Page 94 - FLIPBOOK - Life of Saint Gerard Majella - Vassall-Phillips

CHAPTER 14
HE IS CALLED FATHER OF THE POOR

S
aint Gerard, on reaching his destination, was given the office of
porter. Remembering that fidelity to the duties of one's state is
the surest means of sanctification, the holy Brother said
smilingly, but in all earnestness, that the key which now opened the
hall door must also one day open wide for him the gates of Paradise.
Perhaps, next to the office of sacristan, none could have been
more congenial to Gerard than that of porter, for in this capacity it
was his lot to provide for the necessities of the poor, who sought
relief at the convent door. Throughout life he had been noted for his
charity to those in need. With vivid faith he saw in them the Person
of Our Lord Himself, and was accustomed to say that the poor were
the Visible Christ, even as the Blessed Sacrament was the Christ
Invisible.
“Our house at this time,” writes Father Tannoia, “was besieged
with beggars. The holy porter had the same anxiety for their good
that a mother has for the well-being of her children. He possessed
the art of always sending them away satisfied, and neither their
unreasonableness nor their deceitful tricks ever made him lose
patience.”
He was doubly anxious to assist such of them as were sick. If they
were too ill to come themselves, and sent their children for food, he
did all in his power to supply their wants to the full. He knew them
all, and, when he went out, used to visit them in their own homes.
Those who had seen better days, who were now in need, but were
ashamed to ask openly for relief, were before all others the objects of

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