Saint Gerard Majella (1755)

He was a poor boy of southern Italy. His great loves were the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady and the crucifix. He used to say, “Suffer only for God and your suffering will bring you Heaven on earth.” He tried to become a Capuchin friar but was refused on account of his ill health. The Order of Redemptorists took him when he was twenty-three. He lived with them as a lay brother. His obedience to his superiors was the most exemplary in the history of that Order. Every moment not given to work he spent in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. He was, by his prayer, a great missioner and converted hundreds of sinners to repentance. Saint Gerard Majella died at the age of twenty-nine, and along with Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori and Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer is one of the three saints of the Redemptorist Order.

Saint Gerard Majella (image source)