St Gemma Galgani

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St Gemma Galgani -The lover of Jesus

St Gemma Galgani -The Gem of Christ- Mystic, Stigmatic

and Victim Soul

The incomparable St Gemma Galgani...The webmasters

favorite Saint! The Saint that you cannot help but to admire

and love the moment you begin to read her writings! Gemma's

heart was all on fire with an extraordinary love of God, and

she expressed this love so well in her writings and even more

so in the words of her ecstasies which were frequently

recorded. For example, with her heart burning with the loveof God, Gemma said such things as:

"...... Oh love, oh infinite love! ... See: Your love, oh Lord, Your

love penetrates even to my body, with too much fury. When,

when will I unite with You, oh Lord, Who with such force of
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love keeps me in union here on earth? ... Do it, do it! ... Let me

die, and die of love! .....What a beautiful death, oh Lord, to die

a victim of love ......a victim for You! Calm down, calm down oh

Jesus; if not, Your love will end up burning me to ashes! ... Ohlove, oh infinite love! .....Oh love of my Jesus! ....Let Your love

penetrate my all; from You I want nothing else. My God, my

God, I love You!

and another:

Oh Jesus . . . oh Jesus . . . What are these strong attractions

which unite me so powerfully to you? Is it Your heart which

beats so near mine? . . . What power there is in Your heart!Explain it to me, Jesus. How is it that this poor soul does not

escape from its prison to go to heaven and rejoice in Your

Divine Presence? It can resist no longer . . . every morning I

hear Your beloved voice . . . I taste such ineffable

sweetness . . .

Jesus, You ask only love from me; and I, in order to love You,ask much love also, for I have not enough. See, Jesus, when, in

the morning, I feel Your presence in Communion, I am

conscious of myself no longer. And, Jesus, who would have

thought that your heart would join its beatings to those of

mine? Oh! Grant me the summit of happiness, grant me the

consolation that I ask of You; repeat the sweet words which

You said to me Sunday. When, Jesus, will You become my

Heavenly Spouse?"

and another:

You are on fire Oh Lord, and I burn. Oh pain, oh infinitely


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happy love! Oh sweet fire! Oh sweet flames! And would You

wish my heart to become a flame? Oh, I have found the flame

that destroys and reduces to ashes! Cease, cease, I cannot

withdraw my heart from so much fire. What am I saying? No;rather come Jesus! I will open my heart to You; put Thy Divine

fire into it. You are a flame, and let my heart be turned into a

flame!....Come then, Oh Jesus! Your heart is a flame and you

wish mine to be turned into a flame as well....Jesus, I feel I

must die when you are throbbing so in my heart.

This is just a little foretaste of the loving words of SaintGemma to give an idea of the fervor that this Saint possessed.

But there is much more to this Saint than fiery words of love.

Firstly however, let me say that Gemma has made such an

deep impression on me, that I spent a year building an

extensive website devoted to her extraordinary life and

writings. On the St Gemma website you will find her entire

Autobiography, her entire Diary, and many of her Letters toher spiritual Director, along with many of her recorded

Ecstasies. And because there is already so much information

on the St Gemma Galgani website, there really is no need to

duplicate it here.

So I think then, the purpose of this article should be to

briefly highlight the life of this extraordinary Saint, pointing

to the information that is already available on the St Gemma

Galgani website.

A brief biography of the life of St Gemma


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Gemma was born on March 12, 1878 in Camigliano, Italy, and

soon after her birth her family moved to Lucca, Italy, where

she remained the rest of her life. Her mother Aurelia, a holy

woman, died when Gemma was only 8 years old. The loss of hermother at such a young age was a sword of suffering upon her

little heart. Eleven years later, at age 19, she would lose also

her father, leaving her and her brothers and sisters orphans.

Not long after this, she became gravely ill with spinal

meningitis, becoming bedridden and on the verge of death. It

was at this point that began the extraordinary graces in her

life.

