Gemma Galgani

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Original photograph of Saint Gemma Galgani (1900)
Original photograph of Saint Gemma Galgani (1900)

Gemma Galgani (full name Gemma Umberta Pia Galgani), (12 March 1878 – 11 April 1903), also known as Gemma of Lucca, was an Italian mystic, canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church in 1940. She has been called the "daughter of the Passion" because of her profound imitation of the Passion of Christ.[1] She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (Passionists).

Life

Early life

Original photograph of Saint Gemma Galgani 2 (1900)
Original photograph of Saint Gemma Galgani 2 (1900)
Saint

Gemma Galgani
Virgin
BornGemma Umberta Maria Galgani
(1878-03-12)12 March 1878
Camigliano, Capannori, Italy
Died11 April 1903(1903-04-11) (aged 25)
Lucca, Italy
Venerated inCatholic Church
Beatified14 May 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized2 May 1940, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Pius XII
Major shrinePassionist Monastery in Lucca, Italy
Feast11 April (celebrated by Passionists on 16 May)
AttributesPassionist habit, flowers (lilies and roses), crucifix, stigmata
PatronageStudents, Pharmacists, Paratroopers and Parachutists, loss of parents, those suffering back injury or back pain, those suffering with headaches/migraines, those struggling with temptations to impurity and those seeking purity of heart[2]

Gemma Umberta Maria (Pia) Galgani was born on 12 March 1878, in the hamlet of Camigliano in the comune of Capannori, province of Lucca.[3] She was the fifth of eight children and the first daughter; her father, Enrico Galgani, was a prosperous pharmacist.[4]

Soon after Galgani's birth, the family relocated north from Camigliano to a larger new home in the Tuscan city of Lucca. Her parents moved the family to Lucca to increase educational opportunities available to their children. Galgani's mother, Aurelia Landi, contracted tuberculosis when Galgani was two and a half years old. Due to the difficulty of raising a child without her mother, Galgani was placed in a private nursery school run by Elena and Ersilia Vallini.[5]

On 26 May 1885, the archbishop of Lucca, Nicola Ghilardi, administered the sacrament of confirmation to her in the church of San Michele in Foro.[6]

Several members of the Galgani family died during this period. Their firstborn child, Carlo, and Galgani's sister Giulia died at an early age. On 17 September 1886 Aurelia Galgani died from tuberculosis, which she had suffered from for five years, and Galgani's beloved brother Gino died in 1894 at the age of 18 from the same disease while studying for the priesthood.[7] Her ordinary confessor since her childhood was Giovanni Volpi, the later Bishop of Arezzo.[8]

Education

Galgani was sent to a Catholic half-boarding school in Lucca run by the Oblates of the Holy Spirit, a congregation founded by Saint Elena Guerra. She excelled in French, arithmetic, and music. On 17 June 1887, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she received her First Communion.[9]

Young adulthood

In the years 1898/99 Galgani fell seriously ill (suffering, among other things, from osteitis of the lumbar vertebrae and an ear infection; she also lost the use of her legs), but recovered.[10] She attributed her extraordinary cure to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of Saints Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and Marguerite Marie Alacoque. She had a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart.[11]

On 11 November 1897, her father Enrico died of throat cancer, and Galgani was orphaned, and thereafter was responsible for raising her younger siblings, which she did with her aunt Carolina. She declined two marriage proposals[11].

From September 1900 onwards, Gemma Galgani was under the spiritual guidance of Germano Ruoppolo, with whom she maintained an extensive correspondence. Around the same time, she was taken in by the Giannini family in Lucca, in whose house she lived until shortly before her death; a maternal role was assumed by the unmarried Cecilia Giannini.[12]

Mystical experiences

According to a biography by her spiritual director, Germano Ruoppolo, Galgani began to manifest the stigmata on 8 June 1899, at the age of 21. She stated that she had spoken with her guardian angel, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and other saints especially Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. According to her testimonies, she sometimes received special messages from them about current or future events. With her health in decline, Ruoppolo directed her to pray for the disappearance of her stigmata; she did so and the marks left. She said that she resisted the devil's attacks often.[13]

Galgani was frequently found in a state of ecstasy. She has also been reputed to levitate: she claimed that on one occasion, when her arms were around the crucifix in her dining room and was kissing the side wound of Jesus, she found herself raised from the floor.[14]

Stigmata and medical examinations

Gemma Galgani is said to have experienced stigmata on 8 June 1899, the eve of the feast of the Sacred Heart. She wrote:[15]

I felt an inward sorrow for my sins, but so intense that I have never felt the like again ... My will made me detest them all, and promise willingly to suffer everything as expiation for them. Then the thoughts crowded thickly within me, and they were thoughts of sorrow, love, fear, hope and comfort.[16]

In her subsequent rapture, she saw her guardian angel in the company of the Virgin Mary:[15]

The Blessed Virgin Mary opened her mantle and covered me with it. At that very moment, 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 (Blessed Virgin Mary) who supported me and kept me under her mantle. Thus I remained for several hours. Then my Mother kissed my forehead, the vision disappeared and I found myself on my knees; but I still had a keen pain in my hands, feet and heart. I got up to get into bed and 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.[14]

