Feast of SAINT GERARD

Although no longer observed by the Carmelites, the feast of St. Gerard Sagredo is currently placed on September 24th, according to the 2004 Roman Martyrology.

PRAYER.

O Lord!
we offer unto Thee the sacred day whereon the Blessed Gerard 
was cast headlong from the summit of a mountain 
by the enemies of Thy name, 
beseeching Thy clemency, 
that the holy sufferings of him whose feast we celebrate 
may serve to heal us. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit
one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

LESSON IV.

Gerard was born in Venice. A captive from his infancy to the love of Christ, he determined to dedicate himself wholly to Him; and that he might do so without hindrance, he renounced all the gifts of the world, bade farewell to his parents, and entered a monastery. There he put on the sacred habit of religion, and dwelt for some time, admirable in the eyes of all for his holy life, and for the sweet odor of his good example. He was seized, however, with a strong desire of seeing the holy places of Palestine, which bad been made sacred by the footsteps of Christ the Lord, when He walked amongst men; and he set forth without delay, together with a few companions, having received, as befitted, the permission of his Superior. It happened that he passed through Pannonia, where reigned the holy King Stephen, who had been the first to bring the Holy Gospel of the Lord into his country. The King, filled with solicitude for pilgrims, showed Gerard particular affection upon learning the reason of his journey, and urged him to pass a few days with him. It afterwards appeared that he wished to discover what might be the habits and tastes of this man, and what his progress in virtue, that he might admit him to labor at the cultivation of his young vineyard.

LESSON V.

When this pious King found that his life was admirable, since it was no less remarkable in deed than in word, he determined to keep him against his will, so he secretly dismissed his companions, and placed guards over Gerard, that he might not escape by flight. When the servant of God discovered this stratagem, he willingly and joyfully consented to stay, for he feared to resist the Holy Spirit, whose voice be recognized speaking through Stephen, the King. He withdrew, however, into the desert to escape the din of the crowd, and there he gave himself up to holy contemplation, fastings, and watchings, during seven years, keeping himself aloof from the company of all men, except that of one monk, Maur, who carried to him the things necessary for his support. Nevertheless, when the King called him thence to rule the Church of God, and to instruct the people in the faith, he sprang into the lists like a brave soldier, armed with the ready weapons with which solitude had equipped him, and by word and example he brought many scattered sheep into the fold of Christ the Lord. The numbers of the faithful grew apace, and through his efforts many churches were built. One in particular, the mother, as it were, of the rest, he built on the banks of the river Mur, and there he was made chief pastor.

LESSON VI.

After he was made Bishop he relaxed nothing of his former austere life; but on the contrary, he made himself an example to his flock by practising humility, meekness, charity, and the other virtues more exactly than before. He exhibited himself the minister of God in all things, in much patience, in many fastings, in charity unfeigned. Constant in prayer, fervent in preaching the word of God, he was severe in chastising himself, and measured in correcting others. So burning was his thirst for the salvation of souls, that he left nothing untried which he saw to be useful to souls redeemed with the blood of Christ. After the death of the pious King Stephen, it came to pass that the ancient enemy of the human race strove to sow cockle in the field of the Lord which this faithful husbandman was laboring to cultivate with unceasing pains; and to this end he stirred up an insurrection. The mob attacked the holy Bishop with stones at first, then pierced him with a lance. Kneeling down, he repeated the prayer of the first martyr, Stephen, for his persecutors; then wearing the crown of martyrdom, he took flight to Heaven, in the year of our Lord one thousand and forty-two.

Taken from the book “Saints of Carmel” (BOSTON: JOHN CASHMAN & CO., 1896).