manner so that even the simple town folk could learn about him and his works. In just a short time he became one of the most popular Saints of Latin America.

In Argentina:

The devotion to San Cayetano probably spread through Latin America by the action of the Society of Jesus, who had a habit of putting his image on church altars along with that of St.Ignatius of Loyola. In Argentina, Sor Maria Antonia de la Paz y Figueroa continued the spiritual work of the Jesuits after their expulsion, and brought to Buenos Aires devotion to their images, which in 1795 were placed in the Retreat House on Independence Avenue in a distant chapel of a suburb, which later became the district of Liniers. The Saint is now the object of much devotion by the Argentinian people all over. This phenomenon of devotion to San Cayetano in Argentina is always impressive, more than anywhere else in Latin America. This makes us wonder how the image of San Cayetano came to the chapel in the first place. When the zone of Liniers was converted to an extensive 'barrio' of working people the chapel built by the monks was installed as the Parish Church of San Cayetano. This was the 13th January of 1913. It is probable that this happened because there was an influx of devotees to San Cayetano from other 'barrios'. From then on, month after month, year after year, the number of faithful devoted to the Saint increased. The image of the Saint began to diffuse, with the devotion to him as Saint of Bread and Work, in the houses of Buenos Aires, and from there extending to all the Republic.

From the year 1970, the devotees of the Saint who used to flock to the Sanctuaries of Liniers and Belgrano, in the Federal Capital, stopped bringing flowers and paper money and switched to imperishable food and other goods which are sent to the more needy regions in the interior of the country. Below in part are the impressions of a reporter present at this scene a couple of decades ago.

In Brazil:

In Brazil the devotion to Sao Caetano from 1631 on is documented. Today the name of the Saint is the name of a great City: 'Sao Caetano do Sul', in greater Sao Paulo. In 1980 the City had 162,758 inhabitants, covering an area of 15,185 square km. Just within the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo there are 12 streets with the name of Sao Caetano.

In Mexico:

Mexico was one of the first countries, with parts of the United States that were conquered by the Conquistadores who brought monks with them to convert the populations. The pictures and 'retablitos' of San Cayetano that they brought with them quickly multiplied. The barroco-colonial architecture of the time reached its peak interpretation and expression in the temple of San Cayetano, constructed at the beginning of the 18th century, on the richest silver mine of all the continent, the 'Valenciana of Guanajuato'. Today the church still exists, together with other gorgeous sculptures and bas-reliefs of San Cayetano in many Mexican Cathedrals, provincial temples and museums. Mexico remembers San Cayetano through paintings in many parts of the land and here too he is considered as the Saint of Divine Providence. But the cult of San Cayetano was not brought over by the Theatines. It was Eusebio Francisco Kino a Jesuit priest, originally from the area of Trento in Italy who arrived in New Spain in 1681 with other missionaries, on the Santa Cruz River, between 1691 and 1699, and formalized, among other missions, the one of San Cayetano de Tumacacori.

We will never know who the first Spaniard was who arrived with the biography and pictures of San Cayetano in his possession, but from Mexico the devotion to San Cayetano went spreading out; from the present State of Chiapas to Santa Fe of New Mexico and in the North American State of Colorado. From Merida, Campeche and Veracruz to the states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Sinaloa. In the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Durango, Chihuahua, etc. the presence of San Cayetano is even today, abundant and well documented.

In Nicaragua:

Here his feast is celebrated on the 7th of August every year and here San Cayetano is known as the Father of Divine Providence. In east Nicaragua, without doubt, the reason for devotion towards him is that it suffers from a high index of unemployment.

The intercession of this Saint before God is witnessed according to the miracles attributed to him in the supplying of urgent necessities, like work and food. "San Cayetano has the particularity of being a Saint who intercedes before the Providence of God, to bring to the supplicant what is requested, those who do not have anything to eat, to drink, or who are unemployed", indicated father Oscar Castle, vicar of the church of San Agustin, located in Altamira.

