BIOGRAPHY of ST GEMMA GALGANI - Get a Free Blog

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‘I burn, 0 Jesus. What a great consolation for me it is to know that these flames are the flames of Thy love! 0 Jesus, I desire Thy forgiveness, not Thy consolations, which I do not deserve. It will be enough for me, 0 Jesus, if You nourish me with Thy heavenly food. Let me plunge down deep into the abyss of Thy love, 0 Jesus ! ' ‘0 Jesus, could there be a sweeter thing in the world than to love Thee? Now that we are close to one another, so united, burn me, set me on fire! I want to love Thee intensely.' ‘Here I am, 0 Jesus. Oh, when will You give me wings? 0 Jesus, what joy will be mine when I am no longer my own, but entirely Thine. Oh, what is happening to me? I don't know what is happening. All I know is that the earth is dis-appearing from view, that I am happy, that I am forgetting everything .... ' 'What peace, what quiet even though You hide Thyself! If You desire to go far away, o Jesus, let us go to the mountain, let us run. . . . I burn with the same flames, I am bound with the same bonds. Even though You hide Thyself and provided You love me, I am happy, 0 Jesus. I should like all to say that Thy love has consumed me. 0 Love, 0 Love!' ‘0 my God, You say that to flyaway is love . . . then let us fly, let us fly ! ' ‘Ah, I have found Thy dwelling-place, 0 Jesus! You dwell in the soul that You have created to Thy image, in the soul that seeks Thee, that loves Thee, desires Thee; not in the soul which prefers the things of earth to Thee! . . . But, my Jesus, my soul is no fit place for Thy habitation. . . . How do You stay in my heart, 0 Jesus? Yet, make it Thy dwelling-place for ever; 0 my Jesus, may we be never again separated! 0 my God, my Jesus, my Father, my Spouse, my sweetness, my consolation, the consolation of all mankind! 0 Love that sustains me! 0 Fire that burns without ever being extinguished, grant that my heart may be consumed in Thy flames!' ‘I wish that my heart could beat only for Jesus ; that the Name of Jesus could be the only word to cross my lips, that my pen could write naught else but the name of Jesus; that my eyes looked upon no other object than Jesus, and that my thoughts were centered on Jesus alone. I have often reflected whether there was on earth any object towards which I could direct my affections, and I found that there was none either in Heaven or on earth except my beloved Jesus.' ‘Let us ask Jesus to grant us > the riches of His pure love, so that we may breathe only for His love, live only for His love. May the reign of the love of Jesus be extended throughout the world.' 'Where am I? Who is near me? Without a fire I burn; without a chain I am bound; yes, I feel that I am bound to Jesus. I am being consumed with longing in the flames that give me life, and yet cause my death. I suffer; I live and I die ceaselessly. But I would not exchange my life for all the world. . . . I should like to cry in every ear: "Love Jesus, love Him alone!" . Father, to suffer is nothing, to burn in that sweet fire, is nothing, to die is nothing .... What, therefore, can I give to Jesus ? ' ' ... 0 Jesus, why do You hide Thy lovely eyes? Let us come to an agreement. If You do hide Thy eyes, then do not deny me Thy friendship. Otherwise I should die. Do not depart from me even for a moment. . . . 0 my heart, why are you not on fire with love for Jesus, why are you not completely consumed? 0 Jesus, do You know why I have not found in the world a love as sincere as Thine? It is because Thy love is immense. Jesus on earth, Jesus in life, Jesus in Heaven, that is what sustains me.' ‘What is it I feel, 0 my God? Thine are the Saints, and the humble of heart, but not I, 0 Lord. Thine are the spirits and the souls of the just, but not I, 0 Lord .... They render Thee infinite praise and thanksgiving. But, 0 Jesus, even I, a vile and unworthy sinner, desire to love Thee, and with an unusual love. 0 Strength of my heart, help me ! o Fire, give fire to my heart; 0 Jesus, give words to my mouth, that day and night I may meditate on Thy glory and love Thee continuously. Unclean are my lips, unclean my whole body. I have need of Thee to cleanse me from every stain. Sanctify me, 0 Jesus. The memory of Thee, and Thy sweetness, holds my soul for ever united to Thee. Grant that I may pass from this visible world, to the invisible things of Heaven! ' ‘0 love, infinite love! Strip me of this flesh, free me from this body, for I can bear no more. 0 love that delights yet ever torments me! When shall I be united to Thee, 0 Lord, to Thee Who do even in this world keep me so intimately united to Thee in the bonds of love. Grant, oh grant that I may die of love! What a happy death, 0 96
