St. Gerard Majella - A Patron of Personal Responsibility

St. Gerard Majella is the patron saint of pregnant women and childbirth. As we celebrate his feast day today, I'd like you also to consider him the patron saint of personal responsibility.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Highlights

By Frank Pavone
10/16/2024 (1 month ago)

Published in Christian Saints & Heroes

Keywords: Saint, St. Gerard Majella

Born in Italy on April 6, 1726, St. Gerard grew up poor and sickly. His father died when Gerard was just 12, prompting his mother to send him to live with an uncle. He would be apprenticed for a time to a tailor and also worked as a servant in the household of a reportedly cranky bishop. Eventually he owned his own tailor shop, using his earnings to support his mother, give alms to the poor and make offerings for the souls in purgatory.

He twice tried to join a Capuchin order but was refused because of his ill health. The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer - the Redemptorists - accepted him as a brother. The order is known for bringing the word of God to the poor. Nowadays, they are perhaps best known for leading parish missions.

One of his jobs was to help young women who wanted to enter the religious life. Neria Caggiano was one of these women but she realized within three weeks of entering the convent that a nun's life wasn't for her. To provide cover for her own decision, she told lies about the way the convent was run, and in a letter to Redemptorist founder Alphonsus Liguori, accused St. Gerard of having had his way with the daughter of a family that opened their home to him on his missionary trips.

The story diverges somewhat here, with some accounts maintaining the young woman became pregnant with another man's baby, and others suggesting she was not pregnant. In any event, St. Gerard was blamed for something he didn't do and rather than protest his innocence, he accepted that blame.

The consequences were dire. He was kept under surveillance by his superiors and denied Holy Communion until Caggiano eventually recanted her ruinous lie. 

"When asked by Saint Alphonsus why he had kept silent in such circumstances," according to Catholic News Agency, "St. Gerard replied that he thought such patience was required in the face of unjust accusations."

It's really an incredible story, that he was willing to accept responsibility for something he didn't do. His is a very powerful witness for anyone struggling to take responsibility for something they actually did, particularly young women and men facing an unplanned pregnancy.

Legal abortion is sold as a get-out-of-jail-free option. We know that's not true, because both parents can suffer a lifetime of regret and mothers can be physically harmed as well by the procedure. But the truth rarely enters into the way the culture of death packages and sells abortion.

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Imagine if, instead of running to the closest Planned Parenthood killing center, these parents-in-waiting accepted responsibility for the life they created - in a divine partnership with God - and chose life for their child, no matter how hard the consequences of that choice may seem.

St. Gerard of Majella has plenty on his plate already as the patron of children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, the falsely accused, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano, Italy.

But this year I'm suggesting that those struggling with an issue that requires them to step up to the plate pray for St. Gerard's intercession in helping them make the right choice. He's the right saint for the job.

A prayer I wrote asking for the saint's intercession can be found here, and is also included in my prayer book, In the Company of His Saints.

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Frank Pavone is national director of Priests for Life and the national pastoral director of Rachel's Vineyard Ministries and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. The books he has authored include Abolishing Abortion and Proclaiming the Message of Life.