Saint Cajetan

The Theatine order had settled in Goa in October 1640 (during the Spanish rule in Portugal), where they established the Convent and Church of the Divine Providence. The spherical dome of this notable building, the last large sacred edifice, is meant to recall St Peter’s, in Rome.
The Theatines lived on alms and in great poverty, believing that Divine Providence, as invoked in the name of their church, would come to their aid. When Portugal liberated itself from Spanish rule, the Theatines were faced with the possibility that they might have to leave Goa. However, the order saw its position reaffirmed in 1648, and was able to keep up the tradition sustaining themselves from the purses of the nobility or even on the leavings of their tables.
This image of St Cajetan is from the Pius X Pastoral Institute, once the old monastery of the Theatines, more commonly associated with St Cajetan or the Divine Providence, and has thus been identified with the order’s founding saint. In this representation, the saint is clad in the habit of the Theatine clerks regular, though not displaying his usual attributes.