​​Feast Day: October 16
Patron Saint of Expectant Mothers

 

St. Gerard Majella, the patron saint of our school, is also the patron of expectant mothers. He was born at Muro, Italy, in 1726 and joined the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers at the age of 23, becoming a professed lay brother at the age of 26 in 1752. St Gerard ministered as sacristan, gardener, porter, infirmarian, and tailor.

 

St. Gerard Majella’s charity, obedience, and selfless service, as well as his ceaseless mortification for Christ, made him the perfect model of lay brothers. He was afflicted with tuberculosis and died in 1755 at the age of twenty-nine.

This great saint is invoked as a patron of expectant mothers as a result of a miracle effected through his prayers for a woman in labor.

The Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers, who founded our school and still minister at nearby St. Gerard Catholic Church, were founded in Scala near Naples, Italy in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori. The Redemptorists are 5300 members in number and minister to God’s people across the world in 78 countries.