The physician Pietro Pfanner, who had known Galgani since her childhood, examined her stigmata. In his opinion, the marks were signs of hysterical behaviour, and he suspected Galgani may have suffered from a form of neurosis.[17] Pfanner examined Galgani and noted spots of blood on the palms of her hands, but when he ordered the blood be wiped off with a wet towel, there was no wound. He concluded the phenomenon to be self-inflicted. On another occasion, Galgani's foster mother Cecilia Giannini observed a sewing needle on the floor next to her.[17]

By contrast, several persons from Galgani's immediate circle attested to the presence of continuous wounds that fully pierced her palms: her spiritual director Germano Ruoppolo, the later Archbishop Pietro Paolo Moreschini, as well as several members of the Giannini family, in whose house Galgani had lived since 1900 - among them Matteo and Giustina Giannini, and in particular the unmarried Cecilia Giannini, who stood by Galgani like a foster mother.[18]

It is also worth mentioning that in 1923, within the framework of the canonical process, a phase of recognition and exhumation took place. Pietro Pfanner was involved in this and appeared as a contemporary witness in connection with the process. In this context he expressed himself positively about Gemma Galgani, spoke of her holiness, and showed personal veneration.[19]

Contemporary reception

Gemma Galgani was well-known in the vicinity of Lucca before her death, especially to those in poverty. Opinions of her were divided: some admired her extraordinary virtues and called her as "the virgin of Lucca" out of pious respect and admiration, while others mocked her. These included her younger sister, Angelina, who would make fun of Galgani during such experiences.[20]

Illness and death

In early 1903, Gemma Galgani was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and went into a long and often painful decline accompanied by several mystical phenomena. One of the religious nursing sisters who attended to her stated,[21]

We have cared for a good many sick people, but we have never seen anything like this.

At the beginning of Holy Week 1903, her health quickly deteriorated, and by Good Friday she was suffering tremendously, eventually dying in a small room across from the Giannini house on 11 April 1903, Holy Saturday.[21]

Veneration

After a thorough examination of her life by the Church, Gemma Galgani was beatified on 14 May 1933 and canonized on 2 May 1940.[22] Galgani's relics are housed at the Sanctuary of Santa Gemma associated with the Passionist monastery in Lucca, Italy. Her bronze effigy atop her tomb was crafted by sculptor Francesco Nagni. In 1985, her heart was enshrined in the Santuario de Santa Gema in Madrid, Spain.[23] Gemma Galgani's spiritual director, Germano Ruoppolo, produced her biography.[24]

References

  1. Harvey D. Egan: An Anthology of Christian mysticism,1991, p. 539. ISBN 0-8146-6012-6
  2. "St Gemma Galgani".
  3. Atto di nascita no. 325; d.d.15-3-1878, Italy, Capannori, Lucca, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866–1929.
  4. Germanus, Venerable Father (2000). The Life of St. Gemma Galgani. Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc, p. 1. ISBN 978-0895556691.
  5. Giorgini, Fabiano (2004). Gemma Galgani: Lettere e scritti personali e Lettere a lei o in riferimento a lei (in Italian). San Gabriele Edizioni. p. 5.
  6. "CRONOLOGIA DELLA VITA DI SANTA GEMMA GALGANI" (PDF). Laici Passionisti. 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  7. Bell, Rudolph M. Bell (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: the Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US. pp. 2–7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: the Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. pp. 8–10.
  9. Giorgini, Fabiano (2004). Gemma Galgani: Lettere e scritti personali e Lettere a lei o in riferimento a lei (San Gabriele Edizioni ed.). p. 7.
  10. Giorgini, Fabiano (2004). Lettere e scritti personali e Lettere a lei o in riferimento a lei. San Gabriele Edizioni. p. 8.
  11. Woodham, Emily (2020). "Saint Gemma Galgani". Diocese of Boise.
  12. Giorgini, Fabiano (2004). Gemma Galgani: Lettere e scritti personali e Lettere a lei o in riferimento a lei. San Gabriele Edizioni. p. 10.
  13. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: the Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. pp. S. 43-54.
  14. Mysteries, Marvels, Miracles in the Lives of Saints by Joan Carroll Cruz ISBN 978-0-89555-541-0
  15. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: the Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. pp. S. 54.
  16. Wiiliam Browning et al, Autobiography of St. Gemma Galgani, Revenir Books, Tucson, 2022
  17. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-0-226-04196-4.
  18. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani. The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint (University of Chicago Press ed.). Chicago, IL, US. p. 67.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. Zanini, Roberto I. (25 June 2022). "Con Gemma Galgani, lì dove amare cura ogni dolore". Avvenire (in Italian). Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  20. "St Gemma's reaction to unkindness - forgiveness". stgemmagalgani.com. 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  21. Giorgini, Fabiano (2004). Gemma Galgani: Lettere e scritti personali e Lettere a lei o in riferimento a lei. San Gabriele Edizioni. p. 10.
  22. Bell, Rudolph M. (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: the Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. p. 191.
  23. "Devotion to St Gemma Galgani around the world". www.stgemmagalgani.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  24. Germanus, Venerable Father (2000). The Life of St. Gemma Galgani. Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0895556691.

Bibliography

  • Rudoph M. Bell; Cristina Mazzoni (2003). The Voices of Gemma Galgani: The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint. Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-04196-4.
  • Robert A. Orsi (2005): "Two Aspects of One Life" in Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them. Princeton University Press, p. 110–145.
  • Hervé Roullet (2019). Gemma Galgani. Paris, France: Roullet Hervé. ISBN 978-2956313731.