BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

These ecstasies lasted ordinarily for an hour, and among the extraordinary things that happened during them
was her participation in the sufferings of the Sacred Passion.
The ecstasies called great, did not last as long. On these occasions she was also completely rapt out of her
senses. They took place mostly in the morning at Mass, or during visits to the Blessed Sacrament at Forty
Hours, or on similar occasions. The return of her senses was spontaneous, and according to the witnesses,
it was very pleasant to watch her wake up out of an ecstasy. She seemed like one who on finishing a
conversation with one person, turned smilingly to speak to another. Sometimes she covered her eyes with
her hands as if repeating to herself the words of St. Ignatius: 'Oh how uninviting the earth is to one whose
gaze is fixed on Heaven! '
The little ecstasies were, on the other hand, very frequent, often occurring several times a day, and they
happened in an altogether spontaneous and simple manner. Necessarily this meant that she was somewhat
rapt out of her senses. The visible world disappeared from her view and she became profoundly recollected.
Without any movement whatsoever preceding or accompanying this flight of her spirit, she was in Heaven,
and the bystanders could see this from the way she fixed her bright eyes upwards or towards the point of the
vision.
Therefore in the ecstasies that were of short duration and, for the most part, noticeable, only the loss of the
sense of touch was complete, and consequently she could while in this state write letters, engage in spiritual
conferences, and read the breviary. This is attested to by Father Germanus, who wrote:
‘Once we were sitting at table; Gemma at one side with her breviary in her hand, and I at the other. We
recited alternately and she read the lessons of the nocturns and answered the responsories and versicles
with admirable exactness, turning over the pages regularly. But how could she do this? I confess that I have
never been able to understand it. She was in ecstasy and dead to every impression of touch. Though she
used her eyes when reading, yet she was quite insensible to the heat of the candle when I held it close to
them, as I have done repeatedly. During this devout recital of the Office, she was unable to see or hear
anything else; no sooner was it stopped for any reason, than she returned to the use of her senses, to lose
them again on resuming the Divine Praises where they had been inter-rupted.' [Life of Gemma Galgani, by
Father Germanus, C.P., Chap. XXIV.]
This ecstatic state might occur in Gemma at any place or time, even when she least expected it. As a rule,
however, she had a "presentiment of its approach. She then endeavored to distract her attention or at least
to withdraw so that others would not perceive it. Cecilia Giannini remembered that Gemma often asked her
to sing or talk to her, in order to distract her mind.
And certainly it did not take much to wrap into ecstasy one who could say of herself: 'I have no other thought
in my mind but the thought- of Jesus.' She considered herself guilty of the gravest fault if she forgot the
presence of God even for a moment. Often she had to do violence to herself to resist the impulses of love
she experienced. 'If you knew,' she wrote to Father Germanus, 'how I have to resist myself when I am with
people and they speak of Jesus, of Heaven or of similar things.
‘Sometimes I am compelled to hide myself; often I have to ask the person who is speaking to change the
subject, otherwise I should run the risk of dying even ... ' Brother Famiano testified that one day when
speaking to her about the Good Thief he repeated the words spoken by Jesus: 'This day You shall be with
Me in Paradise,' and immediately Gemma was rapt into ecstasy.
Gemma's life can be described as one long ecstasy. Her adopted mother deposed: 'I can say that Gemma's
life, at least that part of it which she passed . with me, was like a vision or a continual ecstasy.' Monsignor
Moreschini deposed substantially the same thing: 'All that was necessary to make her go into ecstasy was to
pray or to listen to holy conversation, especially about the Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ.' Certainly it can
be said that Gemma's conversation was in Heaven.
We shall now quote the descriptions of Gemma in ecstasy, given by witnesses in the Processes. The first is
that of Chevalier Matthew Giannini, the head of the fortunate family that gave her a home:
‘The ecstasies I saw always occurred in one of the rooms, but not always in the same room or in the same
place. Sometimes they happened when she was on her knees before the Crucifix, sometimes when she was
in bed, sometimes even when she was seated in a chair. Ordinarily, however, she knelt erect, her head held
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