[4] Writing twenty years after the event, Abbot Odo of Cluny described how William, duke of Aquitaine, had entreated Gerald to abandon the militia regia, the feudal service performed directly to the king and pay homage to himself, "for the sake of love".

He seriously considered joining a religious order, but was persuaded against it by his friend Geusbert, Bishop of Rodez, on the grounds that with his social position he could do more good by remaining in the world as a layman.

Nevertheless, secretly tonsured under his habitual cap, he consecrated his life in service to God, gave away his possessions, took a personal vow of chastity and prayed the breviary each day.

[8] He founded a church and abbey on his estate of Aurillac, where he was buried after dying at Cezeinac/Cézerniac,[9] name of an unclearly identified locality —possibly Cézens or Saint-Cirgues today—, on a Friday 13 October, probably in 909.

Because of his poor health and blindness, more emphasized in his developing cult than in Odo's Life, he is also the patron saint of the disabled, handicapped, and physically challenged.