Page 91 - FLIPBOOK - Life of Saint Gerard Majella - Vassall-Phillips

LIFE OF SAINT GERARD MAJELLA

smile.
Brother Gerard and he went together to the door. Father
Margotta had prophesied! There, before their eyes, stood a servant
with a basketful of eatables! She had just been told by her mistress to
take a present to the Redemptorists, though she merely knew them
by name. We may be sure that Brother Francis never forgot how
God thus set the seal of His Divine Approval upon Saint Gerard's
charity.
During the first few weeks of his stay at Naples, the holy Brother
gave himself up without let or hindrance to the practice of prayer and
contemplation. His duties in the house being very slight, the greater
part of the day was at his own disposal.
Father Margotta said Mass every day in the Church of the
Oratorian Fathers. After Mass, Gerard used to spend the whole
morning, hidden away in a corner, generally stretched as though
lifeless on the pavement. He also visited with great assiduity any
church in which the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for the Forty
Hours' Adoration.
But throughout Saint Gerard's life we see how irresistible was his
attraction for works of charity. This soon manifested itself at Naples.
No great length of time had elapsed before he was well known in the
city. Every day he was to be found in the public hospitals ministering
to the sick, after the example set him by his holy Father St.
Alphonsus; in the lunatic asylums consoling the poor inmates with
his sweet kindness; in the big shops winning the hearts of the young
men there employed to the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Great
were the conversions that he thus effected, and numerous were the
sinners whom he led to the feet of Father Margotta, that they might
be absolved from their sins in the Sacrament of Penance.
As usual, his sanctity was illustrated by the gift of miracles. One of
the most wonderful that he ever performed belongs to this period of
his life. It has been attested on oath by a large number of eye-
witnesses. Standing one day by the Bay of Naples, he noticed a great
crowd of men. and women. They were rending the air with their
piercing shouts of terror. A storm had suddenly arisen with great
violence. A boat was on the point of sinking beneath the waves. Full
of compassion for these poor people, and relying upon the protecting
Arm of Him Who quelled the storm of old, and caused St. Peter to
walk upon the face of the waters as upon solid earth, Gerard made

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