St. Gerard Majella

Gerard was born in Muro Lucano in 1726, the son of a tailor who died when he was twelve. He was turned away by the Capuchins as too frail before the Redemptorists accepted him as a lay brother in 1749.

He worked as tailor, gardener, porter and sacristan, and was known for extraordinary phenomena — bilocation, reading consciences, and multiplying food for the poor. A woman falsely accused him of fathering a child and he refused to defend himself; when she recanted, his reputation for patience became as famous as his miracles.

Near his death he gave his handkerchief to a girl who had dropped it, saying she might need it one day. Years later, in danger during childbirth, she called for it and recovered. He died at twenty-nine in 1755.