Novena to St Gerard Majella

The novena to St Gerard Majella is the nine-day prayer to the Redemptorist lay brother whom the Church honours as the patron of expectant mothers — said above all for a safe pregnancy and a happy delivery, for the child in the womb, and by married couples who long to conceive. It is prayed for nine days running, most often in the nine days leading to his feast on 16 October. Below we give the full novena in its authentic form: the daily prayer for mothers and the unborn, the nine distinct petitions on his virtues, the concluding prayers, and the separate prayer for motherhood said by those hoping for a child.

The full novena to St Gerard Majella

The devotion has two parts said together each day: one prayer that never changes — the great petition for mothers and the child — and one short petition proper to each of the nine days, drawn from a virtue St Gerard practised. Say them once a day for nine days, naming your own intention.

The daily prayer (said every day)

O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Saviour, and devoted child of the Mother of God, enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love.

O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime you did bear, like your Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers.

Preserve me from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which I now carry, that it may see the light of day and receive the purifying and life-giving waters of baptism, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Here name your request.)

The nine days

After the daily prayer, add the petition for the day, then nine Hail Marys, the versicle, and the closing prayer.

Day 1 — Faith. Saint Gerard, ever full of faith, obtain for me that, believing firmly all that the Church of God proposes to my belief, I may strive to secure through a holy life the joys of eternal happiness.

Day 2 — Detachment. Saint Gerard, most generous saint, who from thy tenderest years didst care so little for the goods of earth, grant that I may place all my confidence in Jesus Christ alone.

Day 3 — Love of God and neighbour. Saint Gerard, bright seraph of love, who, despising all earthly love, didst consecrate thy life to the service of God and thy neighbour, obtain for me that, loving the only God and my neighbour for His sake, I may be hereafter united to Him for ever in glory.

Day 4 — Purity. Saint Gerard, spotless lily of purity, by the angelic virtue and the wonderful innocence of life thou didst receive from the Infant Jesus and His Immaculate Mother, grant that I may ever strive in my lifelong fight to keep my heart and body pure.

Day 5 — Obedience. Saint Gerard, model of holy obedience, who through thy life didst heroically submit thy judgment to those who represented Jesus Christ to thee, obtain for me from God cheerful submission to His holy will and the virtue of perfect obedience, that I may be made conformable to Jesus, obedient even unto death.

Day 6 — Humility. Saint Gerard, most perfect imitator of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, thou whose greatest glory was to be humble and lowly, obtain that I too may be found worthy to enter the kingdom promised to the humble.

Day 7 — Patience in suffering. Saint Gerard, unconquered hero, most patient in suffering, thou who didst glory in infirmity, obtain for me patience and resignation in my sorrows, that I may bravely bear the cross which God in His goodness lays upon me.

Day 8 — Love of the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Gerard, true lover of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, thou who didst kneel long hours before the Tabernacle, obtain for me the spirit of prayer and an undying love for the Most Holy Sacrament.

Day 9 — Devotion to Mary. Saint Gerard, most favoured child of heaven, to whom Mary gave the Infant Jesus in the days of thy childhood, obtain for me so to seek and love my Blessed Mother during life that she may be my joy and consolation in the hour of my death.

The closing prayers (every day)

Say nine Hail Marys, then:

V. Pray for us, O Saint Gerard.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst draw to Thyself Saint Gerard even from his tenderest years, making him conformable to the image of Thy Crucified Son, grant, we beseech Thee, that imitating his example we may be made like unto the same Divine Image, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If you are new to this form of prayer and wonder why it runs for nine days, see our short guide to what is a novena.

The novena to St Gerard Majella to conceive — prayer for motherhood

Among the most-searched forms of this devotion is the novena to conceive a child. St Gerard is invoked not only by women already carrying a child but by married couples who long for one and have not yet been given the grace. For that intention, the daily novena above is prayed with the addition of the traditional Prayer for Motherhood, naming the desire for children before God:

O good Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and Wonder-worker of our day, I call upon you and seek your aid. You who on earth did always fulfil God's designs, help me to do the holy will of God. Beseech the Master of Life, from whom all fatherhood proceeds, to render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the kingdom of His glory in the world to come. Amen.

