BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

Father Germanus, C.P.] This may explain the almost contradictory depositions made concerning her at this
period of her life. Sister Julia Sestini declared she had a lively disposition. Another witness said that she was
accustomed to hold in check a rather spirited temperament. On the other hand, according to Don Andrew
Bartoloni, she was of a quiet and calm disposition, and Sister Julia Sestini in another deposition says: 'She
was so obedient that only a sign was necessary to recall her to her duty .... She was noted for her application
to study and her assiduity at her work, and she obtained several prizes. . . . She was generally well liked by
the children, and she knew how to keep silent.'
The truth is that Gemma was even now seriously endeavoring to correct her faults of character, and for this
purpose was opposing her own will and nature. What was pleasing to her she refused, what she disliked she
welcomed. Nevertheless, her first steps in the way of perfection were not accomplished with ease. Her
demeanor suggested that she was watching over her conduct with effort and excessive attention, and this
made her appear serious-minded, unsociable and too silent for her age. Her motives could not be known to
all nor could they be always understood. That is why she was said to be unintelligent, blunt in speech, offhand
and even rude in manner. Some said she was proud and disdainful, others, more kind-hearted, that she
was shy; a few declared that she was stupid. Compliments never came Gemma's way, at any time. She
certainly never sought them. 'Oh!' she used to say, ' How can I please people? I am indeed stupid, and what
does it matter if I am taken for what I am ?' When charged with being proud she answered: 'What is the
meaning of pride? I never even think of it. I do not reply to questions because I do not know what to say. If I
do answer, I am at a loss afterwards to know whether I answered right or wrong, and so I remain silent.'
As the years rolled by, however, Gemma made such progress in virtue that even before she left school she
had acquired almost complete self-mastery. Whatever was artificial or forced in her manners or conduct
disappeared, and virtue seemed to become a second nature.
YOU BELONG TO JESUS
Whatever the attitude of others, Sister Julia Sestini was Gemma's friend. But even Sister Julia often said:
'Gemma, Gemma, if I did not read you in your eyes, I would judge you as the others do.' She understood the
soul-struggles of this holy girl and did her best to keep her on the right path. Her predecessor,. Sister
Catherine Vagliensi, had often said to Gemma: 'Gemma, you belong to Jesus and you must give yourself
entirely to Him. . . . He is pleased with you, but you are in need of great assistance from Him. Your greatest
pleasure ought to be to meditate on His Sacred Passion and death.' So well did she know her pupil that
Gemma wrote in her Autobiography: 'This good teacher had guessed what was in my mind.' Sister Julia
Sestini's influence was not less efficacious. 'Under her direction,' wrote Gemma, ' I began to have a greater
desire for prayer. Every evening after school, I went home and shut myself in a room where I recited the
whole Rosary on my knees. Often at night, I got up for a quarter of an hour to recommend my poor soul to
Jesus.'
It was also at this time that she began to long to practice penance, and this desire burst into flame whenever
she meditated upon the Sacred Passion.
‘Every day,' she wrote, ' I had a part of the Passion explained to me. Often when reflecting on my sins and on
my ingratitude towards Jesus we began to weep together. During these four years this good teacher also
taught me to practice some little penance for love of Jesus. The first was to wear a cord around my waist . . .
but so far as I was able I obtained permission from my confessor. Then she taught me to mortify my eyes
and my tongue, and I succeeded in becoming better, but it was hard work.'
Her spirit of piety in these years was well remembered by Sister Julia Sestini :
'We were accustomed, especially during Lent, to explain the Passion of our Divine Lord. Gemma listened
most attentively, and never grew tired of it. I have seen her weep sometimes. One day she and another child
stood up, and Gemma asked: "What is the book out of which you read these things, because we should like
to get one in order to study and meditate upon them better?" I advised the children to make five minutes'
meditation in the morning, and to devote a few minutes every evening to an examination of conscience. I
saw Gemma smile. When I questioned her I found that she had already the habit of making meditation and
that she spent much more than five minutes at it.'
With a heart already so united to God, it is not surprising that Gemma was remarkable for the way in which
she attended to the altars in the Chapel and classrooms, devoting her time to keeping them clean and
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