Gemma Galgani
| Saint Gemma Galgani | |
|---|---|
 |
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| The Flower of Lucca The Virgin of Lucca |
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| Born |
March 12, 1878 Camigliano, Capannori, Italy |
| Died | April 11, 1903 (aged 25) Lucca, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | May 14, 1933 by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | May 2, 1940, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Passionist Monastery in Lucca, Italy |
| Feast | April 11 (celebrated by Passionists on May 16) |
| Attributes | Passionist robe, flowers (lilies and roses), guardian angel, stigmata, heavenward gaze |
| Patronage | Students, 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. |
| Controversy | Visions, stigmata, ecstasy |
Maria Gemma Umberta Galgani (March 12, 1878 – April 11, 1903) was an Italian mystic, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church since 1940. She has been called the "Daughter of Passion" because of her profound imitation of the Passion of Christ.
Gemma Umberta Maria Galgani (or Gemma Galgani as she became commonly known) was born on March 12, 1878, in the hamlet of Camigliano in the provincial town of Capannori. Gemma was the fifth of eight children; her father, Enrico Galgani, was a prosperous pharmacist.
Soon after Gemma's birth, the family relocated north from Camigliano to a large new home in the Tuscan city of Lucca in a move which was undertaken to facilitate an improvement in the children's education. Gemma's mother, Aurelia Galgani, contracted tuberculosis. Because of this hardship, Gemma was placed in a private nursery school run by Elena and Ersilia Vallini when she was two-and-a-half years old. She was regarded as a highly intelligent child.
Several members of the Galgani family died during this period. Their firstborn child, Carlo, and Gemma's little sister Giulia died at an early age. On September 17, 1885, Aurelia Galgani died from tuberculosis, which she had had for five years and Gemma's beloved brother Gino, died from the same disease while studying for the priesthood.
Gemma was sent to a Catholic half-boarding school in Lucca run by the Sisters of St. Zita. She excelled in French, arithmetic and music. Gemma was allowed at age nine to receive her first communion. Later she was not accepted by the Passionists to become a nun because of her poor health and her visions. At age 20, Gemma developed spinal meningitis, but was healed, attributing her extraordinary cure to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of the Venerable Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (later canonized), and Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.
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