BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

should become unconscious, that in one of these, I do not know how to explain it, I should die. Live, Jesus !'
But of these phenomena which have been verified we shall speak later on.
To make the image of Jesus Crucified in Gemma more complete something was yet wanting. Jesus had
been despised, humiliated, mocked, spat upon in His Passion, and so was Gemma. Let us take a few facts
from the Processes. 'Imagine anyone paying attention to an hysterical girl like that!' This was what she
sometimes overheard. And often when she went to the church for confession, she was made to wait a long
time because no one would tell the priest she was there, or she was found fault with because she went to
confession so frequently. At times they were slow in calling the priest to give her Holy Communion, and often
her requests received this answer: 'Go and see whether you can succeed in bothering another priest.'
Gemma, however, was always calm and patient, and excused them, saying: 'They would come if they were
able.'
According to Thecla Natali, Gemma was frequently worried by the street urchins because of the Crucifix she
wore, and because of the way she dressed, but she never lost her patience with them. On one occasion in
the Via Zecca when she was on her way from the convent she was seriously molested by some boys. She
was rescued by some people, who then accompanied her home. Although the boys had gone so far as to
spit in her face, she remained calm throughout. These humiliations, far from upsetting her, united her all the
more to Jesus. , One evening,' deposed Annetta Giannini, 'when Aunt Cecilia, Gemma and I were entering
the Church, some boys began to annoy Gemma, but she was not in the least angry and said: "By being
despised by the world I am hoping to become a saint." ‘
The outrageously scornful words which were cast at her in the Giannini home by a religious from whom she
least expected them, resulted in her love for humiliations being more clearly manifested. , You worthless
consumptive and tiresome nuisance, when will you die and cease to soil this house with your presence?'
Gemma, far from being upset, answered calmly: 'You are right; what you say is true.'
Gemma was to know the pain even of the Crucifixion, including the contraction of the limbs, the displacement
of the bones, the terrible hours of agony, and a desolate death while abandoned by ~ Heaven and earth. All
this we shall see in its place. She had to experience in life the atrocious torment of thirst which Jesus felt
when dying. This is what she wrote to her spiritual director about this thirst :
‘Yesterday was Friday and I felt ill. All my nerves were racked, and this caused a tremendous thirst….I have
had this thirst before but never so great as this time. And then I noticed this curious thing. Water, or anything
one drinks, ought to quench my thirst, but instead it only increased my thirst and tormented me more.'
Of a final trait of resemblance between Jesus and Gemma we shall have to speak later on. Here we shall
only mention it. The Gospel relates of Jesus that after His death His side was pierced by the lance of a
soldier, and that from the wound blood and water came forth. Gemma was also wounded in the side after
death and from that wound blood came forth. Truly a creature that thus bore in her soul and body the
lineaments of Jesus Crucified must be considered predestined.
SUPERNATURAL INSTRUCTION
Participating thus abundantly in the sufferings of her Divine Redeemer, it is not to be wondered at that
Gemma was ever increasing in her love for Him and ever more eager to suffer. These were the lessons that
she learned daily at that school. 'Jesus has always two flames in His hand,' she wrote, ‘and He explained to
me that one is the flame of love and the other the flame of sorrow.' And these flames did indeed penetrate
into the happy soul of the Servant of God, and ended by setting it on fire. Here are some of the heavenly
teachings which Gemma received on this subject from her Angel or directly from Jesus:
‘The Angel says to me that by means of suffering I can become like to Jesus, and show Him my love and be
assured of that of Jesus.'
“Sometimes Jesus says to me: "See, My daughter, the greatest gift that I can make to a soul that is dear to
Me, is the gift of suffering." And then I cannot resist throwing myself at the feet of Jesus and thanking Him so
much, because it seems to me that He may give even to me some little thing to suffer for His sake.'
The Angel added: "Look at this Cross! It is the Cross that your Father presents to you. It is a book which you
must read every day. Promise me, my child, promise me, that you will carry this Cross with love, and that you
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