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Feast of Our Lady of Pompeii

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Gathered round the gentle person of Our Lady of Pompei, let us resolve to call on her every day for our needs and the needs of the world.

We are surrounded by a society that needs more than ever the light of the Gospel. Our world is seeking peace. There are so many sufferings that cry out for help. There is such a great longing for justice and charity!

We wish to entrust our hopes to Mary’s motherly intercession. With the repetition of the prayers of the Rosary, we will turn to Mary with the insistent, trusting prayer of a child to his mother.
—Cardinal Angelo Sodano

Prayer to Our Lady of Pompeii
Remember, O most gracious Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession through the Rosary was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto you, O Mother of Mercy, Virgin of virgins, powerful queen of Victories. To you I come, before you I stand: I implore compassion, I seek grace. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but through your most holy Rosary, graciously hear and answer me.

  • A Self-Guided Tour of Our Lady of Pompeii Church
  • 25 Carmine Street
  • NYC
    Our Lady of Pompeii began in 1892 as the chapel of St. Raphael Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants, which was located in a townhouse that is still standing at 113 Waverly Place. In 1895, Pompeii rented the former Bethel Methodist Colored Church at 214 Sullivan St., no longer standing. In 1898 it purchased a church that stood at 210 Bleecker Street, across from the southern end of Minietta Street nearby on the eastern side of Sixth Avenue. The church, which looked like a Greek Temple, was erected in 1836 for the Unitarian Universalists. In 1888 the Unitarians sold the church to the African American Roman Catholic congregation of St. Benedict the Moor. When the city condemned the church to extend Sixth Avenue, Pompeii erected this building, formally opening it October 7, 1928.The church’s architect was Mathew Del Gaudio, an Italian American graduate of Cooper Union active in his profession from 1905 to his death in 1960. Del Gaudio created a Romanesque building that would have reminded the earliest parishioners of Italy, with its shallow front steps and flat façade close to the street, its domed sanctuary, and its campanile, or bell tower. The figure on the roof is St. Charles Borromeo, patron saint of the order of priests that founded and staff Pompeii.Step in, look up, and you’ll see paintings celebrating the Rosary, the work of Professore Antonio D’Ambrosio, who was born in Italy and trained as an artist there. He opened his ecclesiastical arts company in 1928, specializing in creating artwork for churches, trained his children in the field, and passed the business along to them. D’Ambrosio’s descendants have returned to do restoration work on Pompeii’s art several times.The right wall’s images depict the Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, and Finding Jesus in the Temple. Those on the left wall depict the Sorrowful Mysteries: Jesus’ Agony in the Garden, His Scourging, His Crowing with Thorn, His Carrying of the Cross, and His Crucifixion. On the ceiling are the Glorious Mysteries: the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption, and the Crowning of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven.Above the altar is a complex construction. On the left and right of the mural, respectively, are images of the Church Suffering, the souls in Purgatory awaiting redemption, and the Church Triumphant, the saints in Heaven. The centerpiece is dedicated to the Church Militant, or the Church on Earth. Above the center is an image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, with Jesus on her lap, both of them handing rosaries to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, early promoters of the rosary. Angels fly about them. Across the bottom are images associated with Pompeii parish, such as the building’s campanile. The figure in red on the right is St. Charles Borromeo. The bishop in white is Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini, founder of the priests who serve at Pompeii. The figure with the basket of roses is St. Martin de Porres, a tribute to the African American community whose church Pompeii purchased. To the left is a Franciscan friar, acknowledging that the Franciscans were the first ministers to New York’s Italians, at St. Anthony of Padua parish on Sullivan Street, a few blocks south of Pompeii. On the right is a galleon, a reminder that the Spanish credited their victory in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto to praying the rosary. The Latin phrase at the mural’s base translates as “Not Arms, Not Leaders, but the Virgin Mary of the Rosary Made us Victors.” Professore D’Ambrosio worked on this commission from 1934 to 1937, finishing with the painting of Jesus revealing His Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary that is to the left as you come further into the church.Just behind you, near the entrance on the left, are statues indicative of the diversity of Pompei’s congregation. The centerpiece is a shrine to Mother Frances Cabrini, patroness of immigrants. Before her is a statue of Jesus Nazareno, an image revered among the Filipino immigrants who also worship at Pompeii. The statue of San Gaetano is a long ago gift from his devotees that cannot be dated. The statue of Saint Jude is a 1955 bequest from parishioner