Gemma Galgani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saint Gemma Galgani | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| "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 by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Passionist monastery in the city of Lucca, Italy |
| Feast | April 11 |
| Attributes | Passionist robes, flowers (specially lillies and roses), guardian angel, sometimes stigmata |
| Patronage | students, pharmacists, tuberculosis sufferers |
 Saints Portal |
|
Saint Gemma Galgani (born March 12, 1878 in Camigliano, Italy, died April 11, 1903) is a Catholic saint who was canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 2, 1940.
She was the daughter of a poor pharmacist and suffered throughout her life with ill health. She was unable to finish her schooling and therefore was not accepted to become a Passionist nun. At age 20, she fell, developed meningitis and attributed her recovery from the disease to prayers 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, instead, a housekeeper with a local family, the Gianninis.
According to her legend, Gemma began to display signs of the stigmata in 1899, at the age of twenty-one. She stated that she had spoken to her guardian angel, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and other saints, which she treated as pretty much members of her family, among other things.
Gemma was well-known in the Catholic community of Lucca even before her death. Opinions were divided: some people admired her virtue and referred to her as "The Virgin of Lucca"; others mocked her (included her sister Angelina; she apparently used to bully Gemma during such experiences, and during Gemma's canonization process was deemed as 'unfit' to testify due to accusations of attempting to get profit of her older sister's fame); finally, others even thought she had a mental illness (her stigmata was believed for a long time to have originated in a nervous breakdown, more than any holy favors).
In early 1903, Gemma was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died not long after, in a small room next to the Giannini house. She was beatified in 1933 and canonized in 1940. Today, her relics are housed at the Passionist monastery in the city of Lucca, in 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 (she was said to be top of her class before having to retire) and of pharmacists.
[edit] External links
- Catholic Online: 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
