DAILY REFLECTION: St. Gerard Magella

So often, as a priest, I have heard about this saint who is on the calendar of the saints for today. Here's a little research result. This man who became a brother in the religious order of the Redemptorist Fathers also became the patron saint for expectant mothers. How fitting is today's first reading from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians (4:22-24, 26-27, 31). This young brother became a "brother of all trades" in the Redemptorist community where he lived. A man of deep prayer and religious practices, Brother Gerard died when only 29 years old. But in the few years of religious life he developed genuine piety and wisdom. He is reported to have enjoyed the faculties of levitation and bi-location. His prayers for a woman in labor brought about his becoming known as the patron of expectant mothers. In his short six years in religious life, this saint of God achieved what many struggle to achieve in a lifetime. His piety, holiness, simplicity and wisdom brought many to recognize in him a man whose intercession, again especially pregnant woman, is often graced with miraculous responses.