BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

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This vision refers to Gemma's religious vocation, and to the proposed establishment of the Passionist nuns at Lucca. Gemma did recover her health, but the foundation of the Convent being delayed, she got sick again and died. The second vision is, to use the words of a very devout writer, ‘simply exquisite.' [La Madre mia, G. Schryvers, C. SS. R., Marietti, Torino Roma, 3rd ed.,p. 82.] We shall describe it in Gemma's own words: ‘Who ever would have imagined that my heavenly Mother would come to see me? I myself did not dare to expect it, because I believed my wicked conduct was too great an obstacle. But she had pity on me, and after I had been interiorly recollected for a little while, there happened what often happens, I was rapt out of myself and then, I found myself, it seems to me, before our Lady of Sorrows. What an abundance of joy I then felt within my heart! Explain it who can! I t appeared to me that after a few moments of great emotion, she took me on her lap, and making me lean my head upon her shoulder, held me in that position for some time. My heart was full of contentment; I felt I was in want of nothing. "Am I the only one you love? " she asked me from time to time. "Oh, no," I answered, "I love another person more than thee." "And who is it ? " she said, pretending not to know. "It is somebody who is very dear to me, dearer than anything else in the world. I love this person so much that I would even give my life for Him this instant." "But tell me who he is?" she asked again. "If You wert here yesterday evening," I replied, " You wouldst have seen Him with me. But He does not come often enough. I go to Him every day, and I should go oftener, if I could. But do You know, Mom, why He- acts like that? It is because He wants to see whether I shall sti11love Him when He is far away. But the farther He is away, the more my heart longs for Him." "Tell me who He is," she repeated. "No, I shall not tell thee His name. But He is beautiful and like unto thee, and His hair is the same color as Thine." And then it seemed to me that my Mother caressed me, saying: "But, my child, whom do you mean?" "Do You not understand?" I exclaimed. "I mean Jesus, I am speaking of Jesus," and I repeated it more earnestly. She smiled at me and pressing me to her, said: "Love Him indeed ; love Him with all your heart; but love Him alone." " Never fear," I said to her, " no one in this world will ever share my affections; they belong to Jesus alone." She caressed me again, and I thought she kissed me on the forehead. Then I awoke, that is, I came out of the ecstasy, and I found myself stretched on the floor with the Crucifix near me.' [Diario, September 1, 1900.] ‘YOU BELONGEST ENTIRELY TO ME' Gemma's love for Jesus was directed in a singular way towards the Blessed Sacrament. We do not intend to repeat here what we have already said about this subject. It can be summed up- in one phrase. The Eucharist, Holy Communion, was Gemma's life, and her adorations were for the most part one continual ecstasy. The fire of Divine Love enclosed in the Eucharist, darted out and touched her heart, burning her so deeply at times that she was compelled to run away from that Divine Presence. The other marvelous effects produced in Gemma by the reception of Holy Communion, we have also touched upon. During the period already referred to when she subsisted on Holy Communion alone, except for an occasional drink of water, that is, from Pentecost to the end of June, 1902, any food she took through obedience, was immediately thrown up again, often accompanied with blood. Nevertheless, Gemma enjoyed the very best health during this time. However, at the end of that month she heard Jesus say: 'From now on I shall no longer sustain you,' and from that hour the prodigy ceased. She began to eat again, even more than before, according to Cecilia Giannini. But, nevertheless, she commenced to waste away visibly from that time until her death. Here we shall set down some of Gemma's transports of love towards Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament: , 0 Jesus, my only good, I am full of hunger for the Bread of life; I am athirst for Thy most precious Blood.' ‘I love a life of Faith, and I will repeat a thousand times that I prefer to receive Thee than to see Thee. But, tell me, 0 Lord, how am I to please Thee? Communicate to me Thy light, and Thy divine ardors.' ‘How sweet a thing it is, 0 Jesus, to receive Thee in Holy Communion! What consolation there is enclosed within Thy heart! Let me dwell there, oh Jesus, my only treasure . . . in Thy embrace I wish to die.' ‘It is almost a fortunate thing for me that I was born a sinner, for the veins of my Jesus are always open, ready to pour out that most precious Blood.' , It is possible that after receiving Thee, even once, all should not become enamored of Thee? ' ‘Yes, 0 Jesus, there are happy moments on earth . . . 0 Jesus, Paradise of Charity, prodigy of Love! I am full 92
of confusion at the thought of such graces. . . . I can almost say that You belong entirely to me.' ‘I am often asked what I do during all the time I spend with Jesus, and I answer: "What do a poor person do when received by a generous rich man?'" ‘Oh my Jesus, do You ask me what I desire? Life to revive me. First I should like to have Thee within my heart and to love Thee, and then to see Thee and possess Thee for ever. 0 infinite God, how do You show such liberality towards me ? Do You know what gives me strength to live? It is the thought of receiving Thee in Holy Communion….’ 'I realize that You have not given to me the fugitive riches of the world, but You have bestowed true riches upon me-You have nourished me with the Incarnate Word. What would have become of me, if I had not directed all my tender affections towards the Sacred Host? . . .' 'One must learn to love. The school is the Supper Room, the Master is Jesus, and the Doctrine to be learned are His Flesh and Blood.' ‘Every morning I receive Holy Communion; it is the only consolation I have. Notwithstanding that I am nothing, and have nothing to offer Jesus, nevertheless I go to Him. I feel in great need, Father, of being reinvigorated with that sweet Food which Jesus gives to me. The love that Jesus shows me every morning, touches my heart and awakens all its affections, and then in those heavenly moments I make a thousand promises. I tell Jesus that all my love will be directed towards Him alone, and that if I do give a little of it 10 any creature, it will only be in order to love Him the more and make Him loved the more.' ‘Do you know what I want to thank Jesus for the most when I am in Paradise? For Holy Communion more than for anything else.' 