Saint Gerard of Potenza, also Gerard La Porta ( it, Gerardo di Potenza, ''Gerardo La Porta'') (d. 30 October 1119) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

saint and a

bishop of Potenza The Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo ( la, Archidioecesis Potentina-Murana-Marsicensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Basilicata, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year the Diocese of Muro Lucano was unite ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Life

Gerard was born in

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

into a noble family. He travelled into southern Italy in search of holy sites, but when he reached Potenza he decided to dedicate himself to the apostolic life. Such was his drive that when the bishop died, the people and clergy chose Gerard as his successor. He was proclaimed bishop at

Acerenza Acerenza ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. History With its strategic position above sea-level, Acerenza has been sacked by a series of invaders. The town, then kno ...

and was in post for eight years. After Gerard's death Pope Callixtus II declared him a saint ''viva voce'' in 1120. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

are kept in a sarcophagus in Potenza Cathedral, which is dedicated to him.

Veneration

Saint Gerard's principal feast day is 30 May, the day of the

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of his relics; 30 October, the day of his death, is also kept.

References

Sources

Santi e Beati: San Gerardo di Potenza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard Of Potenza Medieval Italian saints Bishops in Basilicata People from Potenza People from Piacenza 1118 deaths Year of birth unknown