St. Gerard Majella
Feast Day: October 16
A young man climbs out of a window in the middle of the night.
His mother has locked him in his room to keep him home.
He leaves a short note on the bed.
“I am going to become a saint.”
Then he runs down the road after a band of mission preachers who have just left town.
They have already told him no.
He is too thin. Too sickly. Not strong enough for their life.
He follows them anyway.
His name is Gerard Majella, and he will become one of the most loved saints in Italy.
Today, mothers all over the world ask for his prayers.
St. Gerard Majella, pray for us.
Who Was St. Gerard Majella?
Gerard was born in 1726 in Muro Lucano, a small town in southern Italy.
His father was a tailor.
He died when Gerard was still a boy, and the family was left poor.
Gerard was apprenticed as a tailor to help support his mother and sisters.
He was frail and often sick.
But he loved God with his whole heart.
He prayed for hours before the Blessed Sacrament and gave away much of what he earned to the poor.
A “Useless” Brother
Gerard tried to enter the Capuchins. They turned him down because of his poor health.
Then, in 1749, priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer came to preach a mission in his town.
This was the new order founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori. They are known as the Redemptorists.
Gerard begged to join them. They said no.
That is when he slipped out the window and followed them.
Tradition holds that the superior finally sent him to the community with a note that said, in effect:
“I am sending you a useless brother.”
Gerard made his vows as a Redemptorist lay brother in 1752.
He worked as a tailor, gardener, porter, and sacristan.
The “useless” brother turned out to be one of the holiest men they had.
Doing the Will of God
Gerard did not want to be important.
He wanted to do what God wanted.
Tradition holds that he kept a short sign on the door of his room:
“Here the will of God is done, as God wills, and as long as God wills.”
— St. Gerard Majella
That was his whole spiritual life in one line.
Not his plans.
Not his comfort.
God’s will.
Falsely Accused
In 1754, a young woman accused Gerard of a serious sin of impurity.
It was a lie.
St. Alphonsus, his superior, called him in and asked him to answer the charge.
Gerard said nothing to defend himself.
Alphonsus forbade him from receiving Holy Communion and from having contact with outsiders.
For a man who lived for the Eucharist, this was a deep suffering.
Weeks later, the woman admitted she had made the story up.
When Alphonsus asked Gerard why he had stayed silent, he answered that the rule told him not to excuse himself, but to suffer in silence.
He trusted God to bring the truth to light.
And God did.
Why Mothers Love St. Gerard
Gerard was known for his charity to families and to the poor.
Tradition holds that shortly before his death he visited a family and dropped his handkerchief.
One of the daughters ran after him to give it back.
He told her to keep it, because one day she would need it.
Years later, that girl was in labor and in danger of losing her life.
She remembered the handkerchief and asked for it.
She and her baby came through safely.
Word spread.
Women began asking Gerard’s prayers for safe pregnancies and healthy babies, and many reported favors received.
He became known as the “Mothers’ Saint.”
His Death
Gerard developed tuberculosis.
He died on October 16, 1755, at the Redemptorist house in Materdomini, near Caposele, Italy.
He was only 29 years old.
Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1893.
Pope St. Pius X canonized him in 1904.
What St. Gerard Majella Teaches Us
Gerard teaches us that holiness is not about being impressive.
He was poor.
He was sick.
He was turned away more than once.
But he kept saying yes to God.
He also teaches us how to carry an unfair accusation.
He did not panic.
He did not lash out.
He trusted that God sees the truth.
You do not have to be strong to be a saint. You have to be willing.
When Is the Feast of St. Gerard Majella?
St. Gerard Majella’s feast is kept on October 16, the day he died.
He is not on the General Roman Calendar, so you will not usually hear his name at Mass that day.
But he is listed among the saints in the Roman Martyrology, and the Redemptorists and countless parishes and families celebrate him on this date.
Patron Saint Of
St. Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers, childbirth, and mothers.
Many women ask his prayers when they are trying to conceive, when they are pregnant, and when they are giving birth.
Looking for a saint for another need? See Patron Saints for Every Need.
A Prayer to St. Gerard Majella
Pray the traditional Prayer to Saint Gerard Majella for mothers and for all unborn children.
St. Gerard Majella, pray for us.