Catherine Brignole; Jude, patron of hopeless causes, was a popular saint in the mid twentieth century. The bust of Bishop Scalabrini also dates from 1955, and Scalabrini’s coat of arms on the column near the bust, from soon thereafter, but these represent the beginnings of devotion to someone who may yet be declared a saint.At the beginning of the wall on the left, or southwest, side of the church, are statues of two saints popular among Italians, St. Rose of Lima and St. Lucy. Then come the stained glass windows, work on which commenced in 1928, with the Stations of the Cross between them. (The Stations and windows actually “begin” at end of the wall nearer the altar if you want to skip ahead and walk back.) The stained glass window at the back of the church is important not only for its illustrations of four of the Beatitudes but for the donors associated with it. Carolina Perazzo, whose name appears on the window, was the daughter of funeral home director Carlo Baciagalupo. She married Giovanni Battista Perazzo, who learned the undertaking business from his wife and father-in-law, and opened his own funeral home at 199 Bleecker St. in Greenwich Village. The business is no longer in the family, but is still at 199 Bleecker St.Most of the topics of the stained glass windows are easily recognizable, but some require some insider knowledge of Pompeii. For example, see the window on the southwest wall given in honor of A. Agostino Gazzolo. The bishop in the window is Scalabrini, the two clergy are a Scalabrinian priest and brother, and the two nuns represent two orders Blessed Scalabrini encouraged: Mother Cabrini’s Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Apostles of the Sacred Heart, whose members taught in Pompeii’s school. The Gospel quotation references the Scalabrinians’ mission to help migrants preserve their faith in their new homes.Before turning to the altar, step into the room to the left, where there is a striking stained glass window and several more statues. St. Gerard’s statue came from the maternity ward on the 5thfloor of the Seton Building of St. Vincent de Paul; Greenwich Village’s hospital from 1849 to 2010; it is a gift from the hospital’s founders, the Sisters of Charity.The altar wall of the church consists of three parts. The mosaics of Assumption and of Jesus in Purgatory date from the tenure of Father Mario Albanese, pastor from 1952 to 1964. While you are at the Assumption altar, look at the wall to the left to see the fine mosaic of the Holy Family. In front of the image of the Assumption is one of Pompeii’s newest statues, that of Padre Pio, a Franciscan priest who was declared a saint in 2002. There is also an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Normally, that would indicate the presence of Mexican devotees, but during Pompeii’s earliest years, women from Chiavari, south of Genoa, practiced the devotion.Embedded in the marble pre-Vatican II altar is a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary that is an exact replica of the one at the shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, Italy. The painting was an 1895 gift of heiress Annie Leary. Shortly after its installation, this parish received permission from the Italian shrine’s founder, Bartolomeo Longo, to promote itself as the American shrine. The painting first hung over the altar at the 210 Bleecker Street church mentioned earlier; it was cut to its present shape to fit the altar here.Pompei’s oldest statues cluster around the Purgatory image. Those of the Blessed Mother and St. John the Evangelist date from the 1880s and are part of a set that, together with the crucifix in the donor’s shrine near the church entrance, were fixtures at St. Benedict the Moor. The statues of the Sacred Heart and St. Joseph appear in a 1909 photograph of Pompeii.The stained glass windows to the right of the altar, Pompeii’s northeast wall, also reflect parish history. Note the windows depicting marriage vows and Pope Leo sending Mother Cabrini to the Americas, all given by relatives of Italian-American lawyer Edward Bergonzi, who, along with pioneer Italian immigrant Luigi Fugazy, was on Pompeii’s first board of trustees. The image of the priest in the window depicting marriage is that of Father Antonio Demo, who served at Pompeii from 1898 to 1936, most of the time as pastor; he led Pompeii in building this church. Perhaps after you have completed your visit here you can see the park named for him, diagonally across the street from the church.At the end of the row of Stations and windows is the donor’s shrine, and a plaque noting that Pompeii’s campanile was restored in honor of Vincent Gigante by his parents. He is better known as “Chin” Gigante, and was a leader in one of New York City’s organized crime families. His own family, though, included many other members who were part of the parish; before this plaque went up, another plaque, at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross, notes the Stations were refurbished in honor of Pietro Gigante.On your way out, look up. Above Pompeii’s doors are three stained glass windows. The one of Columbus giving thanks for having reached land in the Americas is a tribute to Pompeii’s Italian roots. The depiction of Ellis Island is a reminder of Pompeii’s commitment to immigrants. In the center is an image of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt, a reminder that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were once counted among the world’s migrants and refugees.  Dr. Mary Elizabeth Brown, PhD.

