Feast day: October 16
Patron Saint of:
children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions
Place of Birth: Muro, Italy
Date of Birth: 1726
Death: 1755
St. Gerard Majella’s last recorded miracle is one that many credit toward his becoming the patron of expectant mothers. Shortly before his death, St. Gerard Majella came across a young girl. He had dropped his handkerchief and she wanted to return it to him, only to be told that she should keep it. St. Gerard Majella told her she “may need it someday.” Years after St. Gerard Majella’s passing away, the young girl now a young lady married and was with child. She unexpectedly went into labour and was on the verge of losing her baby when she called for St. Gerard Majella’s handkerchief to be applied to her. Almost immediately, her pain subsided and she proceeded to give birth to a healthy child, something very uncommon during that time.
Prayer: O Great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted Child of the Mother of God: enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love. O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, you did bear, like your Divine master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the Patron and Protector of expectant mothers. Preserve me from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which I now carry, that it may see the light of day and receive the lustral waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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