Gerard was a friar, as well as a knight of Saint John, and is regarded as one of the greatest of our saints. Born in Villamagna, near Florence, to noble parents who were custodians of the castelloknown as Le Casalline, property of the Nobile Federico Folchi. His parents succumbed to the plague when Gerard was a child, and Don Folchi, a kindly man, attracted by the boy’s obvious piety and honesty, made him steward of his household.
Folchi was a knight of Saint John, and the boy showed evident interest in the life of a ‘servant d’armes’ within our Order. He joined the Order in readiness to accompany his lord to Syria, in the fight against the wicked pagans. Gerard’s humility and compassion prompted him to give all his property for the benefit of the poor, thus he left his native Italy as a true knight of Saint John, free of all possessions. Don Folchi was soon captured following a battle in Syria, Gerard was with him, and nursed his wounded Master until his death later in Palestine. Ransomed, Gerard returned briefly to Tuscany before setting off again to the Holy Land, and on the way his ship was attacked by pirates. For his bravery in what proved a fierce battle he was decorated by the Master of the Hospital with the Cross of a Serving Knight, the highest honour of the Order at that time.
Gerard remained in the Holy Land for seven years, leading the ordinary life of a knight of Saint John, assisting pilgrims, and serving the sick and the poor. He became well known for his saintliness and humility, and, eventually, to eschew the life of celebrity which was coming to him, chose to return home to Villamagna. The sea journey home proved eventful, a great storm blew up, near shipwreck was averted only by long and fervent prayers, but, against the worst fears of Gerard and his companions, eventually they made it into the harbour of Livorno, which in English we call Leghorn, a tribute to its importance in the Crusader life of the Mediterranean Sea.
Returned home, not for our Blessed, though, the honourable and decent country life of a retired knight. On the road to Florence he met Saint Francis of Assisi, and, renewed with zeal and love of the poor, received from the Saint’s stigmatized hands the homespun habit of the Third Order, which he wore thereafter over his mantle with the white Cross of Religion of our own Order, beneath them both a hair shirt. In the poorest hovel near his old home, Gerard lived the simple life of a hermit, following the rules and vows of both the Franciscans and our own Order, then still in its strict observance, and dedicated himself to a life of fasting, penance and silent contemplation. Every night, so as not to be seen by the locals, he made a pilgrimage of three miles upon his knees, and his reputation for sanctity so greatly affected the people round about, that a procession following his path (on foot) was continued until the 17thcentury by a fraternity set up in his honour.
Before his death, as an old man, occurred a miracle. The nun who attended him asked if he needed anything. Smiling he replied, “Yes, I should like to eat some cherries.” She thought he must be delirious, as it was Spring, but going out saw a cherry tree laden with ripe fruit "as fine and fresh as in June." For this reason paintings of Blessed Gerard often depict him holding the branch of a cherry tree.
He died about 1245, some time in May. At that period, canonisation by popular acclamation and local cultus was still usual, and in Italian santo and beato were effectively interchangeable terms. His relics are still at Villamagna, his body was still incorrupt in the 17thcentury, and shown to the people annually after Pentecost. On 18thMarch 1833 Pope Gregory XVI proclaimed him a beatus of the universal Church.
Blessed Gerard Mecatti, pray for us.
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