Page 129 - FLIPBOOK - Life of Saint Gerard Majella - Vassall-Phillips

CHAPTER 20
THE DEATH-BED OF A SAINT

T
he last ten days of Saint Gerard's life, stretched on a bed of
intense pain, were days of great suffering, but of perfect
conformity to the Divine Will. They were spent in unbroken
communion with God. When at last his weakness made vocal prayer
difficult, he begged the Lay-brother who was with him as Infirmarian
to suggest Acts of resignation, of love, and, above all, of contrition,
that he might at least follow them in his heart. This Brother one day
asked him if he had any scruples or temptations now that the end was
so near. Gerard replied without hesitation that he had through life
ever kept Our Lord in view in all his actions. He said that he had had
no other desire than to do God's Will in everything, and that
therefore he now died in peace and free from anxiety.
On October 12, three days before his happy death, he was
suddenly wrapt in ecstasy, and heard to cry out with great joy:
“I see our blessed Father Latessa entering Heaven!”
Father Latessa, we may here state, had died only eight days before.
This was the last time that the secrets of Paradise were unveiled for
Gerard's eyes this side the grave.
The day after this vision was rendered noteworthy by a most
consoling favour. A distinguished ecclesiastic had come to see him,
together with his old friend, Don Joseph Salvatore, the physician
from Oliveto. They brought with them a young peasant, to whom
they had promised that he should see a great Servant of God. When
they arrived at the convent, all three went upstairs to the sick-room.
Notwithstanding his curiosity, the young villager did not venture to

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