Pray it in submission to God's will. A novena does not command a child from heaven; it commends a longing, and a marriage, to a saint whose whole life was one of trust, and waits on Providence. Those carrying this intention often join it to the novena to St Anne — the mother of Our Lady, herself long childless until God answered her prayer, and for that reason invoked by married couples for the gift of children since the earliest centuries — commending their desire to her together with St Gerard.

The novena for expectant mothers and the unborn child

This is the heart of the devotion and its oldest use. A woman with child prays the nine days for herself and her baby: for a safe pregnancy, for protection through the dangers of labour, and — the intention the prayer names first — that the child may be born alive and reach the font of baptism. In grave or high-risk pregnancies the same novena is prayed with special urgency, often begun the moment a difficulty is known rather than waiting for the feast. Mothers who wish also to nurse their child and raise it well sometimes join a novena to Our Lady of La Leche, and those in danger during pregnancy a novena to Our Lady of Good Health, commending both mother and child to the protection of the Blessed Virgin.

A short prayer of thanksgiving belongs to the devotion for when the child is safely born:

Good Saint Gerard, patron of mothers, assist me in thanking God for the great gift of motherhood, and watch over the child you have helped me bring into the world, that it may be faithful to God all the days of its life. Amen.

The annual novena to St Gerard: Clonard, Dundalk and Limerick

Because St Gerard is a Redemptorist saint, his annual novena is one of the great public devotions of the Redemptorist churches, drawing large crowds each October. The best known are held at Clonard Monastery, Belfast, at St Gerard's, Dundalk, and at the Redemptorist church in Limerick, with novena Masses and blessings for expectant mothers over the nine days around 16 October. Mass times for these public novenas change from year to year and are published by each church; but the prayers of the novena are the same ones given above, and the devotion can be prayed in full at home by anyone who cannot travel. The private novena loses nothing for being said alone: it is the same saint, the same petition, the same trust.

How to pray this novena

A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer for one intention. Choose a fixed time each day and keep it, naming your request plainly at the start.

• When to begin. Many pray it as a preparation for St Gerard's feast, beginning on 7 October and ending on the 15th, the eve of 16 October. But there is no wrong time: a mother in difficulty, or a couple hoping to conceive, may begin the moment the need arises.
• The nine days. Each day say the daily prayer, the petition proper to the day, nine Hail Marys, the versicle, and the closing prayer above. Miss a day? Most simply continue; if you prefer, begin again, since the value lies in the perseverance, not in a mechanical count.
• Disposition. Ask in confidence but in submission — Thy will be done. Where you can, join the novena to Holy Mass and Communion, or to a decade of the Rosary. The grace asked is not always the grace given; a true devotion accepts from God's hand either the favour it named or the better thing He sends instead.

Who is St Gerard Majella?

Gerard Majella was born at Muro Lucano, in the mountains of southern Italy, on 6 April 1726, the son of a poor tailor. His father died while Gerard was still a boy, and the child, the only son, learned his father's trade to help keep his mother and sisters. From his earliest years he was marked by an extraordinary love of prayer and of the suffering Christ, and by a longing to give himself wholly to God. Rejected by the Capuchins as too frail, he served for a time in the household of the Bishop of Lacedonia and then returned to his needle.

In 1749, when the Redemptorists — the congregation founded by St Alphonsus Liguori — preached a mission in Muro, Gerard begged to be taken. His mother had him locked in a room to keep him home; he knotted his sheets and let himself down from the window, leaving a note: "I have gone to become a saint." Received as a lay brother, he professed his vows in 1752 and spent his few remaining years as tailor, gardener, sacristan, porter and infirmarian in the Redemptorist houses, above all at Caposele. In those five hidden years he became known for a heroic obedience, a burning charity to the poor, long hours before the Blessed Sacrament, and wonders that gathered about him — bilocation, reading of hearts, the multiplying of bread for the hungry.

