BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

unsullied in her heart. She cultivated a special devotion to St. Agnes, and to the other saints who were
particularly remarkable for their purity. But it was above all to the Blessed Virgin that she entrusted the
protection of her treasure, and for this purpose all her life long she never omitted to say three Hail Mary’s
every day with her hands under her knees. She was once surprised in this position by her Aunt Elisa and
upon her asking for an explanation she replied: 'Grandmother taught me to do it. She said that if I said three
Hail Mary’s in that way, the Blessed Virgin would never allow me to commit a sin against purity.'
We have already alluded to her reserve -a reserve certainly suggested by her love of modesty. We shall here
quote a deposition of Cecilia Giannini:
‘She washed herself, yes, but only when no one else was in the room. She did not wish to be smart-looking,
but she kept herself clean. While she slept in my room, a matter of three years, I never saw her dress or
undress; she always did this behind a screen. Even during her last illness when she had to be visited by a
doctor, she asked me not to look at her. With the doctor she was very bashful, and only allowed his
attentions because she was told to do so, and then only in so far as was absolutely necessary. She could not
have been more modest .... Before her death, and once perhaps during that same illness, I noticed that she
had washed her feet, so as to prevent others from seeing them.'
Her love for the angelic virtue was so great that to defend it she performed acts which placed her by the side
of the greatest heroes of Christian hagiography, once actually jumping into the icy waters of an open cistern
in the garden in order to free herself from a violent temptation.
The exercise of this virtue made her most dear to the eyes of God; she herself was told so by her Guardian
Angel. The fact is related in the Processes for the Beatification.
In one of the many visits of her Guardian Angel, she followed out the suggestions of Father Paul Tei, whose
advice she had sought, being in doubt, either through modesty or fear for her chastity, regarding the reality of
her heavenly visitor. The Angel smiled, and then-this is her own account of what happened -he knelt down,
and with hands joined recited the words the priest says in the holy Mass from the Sanctus to the Elevation
(that is, the Angelic Trisagion). Then he said: 'It is because of your great virginal purity that the Lord confers
upon you so many graces.'
When Aunt Cecilia once observed that she should be most jealously careful of this virtue, and should strive
to keep it unstained, she answered: 'I have nothing else to offer to Jesus.'
HER CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Before closing this chapter, perhaps already too long, we invite the reader to cast another look at this child
reposing so calmly in the arms of God. She was living a life of Faith, and it seemed to her-so Monsignor Tei
attested-that no matter what she asked of God, she would obtain it. And because she was living this life of
Faith, everything that concerned Jesus was dear to her. Thus in the Giannini household she desired to have
charge of the domestic chapel, and Chevalier Matthew declares that even when they were in the country, the
presence of Gemma was perceived from the cleanliness of the altars. When she was with the' Mantellate '
Nuns, on one occasion, according to Sister M. Julia of St. Joseph, she wanted to polish the inside of a
ciborium and only desisted when told that that could be done only by priests. She had great respect and
veneration for priests, so great indeed that Chevalier Matthew could depose: 'I never knew her to say a word
against a priest.' This is a thing rare enough even among pious women.
Her lively faith also led her to have at heart the welfare of religion, and to attend the preaching of the word of
God. We are assured by Cecilia Giannini that she took a deep interest in the notices concerning the
propagation of the Faith, and prayed earnestly for missioners and for the conversion of infidels. We shall
quote a deposition of Mother Gemma Giannini: [who was one of the older Giannini girls during Gemma’s
lifetime]
‘I know that the Servant of God had always a great veneration for the word of God, and that she attended
with great assiduity the sermons in the Cathedral, especially during Lent, and during missions. She did not
read books of devotion much, because she was usually very busy, and being so advanced in the spiritual life
she preferred to raise her soul to God and concentrate her thoughts upon Him. When she came to live with
us she had only one book of devotion, but afterwards she began to make less and less use of it, as it
seemed better to her to give vent to her heart in her own words. In times of aridity, that is, afterwards,
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