Day 1 – Founder and Superior of the Pilgrims’ house.
With the Bull Pie postulatio voluntatis of 15 February 1113, Pope Paschal II placed the newly founded Hospice under the protection of the Holy See. In it, he described Gerard as the “Founder and Superior of the Jerusalem Hospital” (Institutor ac praepositus Hierosolymitani Xenodochi). The word «xenodochium» stood for much more than «hotel» means today. It was a shelter for strangers, for visitors, and for pilgrims.
Assistance to pilgrims in the Holy Land thereby became a responsibility of the Knights of Saint John at that time, as it later became along the «Way of Saint James» to Compostela or during the Holy Year 2000 in the Roman Basilicas of Saint Peter, Saint John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore and Saint Peter outside the Walls. In Gerard’s shelter, pilgrims were cared for in both body and spirit.
So that their journey might be without incident, both the House and several of the roads used by pilgrims were watched and protected from the very beginning by armed men under the command of Gerard; but the fundamental element was spiritual fortification. In this, Gerard was the model – a man of action and a man of prayer.
Prayer
Jesus Christ, Lord of time and of eternity, grant that all people may recognize the light of your truth;
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may understand events in the light of the Holy Spirit and with your help persevere in goodness and compassion
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may recognize people’s needs in our own day and come to their aid.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
send helpers to our side and do not abandon us in our earthly pilgrimage.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Direct our actions, O Lord, with your inspiration and accompany them with your aid, that all our works may at all times begin in you and through you reach their end. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 2 – Provider and Almoner.
The term “provider” (provisor: Paschal II, 1113) describes Gerard as a man capable of planning and foreseeing what the pilgrims, the poor and the sick would need and where help was required. Prudent organization put Gerard in the best possible position to fulfill his duties as an “almsgiver” (elemosinarius: in a document of Count Adalbert de Perigord, 17 September 1116). In today’s world, we stand in need of efficient organization of the Order and its aid services which are active throughout the world. But organization must not become an end in itself or be smothered in paperwork. Its objective must be to act to bring assistance promptly and effectively. We must never forget what the Lord says to us: whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you … let your alms be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you (cf. Mt 6:2).
PrayerLord Jesus Christ, friend of the poor and of the sick, grant to all people in this world an increase of peace and freedom.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
give us a ready ear and open hand for those in want.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may never be entangled in worldly considerations, techniques, and statistics.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that all our projects and planning may be for the love of our neighbour.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Almighty and merciful God, let not the concerns of this world keep us from hastening toward your Son but let the guidance of heavenly wisdom make us into his companions, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 3 – Father of the Hospital.
In the year 1120, King Baldwin of Jerusalem described Gerard as the “father” (pater) of the Jerusalem Hospital. A good father watches over his children with love and also with strictness when required. He is present when his family needs him. Gerard directed his foundation and regarded his paternal responsibility as a gift from God, as a talent to be used. In our day we must never presume to set ourselves up as fathers, teachers, or instructors on our own account (cf. Mt 23: 9-11), but rather see our duties as parents, as superiors, or as academics as a responsibility before God and man: All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted (Mt 23:12).
PrayerJesus Christ, God and man, Son of the Father, help our families to see ever more clearly their duties as the domestic Church.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
help couples to remain united in fidelity in a world hostile to marriage.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
help parents and children to understand one another. Lord hear our prayer.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
help academics, researchers and teachers to fulfil their duties responsibly in your sight.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
O God, in love of you and of our neighbour you have established everything that the sacred laws decree; grant unto us that, in keeping your commandments, we may enter into eternal life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 4 Guardian of Christ’s Poor.
Gerard was called the “guardian of Christ’s poor” (“procurator pauperum Christi”, in a document of Bishop Ademar di Rodez, 1120). Procurator can mean administrator or governor, but also representative who acts on someone’s behalf in court. Through his works, Gerard was the defender of the poor, the weak, the abandoned. The term “Christ’s poor” shows us that “obsequium pauperum” is a service rendered not only to the poor but also to Christ himself: “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25: 35-37).
PrayerLord Jesus Christ, Saviour, Redeemer, let us recognize you in the poor, the sick and the stranger.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
bless and protect all the goods of the earth and give to all their daily bread.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
call forth vocations for your service alone.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant unto us the strength of the Holy Spirit to give of ourselves for the persecuted and oppressed whether it suits us or not.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
O God, you show to those in error the light of your truth that they may return to the right path; grant that all who profess the Christian faith may reject those things which are contrary to that name and follow such things that are appropriate to it. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 5 – Servant of God.
“Dei servus”, helper, servant of God (in a document of the Bishop Ademar di Rodez, 1120): this description of Blessed Gerard is a description often used by the Church for her members, the baptized. During the beatification process, as a declaration of heroic virtue, of an exemplary life, the candidate is accorded the title of “Servant of God”. The servant of the servants of God, “servus servorum Dei”, is also one of the titles of the Holy Father. We are all therefore servants of God; by his actions, Gerard demonstrated this fact to us in an exemplary fashion.
PrayerJesus Christ, Emmanuel, Messiah, preserve us from arrogance and selfishness.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
keep us in your service.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may know our duty in the Church and in the world and to fulfill it.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
direct our hearts and minds toward the things of heaven.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
O God, you dispose the hearts of the faithful as one in their desire; grant that your people may love what you command and desire what you promise, that amid the varied changes of this world, our hearts may be fixed where true joys may be found. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 6 – Servant and Helper of the Hospital.