In Peru:

San Cayetano is known and venerated In Lima, Cuzco and Cajamarca of present Peru. Nowadays there are some Baroque images of him still existing that go back to the time of the Colony. These are still the object of veneration by a multitude of Christian devotees. It is interesting also to remember the attempt of a priest of the 'Oratorio' of Saint Philip Neri, Father Gregorio Casanas, to found a Theatine monastery in Lima: "the Convent existed from 1688 spending 70,000 pesos and holding close to sixteen nuns with the habit and Rules of San Cayetano, but neither the Viceroy, nor the Archbishop nor the Town hall favoured the foundation which led to its closing in 1709". In this country San Cayetano is very popular among retailers and cattle dealers.

Prayers to San Cayetano.

It seems that most of the common prayers to San Cayetano that can be found today originated with the Spanish Theatines. Missionaries took over these prayers together with the Saint’s spirituality, statues and pictures of him, to the ‘New world’. They are still used nowadays in countries such as Mexico and Argentina with only slight variations from those used in Spain itself. Most of the ones I present here came from Spanish speaking web sites and I freely but humbly translated the main idea into English while trying to keep the spirituality contained within.

* San Gaetano, while we observe the troubles of our Church, help us to continue to love her. Guide us to the positive steps we need to take to work within it for renewal. Help us to be examples of holiness to all. Amen.

* O God, you gave Cayetano, your confessor, the grace to imitate the life of the apostles, grant us by his intercession and example, the grace to put all our confidence in You, and to wish only for spiritual things through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

* Look down, Lord and most Holy Father, from your celestial dwelling, upon this Holy Wafer that offers your son and our Lord to you, by the sins of His brothers, be merciful despite the many wrongs of the world; heed the voice of the blood of your Son Jesus Christ, which cries out to You from the Cross; grant me, Lord, my needs through the intercession of San Cayetano the protector of our town and deal with me according to your mercy. Amen

* Glorious San Cayetano, You lived your life seeing Christ in your brothers especially in the most needy, and experienced the great truth of the Divine Providence of your God, grant that we do not forget that whatever we do to a brother we are doing it to Christ. Help us to imitate you in the way you lived the life of the apostles; in your dedication to the service of the Faith, help us to always place our confidence in God who loves us as our Father. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* O glorious San Cayetano Father of Divine Providence, you do not allow that our homes lack the basic needs. Your liberal hand will grant our requests in due time.

* O glorious San Cayetano! Provide us with (mention the grace desired). Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

* Ejaculation: Glorious San Cayetano you intercede for us before the Divine Providence of God.

* Glorious San Gaetano, acclaimed by all people to be father of Divine Providence because you grant from God miraculous aid to all who come to you in need, I stand here before you today, asking that you present to the Lord the petitions that I confidently deposit in your hands. (Mention the graces desired.)

May these graces that I now request help me to always seek the Kingdom

of God and his Righteousness, knowing that God -- who dresses with

beauty the flowers of the field and abundantly feeds the birds of the sky -- will give me all other things. Amen.

* Oh God, Protector of those who trust in you and without whose power and grace nothing good exists, you abundantly spread your mercy on us so that, by the example of San Cayetano, we use temporary goods in such away that we do not lose the glory of eternity itself. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen.

Novena to San Cayetano:

The actual Novena of San Gaetano exists in Italian in a small booklet, an old copy of which was on sale over the Internet lately. The version which I present below, is a translation from one in Spanish found on a website.

Introductory prayer for every day:

Omnipotent and everlasting God, You wanted San Cayetano to trust in your Providence and despise earthly things and You enriched him with abundant spiritual goods, grant that those who implore the graces of your Divine Providence are aided in their necessities by San Cayetano’s intercession. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

FIRST DAY

Glorious San Cayetano, you appreciated the healthful practice of prayer so much that your life was a continuous prayer, and to this beneficial exercise you dedicated particularly up to eight hours daily; grant us that we should be totally convinced that everything is reached by means of prayer and nothing can be gained without it and that all our prayers will be alive, faithful, reverently attentive, deeply humble, confident and perseveringly inexhaustible. Amen.