Gerulf, St.
GERULF, ST.
Martyr; b. Meerendra, Belgium, c. 732; d. near Ghent, Belgium, c. 750. A 10th-century legend reports that Gerulf was confirmed at the age of 18 in the monastery of St. Bavon at Gand. After the ceremony, while Gerulf and his godfather were riding home, the devil possessed the godfather, who threatened to kill Gerulf. The boy protested that he would go to hell if he did, but the man pierced him with his sword. Gerulf's mother saw the bloody and riderless horse return and instinctively knew what had happened. His body was buried first in the church of Bl. Redegund in Meerendra, but after several miracles it was moved in the 9th century to the monastery at Dronghem, Flanders, where Gerulf was venerated as a saint. His relics were frequently translated and gradually suffered dispersal until, after the Catholic restoration of 1584, only the head was left to be enshrined again at Dronghem, which was under the care of the premonstratensians.
Feast: Sept. 21.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Sept. 6:250–270. a. sanderus, Hagiologium Flandriae (Antwerp 1625) 72–83. w. lampen, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 4:763.
[b. cavanaugh]