Gerard described himself in 1101 as “servant (servus) of the Hospital of Holy Jerusalem” in a document given to Pope Paschal II and the Patriarch Daimbertus; and again, in 1110, to the Abbots of Cluny and of Moissac as “servant and minister of the Hospital”. “Servus” means not only “helper” or “servant”, but also “slave”, although we should keep in mind that even though slaves were not freemen, they were not, according to Roman Law, entirely without rights. “Minister” is not a term of authority, as we might be led to think; minister in this context is to be understood much more as one who carries out the Lord’s will. Helper, servant, slave, assistant, executor of the Lord’s will: who would be that today? Gerard was and is thereby a call upon our obedience to God, to the Church, and the Superiors in our Order.
PrayerJesus Christ, obedient unto death, even death on a cross, strengthen and sustain us as your followers.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may recognize our responsibility for human life from its beginning.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
bless all those who provide service in hospitals, homes for the aged, and hospices.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
help all people to serve you and their neighbour in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the paschal mystery established the covenant of reconciliation with all mankind, grant that we may show forth in our live s what we solemnly pro fess. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 7 – Lord.
In Blessed Gerard’s time, the title “Lord” (Dominus) was used only for popes, bishops, emperors, kings and other distinguished persons; and yet Gerard was also called Dominus (in a document of 1112 regarding a foundation established for the honour of God by several bishops which was dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre and the Hospital). The title “Lord”, as a term of honour, can only be justified if we recognize that all power and glory and honour belong to God alone, as we sing in the Gloria of the Mass: “You alone are the holy one, you alone are Lord, you alone are the most high, Jesus Christ” (Tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus Iesu Christe). Perhaps it is time to reflect upon these words and our own relationship with the one Lord, Jesus Christ.
PrayerJesus Christ, holy one, Lord, most high,may we recognize you in our lords the sick.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that we may see our responsibility as you would see it.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
grant that all who hold office and authority in politics and business may contribute to the good of all.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
send your Holy Spirit that we may rightly judge our strengths and our weaknesses.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who have received the grace to know the Lord is risen, may, through your Spirit’s love, rise to newness of life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 8 – Christ has died, Christ is risen.
With the reform of the liturgy in years following the Second Vatican Council, the acclamation “mortem tuam annuntiamus, Domine, et tuam resurrectionem confitemur”, rendered as “Christ has died; Christ is risen”, became our profession of faith after the consecration. This phrase repeats the original credo of the Church, the confession of the death and resurrection of the Lord. It was with this faith too that Blessed Gerard worked in Jerusalem near to the place where the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ occurred, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem that embraced the traditional sites of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord: “… and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain…” (1 Cor 15:14). In our own day we must again become aware of this Easter faith that Gerard lived. During Easter, we the baptized are most intimately joined with Christ. “God raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6); “so if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1-2).
PrayerLord Jesus Christ risen from the dead, strengthen us in faith, in trust and in love.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
make the Holy Land a land of peace between peoples where your praises may sound.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
send us your Spirit that we may proclaim your death and profess your resurrection until you come in glory. Lord hear our prayer.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
welcome our dead in your heavenly Jerusalem.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Let your people, renewed in youth of spirit, O God, rejoice always that those who now take delight in the glory of being your adopted children, may look forward with certain hope to the day of resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Day 9 – Blessed Gerard, pray for us.
We know little about Blessed Gerard. We revere him as the founder of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. There are documents which testify to Gerard’s activity and legends that sought to embellish it. Through Gerard, “the Jerusalem Hospital” has been for 900 years the basis for defence of the faith and service of the sick (“tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”). More than in life, Gerard has, like many saints, perhaps had greater effect after his death, after his “heavenly birthday” as the Church was accustomed to call the day of one’s death. The Order of Saint John has given witness to this with its traditions, its international potential, its new initiatives and with the noble character of its particular spirituality. “Our confraternity will be everlasting since the ground in which this flower has taken root is the misery of the world and since there will always be people, please God, who will give of themselves to lessen suffering and make this misery more bearable.” These are likely not the words of Gerard, but they have been attributed to him. It falls to us here and now, as it did to Gerard, to reduce the suffering in our time, to make misery more bearable, so that Jesus Christ may be glorified in all.
PrayerJesus Christ, “my Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28), strengthen in your service our Holy Father Benedict, all bishops, priests, deacons and all members of the Order.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
assist our Grand Master Frà Matthew and all those in authority in the Order to live out their calling and their mission in the present day.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
raise up suitable and devout vocations for the Hospitaller Order of Saint John .
R.: Lord hear our prayer
let us be faithful and joyful in your service and once our earthly life is ended, lead us to your Easter glory.
R.: Lord hear our prayer
Pater… Ave… Gloria…
Pray for us, Blessed Gerard
R.: that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
God of unchanging power and everlasting light, look with favour upon the mystery of the entire Church, and bring to fulfilment your eternal plan of redemption; then may the whole world observe and know that the fallen have been lifted up, what has grown old is made new and that all has been restored to wholeness through Christ, the source of all things, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Collect for the Feast of Blessed Gerard – 13th of October.
O God, who exalted blessed Gerard because of his care for the poor and the sick, and through him founded in Jerusalem the Order of St John the Baptist, give us the grace of seeing, as he did, the image of your Son in our brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
NIHIL OBSTAT
Roma, 26 Marzo 2001
† DONATO DE BONIS
Vescovo Tit. Castello di Numidia
Prelato del Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta
