Collection of prayers in San Gerardo, the saint of mothers and children

PRAYERS IN SAN GERARDO
For children
O Jesus, you who pointed to children as models for the kingdom of heaven, listen to our humble prayer. We know, you do not want the proud of heart in heaven, the hungry for glory, power and wealth. You, Lord, do not know what to do with them. You want us all to be children in giving and forgiving, in the purity of life and in the filial abandonment in your arms.

O Jesus, you liked the joyful cry of the children of Jerusalem who on Palm Sunday acclaimed you "Son of David", "Blessed are you, who come in the name of the Lord!" Accept now the cry of all the children of the world, above all of many poor, abandoned, marginalized children; we implore you for all children, whom society abuses by throwing them along the scary slope of sex, drugs, theft.

O dear Saint Gerard, strengthen your prayer with your powerful intercession: be close to us and to all children and always comfort us with your protection. Amen.

Prayer of the young man
O glorious Saint Gerard, friend of the young, I turn to you with confidence, I entrust my aspirations and my plans to you. Help me to live pure in heart, constant in the practice of Christian life, able to implement my ideals of faith.

I recommend my study (job) that I want to deal with seriously in order to train myself in life and be useful to my loved ones and those in need.

Let him find true friends, keep me away from evil and compromise; help me to be strong in my human and Christian beliefs.

Be my guide, my model and intercessor before God. Amen.

Prayer of the spouses
Here we are before you, O Lord, to express our thanks, to raise our prayers to you. Thank you, Lord, because one day, behind that smile, that attention, that gift ignited the first spark of our love.

Thank you, Lord, for joining us in marriage, because in two we live better, suffer, rejoice, walk, face difficulties.

And now, Lord, we pray to you: our family reflects the Holy Family of Nazareth, where respect, goodness, understanding were at home.

Keep our love alive every day. Don't let it get spoiled because of the monotony and feverish activity of life. Don't let anything be missing from us and we live next to each other without a rush of affection. Make our life an ever new discovery of us and our love, with the amazement and freshness of the first meeting. Lord, let our house be enlivened by children, which we want, as you want.

O dear Saint Gerard, we entrust our humble prayer to you; be the Angel of God in our house; cover it with your protection, remove all evil and fill it with all good. Amen.

For a sick person
O St. Gerard, it was written of Jesus: "he passed by doing good and healing all diseases". You too, who were his exemplary disciple, passed along the districts of our Italy and your gaze, your smile, your word a miracle flourished and a powerful chorus of thanks rose to the sky from the healed sick.

O St. Gerard, at this moment I raise to you my heartfelt appeal: "Come quickly to my aid!" Listen in particular to my cry, my plea for ...

Come by, O San Gerardo, next to his house, stop by his bed, wipe away his tears, restore his health and add a piece of paradise to him. Then, o St. Gerard, his house will be a blessed oasis, it will be a Bethany of welcome, of friendship, where love for you, devotion to you will live full of Christian life, and will mark a more rapid path towards heaven. Amen.

Prayer of the sick
O Lord, disease has knocked on the door of my life.

I would have liked to keep the door closed, but it entered by arrogance. Illness uprooted me from myself, from my little world built in my image and lived for my consumption. Illness made me poor and transplanted me to a different world.

I felt loneliness, anguish, but also the affection, love, friendship of many people.

Poverty made me realize that another road, even if narrower and more thorny, leads to you, like that of true joy, of which you are the source. To you "poor in birth, poorer in life, very poor on the cross" I offer my sufferings. Accept them and unite them with your Passion for my redemption and for the whole world.

O Saint Gerard, who suffered so much in your life and from painful illness you were cut as a flower in your youth, obtain me through the intercession of the Heavenly Mother, consoler of the afflicted and health of the sick, the health of the soul and body. Pray, beg for me! I have immense confidence in your intercession and I am sure that you will get me the healing or at least the courage to accept and heal the pain as you did.

Plead to San Gerardo
O Saint Gerard, you who with your intercession, your graces and your favors, have guided innumerable hearts to God; you who have been elected comforter of the afflicted, relief of the poor, doctor of the sick; you who make your devotees cry in consolation: listen to the prayer that I turn to you confidently. Read in my heart and see how much I suffer. Read in my soul and heal me, comfort me, console me. You who know my affliction, how can you see me suffer so much without coming to my aid?

Gerardo, come to my rescue soon! Gerardo, make sure that I too am in the number of those who love, praise and thank God with you. Let me sing his mercies together with those who love me and suffer for me.

What does it cost you to listen to me?

I will not cease to invoke you until you have fully fulfilled me. It is true that I do not deserve your graces, but listen to me for the love you bring to Jesus, for the love you bring to Mary most holy. Amen.

Prayer
O Saint Gerard, in imitation of Jesus, you passed along the roads of the world doing good and doing wonders. At your passage faith was reborn, hope flourished, charity rekindled and everyone ran to you, because you were the guide, friend, counselor, benefactor of all.

