April 11 - Memorial of St. Gemma Galgani

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[Pyro7480]

St. Gemma Galgani

Early Life

Gemma Galgani was born on March 12th, 1878 in Camigliano, a village near Lucca, Italy. Gemma is the Italian word for gem. Her father was a prosperous chemist and a descendant of St. John Leonardi. Gemma’s mother was of noble lineage also. The Galgani’s were traditional Catholics who were blessed with eight children.

Gemma, the fifth child and first girl of the family developed an irresistible attraction to prayer while still very young. This came as a result of her pious mother who taught Gemma the truths of the Roman Catholic faith. Mother Galgani especially infused into her precious daughter’s soul a love for Christ Crucified....

...On the day when Gemma received the Sacrament of Confirmation, while ardently praying at Mass for her mother’s recovery (as Signora Galgani was gravely ill) she heard an unmistakable voice in her heart say, “Wilt thou give Me Mamma?" “Yes," Gemma answered, "but provided Thou takest me also.” “No," replied the voice, "give Me unreservedly thy mother. For the present thou hast to wait with thy father. I will take thee to Heaven later.” Gemma simply replied, “Yes.”

This “yes” was to be repeated throughout St. Gemma’s brief life in response to Our Lord’s invitation to her to suffer for Him.

Following her beloved mother’s death, Gemma was sent by her father to a Catholic half-boarding school in Lucca run by the Sisters of St. Zita....

She excelled in French, arithmetic and music and in 1893 won the great Gold Prize for religious knowledge. One of her teachers at the school summed it up best by saying, “She (Gemma) was the soul of the school.”

Gemma had arduously been preparing for her first communion. She used to plead, “Give me Jesus … and you will see how good I shall be. I shall be quite changed. I won’t commit any more sin. Give Him to me. I so long for Him, and I cannot live without Him.”

Gemma was allowed at age nine (which was earlier than usual) to receive her first communion. With her father’s permission she went to the local convent for ten days to prepare worthily for this solemn event.

Gemma’s day finally arrived on June 20th, 1887 The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In her own words she described her intimate first meeting with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as thus:

“It is impossible to explain what then passed between Jesus and me. He made Himself felt, oh so strongly, in my soul.”

The next major incident in St. Gemma’s life happened when her father died in 1897. As a result of his over generousness, unscrupulous business contacts, and creditors, his children were left without anything and had not even the means of supporting life. Gemma was just nineteen years old, but growing experienced in carrying the cross.

Cured by A Miracle

Gemma soon began to grow ill. She developed a curvature of the spine. Also, meningitis set in and left her deaf. Large abscesses formed on her head, her hair fell off, and finally her limbs became paralyzed. A doctor was called in and tried many remedies which all failed. She only grew worse.

Gemma began a devotion to Venerable Gabriel Possenti of the Sorrowful Mother (Now St. Gabriel)....

Gemma, now 20 years old, was seemingly on her deathbed. A novena was suggested as the only chance for a cure. At midnight on February 23rd, 1899, she heard the rattling of a rosary and realized that Venerable Gabriel was appearing to her. He spoke to Gemma:

“Do you wish to recover? Pray with faith every evening to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I will come to you until the Novena is ended, and will pray together to this Most Sacred Heart.”

On the first Friday of March the Novena ended. The grace was granted; Gemma was cured. As she got up, those around her cried with joy. Yes, a miracle had taken place!

Stigmata

Gemma, now in perfect health, had always desired to be a consecrated nun, but this was not to be. God had other plans for her.

On the 8th of June 1899, after receiving communion, Our Lord let His servant know that the same evening He would give her a very great grace....

Here is how St. Gemma relates how she received the stigmata:

“At that moment Jesus appeared with all his wounds open, but from these wounds there no longer came forth blood, but flames of fire. In an instant these flames came to touch my hands, my feet and my heart. I felt as if I were dying, and should have fallen to the ground had not my mother held me up, while all the time I remained beneath her mantle. I had to remain several hours in that position. Finally she kissed my forehead, all vanished, and I found myself kneeling. But I still felt great pain in my hands, feet and heart. I rose to go to bed, and became aware that blood was flowing from those parts where I felt pain. I covered them as well as I could, and then helped by my Angel, I was able to go to bed …”

During the remainder of Gemma's life, several people, including respected ecclesiastics of the Church, witnessed this recurring miracle of the holy stigmata to the pius maiden of Lucca. One eyewitness stated:

“Blood came from her (St. Gemma’s) wounds in great abundance. When she was standing, it flowed to the ground, and when in bed it not only wet the sheets, but saturated the whole mattress. I measured some streams or pools of this blood, and they were from twenty to twenty-five inches long and about two inches wide.”

The Last Years of Her Life

At the age of 21 Gemma was taken in by a generous Italian family, the Giannini’s. The family already had eleven children but was glad to welcome this young and pious orphan into their home. The mother of the family Signora Giustina Giannini would later say of Gemma, “I am able to declare on oath, that during the three years and eight months that Gemma was with us, I never knew of the least trouble arising in our family on her account, and I never noticed in her the least defect. I repeat, not the smallest trouble, not the smallest defect....”

