Quick Facts
Biography
Blessed Gerard of Villamagna (1174 - 13 May 1242) - known also as Gerard of Monza - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member from the Third Order of Saint Francis.
Pope Gregory XVI beatified him on 18 March 1833.
Life
He was born in 1174 in the Republic of Florence to poor parents who died in his childhood.
He was taken in by another family who raised him while a son of that family became part of the Knights of Jerusalem and chose him as his esquire to go with him on a trip to the Holy Land, though the two were taken as prisoners whilst on that crusade. That knight died during the trip and he was soon ransomed off. Gerard visited Palestine before he returned to his homeland where he voyaged with another knight to Syria on a ship with 20 others when pirates attacked yet eluded them due to Gerard's prayers. He later became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and lived the rest of his life as a hermit while it was alleged that Saint Francis of Assisi himself vested him in the habit.
He died in 1242.
Beatification
His beatification was approved under Pope Gregory XVI on 18 March 1833.