ARCHBISHOP SHERRINGTON'S HOMILY AT THE VOTIVE MASS OF ST GERARD MAJELLA C.SS.R
Thank you to Archbishop Sherrington for allowing us to reproduce the homily he gave on 25th April as part of the votive Mass of St Gerard.
VOTIVE MASS OF ST GERARD MAJELLA
25 April 2026
Bishop Eton, Liverpool
My brother’s name is Michael Gerard, his name comes from the prayers offered by my grandmother because my mother had difficult pregnancies. I am sure this resonates with many gathered here today and the many prayers have been offered for difficult pregnancies. St Gerard is a popular saint. The incident from St Gerard’s short life that led to this devotion was the occasion when a young girl noticed he had dropped his handkerchief. When she handed him the handkerchief, he told her to keep it, in case she needed it one day. Years later she was enduring a painful pregnancy and both she and the child were in danger of death. She remembered the handkerchief and prayed to St Gerard and immediately she recovered and gave birth to a healthy child. His cult began to spread rapidly and continues today.
The first lesson from our saint’s life is the mystery of intercession of the saints in heaven for us because we are all part of the Body of Christ. We can connect in prayer, on earth, with the souls in purgatory on their way to heaven, and with the saints in heaven. The saints are our intercessors.
Today we celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of St Gerard Majella, born on 6th April 1726. He was born in southern Italy into poverty, the youngest of five children. When he was only 12, his father died, and so even at that young age he became the family breadwinner, supporting his mother, Benedetta, and his three sisters and brother. He was apprenticed to a tailor and worked with him for four years although he was bullied by the foreman. After four years he then took the job of servant to the Bishop of Lacedonia, who it is reported was also a bully! When he died, Gerard, at the age of 19, went back to Muro and set himself up as a tailor, but by now he was beginning to think seriously about a religious vocation. He was a man of deep faith and showed love of the Lord and Our Lady. He cared for others and was generous towards others, therefore never making much money.
At the age of 21, during Lent, he resolved to imitate Christ as closely as possible. He then offered himself to the Capuchins, who turned him down. Soon a Redemptorist Mission came to Muro and he pleaded with the superior of the mission to accept him. He too tried to turn him down on account of his poor health, but his determination was such that although his mother locked him in the house, he tied some sheets together and escaped, chasing after the missionary priests and being accepted. Fr Cafaro sent him to the community at Deliceto with the famous letter: “I’m sending you another brother, who will be useless as far as work is concerned…” How wrong he was!
Two years later he took his first vows and became a much loved and wonderful worker in the communities where he was sent. He died of tuberculosis only three years later at the age of 29.
The second lesson from our saint is the mystery of God’s call and not knowing the length of life. St Gerard shows the importance of living life fully and for God. St Paul in the first reading captures this spirit of giving oneself for Christ – everything can be considered a loss for knowing Christ and following him.
St Gearard lived many extreme penances but also was known as a fun-loving person and highly eccentric… in a homily earlier this month at his shrine, Cardinal Semeraro called him “GOD’S LITTLE MADMAN” because he passionately wanted to serve God, was generous to others and loved others. A biographer speaks of his conformity with the will of God, explaining that it “was Gerard’s continual longing, even on his deathbed”.
His generosity is shown in a somewhat bewildering story, “One day at the porter’s lodge… someone presented himself… showing him a leg eaten away by a foul and gangrenous wound. St Gerard could not bear the sight. He placed it in his own mouth, thoroughly sucked it, and dried it with his own hands; and God crowned that act of singular charity with the instantaneous healing of that unfortunate man, who did not cease to cry out that he had dealt with a saint who had worked a very great miracle for him” (Positio, I, p. 41). There is a parallel with St. Francis kissing the lepar who was healed.
However sceptical we might be, this was Saint Gerard’s “madness”: a madness born of the fullness of his love for God and translated into charity toward his neighbour.
St Alphonsus wanted his order to be an order of saints, of course, fragility and holiness often go together. In his short life there was a false allegation made against St Gerard of a sexual misdemeanour. St Alphonsus then sent him to Ciorani and forbade him to receive Holy Communion. St Gerard believed it would be against the will of God to defend himself, trusted in God and it took a while before the matter was resolved. He was patient while it was investigated and he was cleared of the offence. Perhaps a third lesson for us is the need to trust in God in complex situations, be patient and not quick to jump to conclusions until the truth is known and justice with love is brought about.
St Gerard Majella pray for us.
Archbishop John Sherrington