'Father, Father, I cannot bear it any more! After Communion, no, I cannot bear to think of all that Jesus does for the least of His creatures, of how He manifests to me the splendours of His Heart in the prodigious abundance of His paternal love. o Father, if you also think of this you will not be able to bear the thought. And to think who I am ! I acknowledge that I am indeed a vile creature and the fruit of sin. Yet Jesus is good, too good; He desires me to come to Him and speak with Him in all confidence.' ‘Holy Communion is a happiness that can only be compared, it seems to me, to the joy of the Saints and Angels. These gaze upon the face of Jesus, and are certain of never sinning again, of never losing Him again, and I envy them these two things and should like to be with them. But otherwise I should have, if I was capable of it, a motive for exultation, because Jesus' comes to my heart every morning.' 'We have received Holy Communion .... What a union! Two extremes meet; Jesus Who is all and Gemma who is nothing. What a mystery! Live Jesus! ' 'Father, let me speak about Holy Communion. . . . Are there souls who do not understand what the Eucharist really is? Is it possible that there are souls insensible to the divine urgings, to the mysterious ardent effusions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? o Heart of Jesus, how can mankind refuse to consecrate to Thee all the beats of their hearts, all the blood of their veins! Oh Heart of Jesus, Heart of Love! ' ‘It is night, Father, but to-morrow is drawing near, when Jesus will possess me and I will possess Jesus. Has it been because of my merits that I have been so favored? No, Father; isn't that true? Oh Jesus, my God, the object of all my affections, how glad I should be to die after having received Thee! . . . Yes, to die in the ecstasy of Holy Communion! . . . Jesus, my only love, I am waiting for Thee; do You hasten! Forgive me, Father, for writing like this; I am rapt out of myself.' ‘Yes, Jesus is sweetness itself, and all this sweetness is manifested in the Blessed Sacrament. But how can the Majesty of God bear the presence of a creature so vile? Yesterday when I went to visit Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament I felt myself burn so much that I had to leave Him. I was burning all over; it even reached my face. . . . I cannot understand, Father, how those who are so near Jesus, are not burnt to a cinder. Jesus is such an irresistible and loving Spouse, that I fed that is what would happen to me….If Jesus acts like that, He will soon be alone. Sometimes I complain to Him, saying: " If You do act thus towards all and desire to make all who come to Thee feel the warmth of Thy love, people will not be able to endure it, and then You will be left alone.’ 93
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1 BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI www
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CHAPTER I BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS A d
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not the child of prayer-the fulfill
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taken to have Gemma raised to the a
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ecomingly decorated, nor is it surp
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decided to plead her cause with her
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day was still very green : ‘I do
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esolution: I will make acts of cont
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punished the culprit.' In spite of
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Another incident illustrates her an
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eached home she would say that she
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His holy Mother, along with a feeli
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consultation, and the result was a
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The biography of St. Gabriel which
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'I said to her: "Gemma, I know that
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from all His wounds. I lowered my e
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At home Gemma continued to follow t
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comfort. ‘ "The demons with My pe
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In 1899, in preparation for the ope
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their souls and become better instr
Page 41 and 42: efore. she was convinced that Gemma
Page 43 and 44: visited her family or the Zitine Si
Page 45 and 46: wrote to the latter: 'Father, the m
Page 47 and 48: Her love for the Blessed Virgin was
Page 49 and 50: 'I saw on one occasion, I think it
Page 51 and 52: happening, but I heard her say in t
Page 53 and 54: will esteem it better than all the
Page 55 and 56: BLESSED GEMMA GALGANI (1878-1903) P
Page 57 and 58: 'I saw with my own eyes the wounds
Page 59 and 60: very near one another] A little whi
Page 61 and 62: elations with anybody. This wise pr
Page 63 and 64: is a true gem of the Sacred Heart o
Page 65 and 66: Perhaps more than one reader, even
Page 67 and 68: ‘It is some time since I began to
Page 69 and 70: that will compel Him to pour out Hi
Page 71 and 72: say more than this, that there were
Page 73 and 74: color of her eyes. The greater part
Page 75 and 76: towards the end of her life, she us
Page 77 and 78: why he endeavored in other ways to
Page 79 and 80: ‘One night-I do not remember what
Page 81 and 82: prayers, and so everything ended we
Page 83 and 84: These ecstasies lasted ordinarily f
Page 85 and 86: false devotion. Hide me away from t
Page 87 and 88: all being rapt in Jesus, that is, i
Page 89 and 90: Gianninis' (mentioning the exact ho
Page 91: loving Mom! If Jesus will persist i
Page 95 and 96: ‘I should like to possess the pur
Page 97 and 98: Lord, to die a victim of Thy love,
Page 99 and 100: of Gemma that the conversion of a m
Page 101 and 102: indeed have continued her intercess
Page 103 and 104: had been commanded to do so by St.
Page 105 and 106: never be happy except in a convent.
Page 107 and 108: how much ingratitude and malice the
Page 109 and 110: The foundation was indeed made. To-
Page 111 and 112: same I have not got tuberculosis.'
Page 113 and 114: heard to say repeatedly. 'Do not th
Page 115 and 116: Gemma was indeed dead! The parish p
Page 117 and 118: Gemma Galgani increased daily, and
Page 119 and 120: Renaissance, by Father Henry Petito
Page 121 and 122: Antipreparatory Congregation on the
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