Miraculous Cure

The Passionist Venerable Gabriel Possenti (now a Saint) began

appearing to her in a series of visions, encouraging her and

helping her to make a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in

hopes for a cure. It was at this time that the attending

Doctors resigned her to die. On March 3, 1899,Jesusappeared to Gemma and cured her on the last day of the

Novena, which coincided with the First Friday of the month

(which is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus). It was at

this time also that Gemma began receiving inner locutions

(interior words) from Jesus, and she begins tosee her

guardian Angel who inspires and instructs her in the practice

of virtues.
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Gemma is given the Stigmata

A few months later, on the morning of June 8, 1899, Gemma is

enlightened during Holy Communion that she would soon be

receiving a great grace from Jesus. That evening, the Blessed

Mother appeared to her, along with her guardian Angel. TheBlessed Virgin told her:

"Jesus my Son loves you very much and He wishes to give you

a grace. Do you know how to make yourself worthy of it? In

my misery I did not know what to answer. She continued I

will be your Mother. Will you be a true daughter? She then

spread her mantle and covered me with it. At that moment

Jesus appeared with all His wounds open, but blood no longercame out of those wounds. Rather, flames of fire issued forth

from them and in an instant these flames came to touch my

hands, my feet and my heart. I felt as if I would die. I fell to

the floor, but my Mother supported me, keeping me covered in
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her mantle. I had to remain several hours in that position.

Finally she kissed me on my forehead, and all vanished, and I

found myself kneeling on the floor. But I still felt an intense

pain in my hands, feet and heart. I arose to go to bed, and Ithen noticed that blood was flowing from those parts where I

felt pain. I covered them as well as I could, and then with the

help of my angel, I was able to go to bed. These sufferings

and pains, although they afflicted me, filled me with perfect

peace. The next morning I was able to go to Communion only

with great difficulty, and I put on a pair of gloves in order to

hide my hands. I could hardly stand on my feet, and I thoughtI would die at any minute. The sufferings continued until 3pm

on Friday afternoon, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of

Jesus."

Details of theStigmata of St Gemma can be read here.

Victim Soul

It was at this point that Gemma began suffering as a victimsoul for the conversion of sinners. She continued this

extraordinary mission until the end of her life. At times

Accompanying the Stigmata were also theCrown of Thorns

and also the Scourgingwhich is well documented by her

Spiritual Director, Venerable Father Germanus C.P.

Ecstasies of love

Along with suffering in union with Jesus for the conversion of

souls, she was also drawn into themost remarkable and

sublime ecstasies where she conversed and often pleaded with

Jesus for sinners, for the souls in Purgatory, for love and for
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mercy upon humanity, always telling Jesus of her love for Him,

and offering herself as a holocost and victim to obtain these

graces.

The Holy Death of Saint Gemma

After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of

sinners, so dear to His Sacred Heart,Gemma died a most holy

death on the afternoon of Holy Saturday, the Vigil of Easter,

wherein we celebrate the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord.

In September 1902, Gemma became severely ill withTuberculosis. By that time the fever of disease had begun to

consume the innocent victim of divine Justice. Early in

September she became very sick and vomited blood in

quantities. One who watched by her bed wrote to her Director:

"She is reduced to skin and bones; she suffers excruciating

pains. One cannot bear the torment of not knowing what to do

to relieve her. Gemma feels great need of you. Come quicklyand tell us what to do."

"On receiving other pressing requests," he wrote, "I

determined to go and reached Lucca in the month of October.

The poor child showed the greatest joy when she was told

that I had come, and wished to get up to welcome me. Imagine

my grief at finding her in such a state, added to my fear that

God this time would act indeed. I blessed her and bade her go

back to bed; then sitting by her side I said: 'Well Gemma,

what are we to do?'

'Go to Jesus, Father,' she answered, in a tone of

inexpressible joy.
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'But really?' I added.

