Saint Gerard Prayer: What Is St. Gerard Majella the Patron Saint Of?
Saint Gerard Prayer: What Is St. Gerard Majella the Patron Saint Of?
Saint Gerard Majella is the patron saint of mothers, expectant mothers, and childbirth.
His special association with mothers and childbirth began after an event in which a young girl testified that he had blessed her handkerchief and told her she might need it someday — years later, that same handkerchief was used during a difficult childbirth, and both mother and child survived safely. Word of this miracle spread quickly, and many began invoking Gerard’s help during pregnancy and labor.
Since his canonization in 1904, Saint Gerard Majella has been widely venerated as a powerful intercessor for women hoping to conceive, expecting mothers, and families in need of protection. His feast day, celebrated on October 16, is a reminder of his unwavering faith and his enduring care for families and new life.
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Prayer to Saint Gerard
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 purifying and life-giving waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Early Life and Hidden Sanctity
Among the many saints who have adorned the Church with their holiness and virtue, few shine with such tender humility and supernatural simplicity as Saint Gerard Majella, the humble lay brother of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Though he lived but twenty-nine short years upon earth, his soul reached such heights of sanctity that he was called by Pope Pius IX the greatest saint in the history of the Redemptorist Order. He stands today as a model of purity, obedience, and trustful abandonment to Divine Providence, especially venerated as the patron saint of mothers, expectant women, and those seeking the grace of a holy family life.
Gerardo Maiella (Majella) was born on April 6, 1726, in Muro Lucano, a small town in southern Italy. His family was poor in material goods but rich in faith. His father, Domenico, was a tailor who labored diligently to support his wife, Benedetta, and their children. From his earliest years, Gerard exhibited remarkable piety, a spirit of penance, and a precocious love for Our Lord and Our Lady. The townspeople soon noticed his recollection in prayer, his charity toward the poor, and his innocent joy in serving at the altar.
When Gerard was twelve, his father died, leaving the family in great hardship. To support them, the boy apprenticed as a tailor, imitating the hidden life of the Holy Family at Nazareth. Like Saint Joseph, Gerard sanctified his work with prayer and mortification. His customers would often find him murmuring aspirations to Jesus and Mary as his hands swiftly plied the needle. Though small and frail in body, he possessed a great zeal for the salvation of souls and longed to consecrate himself entirely to God.
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The Call to the Redemptorists
Several times in his youth, Gerard sought to enter religious life, but he was turned away because of his delicate health. At one point, he attempted to join the Capuchins, but they deemed him too weak for their austere rule. God, however, had reserved him for the newly founded Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, established by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori in 1732. The Redemptorists, dedicated to preaching missions among the poor and abandoned, would become the perfect field for Gerard’s sanctification.
In 1749, when the Redemptorists came to Muro for a mission, Gerard begged to be admitted. When his mother forbade him to go, the young man left a note that read simply: “Mother, I am going to become a saint.” He fled from home and followed the missionaries until Saint Alphonsus, moved by his persistence, accepted him as a lay brother. Despite initial doubts about his frailty, Gerard soon astonished his superiors by his cheerfulness in labor, his obedience, and his extraordinary gift for prayer.
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A Life of Obedience and Miracles
As a lay brother, Gerard performed the humblest tasks: serving in the kitchen, tending the garden, and acting as porter. Yet in every duty he displayed heroic virtue. Saint Alphonsus would later say, “Brother Gerard is a prodigy of obedience.” When commanded to perform any task, no matter how difficult or unreasonable, he obeyed with promptness and joy, seeing in his superior the will of God Himself. Once, when a superior jokingly told him to water a dry stick, Gerard did so daily until, by a miracle, the stick blossomed into a living tree — a sign of Heaven’s approval of his humility and obedience.
Miracles seemed to follow him as naturally as breath follows life. He was known to multiply food for the poor, heal the sick by making the Sign of the Cross, and even raise a child from death. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, he was granted a mystical intimacy with nature; birds would come to rest upon his hands, and animals obeyed his word. Yet all these marvels were to him nothing compared to the joy of serving Christ crucified and of suffering for love of Him.
Perhaps his most striking virtue was his purity. His love for the Immaculate Virgin was deep and tender; he wore her scapular faithfully and invoked her help in every trial. Once, when unjustly accused by a young woman of grave sin, Gerard bore the false charge in silence. He neither defended himself nor accused his slanderer, trusting entirely in God’s justice. Only after his death was his innocence revealed. His example recalls the patience of Christ Himself, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile again.”
