Gemma Galgani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gemma Galgani | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| "The Flower of Lucca" and "The Virgin of Lucca" | |
| Born | March 12, 1878, Camigliano, Italy |
| Died | April 11, 1903, Lucca, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1933 by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | May 2, 1940, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Passionist Monastery in Lucca, Italy |
| Feast | April 11 |
| Attributes | Passionist robe, flowers (lillies and roses), guardian angel, stigmata, heavenly gaze |
| Patronage | Students, pharmacists, tuberculosis patients, love and hope |
 Saints Portal |
|
Gemma Maria Galgani (born March 12, 1878 in Camigliano, Italy, died April 11, 1903 in Lucca, Italy) was a mystic and is a Roman Catholic Saint, who was canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 2, 1940.
The eldest daughter of a poor pharmacist, she suffered throughout her life with ill health and was unable to finish school. Gemma was not accepted by the Passionists to become a nun because of her poor health and visions. At age 20, Gemma developed meningitis but healed of it and attributed her recovery to Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Gemma was orphaned shortly after she turned 18, making her financially responsible for the upbringing of her younger siblings, which she did with her aunt Carolina. She declined two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper with the Giannini family.
According to legend, Gemma began to display signs of the stigmata in 1899, at the age of twenty-one. She stated that she had spoken with her guardian angel, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and other saints, specially the aforementioned Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (then, a Venerable); according to her testimonies, she sometimes received special messages from them about the coming wars and the corruption of church officials. With her health in decline, after some time her spiritual advisor told her to pray for the disappearance of her stigmata; she did so and the injuries went away.
Gemma was well-known in the vicinity of Lucca before her death, especially to the poor. Opinions were divided: some people admired her virtue and referred to her as "The Virgin of Lucca" out of awe; others mocked her (included her younger sister, Angelina, who apparently used to make fun of Gemma during such experiences, and during Gemma's canonization process was deemed as 'unfit' to testify due to accusations of attempting profit from her older sister's fame) and others thought she had a mental illness with her stigmata originating from a nervous breakdown. Some in medicine have stated that a psychosomatic response may have been the reason for her stigmata due to depression. She was often treated with disdain by church hierarchy; even her own spiritual advisor was slightly skeptical toward her claims.
In early 1903, Gemma was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died shortly thereafter, in a small room next to the Giannini house. She was beatified in 1933 and canonized in 1940. Her relics are housed at the Passionist Monastery in Lucca, Italy.
As one of the most popular saints of the Passionist Order, the devotion to Gemma Galgani is particularly strong in Italy and Latin America. She is a patron saint of students, said to be top of her class before having to leave school, and of pharmacists.
[edit] External links
- St Gemma Galgani
- Sainte Gemma Galgani (French)
- Svätá Gemma Galgani (Slovak)
- Review of the book The Voices of Gemma Galgani, The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint by Cristina Mazzoni and Rudolph Bell