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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The call which comes from this important feast day is first of all a call to Eucharistic adoration, because in the Sacred Host the Lord Jesus is truly present and He offers each of us His Heart, His Merciful Love. To spend time in the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord, to adore Him, is the best expression of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which, as we know, spread all over the world thanks to Jesus’ revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century: “Behold the Heart which so loved mankind”!

As a prolongation and accomplishment of this message, the Lord appeared to another Sister in the 20th century revealing the abyss of His unfathomable mercy; she was Saint Faustina Kowalska who wrote in her Diary, now world famous, these words of Jesus: “I have opened my Heart as a living source of Mercy, from it all souls draw life, all approach with deep confidence this sea of Mercy. Sinners will obtain justification and the just will be strengthened in goodness. I will fill the souls of those who put their trust in My Mercy with My divine peace at the hour of their death. My daughter, continue to spread devotion to My Mercy, in doing so you will refresh My Heart which burns with the fire of compassion for sinners. Tell my priests that hardened sinners will be softened by their words if they speak of my boundless Mercy and of the compassion which My Heart feels for them. I will give priests who proclaim and exalt My Mercy wondrous power, unction to their words and I will move all the hearts to which they speak” (Book 5, 21 January 1938).

The deepest longing of Christ’s Heart is that we discover how much he loves us, the extent of his tender love for creatures who, cooled by their selfishness, look only inwards at themselves, as if they were afraid to let themselves be loved unconditionally by their Creator, who asks nothing and gives all!

Close to the Heart of the Son is the Heart of the Mother whom the Church celebrates the day after the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let it again be the Holy Father who illuminates us with regard to this mystery: “The heart that resembles that of Christ more than any other is without a doubt the Heart of Mary, his Immaculate Mother, and for this very reason the liturgy holds them up together for our veneration. Responding to the Virgin’s invitation at Fatima, let us entrust the whole world to her Immaculate Heart, which we contemplated yesterday in a special way, so that it may experience the merciful love of God and know true peace” (Benedict XVI, Angelus 5 June 2005). 

Photograph by Lisa Silvestri

Our Lady Of Pompeii Church

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25 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 989-6805