You were a very clear image of Jesus and everyone, in your humble person, saw Jesus Skin-grino among the pilgrim men. O St. Gerard, you transmit to us the message of God which is the message of Faith, Hope, Charity, the message of goodness and fraternity. Let us welcome this message into your heart and life.

O St. Gerard, turn to us and look: the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, children, young people, the elderly, the sick in soul and body, mothers, above all, turn their gaze on you, on you they open the heart. You, image of the Crucified Jesus, tear grace, smile, miracle from God. How many love you, how many take pride in your protection, how many above all want to shape their life on yours, can form a great family, or Saint Gerard, who walks safely in the hope of the kingdom of God, where glory will sing with you of the Lord and will love her forever. Amen.

San Gerardo pray for me
O Saint Gerard, you were the perfect image of Jesus Christ, especially in suffering and in charity. To you I entrust my efforts and my intentions to present them to Jesus. To your prayers I recommend my invocations.

- In my daily struggles against the idols of this world to be ever more rooted in Christ and live my baptism fully: Pray for me.

- In the difficulties and pains of life so that it can conform me to the passion of Christ: Pray for me.

- In the fulfillment of my daily duties, so that in fidelity to my vocation may be texts-mone of Christ on earth: Pray for me.

- In daily work, so that my brothers through my person may discover the true face of Christ: Pray for me.

- In relations with others, so that your examples of zeal encourage me to follow Christ, becoming his faithful disciple: Pray for me.

In the difficulties of my family, because with faith in God he knows how to live in harmony and defend his unity: Pray for me.

- Thank you, St. Gerard, for the example you gave us in life.

- Thanks, for the help you got after your death.

- Thank you, for the push you still give us to love God and be faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

Prayer for mothers
O glorious Saint Gerard, who you saw in every woman the living image of Mary, bride and mother of God, and you wanted her, with your intense apostolate, at the height of her mission, bless me and all the mothers of the world. Make us strong to keep our families united; help us in the difficult task of educating children in a Christian way; give our husbands the courage of faith and love, so that, by your example and comforted by your help, we can be an instrument of Jesus to make the world better and more just. In particular, help us in disease, pain and in any need; or at least give us the strength to accept everything in a Christian way so that we too can be an image of Jesus Crucified as you were.

It gives our families the joy, peace and love of God.

For the gift of motherhood
O St. Gerard, when you were on earth you always did the will of God by conforming to it up to heroism. And God glorified you by doing wonderful works through your person.

I too want to always seek his will and I want to adapt to it with all my strength. However intercede for me with God. May he who is the Lord of life grant me the gift of motherhood; make me also an instrument of his creation; also give me the joy of holding my creature in my arms to sing its glory together.

O Saint Gerardo, do not abandon me, grant my prayer, make fruitful my love that God himself blessed on my wedding day. If you intercede for me, I am sure that there will also be a joyful cry in my home as soon as possible, which will testify to God's love for humanity. So much hope and much I desire, if this is the will of our dear God. Amen.

For a motherhood in danger
O Saint Gerardo, you know how much I prayed for the miracle of life to be renewed in me too, and how much I exulted when I felt the first movements and I was sure that my body had become the temple of a new life.

But you also know that the creature that is in my womb is now in danger, and that my long-awaited pregnancy risks being interrupted.

O St. Gerard, you know my anxiety, you know my affliction. So do not allow my joy to turn into tears. Intercede with your power with God, Lord of life, so that it may not be deprived of the joy of holding in my arms, one day, a living testimony of his supreme love.

O Saint Gerard, I am sure of your intercession. I rely on you, I hope in you. Amen!

Deed of entrustment to the Madonna and San Gerardo
O blessed Virgin, your sweet name gladdens heaven and is blessed by all peoples; one day you welcomed your Son Jesus and he, clasped in your arms, found refuge against the evil of men.

You, Queen and our Mother, became, by the work of the Holy Spirit, the most fruitful of mothers while remaining the purest of virgins. We too, Christian mothers, on such a beautiful day, welcomed our children as a precious gift from God. We held them in our womb and - like you - we were the happiest creatures in the world. At this moment, we entrust ourselves and our children to you. They are our children, they are your children: we love them, but even more you love them, who are Mother of men and Mother of God.

Hold them in your arms like one day you hold baby Jesus; drive them anywhere, always protect them. May they feel your help, be gladdened by your smile, be protected by your valid patronage.

And you, most amiable Saint Gerard, who continually cared about children, join our prayer to thank God for the inestimable gift of the children.

We entrust our children to you too. You are the Protector of mothers, because your gaze and your smile turn to them, your graces and miracles go to them. Hold - strong strong - to your heart our children, as you held the Crucifix, your only love and your great treasure.

Protect them, defend them, assist them, guide them along the road that leads to heaven. You yourself, glorious Saint Gerard, introduce our children to Mary; tell her that we love them, that you love them. Here on earth, protected by you and Mary, we want to form a large Christian family, where love and harmony, respect and peace reign; where you work, suffer, rejoice; where please, above all. One day, with Maria and with you, San Gerardo, we will form the big family, which praises and loves God forever. So be it.