BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

Another incident illustrates her angelic purity.
While her father was still living, a chemist's assistant had the audacity to address improper words to her and
make improper suggestions. She was horrified and took to flight immediately, leaving the vile tempter very
much confused.
Once she greatly surprised her aunt by asking her to take her to a milliner's shop. Her aunt did so, wondering
all the while what was going to happen. When they reached the shop, Gemma asked for a hat with a wide
rim that turned down over her face -so that no one could see her face when she was out. The store owner
remarked that a hat like that was not in fashion, and that it did not suit a girl who was as good-looking as she
was. Gemma, however, replied: 'Make it as I ask, because I want it like that.' The reasons for this choice will
be seen in the pages that follow.
CHAPTER VI
THE INHERITANCE OF THE ELECT -IN THE CRUCIBLE
The years 1896 and 1897 were years of anxiety and sorrow for the Galgani family. At this time Enrico
Galgani's affairs were no longer flourishing. The long sickness of his wife and of his son Gino, added to the
sickness of his sister Elisa and of Gemma, exhausted his resources and he was compelled to sell not only
his country house but even his home in Lucca. So dire did things become in the end that he was unable to
pay Gemma's school fees and had to keep her at home. 'Gemma once told me,' deposed Sister Julia Sestini,
'that she could no longer pay the monthly pension, and I therefore spoke to the Superior about it, and she
allowed her to come to the College as usual.'
But the hardest blow the family received was given by Enrico Galgani himself, unintentionally of course. He
was a very charitable man, simple and incapable of deceiving anyone. His one fault was that he could not
believe that anyone would deceive him. In this world there are only too many who live in bad faith and who
have no scruple about the means they employ to attain their own ends. When some bills of exchange fell
due, the ruin of the family was complete. All he possessed was seized. Only his religion and the prayers of
his holy daughter Gemma sustained him in this trial.
However, his affliction was so great that his health gave way and he never recovered. He developed a
cancer in the throat and was in great pain. (Gemma looked after him with all the affection of a daughter,' said
Elisa Galgani, ( and made certain that he received the Last Sacraments in good time, and had all the
comforts and blessings of the Church.' Although Gemma, like all the family, had much to endure during these
sorrowful days, she was always resigned to the dispositions of Providence. She herself confessed that when
she saw everyone around her cast down, especially after the loss of their property, she used to go to her
room, feeling herself unable to take part in such exhibitions of hopeless sorrow. On the contrary, she was
inclined to be pleased that God had treated her family in that way, and thanked Him for His Goodness. Such
sentiments could be felt only by one whose life was animated by the liveliest faith.
It was indeed her lively faith that sustained Gemma. This is seen in her Autobiography, where she declares in
her humility that this perfect resignation to the Divine Will arose from her insensibility and hardness of heart.
‘I alone was without heart and indifferent in the midst of all this sorrow. The thing that saddened the others
most was that, added to the illness of my father, we were deprived of all means of support. I understood one
morning the greatness of the sacrifice that Jesus was asking. I wept a great deal, but He made Himself felt
so much in my soul in those days of sorrow, and my father was so resigned to die, that I was strong enough
to bear this heavy misfortune calmly." [Autobiographia, pp. 35, 36]
HER FATHER'S DEATH
On November II, 1897, Enrico Galgani died in his fifty-seventh year. A cousin of Gemma's, Luigi Bartelloni,
remembered the sorrowful scene well :
‘It is impossible to describe the scene that met our eyes when we reached the house, the prospect of their
father's death had so cast down all the members of the family. Gemma was not weeping; rather she seemed
petrified. This is not hearsay, for I saw it with my own eyes. We found the father in a comatose state. But as
soon as Gemma had recovered from the first shock, she helped her brothers with all the sorrowful
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