St. Gerard Majella Prayer Card (PC-45)

PC-45 — St. Gerard Majella Prayer Card

The Wonder-Worker — patron of expectant mothers, unborn children, and all who hope for new life

He was born in 1726 in Muro, Italy, the son of a tailor. His father died when Gerard was twelve, leaving the family in poverty. He tried to enter the Capuchins at fourteen and was turned away for poor health. He worked as a servant, then as a tailor, giving half his earnings to his mother, a quarter to the poor, and a quarter for Masses for the souls in purgatory. He was finally accepted as a Redemptorist lay brother in 1749 — serving as gardener, sacristan, tailor, porter, cook, and carpenter — and professed his vows before St. Alphonsus Liguori himself in 1752. He lived as a lay brother for just six years before dying of tuberculosis at twenty-nine.

In those six years he packed in enough miracles for a dozen saints. He is said to have raised a boy from the dead, walked across stormy water to rescue fishermen, multiplied bread for the poor, and bilocated to be present in two places at once. He could read souls. He predicted the exact day and hour of his own death. At twenty-seven he was falsely accused of fathering a child and silently endured the accusation — even accepting a ban on receiving Holy Communion — rather than defend himself, until the young woman eventually admitted she had lied.

His patronage of expectant mothers came from a remarkable story: a handkerchief he once left behind at a family's home was brought to a woman dying in a dangerous childbirth. She asked for it to be placed on her. Almost immediately the danger passed and she gave birth safely. Word spread quickly. During the process of his beatification a witness testified that he was already known as "il santo dei felici parti" — the saint of happy childbirths. Millions of expectant mothers have worn his medal and prayed his novena ever since. Pope Pius X canonized him on December 11, 1904. His feast day is October 16th.

Perfect for: Expectant mothers, baby showers, pregnancy prayer cards, couples trying to conceive, pro-life ministry, October 16th feast day, and anyone who hopes for the gift of new life.