St. Gemma Galgani
Virgin
1903 (April 11)
From Modern Saints —
Their Lives and Faces
Published by Tan Books and Publishers, Inc.
Nihil Obstat: Rev. Joseph Barta, C.M., Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur: +John L. Morkovsky, S.T.D., Bishop of
Galveston-Houston
August 6, 1980
From time to
time, God calls a generous soul to live in reparation for the sins
committed by men against their Creator and Savior. Such a lover of the
cross was the young Italian mystic, Gemma Galgani, who dedicated herself
as a victim of atonement. Gemma could have said “No” to God, in answer to
many of His requests for sacrifice. Instead, she modeled herself on Our
Lady’s answer, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”
Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878,
in a small Italian town near Lucca. Gemma is the Italian word for gem.
The child’s mother was worried that this name was not a saint’s name, but
a priest friend comforted her with the remark that perhaps the child would
one day be a “gem of Paradise.”
At a very young age, Gemma developed a
love for prayer. She credited her mother, who died when Gemma was very
young, with inspiring in her the desire for Heaven, and with teaching her
about God.
Gemma made her First Communion on June
17, 1887. Later, she wrote, “It is impossible for me to describe what
passed between Jesus and myself in that moment. He made himself felt so
strongly in my soul. I realized in that moment how the delights of Heaven
are not like those of the earth, and I was seized by a desire to make that
union with my God everlasting.”
As a day pupil at the school run by the
Sisters of St. Zita, Gemma was loved by her teachers and her fellow
pupils. Although quiet and reserved, she always had a friendly smile for
everyone. Though by nature a bright and lively child, she exercised great
self discipline even as a schoolgirl, keeping her feelings under control.
The superior of the sisters at the school
once asked Gemma’s teacher and her class to pray for a dying man who
refused the Sacraments. After the prayer, Gemma arose from her seat, and
going up to her teacher, whispered in her ear, “The grace is granted.”
That evening the news as brought that the man had indeed converted and
received the consolations of the Faith before his death.
Throughout her life, Gemma was to be
favored with many mystical experiences and special graces. Often these
were misunderstood by others, bringing ridicule. A sensitive person,
Gemma suffered these heartaches, too, in reparation, remembering that Our
Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed.
Although she was a good student, Gemma
had to quit school due to chronic ill heath before completing the course
of study. Throughout her life, her frail constitution did not stand up
well to several illnesses.
Gemma’s father had been a moderately
successful pharmacist. But because of his generosity and his willingness
to extend credit to those in need, he began to get into financial
trouble. His earth death in 1897 left Gemma and his other children
penniless orphans. Gemma felt the loss of her father keenly, but did not
appear to be bothered by the poverty of her circumstances. She must have
felt desolate when the creditors came and took away the few possessions
left to the family on the very day of her father’s funeral, but she
maintained her cheerful, patient attitude.
Gemma had an immense love for the poor,
and when she went out, many poor people came to her for help. When she
could, she gave them things from home. Later, when she too was a “povera,”
or poor girl, she gave them the gift of friendship. She would weep over
their misfortunes, completely ignoring her own.
After her father’s death, the
nineteen-year-old Gemma became the mother of her seven brothers and
sisters. When some were old enough to share this responsibility, she
lived briefly with a married aunt. Although she returned the love given
by this aunt and uncle, Gemma was unhappy with the busy social life of the
couple. They were well off, and wanted Gemma to join in the fun which
they could afford to provide. At this time, two young men proposed
marriage to her. Gemma, however, wanted silence and retirement, and more
than ever she desired to pray and speak only to God.
Gemma returned home, and almost
immediately became very ill with meningitis. Gradually she lost her
hearing and some of her hair. In addition, she suffered a complete
paralysis of her limbs. All earthly remedies proved vain, and Gemma was
confined to bed for more than a year. Throughout this illness, her one
regret was the trouble she caused her relatives in taking care of her.
News of the heroic patience of the gentle
girl spread about the town, and many visitors came to cheer her up. For
each visitor, Gemma had a smile and a welcoming comment.
Feeling herself tempted by the devil, she
prayed for help to the Venerable Passionist, Gabriel Possenti. (Gabriel
was later canonized.) He appeared to her in dreams several times,
promising her help and calling her “sister.” Through his intercession,
Gemma was miraculously cured.
In one of her visions of Gabriel, he
placed the badge of the Passionists on Gemma. When she spoke of her
desire to enter a convent, he told her to make her vow to be a religious,
but not to add anything to this vow. Gabriel was telling her that
although she might live the life of a nun, she would never enter any
particular convent. Later, Gemma was rejected as a candidate for the
religious life on the grounds of her health was too delicate. She offered
this disappointment to God as a sacrifice.
Gifted with an ability for prophecy,
Gemma predicted that the Passionists would establish a monastery at Lucca;
this came to pass two years after her death. When she understood that she
would not be able to enter a Passionist monastery, Gemma said, “The
Passionists did not wish to receive me; nevertheless, because I wish to
stay with them, I shall when I am dead.” Today, Gemma’s mortal remains
are still treasured at the Passionist monastery in Lucca.
On the 8th of June, 1899,
Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to
her. She spoke of this to her confessor and received absolution. She
later gave the following account to her spiritual director: “It was
Thursday evening, and suddenly I felt an inward sorrow for my sins; but so
intense that I have never felt the like again; my sorrow made me feel as
if I should die then and there. After that I felt all the powers of my
soul in recollection. My intellect seemed to k now nothing but my sins
and how they offended God . . . Then thoughts crowded thickly within me
and they were thoughts of sorrow, love, fear, hope and comfort.”
