Blessed Joseph Gerard: A spark in South Africa

Joseph Gerard was born on March 12, 1831 near Nancy, France and spent his childhood on the family farm.  With the help of a parish priest, Joseph was able to enter the seminary to study for the priesthood.  While still a seminarian, Joseph learned of a newly established missionary society – the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).  Awed by the inspirational missionary tales of adventure, Joseph decided to join their congregation.

When he was 22 years old, the founder of the Oblates, Saint Eugene de Mazenod, ordained Joseph a deacon and gave him his first assignment as a missionary: the mission of Natal in South Africa. 

In May of 1853, Deacon Joseph set out for Africa, never to see France again.

On February 19, 1854, Joseph was ordained a priest in South Africa.  His special ministry was to work with the Zulu people, but he also worked with the local white population.

He spent very hard years working in the area, journeying through the rough countryside, learning new languages, dealing with intense heat and cold, and often sleeping outdoors.  He became very discouraged, for despite his love and care and hard work, his work didn’t seem to bear much fruit.  Only later would he learn that the seeds he had planted in the hearts of the Zulu people would flourish and bloom.

In 1862, he went to Lesotho to work with the Basotho people, hoping to have more success than he had with the Zulu people.  He labored as a missionary in Lesotho for the next 52 years.

It took him two years of hard work before he made his first convert among the Basotho people.  However, within 5 years, a new congregation of sisters began, and he established a successful mission station in Roma.  Today, this area has many novitiates and seminaries, high schools, an Oblate university, religious houses, and a hospital.  The people attribute all of this to the seeds planted by Fr. Joseph.

But of all the work Fr. Joseph did, his greatest love was toward the sick.  In fact, many reports say his nursing care – both biophysical and psychosocial – was heroic.  Long distances, treacherous mountain trails, and terrible weather could not stop him from making sick calls either on foot on by horse. 

Fr. Joseph spent his last years at the mission in Roma in South Africa.  He continued caring for the sick no matter where they were, even when his arthritis bent him over almost in half, his sight was nearly gone, and he had to be lifted up onto his faithful horse Artaban.

Up to a month before his death, at the age of 83, Fr. Joseph could be seen making nursing rounds to care for those in need.

Fr. Joseph died on May 29, 1914, and Pope St. John Paul II beatified him on September 15, 1988.

Blessed Joseph Gerard’s feast day is May 29^th.