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When Gerard was 12, his father died. Without the resources to continue his schooling, his mother apprenticed him to a tailor who treated him harshly and sometimes beat him. Later, he served as the house servant for the Bishop of Lacedonia. An otherwise good priest, the bishop was known for his terrible temper, and Gerard suffered greatly at his hands. In these early years, he attributed all of his suffering to the will of God, and unwaveringly accepted it. When the bishop died, Gerard returned to the tailor trade. He divided his earnings between his mother and donations to the poor. Gerard had a great respect and affinity towards religious life. Before serving the Bishop of Lacedonia, he attempted to join the Capuchin Franciscan order as a teenager, but was turned away because of his youth. He also made a futile attempt at becoming a hermit. When Gerard was 23, in 1749, the newly founded Redemptionist Order gave a mission in Muro. Gerard decided that this was his opportunity. He asked to be considered as a candidate in the order. After being refused by the mission leader because of his poor health, Gerard became quite persistent. Finally, the mission leader advised Gerard's mother to lock him in his room the night the missions were to leave town. The next morning, his mother opened the door to find an open window with a sheet hanging from it. On his table was a note that read "I have gone to become a saint." Gerard had reached the missionaries as they were leaving town. After several refusals, the mission leader, Fr. Paul Cafaro, finally agreed and sent Gerard to the Redemptionist house at Iliceto. He sent a recommendation note along with him declaring that he was a "useless" lay brother. The "useless" brother was to perform the work of several men. He served as tailor and infirmarian, and he travelled tirelessly with the missionaries. More incredible than his physical endurance despite his ailing health, Gerard was regarded by St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptionist order, as a miracle of obedience. He was known to obey without question the wishes of his superiors, and even came to understand and act on their wishes when they were absent in faraway locations. So perfect was his life of prayer and his skill at winning sinners for the Church that even his fellow brothers came to regard him as a saint during his short life. In 1754, Gerard underwent a great trial. He would frequently come to the aid of young people who wanted to enter religious life. Having counseled many girls on entering the convent, he even secured the dowry for some young women who were otherwise too poor to meet that requirement. One young woman who Gerard assisted found a distaste for convent life. Leaving after several weeks and having slandered the lifestyle of the nuns, this woman by the name of Neria Caggiano finally resorted to accusing Gerard of horrible acts of impurity. When questioned by St. Alphonsus on the accusations, Gerard simply maintained silence, in imitation of Jesus. Without choice, St. Alphonsus imposed severe penance on Gerard, prohibiting him from receiving the Eucharist and from contact with outsiders. Not being able to receive the Body of Christ was a terrible hardship for Gerard. He was so strongly drawn to Jesus that he requested to be relieved from serving mass, as he feared he would unintentionally seize the Host from the priest's hands. After a time, Caggiano fell ill and recanted her accusations, completely clearing Gerard's name. While St. Alphonsus rejoiced, Gerard simply took the news in stride, attributing everything that had occurred to God's own will. St. Gerard's life was a complete imitation of Christ. Hailed as a "miracle–worker" by those who knew him, he indeed performed works as diverse, if not as many, as Christ. He was blessed with the gifts of reading souls, penetrating hearts, ecstacies, prophecy, bilocation, levitation, and powers over nature and illness. He once restored life to a boy who had fallen from a cliff, he walked on water to lead fishermen to safety in a storm, he blessed and multiplied bread that he distributed to the poor. In perhaps the most famous of Gerard's works, he once forgot his handkerchief as he was leaving the home of his friends, the Pirofalo family. The young daughter of this family ran after him to return it. In a moment of prophetic insight, Gerard told the girl to keep it, and that it would be useful one day. For years, long after his death, the girl grew and kept the handkerchief as a prized souvenir of Gerard. In danger of death in childbirth, the woman recalled the
St. Gerard Majella pages |
How was it that Gerard Majella, a lay brother that died while still in his twenties, came to be known as the Patron of Mothers? Hailed by millions even today, but still unknown to many more, here is the story of Saint Gerard's life. 
Born April 6, 1726 in the Southern Italy town of Muro, he was the youngest of five children born to Dominic and Benedetta Majella. His passion began at the earliest of ages. 
Sickly at birth, he was rushed to the cathedral for baptism. Later, at only five, he would pray with such fervor in church that there were claims of him playing with the child Jesus that climbed down from the arms of a statue of the Blessed Mother. He would return home on more than one occasion with a loaf of bread given to him by the Child.