OF THE BLESSED GERARD, FOUNDER

OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM

Specific rules and forms are helpful and indeed indispensable

for the spiritual life of man. This principle applies

in a particular way to the celebration of the liturgical year

but also to prayer formulas which can be repeated to assist

us in living our baptismal faith even when our hearts may

not be filled with the spirit of Easter.

The novena is a very ancient and most human form of devotion.

In classical Roman times, there were the novendialia,

nine days of diverse sacrifices or nine days of preparation

for a feast. The term novendialia is still used today with

reference to the nine days of solemn liturgies following the

death of a Pope and the nine days between the feast of the

Ascension and the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit at

Pentecost which were always days of particular prayer (once

called Expectation Week) for the Church.

The present form of the novena appeared in the 17th century.

As a series of prayers to be completed in nine days, either privately

or in common, its object was to ask a particular favour

of God in conformity with Jesus’ teaching: I will do whatever

you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the

Son (Jn 14:13). It is a good exercise in one’s prayer life to pray

a novena individually while being spiritually united with others

who are praying the same prayer at the same time.

Novenas are frequently made for a particular need. The novena

here presented in honour of Blessed Gerard is offered

in a specific way for the Order and all its works with a particularly

urgent prayer for vocations to the consecrated life.

In this way, we pray to be like the first Apostles at Pentecost:

All these with one accord were constantly at prayer, together

with a group of women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and

his brothers (Acts 1:14), that is to say, his next of kin (his

"brothers", according the language of the time) in company

with all those who, through baptism, have become sisters and

brothers of the Kyrios, the Lord, Emmanuel, the Saviour, the

Redeemer, the Risen Christ.

The theme of the novena from day one to seven is a contemporary

interpretation of the life of Blessed Gerard, the

historical information being based primarily on Alain Beltjens,

Aux origines de l’Ordre de Malte, Brussels, 1995.

Gerard was born between 1035 and 1040, some say to

a noble Provençal family, or more probably, in the city of

Scala (Amalfi) where the powerful patrician families maintained

particularly close ties with the Holy Land and had

seen to the foundation of monasteries and small houses

for the reception of pilgrims in Jerusalem.

It is possible that the terrible menace of Norman invasions

started the young Gerard on his journey toward his

future vocation, but it is more likely that he went to Jerusalem

in order to be of assistance to pilgrims thanks to

the influence of a merchant named Mauro.

This charitable mission could be carried out easily under

the role of the caliphate of Egypt. However, in the battle

of Manzikert (1071) the Byzantines were heavily defeated

by the Seljuk Turks and 30,000 churches (among which

the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem) were destroyed

during the reign of the insane Caliph Hakim.

The ensuing persecution of Christians and obstruction of

pilgrims provided Godfrey de Bouillon with the motive

for taking Jerusalem on the 15 July 1099. Help was provided

to the crusaders by Gerard in the form of information

and foodstuffs.

Legend has it that he threw down bread from the walls of

the city to the Christians who were besieging Jerusalem

but that the bread turned into stones when he was discovered.

Gerard thereafter undertook the construction of a

large hospital with the result that the name "Hospital" came

to be the very name of his confraternity.

Possessed of a remarkable talent for organization, building

a hostel for pilgrims and a church in honour of St

John the Baptist, handling administration, reception,

boarding and pastoral assistance for numerous wayfarers,

caring for the wounded and infirm, Gerard was known

even then as the "Master of the sick".

Gerard also appears to have organized pilgrimages the

Holy Land personally.

The starting point was probably the Order’s branches in

Italy and southern France by means of which Gerard had

already given his community a European base.

Pope Paschal II placed the "Jerusalem Hospital" under the

protection of the Holy See on the 15 February 1113, and the

Kings of Jerusalem, Portugal, Castille and Leon along with

many other princes and Bishops lent Gerard their support.

Gerard died on the 3 September 1120. It is clear that his

directives and his own example were the inspiration behind

what is, by tradition, the first written Rule of the Order

"of the Hospital of Jerusalem" enacted by Raymond de

Puy between 1145 and 1153.

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.

(Collect for Thursday after Ash Wednesday)

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).

(Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent)

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).

(Collect for Sunday XXV of the Year)

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).

(Collect for Sunday XV of the Year)

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.

(Collect for Sunday XXI of the Year)

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.

(Collect for Friday in the Octave of Easter)

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.

(Collect for Friday of the ThirdWeek of Easter)

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).

(Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter)

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.

Since the days of the Blessed Gerard God has continued to

call members of the Church to his service in the Order of

St. John of the Hospital in Jerusalem. In observance of the

evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity and obedience for

the Kingdom of God, they have tried to live the charisma

of the Order of Malta. If the Order is to fulfil its many tasks

concerning tuitio fidei and obsequium pauperum even

in present times, it needs a sufficient number of professed

vocations as knights and chaplains. So let us pray: