October 1982 Print

 

The Porter of the Redemptorist house at Ilceto took a long look at the pale young man who stood on his doorstep. "I've come to join your order," he announced eagerly as he thrust a note into the Porter's hand. "Father Cafaro sent me." Father Cafaro, the rector, who was away at Muro giving a mission, was a very practical man. The Porter could not imagine what had possessed the priest to send this sickly-looking applicant. He was the least likely candidate for the religious life that the Porter had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of them. He unfolded the note and read its single line, "I send you a useless lay brother." That explained it. This eager youth must have been so persistent that Father Cafaro had sent him against his better judgment. Well, he wouldn 't last long, perhaps a week. Glancing up, the Porter's eyes met the serene gaze of the young man, and he saw there a quiet determination. Perhaps two weeks. "Very well," he said with a shrug, "come with me." Swinging wide the heavy door, he inquired, "And what did you say your name is?" "It's Gerard," replied the young man as he stepped into the dim passageway, "Gerard Majella."

The future patron saint of mothers and their children was born April 6, 1726, at Muro, Italy, fifty miles south of Naples. He who would one day intercede for mothers during childbirth was such a frail baby himself that he was baptized on the day of his birth. Though destined to live only twenty-nine years, in his short life he would reach the heights of sanctity, and become one of the most famous wonder workers of the eighteenth century.

His mother testified after his death, "My child's only happiness was in church, on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament. He would stop there till he forgot it was dinner time. In the house he prayed all day. He was born for heaven."

At the age of ten Gerard was allowed the receive Holy Communion every other day, a rare privilege in those days when the lingering rigor of the Jansenist heresy caused people to refrain from frequent Holy Communion. Obviously Gerard's wise confessor was aware of what manner of child the boy was.

Gerard was twelve when his father died and his poor mother had to take him out of school and apprentice him to a tailor, so that he might learn the trade his father had followed. The tailor, Martin Pannuto, was a good man, and kind to Gerard. However, his journeyman took a strange dislike to the inoffensive boy and treated him roughly with blows and curses, all of which Gerard bore patiently, thus exasperating the journeyman. In spite of the situation, Gerard made good progress, and when he had learned his trade very well, he applied to the local Capuchins for admittance to their order. They refused him because of his ill health.

Perhaps it was due to his love for the priesthood that Gerard next took work as a servant for the Bishop of Lacedogna, an ill-tempered man who was extremely hard to please. Gerard served him faithfully and without complaint until the bishop died in 1745.

Nineteen-year-old Gerard then returned to the family home at Muro and set up his own tailor shop. One-third of his earnings went to his mother and three sisters; one-third went to the poor; what remained of the other third after taking out his own small expenses Gerard gave in stipends for Masses for the Poor Souls. His great desire was to be like Christ in His sufferings and humiliations. He practiced penances, and spent several hours of every night in prayer in the cathedral.

 

A Fool or a Great Saint?

Gerard continued his futile attempts to join a religious order, but his delicate appearance was always against him. He was twenty-three when a mission was given at Muro by the priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and Gerard offered himself to Father Cafaro as a lay brother. Father Cafaro refused him, certain that Gerard's health could not withstand the rigors of the Redemptorist life, which was then a life of great poverty. But this time Gerard persisted with such force that at last he wore down Father Cafaro's resistance and, against his better judgment, the priest finally sent him to the house at Ilceto with the famous note.

When Father Cafaro returned to Ilceto, he learned that his judgment of Gerard had been entirely mistaken. Whether working in the garden or the sacristy the new lay brother did the work of three men, and was so industrious, punctual, and self-effacing that others said of him, "Either he is a fool or a great saint."

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the order, knew very well which Gerard was, and deliberately shortened his novitiate. When Brother Gerard was professed in 1752, he added to the usual vows one of his own: when given a choice of actions, he would always do that which seemed to him the most perfect and most pleasing to God. St. Alphonsus considered him a miracle of obedience. Gerard not only always obeyed his superiors when they were present, but also knew and obeyed their desires when they were absent.

Gerard grew rapidly in sanctity. He prayed continually, and was so drawn to Our Lord in the tabernacle that it was hard for him to drag himself away. Father Tannoia, biographer of both St. Alphonsus and St. Gerard, related a touching story. He saw Gerard praying before the tabernacle one day when suddenly Gerard cried out aloud, "Lord, let me go, I pray Thee! I have work I must do!"