History of Pompeii Church

  • Our Lady of Pompeii began in 1892 as the chapel of St. Raphael Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants, which was located in a townhouse that is still standing at 113 Waverly Place. In 1895, Pompeii rented the former Bethel Methodist Colored Church at 214 Sullivan St., no longer standing. In 1898 it purchased a church that stood at 210 Bleecker Street, across from the southern end of Minietta Street nearby on the eastern side of Sixth Avenue. The church, which looked like a Greek Temple, was erected in 1836 for the Unitarian Universalists. In 1888 the Unitarians sold the church to the African American Roman Catholic congregation of St. Benedict the Moor. When the city condemned the church to extend Sixth Avenue, Pompeii erected this building, formally opening it October 7, 1928.The church’s architect was Mathew Del Gaudio, an Italian American graduate of Cooper Union active in his profession from 1905 to his death in 1960. Del Gaudio created a Romanesque building that would have reminded the earliest parishioners of Italy, with its shallow front steps and flat façade close to the street, its domed sanctuary, and its campanile, or bell tower. The figure on the roof is St. Charles Borromeo, patron saint of the order of priests that founded and staff Pompeii.Step in, look up, and you’ll see paintings celebrating the Rosary, the work of Professore Antonio D’Ambrosio, who was born in Italy and trained as an artist there. He opened his ecclesiastical arts company in 1928, specializing in creating artwork for churches, trained his children in the field, and passed the business along to them. D’Ambrosio’s descendants have returned to do restoration work on Pompeii’s art several times.The right wall’s images depict the Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, and Finding Jesus in the Temple. Those on the left wall depict the Sorrowful Mysteries: Jesus’ Agony in the Garden, His Scourging, His Crowing with Thorn, His Carrying of the Cross, and His Crucifixion. On the ceiling are the Glorious Mysteries: the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption, and the Crowning of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven.Above the altar is a complex construction. On the left and right of the mural, respectively, are images of the Church Suffering, the souls in Purgatory awaiting redemption, and the Church Triumphant, the saints in Heaven.
  • The centerpiece is dedicated to the Church Militant, or the Church on Earth. Above the center is an image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, with Jesus on her lap, both of them handing rosaries to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, early promoters of the rosary. Angels fly about them. Across the bottom are images associated with Pompeii parish, such as the building’s campanile. The figure in red on the right is St. Charles Borromeo. The bishop in white is Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini, founder of the priests who serve at Pompeii. The figure with the basket of roses is St. Martin de Porres, a tribute to the African American community whose church Pompeii purchased. To the left is a Franciscan friar, acknowledging that the Franciscans were the first ministers to New York’s Italians, at St. Anthony of Padua parish on Sullivan Street, a few blocks south of Pompeii. On the right is a galleon, a reminder that the Spanish credited their victory in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto to praying the rosary. The Latin phrase at the mural’s base translates as “Not Arms, Not Leaders, but the Virgin Mary of the Rosary Made us Victors.” Professore D’Ambrosio worked on this commission from 1934 to 1937, finishing with the painting of Jesus revealing His Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary that is to the left as you come further into the church.Just behind you, near the entrance on the left, are statues indicative of the diversity of Pompei’s congregation.
  • The centerpiece is a shrine to Mother Frances Cabrini, patroness of immigrants. Before her is a statue of Jesus Nazareno, an image revered among the Filipino immigrants who also worship at Pompeii. The statue of San Gaetano is a long ago gift from his devotees that cannot be dated. The statue of Saint Jude is a 1955 bequest from parishioner Catherine Brignole; Jude, patron of hopeless causes, was a popular saint in the mid twentieth century. The bust of Bishop Scalabrini also dates from 1955, and Scalabrini’s coat of arms on the column near the bust, from soon thereafter, but these represent the beginnings of devotion to someone who may yet be declared a saint.At the beginning of the wall on the left, or southwest, side of the church, are statues of two saints popular among Italians, St. Rose of Lima and St. Lucy. Then come the stained glass windows, work on which commenced in 1928, with the Stations of the Cross between them. (The Stations and windows actually “begin” at end of the wall nearer the altar if you want to skip ahead and walk back.) The stained glass window at the back of the church is important not only for its illustrations of four of the Beatitudes but for the donors associated with it. Carolina Perazzo, whose name appears on the window, was the daughter of funeral home director Carlo Baciagalupo. She married Giovanni Battista Perazzo, who learned the undertaking business from his wife and father-in-law, and opened his own funeral home at 199 Bleecker St. in Greenwich Village. The business is no longer in the family, but is still at 199 Bleecker St.Most of the topics of the stained glass windows are easily recognizable, but some require some insider knowledge of Pompeii. For example, see the window on the southwest wall given in honor of A. Agostino Gazzolo. The bishop in the window is Scalabrini, the two clergy are a Scalabrinian priest and brother, and the two nuns represent two orders Blessed Scalabrini encouraged:
  • Mother Cabrini’s Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Apostles of the Sacred Heart, whose members taught in Pompeii’s school. The Gospel quotation references the Scalabrinians’ mission to help migrants preserve their faith in their new homes.Before turning to the altar, step into the room to the left, where there is a striking stained glass window and several more statues. St. Gerard’s statue came from the maternity ward on the 5thfloor of the Seton Building of St. Vincent de Paul; Greenwich Village’s hospital from 1849 to 2010; it is a gift from the hospital’s founders, the Sisters of Charity.The altar wall of the church consists of three parts. The mosaics of Assumption and of Jesus in Purgatory date from the tenure of Father Mario Albanese, pastor from 1952 to 1964. While you are at the Assumption altar, look at the wall to the left to see the fine mosaic of the Holy Family. In front of the image of the Assumption is one of Pompeii’s newest statues, that of Padre Pio, a Franciscan priest who was declared a saint in 2002. There is also an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Normally, that would indicate the presence of Mexican devotees, but during Pompeii’s earliest years, women from Chiavari, south of Genoa, practiced the devotion.
  • Embedded in the marble pre-Vatican II altar is a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary that is an exact replica of the one at the shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, Italy. The painting was an 1895 gift of heiress Annie Leary. Shortly after its installation, this parish received permission from the Italian shrine’s founder, Bartolomeo Longo, to promote itself as the American shrine. The painting first hung over the altar at the 210 Bleecker Street church mentioned earlier; it was cut to its present shape to fit the altar here.Pompei’s oldest statues cluster around the Purgatory image. Those of the Blessed Mother and St. John the Evangelist date from the 1880s and are part of a set that, together with the crucifix in the donor’s shrine near the church entrance, were fixtures at St. Benedict the Moor. The statues of the Sacred Heart and St. Joseph appear in a 1909 photograph of Pompeii.The stained glass windows to the right of the altar, Pompeii’s northeast wall, also reflect parish history. Note the windows depicting marriage vows and Pope Leo sending Mother Cabrini to the Americas, all given by relatives of Italian-American lawyer Edward Bergonzi, who, along with pioneer Italian immigrant Luigi Fugazy, was on Pompeii’s first board of trustees. The image of the priest in the window depicting marriage is that of Father Antonio Demo, who served at Pompeii from 1898 to 1936, most of the time as pastor; he led Pompeii in building this church. Perhaps after you have completed your visit here you can see the park named for him, diagonally across the street from the church.

