Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/533

 GERANDO

4G5

GERARD

descent. Being of a fiery and chivalrous disposition, he took an active part in the struggles of the monar- chies in Europe against the French Revolution, and rose to the rank of heutenant-general. In 1808 he fell into the hands of Napoleon, who imprisoned him in the fortress of Vincennes until 1814, the time when the allied powers entered Paris. After bidding fare- well to the Tsar and Emperor of Austria, he resolved to leave the world. It was at this time that he provi- dentially met the Rev. Father Eugene, Abbot of Notro Dame du Port du Salut, near Laval (France), of whom he begged to be admitted as a novice in the commu- nity. He pronounced his vows in 1817. After having rendered great services to that monastery, he was sent, in 1827, to the monastery of Mt Olivet (Alsace). During the Revolution of 1830 de G(5ramb displayed great courage in the face of a troop of insurgents that had come to pillage the monastery; though the reli- gious had been dispersed, the abbey was at least, by his heroic action, spared the horrors of pillage. It was at this time that Brother Mary Joseph made his pil- grimage to Jerusalem. On his return in 1833, he went to Rome, where he held the office of procurator-general of La Trappe. He soon gained the esteem and affec- tion of Gregory XVI, who, though he was not a priest, named him titular abbot with the insignia of the ring and pectoral cross, a privilege without any precedent. Abbot de Geramb is the author of many works, the principal of which are: "Letters to Eugene on the Eucharist"; "Eternity is approaching"; "Pilgrimage to Jerusalem"; " A Journey from La Trappe to Rome", besides many others of less importance and of an exclusively ascetical character. They were often re- printed and translated. His style is easy and without affectation. The customs, manners, and incidents of the journey which he describes, all are \-ividly and attractively given, and the topographical descriptions are of an irreproachable accuracy. Even under the monk's cowl the great nobleman could occasionally be seen ilistrilmting in alms considerable sums of money which he had received from his family to defray his expenses.

In 1796, Baron de Geramb married his cousin The- resa de Adda, who died, in 1808, at Palermo. Six children had been born to him, of which number two died in their youth. On his entrance into La Trappe he confided the surviving children to the care of his lirother, Leopold de Geramb, after having placed them under the protection of the Tsar and the Em- peror of Austria.

Archires of the Monastery of N. D. du Port du Salut; Ruff, Trappislcn Ablei Oelenbcrg (Freiburg, 1898); Geramb, De la Trappe a Rome (Paris, 1858); Idem, Voyage a Jerusalem (Paris, 1862); Idem. Leilres h Eugene sur VEueharistie (Paris, 1S2S); Haggle in Kirchenlex., s. v.; Michaud, Biog, Univ. (Paris, 1880).

Edmond M. Obrecht.

Gerando, Joseph -Marie de, a French statesman and writer, b. at Lyons, 29 February, 1772; d. at Paris, 10 November, 1842. After completing his studies with the Oratorians at Lyons, he took part in the defence of the city against the besieging armies of the French Convention. Wounded and taken pris- oner, he barely escaped being put to death, and later took refuge in Switzerland and at Naples. He en- listed agam in the army and was at Colmar when the French Institute announceil the offer of a prize for the best essay on " The influence of signs on the form.a- tion of ideas". Gerando sent a paper, which was awarded the first honours. This was a turning-point in his life; for, having come to Paris, he was appointed to many important functions, political, administra- tive, and educational. In 1815, he was one of the founilers nf the Societe pour I'instruction ^lementaire, which introduced into France the monitorial system, established in England by Lancaster, and thus made education possible for the poor classes. He was a member of the state-council under Napoleon and VI.— 30

under Louis XVIII, member of the Academie des In- scriptions et Belles- Lettres, and of the Academie des Sciences morales et politiques, and officer of the Le- gion of Honour. In 1819, he opened a course in the faculty of law in Paris; and, in 1837, became a member of the Chambre des Pairs. He consecrated his talent to the causes of education and charity, taking part in the foundation and administration of schools, hos- pitals, and charitable institutions of all kinds. His works are verj' numerous; among the most important must be mentioned the following. Philosophical: " Des signes et de I'art de penser consideres dans leurs rapports naturels" (Paris, 1800), a development of his prize-essay in which the author follows Condillac, but differs from him on many points; " De la generation des connaissances humaines" (Berlin, 1802), awarded a prize by the Academy of Sciences of Berlin; " His- toire comparee des systemes de philosophie consideres relativement aux principes des connaissances hu- maines" (Paris, 1803). Educational: "Du perfec- tionnement moral, ou de I'etlucation de soi-mcme" (Paris, 1824); "Cours normal des instituteurs pri- maires" (Paris, 18.32); "De I'education des sourds- muets de naLssance" (Paris, 1832); "Institutes du droit administratif frangais" (Paris, 1830). Charitable: "Le visiteur dupauvre" (Paris, 1820);"De la bien- faisance publique" (Paris, 1839).

Nouvelle biographie generate (Paris, 18.58). XX, 142; Morel, Essai sur la vie el les travaux de Gerando (1846); Mignet, Notice sur de Gerando (1854); Jourdain in Franck. Dictionnaire des seienres philosophiques (2nd ed., 188.5), 350; GossOTin BnissoN, Dictionnaire de pedagogic (Paris, 1SS7), I, I, 1167.

C. A. DUBE.\Y.

Gerard, Saint, Abbot of Brogne, b. at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; d. at Brogne or St-Gerard, 3 Oct., 959. The son of Stance, of the family of the dukes of Lower Aus- trasia, and of Pleetrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liege, the young Gerard, like most men of his rank, followed at first the career of arms. His piety, how- ever, was admirable amid the distractions of camp. He transformed into a large church a modest chapel situated on the estate of Brogne which belonged to liis family. About 917, the Count of Xamur charged him with a mission to Robert, younger brother of Eudes, Iving of France. He permitted his followers to reside at Paris, but himself went to live at the Abbey of St- Denis, where he was so struck by the edifying fives of the monks that, at the conclusion of his embassy, with the consent of the Count of Namur and Bishop Stephen, his maternal uncle, he returned to St-Denis, took the religious habit, and after eleven years was or- dained priest. He then requested to be allowed to re- turn to Brogne, where he replaced the lax clerics with monks animated by a true religious spirit. There- upon he himself retired to a cell near the monastery for more austere mortification. From this retreat he was summoned by the Archbishop of Cambrai who confided to him the du-ection of the community of St- Ghislain in Hainault. Here also he established monks instead of the canons, whose conduct had ceased to be exemplary, and he enforced the strictest monastic discipline. Gradually he became superior of eighteen other abbeys situiited in the region lietween the ^leuse, the Sonnne, and the sea, and through his efforts the Order of St. Benedict was soon completely restored throughout this region. Weighed down by age and infirmities, he placed vicars or abbots in his stead, in the various abbeys with which he was charged, and retired to that of Brogne. He still had courage to take a journey to Rome in order to obtain a Bull con- firming the privileges of that abbey. On his return he paid a final visit to all the commvinities which he had reorganized, and then awaited death at Brogne. His body is still preserved at Brogne, now commonly called St-G(^rard.

Servais, Essaisurlaviede S. Gerard, abbe de Brogne (Namur,