Gerard Majella

Gerard Majella (Italian: Gerardo Maiella; 6 April 1726 – 16 October 1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.

His intercession within the Catholic Church is for children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, the falsely accused, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano, Italy.

Gerard Maiella or Majella was born in Muro Lucano, Italy on 6 April 1726, the youngest of five children. He was apparently frail from birth. His parents had him baptized the day he was born. His father was Domenico Maiella, a tailor who died when Gerard was twelve, leaving the family in poverty. His mother, Benedetta Galella, then sent him to her brother so that he could teach Gerard to sew and follow in his father's footsteps. However, the foreman was said to have been abusive. While Gerard kept silent, his uncle found out and had the foreman dismissed. After four years of apprenticeship, he took a job as a servant to work for the local Bishop of Lacedonia. Upon the bishop's death, Gerard returned to his trade, working first as a journeyman and then on his own account, but earned a minimal income.

He tried to join the Capuchin Order twice, but was prevented by ill health. In 1749, he finally joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as Redemptorists. The order had been recently set up in 1732 by Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) at Scala, near Naples. The essentially missionary order was dedicated to preaching the word of God to the poor. Its apostolate principally focused on the giving of missions and retreats.

During his life, Gerard developed a close bond to the Neapolitan peasant community. In his work with the Redemptorist community, he was variously a gardener, sacristan, tailor, porter, cook, carpenter, and clerk of works on the new buildings at Caposele.

At 27, he faced scandal after being identified by a young pregnant woman as the father of her child. To avoid exposing the father, Gerard seemingly accepted the blame silently. His superior Alphonsus Liguori questioned him and banned him from receiving Holy Communion. After several years, the woman subsequently retracted the allegation.

He died at 29 of tuberculosis on 16 October 1755 in Materdomini, Italy. His last will has been written as a small note on the door of his cell: "Here the will of God is done, as God wills, and as long as God wills."

Majella was beatified in Rome on 29 January 1893 by Pope Leo XIII. He was canonized less than twelve years later on 11 December 1904 by Pope Pius X. Four years later, St Gerard's, a Redemptorist church in Wellington, New Zealand, was dedicated to him, perhaps the first in the world.