Many times in his life St. Gerard encountered devils. Gerard cast many a demon out of possessed people by his command. But his contact with these creatures was not limited to the possession of others. Frequently emerging as enormous vicious dogs, the demons would growl, bite and threaten him. They hated the good that Gerard did and appeared in all sorts of forms in an attempt to either scare or harm him. For all of their efforts, though, the demons could not stop Gerard - but one night, an opportunity arose for them to have their revenge...
As Gerard was one day returning from Melfi to Iliceto, he got lost in the woods of Ofanto. With no success of finding his way, night was steadily setting in and a thick fog covered the ground. To make matters even worse, a terrible thunderstorm was raging. Lightning violently flashed and rain came down in torrents. The darkness, the heavy fog, the downpour of rain and the confusion of the lightning all made it impossible for Gerard to see anything. Guiding his horse through the unfamiliar woods, Gerard endeavored to find his way out.
But what Gerard also could not see was that the danger he was in was much greater than simply being lost. In the woods of Ofanto were steep cliffs, at the bottom of which lay deep ravines. One wrong step off of these precipices could send a person falling down hundreds of feet to their immediate death. Unknowingly, Gerard was heading straight to the edge of one of these cliffs. In a matter of minutes he would be dead.
Suddenly, from the edge of the steep cliff, a human figure rose up. Furiously dashing toward God’s servant, the figure shouted at him with a frightening voice. Surprised to see someone else in these deserted woods, Gerard immediately understood that this person wasn’t interested in helping him. Realizing what the voice was saying to him, Gerard understood that the unknown figure was worse than just a robber. Gerard was alone with a demon.
That same evening Constantino Capucci, a friend of St. Gerard, was at his own home in Lacedonia. "About six o’clock one evening," Constantino relates, "I heard a rap at the door, and on asking who was there, I was very much surprised to hear Brother Gerard’s voice. I opened quickly, and seeing him all wet, I said, ‘O my dear brother! Is it you? But at what an hour, and in what weather!’ "
He immediately let in the soaking Gerard, confused that he was even there. Gerard was supposed to be in Iliceto - roughly 45 miles from Lacendonia! Constantino tells us Gerard’s explanation.
" ‘My dear Constantino’, Gerard replied with his usual frankness, ‘God is good! May His Will be blessed! I was returning from Melfi, but the darkness, the fog and the rain came upon me. I lost my way, I was in the midst of such precipices on the banks of the Ofanto that, if God had not come to my aid, I should have lost my life. While on the edge of an abyss, someone suddenly came toward me.
" ‘This is where I want you,’ he said to me. ‘Now I am your master…’
" ‘At first, I was a little frightened, but instantly commending myself to Our Lord, I saw that I had to deal with the demon.
" Vile beast,’ I said to him, ‘I command you, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, to take the bridle of my horse and lead me straight to Lacedonia without doing me any harm.’
" ‘And guided by the demon, I was saved from danger. Were it not for him, I should not be alive! I should be buried in the ravines of Ofanto. When I reached the church of the Most Holy Trinity, the enemy of God said to me: ‘Here you are at Lacedonia,’ and disappeared.’ "
This incident was told to Fr. Fiocchi and Fr. Juvenal by St. Gerard himself. It is an excellent example of what we should do when temptations and demons surround us. When we pray to God and ask Him to be with and help us, we have more power than the demons. Then they are afraid of us, and they have no control over us. God never allows us be tested more than our strength, and He is always right there with whatever we need when we ask Him. Let us pray then to St. Gerard Majella for the courage and faith to always call upon Heaven for help - in every situation!