A cultural event took place in the Marianella community during this Year of St Gerard: the presentation of the book “San Gerardo Maiella tra storia e tradizione popolare” (Saint Gerard Majella between history and popular tradition) by Dr. Chiara Ponte, a native of Muro Lucano and already known for other historical publications.
The event took place in the chapel of the birthplace of Saint Alphonsus, on Friday, June 19, 2026, at 7:00 pm, in the presence of numerous faithful who wanted to learn more about the figure and message of Saint Gerard.
The evening began with an introduction to the proceedings, which included a greeting to all attendees, delivered by Father Ciro Avella, Superior of the Redemptorist community. In his address, Father Avella recalled the initiatives undertaken so far in various locations during the current Jubilee Year and reaffirmed the connection between the Congregation and the town of Muro Lucano, the birthplace of the Saint. He also thanked those present for their presence and the author for agreeing to present her work to the community.
The roundtable discussion was moderated by lawyer Giovanna Iommelli, who then took the floor to introduce the speakers: Fr. Vincenzo La Mendola, already known to the faithful of Marianella for his preaching and an accomplished Redemptorist historian, and Chiara Ponte, guest of honor for the first time at the birthplace of Saint Alphonsus. The moderator emphasized the importance of the new text on Saint Gerard, highlighting its highly scholarly nature and its historiographical significance within the bibliography on Saint Gerard. Chiara Ponte, she began, holds a remarkable distinction: she is the first woman to write about Saint Gerard, offering us a female perspective on a saint who placed women at the forefront of his missionary work.
The first presentation, by Fr. La Mendola, helped those present understand the structure of the volume and its specific contents. The speaker highlighted the scholarly nature of the text in question, its historical objectivity, and its contribution to clarifying certain biographical questions in the life of the Lucanian saint. He focused primarily on the author’s method and the results achieved. Chiara Ponte, Fr. Vincenzo concluded, “restored Saint Gerard to the Lucanians, highlighting his belonging and his life experience between Muro Lucano and many other municipalities in Basilicata, where his memory is still very much alive.”
But the most anticipated presentation of the evening was that of the author, evidently excited and honored to present her work in Naples, in a place so evocative and significant for the history of Saint Gerard himself and his religious congregation. At the moderator’s urging, Chiara explained how her work was born and how she immersed herself in reading Gerardian texts and sources. Her goal was to critically examine and evaluate historical sources and to clarify certain events in the saint’s life, too steeped in tradition and unclear from a historical perspective. Much of her work focused on the saint’s stay in Muro and the episodes that characterized this long period of his life. The author proudly displayed her Lucanian origins and her connection to Saint Gerard and his hometown. From this awareness, the monograph was born, with the aim of helping pilgrims understand the Gerardian sites and debunking some clichés unsupported by history.
The participants also expressed their admiration and affection for Chiara Ponte, a young writer and passionate scholar, as evidenced by her presentation and her analytical knowledge of the Saint’s documentation. Some of the audience’s contributions also allowed her to shed light on other aspects of her work and uncover previously unseen details about the life and message of the Lucanian saint. Numerous people purchased the text for personal reading or as gifts, a testament to the interest the presentation aroused.
Continuous and thunderous applause expressed the appreciation of those present for the extraordinary evening and for the speakers’ interventions, which helped us, in a timely manner, retrace the human and spiritual experience of Saint Gerard and reawakened our interest in a charismatic figure who enjoys great popularity in Marianella and has been the object of devotion for over a century.
A heartfelt thank you from the entire community and local associations to Fr. Ciro for these moments of cultural exploration he offers us and for his passionate work in promoting the sites of Alphonsian memory and spreading devotion to the Redemptorist saints.
Thanks also go to Provincial Superior Fr. Gennaro Soorentino, who was eagerly awaited in Marianella but was unable to attend due to an unexpected event, for his message of support to our community during this cultural moment.
Thanks to the priests present and to all the people of Marianella who once again demonstrate their sense of belonging to the great Redemptorist family.
The third centenary of the birth of Saint Gerard offers us further moments of spirituality and study that will take place in the coming months, with the hope that the message of the Redemptorist saint will help revitalize the lives of Christians of our time.
Giovanna Iommelli