 

Miracle-worker

During his three short years as a professed lay-brother Gerard worked as tailor and infirmarian for the community. He also begged alms for the house, and accompanied the fathers on their missions and retreats. In these humble chores his great gifts as wonderworker were manifested.

Gerard demonstrated power over nature, sickness, animals, and the devils. Once he restored life to a child who had fallen from a high cliff. On another occasion he blessed the scanty wheat supply of a poor family so that it lasted until the next harvest.

He was favored with infused knowledge of the highest order: prophecy, discernment of spirits, reading of hearts, ecstasies, and bilocation. Once he knew from fifty miles away of the murder of a priest the instant that it happened.

Regarding reading of hearts, there are over twenty known examples of how Gerard, during missions, revealed to sinners the secrets of their consciences, and brought about their conversions where the priests had been unsuccessful.

He is famous for his ecstasies when he was raised and carried through the air, and only an appeal to obedience would bring him back to his surroundings. But he is most famous for the phenomenon of bilocation, when he was unquestionably seen by people in two different places at the same time. Father Tannoia stated that he was seen at Muro on a day when he certainly did not leave Caposele.

The rector looked for Gerard in his cell one day and could not find him. Later, when he saw Gerard in church, he asked him where he had been.

"In my cell," replied Gerard.

"What do you mean? I looked for you twice in your cell, and you weren't there!"

Gerard reluctantly admitted that he had been in his cell, but wanted to pray without being disturbed and had asked God to make him invisible.

"I forgive you this time," said the rector, "but don't make such prayers again!"

Marvels do not make Gerard Majella a saint. The Church does not canonize people because of marvels they worked during their lifetime, but because they have lived a life of heroic virtue. Gerard's miracles were an outflowing, and an outward sign, of his intense union with God; he could be just as great a saint due to his holiness of life had God not allowed a single miracle to be worked through him.

 

Under Suspicion

In 1753 the young men from Ilceto went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Michael at Monte Gargano. They only had the equivalent of twelve shillings to cover all expenses, but they also had Gerard, and the whole nine days was a succession of marvels. Yet, a year later, Gerard was to come under suspicion and undergo a grievous trial.

A young woman he had befriended turned against him and wrote to Alphonsus accusing Gerard of sins of impurity. Alphonsus sent for Gerard to come to him at Nocera. Gerard, in accordance with his vow to do the more perfect thing, felt that he should not defend himself, and did not deny the charge. Alphonsus was in a quandry. He could not believe the angelically pure Gerard was guilty, but he forbade Gerard to receive Holy Communion, and ordered him confined to the house.

"There is a God in heaven," said Gerard. "He will provide."

After several weeks the girl became very ill, and voluntarily admitted that she had lied. Gerard was not elated in his vindication, knowing only that God's will had been done. When Alphonsus asked Gerard why he had not protested his innocence, he replied, "Father, does not our rule forbid us to excuse ourselves?" Of course Gerard had carried the rule to the very letter! He had borne the calumny with such patience that Alphonsus said, "Brother Gerard is a saint."

 

Last Days

Shortly after this he was sent to the house at Naples, where his reputation for miracles caused people to stream to the house day and night hoping to get a glimpse of him. To relieve the situation, he was moved four months later to Caposele where he was made porter.

It was the perfect job for him, because the house was beseiged with beggars, and Gerard was like a mother to them all. He always sent them away satisfied, and never lost patience with their demands and trickery. The winter was a hard one, and over two hundred men, women, and children came daily to the door and received food, clothing, and firewood. Where it all came from was known only to Gerard.

In the spring he was again in Naples where several miracles of healing were attributed to him. Back in Caposele he was put in charge of the new buildings being constructed. One day when there was not a penny in the house with which to pay the workmen, Gerard's prayers brought in an unexpected sum of money, sufficient to cover their needs.

He spent the summer questing funds for these buildings, and overworked in the summer heat. In July and August his tuberculosis made rapid advance and his health broke. While in bed at Oliveto he cured a lay brother who had been sent to nurse Gerard and took ill himself.

His last days were spent at Nocera in a combination of physical suffering and spiritual ecstasy. A sign over the door of his room read, "The will of God is done here, as God wills it and as long as He wills it."

