BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

Renaissance, by Father Henry Petitot, O.P. Preface, p. xvi. (Bums Oates and Washbourne, London, 1928.]
To nothing else, therefore, must we attribute the popularity of Gemma Galgani except to the grace of God,
who has thus arranged things for the good of humanity and the exaltation of His faithful Servant.
There is yet another matter that must be mentioned, namely, the salutary results which devotion to Blessed
Gemma has effected and continues to effect among the faithful. We shall quote here a passage taken from
the remarks appended to the Story of a Soul, omitting the name of St. Therese of Lisieux and inserting that
of Blessed Gemma. , During her earthly career Blessed Gemma Galgani desired to. remain forgotten and
unknown. That longing amounted to a veritable passion. She wanted to annihilate herself, as it were, and
give to her Creator all the praise and glory, offering Him, by the practice of all the virtues, the greatest proof
of her love. Now God remembers and exclaims: " It is my turn now." [Saint Therese of Lisieux, Part II, p. 243.
Bums Oates and Washbourne, 1927.] And He repays the love of His Servant with a liberality that is indeed
regal and divine!
We regret that it is impossible to give the reader any idea of the number and immensity of the graces and
favors which have accompanied the diffusion of devotion to Blessed Gemma. It can be said that not a day of
the thirty years since her death has passed without some manifestation of her power in Heaven. An account
of many of the graces she has obtained for needy humanity has been published in the various editions of her
Life. Many others have been published from time to time in the religious magazines and periodicals under
the direction of the Passionist Fathers throughout the world. In 1924, the Postulator of her Cause arranged
for the publication almost every· month of these graces and favors, under the title of ' Perle di cielo' in the
periodical Il Divin Crocifisso, edited at Pianezza, near Turin.
Thus things continued until the end of 1931 when a favorable opportunity was seized and the first number of
a new periodical called La Ven. Gemma Galgani e il Monastero delle Passioniste di Lucca was published in
Lucca. Its avowed object was to interest itself in whatever concerned Blessed Gemma. It also undertook to
publish the accounts of the graces and favors which were attributed to her intercession. The accounts in the
Il Divin Crocifisso from 1924 to 1926, were collected and published in a volume entitled Voce divina e voce
humana della tomba di Gemma Galgani. Altogether about three hundred graces and favors have been
described in this publication, and they are, one may say, of every kind. In the following chapter we shall give
an account of the two miracles which have been approved of by the Church and accepted for her
Beatification. The following quotation is taken from the above-mentioned volume :
‘Gemma is invoked by the faithful in their material and spiritual needs; in all the ills to which poor human
nature is heir; in imminent dangers, in troubles of soul, in anguish of mind; when there are debts to be paid,
when one has to appear in court, when one has to pass difficult examinations, when an heir is needed in a
family, when news of distant friends is desired, or their return sought; in financial embarrassments; when
employment is wanted; for peace in families or reconciliation with enemies, for the conversion of souls who
have lived far from God.
‘The conversion of souls! Of all the graces attributed to the intercession of Gemma, the accounts of the
conversion of sinners are the most touching. Blasphemers have been enabled to overcome their dreadful
habits; the indifferent have been changed in mind and heart after years away from their religious duties;
schismatics have returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church; and very many who read her Life written by
Father Germanus, the Passionist, confess that they experience a strong impulse to embrace the way of
perfection and sanctity .... '
Among these graces there are some in which the supernatural is evident to anyone who reads the account of
them, so evident indeed that reason and human science are at least constrained to confess that they are
unable to supply an explanation. When there is question of the sudden and complete cure of inveterate
wounds, of ulcers, of fractures of the base of the skull and other parts of the human body, of prolonged
fevers, of tuberculosis bacteriologically diagnosed, of hernia, cists, tumors, infectious diseases, fistulas, and
of so many other sicknesses, after recourse has been had to Gemma, then anyone, who has not lost the
Faith, is compelled to ascribe these cures to a supernatural cause.
CHAPTER XXV
HER TRIUMPH -FIRST STEP TOWARDS HER GLORIFICATIQN
The universal outburst of admiration and love which followed the death of Gemma, was naturally a prelude to
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