16 - Life of Saint Gerard Majella by Rev. O. R. Vassall-Phillips

Dive into the extraordinary life of Saint Gerard Majella, an Italian lay brother of the Redemptorists, whose unwavering devotion to mirror the sacrifices and humiliations of Jesus Christ was awe-inspiring. Despite his frail health, he surpassed the work of his peers, earning the title Father of the Poor for his boundless charity. Revered for his angelic purity, he bore false accusations with admirable patience, leading St. Alphonsus to declare, Brother Gerard is a saint. His divine gifts extended to profound spiritual insight, prophecy, discernment of spirits, bilocation, and seemingly limitless power over nature, sickness, and demons. Today, people seek his intercession for a myriad of causes, including children, expectant mothers, the falsely accused, and more. Join us as we explore the legacy of this saint, drawing from sources like the 1919 Catholic Encyclopedia and Wikipedia.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fifteen of Life of Saint Gerard Magella. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by John Brandon, Life of Saint Gerard Magella, my

(00:21):
reverend o our Vassal Phillips, Chapter fifteen with Father Margotta
again with this spring, the bitterly cold weather passed away
at Capiselli, and plenty more smiled upon the land. Meanwhile,
Father Margatta at Naples was always asking to have the

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Holy Brother with him again, and as it might be
hoped that the excitement caused by Gerard's miracles had by
this time somewhat subsided, Saint Alfonsis did not hesitate to
accede to his request. Father Margotta, who was visiting the
convent at Capiselli, took Brother Gerard away with him on

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their way to Naples. Business took them to Calatri, Father
Margota's native place. As our saint was unknown here for
some few days, he was left in peace and allowed
to satisfy his thirst for prayer before the blessed sacrament.
But it was not long before a woman arrived at
the house of the parish priest with whom the two

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redemptress were staying, and asked for brother Gerard. She was
from Bisaccia, the little place where as it will be remembered,
the servative God had displayed so much charity and worked
so many miracles during an epidemic. Her object in her
present visit was to obtain the cure of a relation

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who was seriously ill. On being told that Gerard was out,
she said that she would await his return. When he
came in, she threw herself at his feet, and, in
a voice broken with sobs, begged of his charity, the
favor on which her heart was set. Saint Gerard listened
to her with his usual kindness, consoled her in her trouble,

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and assured her that it would be done unto her
even as she wished naturally enough. The people of the
house could not understand this scene at all, and on
the appearance of Father Margata, the whole story was related
with much merriment for his special delectation. Their surprise may
be imagined when they were told that their amusement proceeded

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from the ignorance of the gifts which God had bestowed
upon his companion. In order to clear Gerard from conclusions
injuries to his good sense and humility, which otherwise must
have been drawn from his late conduct, Father Mergatta proceeded
to recount the tale of his virtues and miracles. It

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was enough. Soon Calatri was all agog with excitement about
the marvelous wonder worker whom divine Providence had sent amongst them.
An excellent medical man of the locality, Giovann h Ioglia
by name, was very ill. He had received the last
sacraments and had been given up by the doctors. Saint

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Gerard was invited to go and see him. At first
he refused. In this refusal he persisted until Father Margata
brought his authority to bear in the matter. The saint
then went as he was told. Finding the patient unconscious,
he made the side of the cross upon his forehead,

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when immediately the sick man recovered the use of his
senses and found himself restored to perfect health. The bystanders
cried out a miracle, but Gerard answered, simply, behold what
obedience can do. A lady of Callatri discovered the sanctity
of the servantive God in a singular manner, one day

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she had a violent headache. Happening to be in the
priest's house, she saw Saint Gerard's hat in a corner
of the room. Let me see, she said, half in earnest,
half in jest, whether this brother is the saint that
people say. She then put the hat on her own head.
Immediately she was freed from her headache. This fact being

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noised abroad, some persons managed to induce Girard to accept
the presence of new shoes. They kept the old ones
as a relic. These shoes of brother Gerard were for
many a year lent from house to house in Calatri,
and numerous were the cures that God granted to sick
persons who used them with faith, imploring the powerful intercession

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of his servant Girard. When Father Margatta's business was accomplished
at Calatri, he went straight to Naples. On returning once
more to the spot that had been the theater of
so many of his marvels, Gerard was more careful than
ever to keep himself as far as possible in the
background and avoid anything that might bring him, again, without

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absolute necessity, into prominence. One day he was speaking with
a friend outside the church of the Holy Spirit. When
two ladies came up to him, my dear brother Gerard, said,
one of them, with tears in her eyes, Come, I
beg of you and cure my poor child. At first

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he refused, but unable to resist a mother's prayer, he said,
very well, but I must first go and get permission.
When on his visit the child was cured, it was
to obedience that he gave the glory. If in Saint
Gerard's gentle character there was any trace of severity that

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was not reserved for himself, it was directed towards imposture
or pretense, which his soul detested. Hear the redemptrous residence,
a beggar took his stand each day to ask for alms.
To all appearance, his was a sad case. He hobbled
along on crutches, and one of his legs was wrapped

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round and round with bandages. Gerard, however, knew that he
was a good for nothing wretch who, through laziness, was
imposing on the charity of the people, so he told
him several times to move away, But as all was useless,
at last the saint tore all the bandages off his

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limbs by main force, and said, with great severity, you
are a swindler and a cheat. If you wish to
save your soul, Cease mocking God and deceiving men. The
cripple was a cripple no longer. He ran away as
fast as he could go, using both his legs and

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leaving his crutches behind him. After some six week spent
at Naples, Father Margatta was ordered by his superiors to
make a new foundation in the Diocese of Benevento. Thus
he and Saint Gerard were again to be separated. Gerard
returned for a short time to Galatri, where a mission
was at the time being preached, then back again to Capisoli.

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At Callatri, he worked innumerable conversions. If the fathers were
kept busy during the whole mission in hearing the confessions
of the people, he was occupied in preparing sinners for
the worthy reception of the Holy sacraments. This work, we know,
was one especially dear to his loving heart. The zeal

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for the House of the Lord had eaten him up,
zeal for that spiritual temple which is formed by the
Holy Ghost in the souls of men. End of Chapter fifteen.
Recording by John Brandon