BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

Father Louis Risso, a Missionary Apostolic in Honan, China, wrote:
'Here in China, devotion to Gemma continues to increase among the Missionaries. She is now well-known
and loved throughout the Vicariate of Honan. Her Life is to be translated into Chinese and as soon as I hear
that it is available, I shall send for a number of copies. I am convinced that it will do a great deal of good to
these Christians by showing them what it means to be a Christian and how Jesus ought to be loved. . . .'
And Father Dronart-De-Lezey, parish priest of the Church of Our Lady Immaculate at Tokio and director of
the work of Japanese scientific-religious publications, wrote:
‘The Life of Gemma I published in Japanese has had a phenomenal success! Five thousand copies were
sold in less than two months! Never before have I known books in Japanese to sell so well. This saint has
immediately won the love and admiration of Japanese Catholics, and what fills me with astonishment, the
love and admiration of many pagans also, and among them, students at the Imperial University.'
The above is confirmed by Father Eugene Sugita, Professor of French at that University, who wrote:
'What a marvelous life that saint led! A victim of love for God, the seraph of Lucca seems to have been sent
into this world in order to oppose her candor and humility to the sophisms of modern philosophy, the
invention of the Devil. The publication of her Life has done immense good to our Catholics. She has softened
hardened hearts, strengthened the Faith in others, and converted many, and this she will continue to do. And
what is more remarkable is that this biography, so full of mysticism, has succeeded in making many of our
learned pagans reflect-tired as they are of what is merely earthly. Indeed, is not the appearance of such a
saint as Gemma upon this earth but another proof of God's mercy towards poor humanity? As regards
myself, I must say that after reading the Life of the admirable Servant of God, I began to invoke her and I
have not ceased to do so. I have experienced visibly the effects of her benevolent intercession, and I shall be
eternally grateful.'
A pagan, the headmaster of a High School in the city of Okegawa, Japan, expressed the astonishment of
himself, the other teachers and the pupils, at the holy death of a young girl, fourteen years of age, named
Toriuni Kei.
' There was only one Catholic girl at the High School,' he said, ' and she won the esteem and the affection of
all by her goodness and keen intelligence. But alas, she is dead. She died last July (1914) after a month's
sickness during which she had read continually a book entitled Life of Gemma. She breathed her last
clasping this book in her hands, whilst on her face there was a smile more beautiful, purer than any I have
ever seen. We who more or less are without any religion, understood for the first time the admirable strength
religious faith can inspire in a soul, and we attribute that to the reading of the Life of Gemma. We desire all
our pupils to read it and therefore we ask you to forward us copies of that book.'
It would seem that, like St. Therese of Lisieux, Gemma is pleased to use her heavenly influence more
particularly on behalf of missionaries. She who read the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith with such
eagerness, and who was so prompt in the payment of her subscription towards this work, delights to bestow
special comfort and help to missionaries and those under their charge. 'When I am sad and downhearted,'
wrote a missionary from China, ' I read a few pages of her Life and as if by enchantment I am comforted.' 'I
make my spiritual reading from the Life of Gemma,' wrote another missionary from the same country. Similar
enthusiastic expressions of esteem have come from Brazil, Canada, and other distant countries.' [The Life of
Gemma Galgani, by Father Germanus, C.P., Chap. XXXI.]
THE REASON OF BLESSED GEMMA'S WORLD-WIDE POPULARITY
How can this truly universal devotion to Gemma Galgani be explained? Is it the result of judicious
propaganda? This question can be answered in the words used by Father Henry Petitot, O.P., when
explaining the world-wide popularity of St. Therese of Lisieux. 'As to the imputation of excessive and
unparalleled publicity having been organized around the person of Sceur Therese,' he says, 'if we go back to
its origin and follow it step by step, we shall soon be able to prove that it was evoked by the devotion of the
faithful, and that it is, strictly speaking, a resultant and not an antecedent cause. The various editions,
publications, pictures, pamphlets, were only printed to keep pace with the demand. They were not spread
abroad, after the fashion of publishers, through the medium of the Press, by catalogues, or advertisements,
or by notices intended to attract the attention of the indifferent ... ' [Saint Therese of Lisieux-A Spiritual
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