He foretold the day and hour of his death, just before midnight on the night of October 15-16, 1755. Thousands came to view the body of their beloved saint, and miracles attributed to his intercession were reported all over Italy.

He was beatified in 1893 by Pope Leo XIII, and canonized by St. Pius X on December 11, 1904. His feast is October 16. Of him Pius IX said, "He was a perfect model for those of his own condition, lay brothers." Leo XIII called him "one of those angelic youths whom God has given to the world as models to men."

 

Patron of Mothers

St. Gerard has been invoked as the patron of workingmen, of vocations, and of good confessions. He is called "Father of the Poor." Yet, he is known principally as patron of mothers and their children.

Speaking of Gerard in their book, Popular Patron Saints, Don Sharkey and Sister Loretta Clare, S.C., wrote this about him, "More and more mothers are turning to St. Gerard Majella as their special patron. Women who have been childless for years have prayed to St. Gerard and have been rewarded with healthy children. Women who have been warned of serious danger to themselves and their unborn children have called upon this saint in full confidence and have had the happiness of holding normal children in their arms. Mothers have learned to rely upon St. Gerard in all their problems regarding the bearing or rearing of children. It would seem that God has preserved a special role for St. Gerard in our days when mothers are so much in need of his help."

How did Gerard become famous as patron of mothers? Two incidents are told. As he was leaving the house of a family one day, a young daughter ran to give him a handkerchief he had forgotten. "Keep it," he said, "it will be useful some day." Many years later after the girl had married, she was in danger during childbirth. She called for the handkerchief and almost immediately delivered a healthy baby.

In another case, Gerard's prayers were requested by a mother when she and her unborn child were endangered. Gerard prayed, and both came through the danger safely.

After his death, the devotion of mothers to Gerard increased greatly. A witness at St. Gerard's beatification testified that he had come to be known as the "saint of happy delivery." Hospitals dedicated their maternity wards to him; medals and leaflets of St. Gerard were given to mothers before giving birth.

Certainly today, when the very fibers of our society—the sacredness of life, motherhood, family life—are threatened on every side, we need to turn to St. Gerard with renewed fervor. We must beg his intercession to heal our society's moral sickness, and turn to him as our special patron of the unborn.

Back in 1952, when few people would have dreamed to what depths of immorality our country would sink, a little pocket prayerbook titled The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was published by the William J. Hirten Company of New York. Among the prayers and novenas compiled for it by Sister Mary Isadore Lennon, R.S.M., are several addressed to St. Gerard. Two of them especially are eminently suitable today as we pray for the unknown and endangered unborn, and could have been written just yesterday, instead of over thirty years ago.

 

O almighty and everlasting God, Who through the operation of the Holy Ghost, didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mary to be a worthy dwelling place of Thy Divine Son; and, through the operation of the same Holy Ghost, didst sanctify St. John the Baptist, while still in his mother's womb; hearken to the prayers of thy humble servant who implores Thee, through the intercession of St. Gerard, to protect her (me) amid the dangers of childbearing, and to watch over the child with which Thou hast deigned to bless her (me); that it may be cleansed by the saving water of baptism and, after a Christian life on earth, it may with its mother, attain everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen. Pray for us, O Great Saint Gerard! That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ! O almighty and eternal Father, Who, in Thy all-wise Providence has deigned to raise up St. Gerard to be the glorious protecter of the mother and her unborn child: grant, we beseech Thee, through the powerful intercession of this, Thy servant, that all the diabolical forces of anti-life may be destroyed from the face of the earth forever; that so the Christian family may once more flourish to the praise and eternal glory of Thy holy Name. This we ask through the merits of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost—God for ever and ever. Amen.

 

For Motherhood O good St. Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and Wonderworker of our day, I call upon thee and seek thy aid. Thou who on earth didst always fulfill God's designs, help me to do the holy Will of God. Beseech the Master of Life, from Whom all paternity proceedeth, to render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the Kingdom of His Glory in the world to come. Amen.

 

For a Sick Child O St. Gerard, who, like the Saviour, loved children so tenderly and by your prayers freed many from disease and even from death; graciously look down upon the distressed parents who plead with thee for their child's health if such be the Will of God. Present their promise to God to bring up the child a good Christian and to guard it by word and example against the fatal leprosy of sin. This favor we implore thee, O sainted Brother, through the tender love with which Jesus and Mary blessed thy own innocent childhood. Amen.