BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

her Beatification, the greatest honor after Canonization which the Church bestows upon her heroes. One
could not ignore a phenomenon so universal and so spontaneous, especially when it was accompanied by
miracles, the sign by which God sets His seal here on earth upon the sanctity of His Servants.
In October, 1907, at the Archiepiscopal Curia of Lucca, the ordinary and informative Processes on the form
of sanctity, virtue and miracles in general of the Servant of God, Gemma Galgani, were begun, and being
completed in 1910 were sent to the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Among those that gave evidence in the
Processes, there were, besides some authoritative members of the Giannini household, the three illustrious
prelates who had every opportunity of knowing Gemma intimately, Monsignor John Volpi, at the time Bishop
of Arezzo, Monsignor Peter Paul Moreschini, Arch-bishop of Camerino, and Monsignor Paul Tei, Bishop of
Pesaro. Father Germanus, C.P., presented as evidence the biography he had written, at the same time
pointing out the sources of the information he had used. These sources were the conversations he had had
personally with the Servant of God; the letters written to him and to others; the accounts he had received
from persons worthy of credence, priests, relatives, those among whom she had lived, especially the
Gianninis who had been deputed to watch the holy girl day and night and thus observe and note down
anything unusual that happened; the diaries Gemma had kept by order of her first directors; and the
colloquies she had uttered in ecstasy and which had been faithfully taken down in writing by those who were
present at them. Naturally Father Germanus did not suggest that he had been an eyewitness of everything
he had written in his biography. 'There are very many things, ' he nevertheless declared, 'of which I can say
with the Evangelist St. John: That ... which we have seen with our eyes . . . and our hands have handled . . .
we declare unto you.'
The ordinary Processes being completed, her writings were next examined, and on March 7, 1918, a decree
of the Sacred Congregation was issued in which it was declared that there being now no obstacle in the way,
the Cause of the Beatification might be proceeded with. Finally, on April 28, 1920, a fortnight before the
Canonization of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, two Saints who had
such a great influence on her life, the Sovereign Pontiff Benedict XV signed the decree for the formal
Introduction of her Cause to the Sacred Congregation of Rites. That same year, the Process ' De non culto '
was approved, and in the following year a dispensation from the Process on the fame of sanctity was
granted.
THE APOSTOLIC PROCESSES
The Apostolic Processes on the virtues commenced immediately at Pisa a at the instance of the Sovereign
Pontiff, and lasted from January 20, 1922, until December 20 of the same year. These Processes were
suspended on the death of Benedict XV, but were opened again shortly after the election of Pius XI. Because
the infirmity of some of the witnesses prevented their coming to Pisa, the Sacred Tribunal sat in Lucca for
three weeks in May and October, and in the meantime the Holy See on its own account arranged for the
interrogation of witnesses at Rome and Gaeta. Among the witnesses interrogated in these Processes-about
fifty in number-there was one we must mention, Gemma's brother, Signor Guido Galgani, a chemist at Bagni
di St. Giuliano (Pisa), whose evidence was taken just in time, for he died a holy death three months later.
Upon their completion these Processes were brought to Rome, where they were discussed and examined. In
1926, both the ordinary and Apostolic Processes were declared valid, and on June 28, 1927, the
Antipreparatory Congregation on the virtues of Gemma Galgani was held at the home of Cardinal Gennaro
Granito Pignatelli, Bishop of Albano, Ponent of the Cause. The Preparatory Congregation took place in the
Vatican on April 24, 1928, and the General Congregation in the presence of the Sovereign Pontiff, on
December 4 of the same year.
Three years passed before the reading of the Decree concerning the heroicity of the virtues of Gemma
Galgani, years that seemed so long to her admirers and devout clients, but which constitute one more proof
of the prudence with which the Church proceeds to her decisions.
Finally, on November 29, 1931, the long-awaited Decree was read, and at its conclusion the Holy Father
gave a magnificent discourse in which he drew attention to the lessons that were to be learned from the life
of Gemma Galgani at a time when the entire world was in such a sad state of distress. This Decree,
according to the present legislation of the Church, gave to Gemma Galgani the title of Venerable.
On March 1, 1932, the validity of the Processes instituted to investigate two miracles alleged to be worked by
the Venerable Servant of God was recognized and accepted. On April 26, of the same year, the
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