The most famous trial of his life gave rise to his patronage. Falsely accused by a young woman of a grave sin against purity, Gerard made no defence, bearing the calumny in silence like his crucified Master, until the accuser herself, stricken in conscience, retracted every word. It is because he suffered so patiently in a matter touching motherhood, and because of a well-loved story from his life — a girl to whom he returned a handkerchief with the words that she might need it one day, and who years later, in mortal danger in childbirth, called for that handkerchief and was safely delivered — that St Gerard became known through the whole Church as the patron of expectant mothers, of childbirth, and of the unborn.

Worn out by penance and consumption, he died at Materdomini, near Caposele, on 16 October 1755, aged only twenty-nine. Miracles multiplied at his tomb, and the Church confirmed the people's devotion: he was beatified by Leo XIII and canonized by Pope St Pius X on 11 December 1904. His feast is kept on 16 October. His is a modern canonization but a saint of the old mould — the hidden lay brother, obedient, poor and pure, who reminds a noisy age that holiness is made in small duties faithfully done.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is St Gerard Majella the patron saint of?

St Gerard Majella is the patron of expectant mothers, of childbirth and safe delivery, and of unborn children; by extension he is invoked by couples hoping to conceive, and by mothers for their children. He is also honoured, from his own life, as a patron of the falsely accused and of lay brothers. His universal title, though, is the one that fills the churches each October: the mothers' saint.

When is the feast day of St Gerard Majella?

His feast is 16 October, the day he died at Materdomini in 1755. The novena is most often prayed in the nine days leading up to it, from 7 to 15 October, though it may be said at any time of need.

How do you pray the novena to St Gerard to conceive a child?

Pray the nine-day novena above once a day, adding the Prayer for Motherhood ("O good Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God... render me fruitful in offspring") and naming your desire for a child. Ask in trust and in submission to God's will, ideally joining the novena to Mass and Communion. Many pair it with the novena to St Anne, the mother of Our Lady, who was herself long childless before God gave her a child.

When should I start the novena to St Gerard?

To prepare for his feast, begin on 7 October so that the ninth day falls on the eve of 16 October. But an expectant mother in difficulty, or anyone in urgent need, should not wait for a date — begin at once, and pray the nine days from wherever you are.

Why is St Gerard the patron of expectant mothers?

For two reasons drawn from his life: he bore a false accusation touching a woman's motherhood in perfect, silent patience, so that God "raised him up," as the prayer says, "as the patron and protector of expectant mothers"; and because of the cherished story of the handkerchief he gave to a girl who, years later, called for it when her life was in danger in childbirth and was safely delivered. Ever since, mothers have brought him their pregnancies.

Is there a PDF of the St Gerard Majella novena?

The complete text is on this page — the daily prayer, the nine petitions, the Prayer for Motherhood, and the closing prayers — so you can copy or print it to keep beside you for the nine days. In the Iter Fidei app the whole novena is carried with day-by-day reminders and audio, so it can be prayed from a phone without a printed sheet.

Can I pray the novena if I am not pregnant, or if I am a man?

Yes. While the daily prayer is worded for a mother carrying a child, the novena is prayed by husbands for their wives, by families for a safe delivery, by those hoping to conceive, and by anyone who wishes St Gerard's help — you may simply adapt the petition to name the mother or the child you are praying for. St Gerard is a friend to the whole household, not to mothers only.

Pray this novena to St Gerard Majella with day-by-day reminders and audio in the Iter Fidei app. Download it here.

Sources. The traditional nine-day Redemptorist novena to St Gerard Majella (the daily prayer for expectant mothers, the nine petitions on faith, detachment, charity, purity, obedience, humility, patience, the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to Mary, with the versicle "Pray for us, O Saint Gerard" and the collect "Almighty and everlasting God, who didst draw to Thyself Saint Gerard"), and the Prayer for Motherhood, as carried in Redemptorist prayer-books; Butler's Lives of the Saints and the traditional account of St Gerard's life, canonized by Pope St Pius X, 11 December 1904 (feast 16 October); on the invocation of the saints, Catechism of St Pius X, Part II.