Prayers to Saint Gerard for Mothers and Pregnant Women
Saint Gerard was sought out by mothers who wanted to get pregnant or were going through a high-risk pregnancy, as well as by mothers seeking a cure for themselves or their children.
In the history of Saint Gerard, there are countless miracles and deeds for the benefit of mothers, pregnant women and children, but two of them mark the history of this saint born in the South of Italy.
The first tells the story of a woman who was dying during childbirth. The pregnant woman's husband and family knew Geraldo from his missionary work and asked him to pray for her. He prayed and the mother and baby survived.
Years later, after the saint's death, a young woman was pregnant and in danger of dying. She remembered a handkerchief that Geraldo had given her while he was still alive, and asked for it to be fetched and she prayed with it. The danger passed almost immediately and she gave birth.
Let us pray for the intercession of Saint Gerard, the “Saint of Mothers”!
Prayer for the gift of motherhood
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O Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God, I ask you for help with great confidence: make my love fruitful , sanctified by the sacrament of matrimony, and grant me the joy of motherhood ; do this together with the child you give me, and may I always praise and thank God, the origin and source of life. Amen.
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For a pregnancy at risk
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Oh, powerful Saint Gerard, ever solicitous and attentive to the prayers of mothers in difficulty, hear me, I beg you, and help me in this moment of danger for the child I carry in my womb; protect us so that, in complete serenity , we may spend these days of anxious waiting in perfect health, and be grateful for the protection granted to us, a sign of your powerful intercession with God. Amen.
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Prayer of a waiting mother
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Lord God, creator of humanity, who caused your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, turn your benevolent gaze upon me who beg for a happy birth , through the intercession of your servant Gerard Majella ; bless and sustain this waiting of mine, so that the child I carry in my womb , reborn one day through baptism and associated with your holy people, will serve you faithfully and live forever in your love. Amen.
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Novena to Saint Gerard
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Almighty and Eternal God, who by the operation of the Holy Spirit prepared the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God, to be a worthy dwelling place for your Son, and who by the same Holy Spirit sanctified Saint John the Baptist before his birth, receive the prayer of your humble handmaid who begs of you, through the intercession of Saint Gerard, your most faithful servant, for protection from the dangers of motherhood and for the defense against the evil spirit of the fruit you have deigned to give him, so that through your helping and saving hand he may receive holy baptism. Grant also that mother and child may both, after a Christian life, attain to eternal life. Amen.
Complete the novena by praying: 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, Glory Be.
Source: Prayers translated from the Shrine of Materdomini/Italy.