  • At the end of the row of Stations and windows is the donor’s shrine, and a plaque noting that Pompeii’s campanile was restored in honor of Vincent Gigante by his parents. He is better known as “Chin” Gigante, and was a leader in one of New York City’s organized crime families. His own family, though, included many other members who were part of the parish; before this plaque went up, another plaque, at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross, notes the Stations were refurbished in honor of Pietro Gigante.On your way out, look up. Above Pompeii’s doors are three stained glass windows. The one of Columbus giving thanks for having reached land in the Americas is a tribute to Pompeii’s Italian roots. The depiction of Ellis Island is a reminder of Pompeii’s commitment to immigrants. In the center is an image of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt, a reminder that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were once counted among the world’s migrants and refugees.  Dr. Mary Elizabeth Brown, PhD.

In 1927, in order to extend Sixth Avenue south to Canal Street, the city tore down the 210 Bleecker Street building that Saint Benedict’s and Pompeii had occupied, and Pompeii moved to its present church. In 1979, St. Benedict’s contacted Pompeii regarding the other two statues in the original Crucifixion scene. The late Brother Michael La Mantia, c.s., oversaw the statues’ transfer to the present Pompeii church. The pastor at the time, the late Father Edward Marino, c.s., was using the Crucifix as the centerpiece for a niche honoring donors to the church, so instead of reuniting the set he placed the statues of the Blessed Mother and Saint John in their present positions, before the mosaic of the Crucified Christ and the Souls in Purgatory.

Mother of Sorrows

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Sorrows_Small_Image

Mother of Sorrows
Patron of: Grief

When we are overwhelmed with grief, we turn to Mary, Mother of Jesus for help in our suffering. Throughout her life she endured much pain and sorrow and is fully able to empathize with anyone’s personal anguish. She endured the shame of being pregnant and unmarried, being poor, homelessness and having her only son unjustly imprisoned and executed. Most astonishing, Mary knew what was to befall her son yet had to see these events from God’s point of view and have faith that this was all for the good of mankind.

By meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a devotion from the Middle Ages, which uses scenes from the life of the Virgin Mother as a meditation on accepting the sorrowful part of life with grace.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are:

1) The Prophecy of Simeon. As a young child, when his parents presented him in the temple, Jesus was met by the holy man Simeon who predicted everything that would happen to him in his address to Mary: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword will pierce so that thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35).

2) The Flight into Egypt. In Bethlehem, after the birth of Christ, Joseph had a vision of an angel warning him of the impending slaughter of any male child under the age of two by King Herod in order to prevent the coming Messiah. The Holy Family had to travel a secretive route to Egypt and remain in that country until Herod died. Mary not only worried for the welfare of her own son but mourn for the murdered children left behind.

