Page 26 - FLIPBOOK - Life of Saint Gerard Majella - Vassall-Phillips

O. R. VASSALL-PHILLIPS

Pentecost in the year 1740, he received the Sacrament of
Confirmation at the hands of the Bishop of Lacedogna, acting on
behalf of the Bishop of the diocese. At this time Gerard was fourteen
years of age. Henceforth he would seem to have contracted a most
intimate union in the depths of his soul with the Holy Spirit of God.
A special devotion to the Holy Ghost was always one of the marked
characteristics of his piety.
Whenever in future life his advice was asked on any subject, he
was accustomed to invoke first the aid of the All-wise Spirit of God.
This pious habit was no doubt the source of the unfailing prudence
of the counsel that he gave — sometimes in cases of no ordinary
difficulty.
On finishing his apprenticeship with Pannuto, his mother placed
him in the house of another tailor named Vitus Mennona. Here he
was remarkable for his great spirit of prayer, obedience, and charity,
so that his master acquired a veneration for the servant of God which
lasted until his holy death. In his old age Mennona used to journey to
the Redemptorist house where Gerard was living, and would there
pour forth his soul, speaking with the greatest enthusiasm of the
virtues of the holy Brother.
But the young lover of the Crucified thought himself too
comfortable with the good Mennona. He felt an irresistible attraction
to the Religious Life. Accordingly, presenting himself at a convent of
Capuchins in the neighbourhood — where he had an uncle, a Father
Bonaventure, a theologian of distinction — he craved admission as a
postulant for the habit of St. Francis. But his youth and the wretched
state of his health caused him to be refused, the Superiors judging
that his request came rather from a passing movement of fervour
than from a Divine vocation.
That he might somewhat console his nephew for this refusal,
Father Bonaventure gave him a new suit of clothes, which, as we
read, he sadly wanted, and then sent him away. At the very door of
the convent he happened to meet a poor beggar in rags, who asked
an alms for the love of God. Touched at the sight of his misery,
Gerard at once took off his new clothes, and gave them to the poor
man. Father Bonaventure, however, on being told this, did not quite
like the way that his present had been treated, and sent for the culprit
to express his displeasure.
“Oh, my dear uncle,” said the Saint, “do not, I entreat you, be put

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