'Yes, Father, this time Jesus has told me clearly, so clearly.

To Heaven, my Father, to Jesus, with Jesus in Heaven!'

'But,' I rejoined, 'our sins, how are we to atone for them? Youwould make it an easy

matter!'

And she answered, 'Jesus has thought of that. He will let me

suffer so much in the short time I have to live, that,

sanctifying my poor pains by the merits of His Passion, He will

be satisfied an will take me with Him to Paradise.'

'But,' I said, 'I do not wish you to die yet.'And she, in her spirited way, replied- 'And should Jesus wish

it, what then?'

She then gave him all the particulars of her death and burial

with the calmness of one discussing an ordinary affair. In the

Confession she made that evening, she accused herself of the

sins of her whole life with such compunction that he could notrestrain his tears at seeing such lively sentiments of sorrow in

one who had never stained the spotless robe of baptismal

innocence by a deliberate sin. In the morning dressed as a

bride with a white veil on her head she received Holy Viaticum,

"looking," says Father Germano, "like an Angel in adoration

before the Majesty of God." Afterwards she said to him: "If

you wish, Father, you can leave, as I shall not die now. This

illness will certainly finish me, but not yet; at least, that is

what Jesus has told me."

Thus the months dragged on with Gemma living in the closest


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union of love and suffering with Jesus Crucified. Through the

offering of her sufferings in union with Jesus, the Victim Soul

was obtaining countless graces each day for the conversion of

sinners. Holy Week arrived and now the victim of Jesus was tobe made conformable to His Death. On Good Friday, April 10,

1903 she said to Cecilia Giannini who was attending her: "Don't

leave me until I am nailed to the Cross. I must be crucified

with Jesus. He has said to me that His children must be

crucified."She then went into ecstasy and gradually extending

her arms, she remained in that posture for about three hours

- an image of Jesus dying on the Cross. All that day and nighther agony continued.

On the morning of Holy Saturday, April 11, 1903, at about

8:00am she received Viaticum and the Last Anointing. At

around 1:30pm, with the crucifix in her hands she said: "Jesus,

now it is indeed true that nothing remains for me. If it be

Thy will, take me."Glancing at the picture of Mary, sheadded: "My Mother, I recommend myself to You. Ask

Jesus to have mercy on me."Then, in a feeble voice: "Jesus,

I commend to You this poor soul of mine. Jesus."These

were her last words. She kissed the crucifix, placed it over

her heart, folded her hands over it, and closed her eyes. Then,

after a few moments, she turned her head on the pillow and

ceased to breathe, and thus her holy soul took flight to be

forever united with the God whom she loved with all the

strength of her heart.

The priest who was reading the last prayers of the Church


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never knew the moment of her passing. "I have assisted many

sick people,"he said, "but I never knew one to die in that

way, without a tear or a sigh. She died with a smile and

the smile remained on her lips so that I could hardlyconvince myself that she was really dead."

And one of the Nursing Sisters from the order of St Camillis

de Lellis who was caring for Gemma in her last days

attested: "We have cared for a great many sick people,

but we have never seen anything like this."

The inscription placed on her tomb read:

"Gemma Galgani of Lucca, a most innocent virgin, while in her

25th year, consumed rather by the fire of Divine Love than by

the violence of disease, flew into the arms of her Heavenly

Spouse on Holy Saturday, the eleventh of April, 1903. Peace

be to Thee, O sweet soul, in company with the Angels"

~St Gemma, pray for us!

For more information on St Gemma, see the St Gemma

Galgani website.

"Two sentiments were born in my heart the very first time

that I felt and saw Jesus dripping in blood. The first one

was to love Him , and to love Him to the point of

sacrifice....the other thing that was borne in my heart

after seeing Jesus was a great desire to suffer something
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for Him, seeing how much He had suffered for me!.."-St

Gemma Galgani

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St Gemma Galgani