In 1902 Gemma in good health since her miraculous cure, offered herself to God as a victim for the salvation of souls. Jesus accepted her offer. She then fell dangerously ill. She could not keep any food down. Though briefly recovering her health, through Divine Providence, she quickly fell sick again. On September 21, 1902 she began to throw up pure blood that came with the violent loving throbbings of her heart. Meanwhile she went through a spiritual martyrdom as she experienced aridity and no consolation in her spiritual exercises. To add to that her enemy the devil multiplied his attacks on the young “Virgin of Lucca.”

Satan redoubled his war on Gemma as he knew the end was near. He strove to persuade her that she was entirely abandoned by God. He used hellish apparitions and even rained physical blows on her fragile body....

Gemma unceasingly called on the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, still the battle waged on. Her Spiritual Director Fr. Germano regarding Gemma’s last struggle stated:

“The poor sufferer passed days, weeks and months in this way, giving us an example of heroic patience and motives for salutary fear of what may happen to us, who have not Gemma’s merits at the terrible hour of death.”

Yet through all these trials Gemma never complained, she only prayed. Gemma was at the end. She was practically a living skeleton but still beautiful despite the ravages of her sickness. She was administered Viaticum.

In her last words she said:

“I seek for nothing more; I have made the sacrifice of everything and of everyone to God; now I prepare to die.” She gasped, “Now it is indeed true that nothing more remains to me, Jesus. I recommend my poor soul to Thee … Jesus!"

Gemma then smiled a heavenly smile and letting her head drop on one side, ceased to live.

One of the sisters present at her death clothed Gemma’s body in the habit of the Passionists, which was the order to which Gemma had always aspired.

This blessed death happened on Holy Saturday April 11th, 1903 when Gemma Galgani was in her 25th year.

The Church authorities began to study Gemma’s life in 1917 and she was beatified in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. The decree approving the miracles for canonization was read March 26th, 1939- Passion Sunday. Gemma Galgani was canonized on May 2nd, 1940 by Pope Pius XII, only thirty-seven years after her death.

[Pyro7480]

St. Gemma Galgani, pray for us!

ST. GEMMA GALGANI'S PRAYER

O my crucified God, behold me at Your feet; do not cast me out, now that I appear before You as a sinner. I have offended You exceedingly in the past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer.

Before You, O Lord, I place all my sins; I have now considered Your own sufferings and see how great is the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Your veins.

O my God, at this hour close Your eyes to my want of merit, and since You have been pleased to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for them all, that I may no longer feel the burden of my sins, for this burden, Dear Jesus, oppresses me beyond measure.

Assist me, my Jesus, for I desire to become good whatsoever it may cost; take away, destroy, utterly root out all that You find in me contrary to Your holy will. At the same time, I pray You, Lord Jesus, to enlighten me that I may be able to walk in Your holy light. Amen.

[Pyro7480]

Catholic ping on the Memorial of St. Gemma Galgani, 11 April 2005.

[Siobhan]

BUMP

[Pyro7480]

Thanks Siobhan. :-D

[Salvation]

Saint Gemma Galgani

[Pyro7480]

Oops, I should have done a search. Her life story deserves the attention though!

[murphE]

Forgive me for being so shallow, but wasn't she stunningly beautiful?

[Siobhan]

I don't think that is shallow at all. Part of God's catechesis on sanctity - contrary to the world-culture's portrayal of sanctity as something pursued by the ugly and hapless and hopeless.

Her beauty reminds me of that beautiful line by Shakespeare

"The Hand that hath thee fair
hath made thee good."

[Okies love Dubya 2]

I don't think it's shallow at all...she was a beautiful woman, and God created beauty :)

[Pyro7480]

I agree. I'm wondering what color her eyes were. I'm reading the biography of her life that was written by her spiritual director, which you can get from TAN Books. Maybe it's mentioned in there.

[LisaFab]

Don't mean to interrupt here, but, after being ignored all week, CNN just gave a live shot from the Vatican to announce that Bernard Cardinal Law would be celebrating today's Novendiales Mass. They then followed up with the expected commentary. Typical.

[Siobhan]

Did you hear Cardinal Marchesano talk about his healing through Pope John Paul's intercession during the 2nd novendiale mass?

[LisaFab]

Yes. That was very beautiful.

[Salvation]

Novemdiales -- Mourning the Pope for Nine Days

Are there texts to each Mass or homily? Maybe they could be posted on the Noemdiales thread.

[k omalley]

I read her biography. If I remember correctly her stigmatic wounds would bleed profusely on Thursdays and Fridays, enough to soak the sheets of her bed, and by Saturday there would be no wounds other than tiny white scars.

[Pyro7480]

That is correct. She lived a truly miraculous life.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

bump

[Pyro7480]

Thanks! :-D

[Desdemona]

bump