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Devotion to the Eucharist and the Passion
Saint Gerard’s life was centered upon the Blessed Sacrament and the Passion of Our Lord. He would spend hours before the tabernacle, absorbed in contemplation. His soul burned with love for the Eucharistic Jesus, and he often fell into ecstasy during Mass or Benediction. On one occasion, while serving Mass, he was seen lifted into the air at the moment of the Consecration, radiant with divine joy.
He also possessed a profound devotion to the Cross of Christ. When sufferings came — sickness, humiliation, misunderstanding — he embraced them as treasures, repeating, “Love is known in suffering.” He desired only to be forgotten and despised for the sake of Jesus, and he rejoiced to be united to his crucified Lord.
Patron of Expectant Mothers
One of the most beloved aspects of Saint Gerard’s intercession concerns his role as patron of mothers. Shortly before his death, a handkerchief belonging to him was returned by a young girl he had once befriended. Gerard told her to keep it, for she might need it someday. Years later, when she was in danger of dying during childbirth, she remembered his words and asked for the handkerchief. Upon touching it, she immediately recovered and delivered a healthy child. From that day onward, countless women have invoked Saint Gerard for safe pregnancies and holy families, and he has shown himself a powerful protector.
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Final Illness and Holy Death
In 1755, at the age of twenty-nine, Gerard fell ill with tuberculosis. His superiors, knowing his sanctity, encouraged him to rest, but he insisted on offering his sufferings for sinners. As his health declined, he was filled with a peace that astonished all who visited him. When asked how he felt, he would smile and say, “God’s will is done — that is enough.”
His Spiritual Legacy
Saint Gerard Majella’s sanctity lies not in grandiose deeds or theological learning, but in the hidden heroism of everyday virtue. He shows that holiness is possible for all who embrace God’s will with simplicity, humility, and love. His motto, often found in his writings, was “Thy will be done.” To the modern world — restless, proud, and self-seeking — his life offers a luminous contrast: the peace of a soul wholly surrendered to Divine Providence.
For Catholics, Saint Gerard embodies the perennial truths of the Faith: the value of obedience, the beauty of chastity, and the power of prayer. His life demonstrates that sanctity is not confined to the priesthood or the cloister but can flourish in any state of life, provided the soul is faithful to grace. In our age, when family life is under attack and motherhood is often despised, Saint Gerard’s intercession is especially needed. He reminds us that every child is a gift of God and that the vocation of motherhood is a sacred participation in the creative love of the Almighty.
Saint Gerard Majella remains a radiant example of Christian holiness: a lay brother who, by his humility and obedience, became a channel of divine wonders. His short life teaches that sanctity does not consist in years or human accomplishments, but in the total surrender of the heart to God’s will. In every generation, the Church raises up such souls to remind us that holiness is possible, even in the smallest duties.
May Saint Gerard, humble servant of the Redeemer and friend of mothers, pray for us, that we too may learn to say with all our heart:
“Lord, let it be done unto me according to Thy word.”
Saint Rita is one of our favorite saints to have a devotion to. Often called the “Saint of the Impossible,” she is one of the most beloved figures in Catholic devotion. Born in 1381 in Roccaporena, Italy, Rita desired from an early age to dedicate her life to God, but out of obedience, she married Paolo Mancini, a man of temper and violence. Through prayer, patience, and gentle love, Rita converted her husband’s heart before his tragic death. Later, she forgave his murderers and taught her two sons to do the same, embodying the Christian ideal of mercy and reconciliation.
After becoming a widow, Rita sought to enter the Augustinian convent in Cascia. Though initially refused, her perseverance and miraculous signs gained her admission. In the convent, she lived a life of deep penance, prayer, and mystical union with Christ. One day, while meditating on the Passion, she received a wound on her forehead from a thorn of Christ’s crown—a visible mark of her sharing in His suffering.
Saint Rita died in 1457, surrounded by the fragrance of roses, which became a lasting symbol of her intercession. Canonized in 1900, she remains a powerful patroness for those facing hopeless or desperate situations, reminding the faithful that with God, nothing is impossible.
Read more about Saint Rita here. We've included some prayers and novenas to Saint Rita that you can include in your daily devotions.