St Gerard Majella
Saint Gerard Majella (April 6, 1726, Muro Lucano, Basilicata – October 16, 1755, Caposele, Campania) is a Roman Catholic saint. He is the saint whose intercession is requested for children (and unborn children in particular), childbirth, mothers (and expectant mothers in particular), motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano, Italy.
Background
Saint Gerard Majella, the "Patron Saint of Motherhood," was born in 1726 in a small town in the south of Italy called Muro. Gerard was devoted to his widowed mother and he also devoted his life to God and helping others. His selfless help to others in various circumstances endeared him to all sorts of people. He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1749 and became a lay brother. He was a model of obedience and possesed extraordinary wisdom. He spent his life dedicated to helping the needy and the poor, being poor himself and having an understanding of the sorrows of the needy. He often gave away his earnings and his own food to the poor and those that came to him never left empty-handed. Sometimes how the food or money came to be there was known only to God and to Gerard. He was also known to have mystical abilities such as powers of prophecy, healing, bilocations, the reading of consciences, and so forth. He even predicted the day and hour of his own death. During his short life he helped many and performed many miracles. It seems that God had given him, in particular, the special power to help mothers in need. In life and since his death, he has helped so many women who have prayed to him during labor that he earned the nickname the "Saint of Happy Deliveries." Many mothers from all over the world have even named their child Gerard after him in gratitude, and have adopted him as their patron in the joys and fears of childbirth.
Saint Gerard had a short stay here on earth dying on October 16, 1755 in Caposele, at the age of twenty-nine from tuberculosis, but he left a legacy of hope and faith to God that keeps spreading by word of mouth from those familiar with his life story and by those just discovering his miracles.
Veneration
Gerard Majella was beatified in Rome on January 29, 1893 by Pope Leo XIII[1]. He was later canonised less than twelve years later on December 11, 1904 by Pope Saint Pius X. He was featured on an Italian 45-euro postage stamp in May 2005. The feast day of Saint Gerard Majella is October 16. St. Gerard Majella Annual Novena takes place every year in St. Josephs Church, Dundalk, Ireland. This annual nine day novena is the biggest festival of faith in Ireland.
The League of St Gerard (Redemptorists, Clapham, London) provides spiritual support and prayers for all expectant mothers and families.
Two towns in Quebec, Canada, are named in his honour: one in the Montérégie region and another in the Lanaudière region.
Quotations
Some quotations attributed to Gerard Majella include:
"The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made visible. The poor sick person is Christ again made visible."
"I see in my neighbor the Person of Jesus Christ."
"Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect how everything here below comes to an end and passes by. Of what use is it to lean upon that which cannot give support?"
"Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?"
Further reading
Chapin, John, "A Treasury of Catholic Reading"
Farrelly Jr, Peter, "Hope in the Handkerchief of a Saint"
Rabenstein, Katherine, "For All The Saints"
Karelse, Theun, "The Field Guide To Flying Saints"
Prayers To Saint Gerard Majella