3) The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the 12 year old Jesus vanished from his family. His heartsick parents finally found him three days later, arguing with elders in the temple.

4) The Meeting of Jesus with His Cross. Mary watched helplessly as her son was ridiculed and mocked as he stumbled, carrying the cross he was to be executed on.

5) The Crucifixion. As he was nailed to the cross, most of his disciples ran away. Mary never wavered as she stood at the foot of the cross, witnessing her son’s agony and death.

6) Jesus Taken Down from the Cross. Mary held her dead son’s wound covered body. This, her greatest sorrow is known as the “Pieta”.

7) The Burial of Jesus. As the stone was rolled, closing up his tomb, Mary had to say her final goodbye to her earthly son. Her faith had to be sincerely tested as there was no hint of the resurrection to come.
Prayer

Most holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, you stood beneath the cross, witnessing the agony of your dying son. Look with a mother’s tenderness and pity on me, who kneel before you. I venerate your sorrows and I place my requests with filial confidence in the sanctuary of your wounded heart. Present them, I beseech you, on my behalf to Jesus Christ, through the merits of his own most sacred passion and death, together with your sufferings at the foot of the cross. Through the united efficacy of both, obtain the granting of my petition. To whom shall I have recourse in my wants and miseries if not to you, Mother of Mercy? You have drunk so deeply of the chalice of your son, you can compassionate our sorrows. Holy Mary, your soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of your divine son. Intercede for me and obtain from Jesus (mention your request) if it be for his honor and glory and for my good. Amen.

Feast of St. Gerald Majella

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St.GeraldSt. Gerard Majella

1726 – 1755

Feast Day: October 16

Patron of: Infertility

Keywords: expectant mothers, infertility, lay brothers, mothers, pregnancy

Quote: “Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?”

Symbols: skull, lily crucifix, psalter

A quiet and humble lay brother in the newly found Redemptorist order, St. Gerard Majella did not display his great mystical gifts until the last three years of his life. Before his early death at the age of twenty-nine, he was known as “The Wonderworker of the Eighteenth Century”, for his ability to read consciences, predict the future, be in two places at once, heal the dying and infuse his surroundings with serenity. He is most invoked by women who want to conceive a child and though there are many different novenas to him, The Prayer for Motherhood is particularly popular throughout the world.

Born in a town south of Naples to a tailor and his wife, Gerard was a sickly child, contemplative by nature. At the age of twelve, his father died, plunging his family into poverty. Gerard was apprenticed to a tailor in order to support his mother and three sisters.  He suffered brutally at the hands of this abusive man and eventually got a job as a servant for the local bishop. His hopes of entering the Capuchin order were dashed due to his poor health. Upon returning home, his devout nature and his kindness, especially to children, was noticed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorist order. He invited Gerard to join as a lay brother and work in the slums among the poor. It was while he was serving on this mission that Gerard faced the greatest challenge of his life. A young woman accused him of fathering her unborn child. When Gerard refused to comment on these charges or defend himself, the Redemptorists had no choice but to deprive him of the privilege of working with them. Months later when the woman admitted that she had lied, a bewildered Alphonse Liguori asked Gerard why he had remained silent. He answered that he had complete faith in God and that silence was the only answer to unjust accusations.

Raised as the only male in a household of women, St. Gerard was particularly sensitive to the problems women had in conceiving and giving birth. While visiting family friends, he dropped his handkerchief while leaving. The young woman of the family ran to give it to him and he refused to take it saying, “Keep it. One day it will be of service to you.” Though puzzled, she did as he said. Years later, while dying in childbirth she remembered his words and had the handkerchief brought to her and placed on her womb. All deadly complications stopped and she gave birth to a healthy baby. The handkerchief of St. Gerard’s was passed from mother to mother until his canonization in 1904. The remaining shred is still used to bless relics for those seeking to conceive a child or have a safe delivery.

Explanation of symbols:

Lily: purity

Skull: contemplative, the sign of one who knows that this life is temporary.

Psalter: book of devotional texts

Crucifix: devotion to Christ and willing to suffer

Novena Prayer for to St. Gerard Majella 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.