In the year 1742, when St. Gerard Majella was around sixteen years old, he was employed in the Episcopal residence of Msgr. Albini, the bishop of Lacedonia, Italy. The bishop was a man with many good qualities, but had difficulty in controlling his temper. God made use of the bishop to exercise young Gerard in the practice of virtue. Complaints, scoldings, humiliations, hard labor – all these were necessary in purifying Gerard and strengthening him in virtue. Many times Gerard would remain silent as he received a harsh or hasty correction. He strove to maintain his obedience and an amiable cheerfulness in the face of temptations to lose his own temper.

However, God did not use Gerard’s employer to teach Gerard humility, patience, and meekness only. The young Italian Saint suddenly found himself learning another important virtue – confidence in God.

One day, Gerard was startled when he accidentally dropped the key of the Bishop’s room down into the household well. As he watched the key disappear into the water and out of sight, Gerard became very frightened as the thought of the bishop’s reaction to his mistake flashed through his mind. But how could he recover the key?

In his fear, the boy began to pray very hard. While he was afraid of the punishment he would receive, he also knew how difficult it would be for the bishop to have a replacement of the key made. Gerard did not look forward to being the cause of the bishop’s frustration. It would be no surprise if his master’s temper would lead him to an excessive anger that could be displeasing to God.

These concerns were swirling in Gerard’s mind when, suddenly, he was given an inspiration from Heaven. Rushing into the house, he took a statue of the Infant Jesus and brought it to the well. Carefully lowering the statue into the well, Gerard prayed, confident he would be helped, "It is for You, Lord, to bring me the key, so the bishop will not be upset."

He let the statue remain under the water for a few moments. Then, Gerard drew up the Infant Jesus again from the well. Relief and grateful thanks flooded the boy’s heart as he saw that the Infant Jesus was holding in His hand the lost key. A group of bystanders that had gathered to watch stared in surprise. The key had been returned by the hand of Jesus’ statue! No doubt the well from then on was a reminder to Gerard to have confidence and trust in God’s Fatherly love and protection, and in time the well grew to be affectionately called, "Little Gerard’s Well."