[2] 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.

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.

"[5] Two priests, Alessandro Besuzio and Agostino Bariso, then joined him in his labors of charity, and in 1532 Gerolamo founded a religious society, the Congregation of Regular Clerics.

[4] The motherhouse was at Somasca, a secluded northern Italian hamlet in the comune of Vercurago between Milan and Bergamo, after which the members became known as Somaschi.

In the rule of this congregation, Gerolamo stated the principal work of the community was the care of orphans, poor and sick, and demanded that dwellings, food and clothing would bear the mark of religious poverty.

[1] Devoted to the guardian angels, Emiliani entrusted the congregation to the protection of the Virgin, the Holy Spirit and the Archangel Raphael.

[6] The congregation was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III with the official name "Clerici Regulares S. Majoli Papiae Congregationis Somaschae", and spread throughout Italy.