Saint Gerard Majella (Feast day: October
16)
The Patron
Saint of Motherhood
![[]](img/stg06010.jpg "holy card of Saint Gerard Majella, artist unknown")
This page is dedicated
to Saint Gerard. We hope it may lend inspiration, confidence
and hope to women who are trying to conceive, are expecting mothers or
those who are already mothers. Prayers of intercession to the saints
are common practice among Catholics around the world, and a Catholic
friend introduced me to Saint Gerard. Since then his story has inspired
me and I have included some of the prayers to
St. Gerard here on this page. If you would like to pray for his intercession
in petition of God's blessing for motherhood or other blessings
please see the prayers below.
We
are sorry but as of this day May 16, 2005 we are temporarily stopping
the offer to send a free St. Gerard medal and prayer card due to the
overwhelming
increase in the number of requests and our inability to keep sending
the
medals in a timely fashion. We will resume this service as soon as we
are able to catch up on all the
requests received up to this date. Sorry for the inconvenience but
please check back later to see if we have resumed shipping new requests
for the Medal and prayer card.
Saint Gerard's Story
Saint Gerard Majella, the "Patron Saint of Motherhood," was
born in 1726 in a small town in the south of Italy called Muro.
Gerard was devoted to his widowed mother and he also devoted his
life to God and helping others. His selfless help to others in various
circumstances endeared him to all sorts of people. He entered
the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1749 and became a
lay brother. He was a model of obedience and possesed extraordinary
wisdom. He spent his life dedicated to helping the needy and the poor,
being poor himself and having an understanding of the sorrows
of the needy. He often gave away his earnings and his own food to
the poor and those that came to him never left empty-handed.
Sometimes how the food or money came to be there was known only
to God and to Gerard. He was also known to have mystical abilities
such as powers of prophecy, healing, bilocations, the reading of consciences, and
so forth. He even predicted the day and hour of his own death.
During his short life he helped many and performed many miracles. It
seems that God had given him, in particular, the special power to
help mothers in need. In life and since his death, he has helped so many
women who have prayed to him during labor that he earned the nickname
the "Saint of Happy Deliveries." Many mothers from all over the world
have even named their child Gerard after him in gratitude, and have adopted him as their
patron in the joys and fears of childbirth.
Saint Gerard had a short stay here on earth
dying in 1755 at the age of twenty-nine from tuberculosis, but
he left a legacy of hope and faith to God that keeps spreading
by word of mouth from those familiar with his life story and by those just
discovering his miracles.
Note: I have read testimonials from women
who claimed to conceive after praying to Saint Gerard and asking
for his intercession before God to conceive a child. I will try
to get their permission and post their stories here.
I, for one, am fascinated by his story and
wonderous miracles, and have been praying to him in hope of a
second miracle; a sibling for my daughter!!!!
During the IVF that resulted in my daughter's
birth, I didn't know about Saint Gerard. But at that time I
received a prayer card for The Holy Infant Of Prague and I prayed to him faithfully. I certainly thank God
we succeeded.
Feel free to email us at: saints@praying4ababy.com
with questions, information or comments for this page.
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Prayers to Saint Gerard
Prayer for Motherhood
O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and wonder
worker of our day, confidently I call upon you and seek your
aid. On Earth you always fulfilled God's designs, help me now
to do the holy will of God. Implore the Master of Life, from
whom all paternity proceeds, to render me fruitful in offspring,
that I may raise up children to God in this life, and in the world
to come, heirs to the Kingdom of His Glory.
Amen.
Prayer for a Safe Delivery
O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect
imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of
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.
Prayer in Thanks of a Safe Delivery
Good Saint Gerard, patron of mothers, assist me in thanking God for the
great gift of motherhood. During the months of my waiting, I learned to call
upon you and placed the safety of my child and myself under your powerful
protection. The great lesson of your trust in God sustained me; your slogan,
"God will provide," became my hope and consolation. I thank God for my child
and for motherhood. Help me to prize the great treasure of motherhood and
obtain for me the grace to raise my child as a child of God.
Amen.
Prayer for a Special Favor
O Most Blessed Trinity, I your unworthy creature, thank you
for all the gifts and privileges which you have granted to Saint
Gerard, especially for those virtues with which you have adorned
him on earth and the glory which you impart to him in heaven.
Accomplish your work, O Lord, for the greater glory of the Holy
Church.
Glorify him before men and women and through his merits, in
union with those of Jesus and Mary, grant me the grace for which
I ask …(mention your request)
And you, my powerful intercessor St. Gerard, always so ready
to help those who have recourse to you, pray also for me.
Prostrate yourself before the throne of Divine Mercy and please
do not leave it without being heard.
To you I confide this important and urgent affair.
Graciously take my cause in hand and let me not end this novena
without having experienced in some way the effects of your intercession.
Amen.
Prayer for a sick child
O most beloved Saint Gerard, who, like the Savior,
loved children and by your prayers freed many from disease and
even death, listen to us who are pleading for our sick child. We thank
God for the great gift of our son/daughter and ask God to restore
our child to health if such be the holy will. This favor we beg of
you through your love for all children and mothers.
Amen
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Please tell a friend and
stop by again.
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