Did Saint Gerard Majella have any children?

Answer 1

One miracle that led to Gerard Majella's sainthood happened by giving his handkerchief to a woman who was dying in childbirth. The woman didn't die and Gerard is now known as the patron saint of mothers.

Answer 2

No, Saint Gerard Majella, who was a Catholic lay brother, did not have any children. He took a vow of chastity and dedicated his life to serving God and others through his work in the Redemptorist Order.

Answer 3

Saint Jerome became a saint because of his love for God. He had a bad temper but was a holy man who lived part of his life in the desert, serving penance, teaching people how to serve God, and he translated The Bible into Latin.

Answer 4

In the little town of Corbie, France, Colette was born on January 12, 1381, of exemplary working people. She was a child of grace, an answer to her mother's incessant prayers, for the latter was already 60 years old then and had been childless up to that time.

The little girl took great pleasure in prayer, in compassion for the poor, and in rigorous mortification, making of her soul and of her tender body a sacrifice to God. Up to her 14th year she remained unusually small in stature; the was a great grief got her father. Colette begged God to console her father in this matter, and then she began to grow very rapidly to normal height. On the other hand, she asked God to deprive her of the rare beauty she possessed, which she believed might be the occasion of danger to herself and others; that request, too, was granted, and Colette developed features of a severe cast which inspired great respect.

When both her parents had died, Colette, at the age of 22, obtained the permission of the Church authorities to shut herself up in a small abode directly adjoining the church; from a small window in it she could see the Blessed Sacrament. There she expected to spend the remainder of her life as an anchoress. She had embraced the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, in accordance with which she endeavored to live in perfect poverty, severe mortification, and constant prayer in order to become daily more and more like the Seraphic Father. She received many consolations from heaven, but on the other hand she also experienced severe temptations and even corporal abuse from the spirits of darkness.

Almighty God had destined Colette for something extraordinary. He excited in her the desire to re-introduce the strict observance of the rule of St. Clare, which many convents of Poor Clares then observed in a modified form. The humble virgin recoiled at the thought, which she tried to persuade herself was an illusion of the proud spirit of darkness. But the inspiration returned again and again, and when she continued to resist it, she was struck dumb and later on blind, until she finally resigned herself to the will of God, like Saul before Damascus. "Lord," she sobbed in her heart, "what wilt Thou have me do? I am ready to do anything Thou desirest of me." At once her speech and her sight were restored. The Lord sent her a special director under whose guidance she was to perform extraordinary things. And so, after spending four years in her retreat, and with the authority and the blessing of the pope, she established one convent of Poor Clares after another, so that the number reached 17 during her lifetime. After her death similar foundations were established in countries other than France, in which the primitive rule of St. Clare began to flourish anew.

St. Colette endured untold hardships in fulfilling the task assigned to her, but heaven supported her even in visible ways; numerous miracles, including the raising to life of several dead persons, occurred in answer to her prayers and in confirmation of her work. So, the great foundress remained ever humble, regarding everything as the work of God, who often chooses the lowliest of people as His instruments.

On this foundation of humility she endeavored to foster in her convents the spirit of prayer and simplicity of heart, She placed great value on the recitation of the Divine Office in choir, undoubtedly in remembrance of the practice existing in her native town, and infused this esteem into her fellow sisters. She was also filled with zeal for the salvation of souls, and once in a vision she saw souls falling into hell more swiftly than the snowflakes in a winter's storm.

After laboring for 40 years, she was to receive her eternal reward. She died in her convent at Ghent on March 6, 1447. At the moment of her departure from this world she appeared to several sisters in different convents. Pope Urban Viii beatified her, and Pope Pius VII solemnly canonized her in 1807.

ON CORPORAL BEAUTY

1. The Holy Spirit says: "For many have perished by the beauty of a woman" (Eccli 9:9). St. Colette reflected on this truth, and fearing nothing more than to give anyone occasion to sin, she asked God, as did also St. Lidwina, to deprive her of her corporal beauty; God heard her prayer by means of a miracle. How different is the example of the young women who not only prefer to be beautiful to plain-looking, but endeavor in every possible way to enhance their imaginary beauty and to make themselves more attractive. Such persons lay snares for souls and draw down upon themselves sin and misery. A Christian young woman will not act in that way; whoever does do it does not deserve the name Christian any more. Moreover it is not the Christian fashion to make little girls conscious of their beauty; it is in this way that we nourish that evil propensity for personal admiration. -- Have you need to reproach yourself of these points?

2. Consider that we should place little stock in personal beauty. "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain," says the Wise Man (Prov 31:30). How little, oftentimes, does interior merit conform with the external beauty, and how soon the latter disappears! Hence Thomas a Kempis (1,7) admonishes us: "Boast not of your stature or beauty of body, which, with a little sickness, is spoiled and disfigured; but glory in God, who gives all things and desires to give Himself above all things." "The woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised" (Prov 31:30). -- Have you perhaps also paid much attention to corporal perfections?

3. Consider, that if you possess personal beauty, it should urge you to achieve beauty of soul through purity of heart, sincerity, modesty, piety, genuine love of God and neighbor; otherwise your beautiful body will be but the fair peel of a rotten apple. On the other hand, even if you are not now possessed of bodily beauty, you can possess it later if you now beautify your soul; for then even your body will be beautiful in the resurrection and throughout eternity. For "one is the glory of the celestial, and another of the terrestrial" (1 Cor 15:40). The one is a gift of nature, the other is the result of the virtue which a person has acquired on earth. Impelled by virtuous motives, St. Colette asked almighty God to deprive her of bodily beauty, and so the beauty of her glorified body will be the greater on the last day.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst overwhelm St. Colette with heavenly gifts, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may zealously imitate her virtues here on earth and deserve to share with her the eternal joys of heaven. Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

Answer 5

Well, she performed at least 2 miracles... and is dead.

Answer 6

He died a martyr in a Nazi concentration camp, exchanging his life so that another prisoner could live.

Answer 7

St. Gerard was neither married nor had any children.

Answer 8

Gabriel is an archangel who was created by God as a saint.

Answer 9

Gerard was canonized on December 11, 1904, by Pope Saint Pius X.

Answer 10

Click on the link below for a brief biography of Saint Peregrine Laziosi and you decide why he is a saint.