Lord, to die a victim of Thy love, a victim for Thee! ' As was truthfully written over her tomb, Gemma did indeed die a victim of divine love, for she was consumed by its flames rather than by the violence of her disease. CHAPTER XXI HER MISSION –A HOLOCAUST FOR SINNERS To the words just recorded and as a complement to the glorious epitaph inscribed on the marble over the tomb of Blessed Gemma there should be added 'Virgo altare Christi,' words so often found in the Catacombs over the last resting-place of the Christian virgins. This wonderful title, by which the Fathers of the Church frequently honored these Christian Virgins, belongs also to Blessed Gemma. For her life was one long sacrifice- a sacrifice which, united to that of the Divine Martyr, became the fruitful cause of the salvation of many souls.' [G. Petazzi, S.J., La mistica sete nel cuore d'un apostolo e d'una vergine. Milan, Tip. S. Giuseppe, 1909.] This beneficent mission which occupied, one may say, every day of her short life was apparent to those amongst whom she lived, and they testified to it in the Processes for her Beatification. 'She acted as a missionary of good to all,' said Sister M. Agnes, Prioress of the' Mantellate' Nuns at Lucca. 'It was one of Gemma's characteristics to pray for poor sinners,' declared Canon Andreuccetti, and Sister M. Julia of St. Joseph attested that Gemma's life was devoted to the expiation of sin. Gemma's friend, Palmira Valentini, expressed herself with regard to this matter thus: 'Gemma was much afflicted by the thought of the sins which were being committed, and she often offered herself to God on behalf of sinners. This was a special characteristic of hers.' 'She would have liked to go throughout the world,' continued the Superior of the Sisters at Lucca, 'everywhere preaching the Faith of Jesus, and promoting the spread of His Kingdom by converting pagans, heretics and sinners.' 'She desired to propagate the Faith, and convert sinners,' said Marianna Bianchini, ' and for the latter she suffered willingly, and did penance.' Another witness, Signora Thecla Natali, confirms what has been mentioned above, and added: 'She strove to get others to do the same.' The Franciscan, Father Gentile Pardini, whose emphatic depositions we have often quoted in the course of this work, declared: 'The sins of mankind, and the insult these offences offered to Jesus, were an acute and continual source of suffering to Gemma, and she therefore prayed for sinners and did penance for them as far as she was able.' And he added: 'Her zeal for the glory of God was so great that she would have given her blood, all her blood, for the good of souls.' VICTIM FOR SINNERS –VICTIM SOUL Gemma did more than merely desire to give her blood for the salvation of souls ; she actually gave it. The reader will remember the copious blood she shed in her ecstasies when she participated in the sufferings of the Passion, her sweat of blood when she heard blasphemies. For a whole month during which she was praying for priests, she shed tears of blood. And all this blood was offered for the welfare of souls. We should like to record here all the wonderful ecstasies in which she struggled with the Justice of God for the salvation of sinners, offering herself generously as a victim of expiation for their sins. 'What do You wish, oh Jesus?' She once was heard to say in ecstasy. 'Do You think that I am waiting until You ask me for my life? It is Thine. . . . I have already offered it to Thee. Will You be pleased if I offer it to Thee again, as a victim in expiation for my sins and those of sinners? Act at once. . . . My life is in Thy hands, it is Thine . . . it is Thine. If I had a hundred lives I should give every one of them to Thee, but I have only one! I am ready for everything. Does it seem to Thee that in asking for my life You art asking me to make a sacrifice? I t is a favour You do bestow upon me.' 'Do grant my desire, I she prayed on another occasion. 'It is not befitting that You should suffer, but I am here, strike me. Think of sinners. Do You know who has forbidden me to think of sinners. The Devil. ... Think of poor sinners, 0 Jesus, I recommend them to Thee. Teach me what I should do in order to save them.' [Quotations in this and following chapters, are taken here and there from the “Lettere ed estasi”] As He had done before once for St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Jesus opened His Heart for Gemma, and with the thought of sinners in her mind, she ran to it. 'What art You doing, 0 Jesus? After so many other things, do You now open Thy Heart for me? Oh, if only all sinners would come to Thy Heart. Come, sinners, do not fear! The sword of Justice will not reach you there. But, o Jesus, why is Thy Heart, the best and holiest of all hearts, so tormented ?' The sight of the Sacred Heart so inflamed her with love that she exclaimed: , Oh, 97
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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
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efore. she was convinced that Gemma
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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
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Page 55 and 56: BLESSED GEMMA GALGANI (1878-1903) P
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Page 63 and 64: is a true gem of the Sacred Heart o
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Page 83 and 84: These ecstasies lasted ordinarily f
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Page 93 and 94: of confusion at the thought of such
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Page 101 and 102: indeed have continued her intercess
Page 103 and 104: had been commanded to do so by St.
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Page 109 and 110: The foundation was indeed made. To-
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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
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