In rapture, she saw her heavenly Mother,
who wrapped Gemma in her mantle. At that moment, according to her own
account, “Jesus appeared with His wounds all open; blood was not flowing
from them, but flames of fire which in one moment came and touched my
hands, feet and heart. I felt I was dying, and should have fallen down
but for my Mother who supported me and kept me under her cloak. Thus I
remained for several hours. Then my Mother kissed my forehead, the vision
disappeared, and I found myself on my knees; but I had still a keen pain
in my hands, feet and heart. I got up to get into bed and I saw that
blood was coming from the places where I had the pain. I covered them as
well as I could and then, helped by my Guardian Angel, got into bed.”
The next day, covering her hands with
gloves, Gemma attended Mass as usual. Later, she showed the marks of the
stigmata to one of her aunts, saying, “Just look at what Jesus has done to
me!”
Each Thursday evening, Gemma would fall
into rapture and the marks would appear. The stigmata remained until
Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop, the
wounds would close, and only white marks would remain in place of the deep
gashes. Later, one of Gemma’s directors turned to science and had a
doctor examine the stigmata. As Gemma had foreseen, the doctor considered
them a manifestation of some form of disease, or the delusions of an
overly pious soul.
Gemma’s stigmata continued to appear
until the last three years before her death. At this time, her director
forbad her to accept this phenomenon, and through her prayers it ceased,
although whitish marks remained on her skin until her death.
Through the help of her confessor, Gemma
went to live with a family named Giannini, where she was allowed more
freedom than at home for her spiritual life. She was very grateful to
this adoptive family, and was more than once overheard in ecstasy praying
for its members. In this home, Gemma cheerfully did housework and helped
in the training and education of the children.
There is a good record of Gemma’s words
during ecstasy. In this state of rapture, the soul is so absorbed in God
that the normal activity of the senses is suspended. Both her confessor
and a relative of the head of her adoptive family, Aunt Cecilia, often
overheard Gemma and recorded her conversations.
Father Germano once overheard her arguing
with Divine Justice for the salvation of a soul. Some of her words were:
“I do not seek Your justice, but for Your mercy. I know, he made You shed
tears; but . . . You must not think of his sins; You must think of the
Blood You shed. And now answer, Jesus, and tell me You have saved my
sinner.” Gemma actually named the man she was praying for. Soon
afterwards, she broke out joyfully, “He is saved! You have won, Jesus;
triumph always thus.” Then she came out of ecstasy.
Father Germano had just left the room
when he heard a knock and was told that a stranger wished to speak to
him. As soon as the man was before the priest, he fell to his knees
weeping and said, “Father, I want to make my confession.” The priest was
stunned to realize that it was Gemma’s sinner.
Gemma often saw her guardian angel, with
whom she was on familiar terms. Sometimes the angel protected and
consoled her, sometimes he counseled her, and occasionally he scolded her
very severely for her faults. He would say, “I am ashamed of you.” At
times Gemma was heard arguing with her guardian angel, so that her
spiritual director, Father Germano, had to remind her that she was
speaking with a blessed spirit of Heaven and should be very respectful.
The angel is mentioned on almost every single page of Gemma’s diary. In
one entry, Gemma wrote that the devil had been raining down blows on her
shoulder for nearly half an hour. “Then my guardian angel came and asked
me what was the matter; I begged him to stay with me all night, and he
said: ‘But I must sleep.’ ‘No,’ I replied, ‘the Angels of Jesus do not
sleep!’ ‘Nevertheless,’ he rejoined, smiling, ‘I ought to rest. Where
shall you put me?’ I begged him to remain n ear me. I went to bed; after
that he seemed to spread his wings and come over my head. In the morning
he was still there.”
One of the most extraordinary things is
the fact that Gemma often sent her guardian angel on errands, usually to
deliver a letter or oral message to Father Germano in Rome. Often the
reply was delivered by the priest’s guardian angel. Realizing how unusual
this was, Father Germano asked Heaven for a sign that it was in accord
with God’s Will. After Gemma’s death, he wrote: “To how many tests didn’t
I submit this singular phenomenon in order to convince myself that it took
place through a supernatural intervention! And yet none of my tests ever
failed; and thus I was convinced again and again that in this, like in
many other extraordinary things in her life, Heaven was delighted in
amusing itself, as it were, with this innocent and dear maiden.”
During the apostolic investigations into
her life, all witnesses testified that there was no artfulness in Gemma’s
manner. At the end of each of her ecstasies, she returned to normal and
went quietly and serenely about the family life. Most of her severe
penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her. Only a few
around her privileged to realize that she was exceptionally favored.
In spite of everything which had happened
to her, Gemma understood the true joy of her way of life. She said,
“There is neither cross nor sorrow, when we are tightly united to Jesus.”
In January of 1903, Gemma was diagnosed
as having tuberculosis. To avoid danger to her adoptive family, she was
isolated in a small apartment close to the Giannini house. For four
months Gemma suffered uncomplainingly from the disease. She died quietly,
in the company of the parish priest, on April 11. In his testimony he
said, “I have been present at many deathbeds, but never have I seen anyone
die like Gemma, without even a precursor sign, nor a tear, nor a panting
breath. She died with a smile which remained upon her lips, so that I
could not convince myself that she was really dead.”
The Church authorities began to study
Gemma’s life in 1917, and she was beatified in 1933. The decree approving
the miracles for canonization was read March 26, 1939—Passion Sunday.
Gemma was canonized on May 2, 1940, only thirty-seven years after her
death.
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