Saint Gemma Galgani



Saint Gemma Galgani

Who is St. Gemma Galgani?, you might be asking yourself.  I certainly understand because I was asking the same question over twenty years ago when I was still a young seminarian at St. Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia.  I had met a seminarian, who was in one of the years below me.  I believe he was in First or Second College.  And somehow we got on the conversation of Padre Pio, whom I had a great devotion to at the time . . . and still do . . . . maybe I gave this seminarian a holy card of Padre Pio, I do not remember the exact circumstances beyond that but he asked me a very simple question, "Have you ever heard of St. Gemma Galgani?"  Well, to be honest, no, I had not heard about St. Gemma Galgani.  This seminarian went on to tell me what he knew about St. Gemma.   Certainly, the thing that piqued my interest was the fact that she had the Stigmata of Our Lord.  Back then, keep in mind, this was before the Internet.  So, information was not as readily available nor certainly as easy or as quickly to obtain as it is now with the advent of search engines like Yahoo and Google.  So I found out information about St. Gemma the old-fashioned way:  I went down to the library and I looked up some information about our dear St. Gemma.   I found out that she wanted with all her heart to become a nun.  But due to health issues and other factors, she was not able to fulfill her dream of joining a religious order.  I also learned that she received the gift of the Stigmata.  In other words, she bore the Wounds of Our Lord after the Crucifixion.   And, finally, I learned that she had a love for the Cross of Our Lord, a love for His Sorrowful Passion.  Through her suffering, she grew to appreciate the suffering that Our Lord suffered on our behalf, to atone for our sins.

Certainly, all of these things were very impressive.  St. Gemma has so much to teach to each one of us, if we will only take the time to listen, about Our Lord's Passion and His Cross.  St. Gemma can teach us, again, only if we make the point to listen and pay attention, that we should run to the Cross and not run away from the Cross.  So often in life we do everything we can to avoid the crosses in our lives.  We do not want to suffer.  We do not want to bear pain.  We do not want to deal with negative things in our life.  And all of this, quite frankly, is understandable.  None of us wants to deal with pain and suffering.  And, yet, St. Gemma teaches us that in every life there is joy and also suffering.  And St. Gemma shows  us the gift of dealing with suffering and pain when it does come into our life.  Because it is through our pain, our misery, our trials and tribulations, . ..  it is through these things that we get a small glimpse into what Our Blessed Lord suffered on our behalf:  He dealt with pain, with loss, with rejection, with humiliation, with suffering. . . .  He dealt with everything that we deal with in life . . . and more!   Thus, we learn from Our Lord how to be patient with our suffering.  This is the lesson that St. Gemma learned and this is the lesson that St. Gemma teaches us . . .   if only we make a point to pay attention.  You see, suffering is a part of life.  Each one of us will deal with tragedy at one point or another.  Each one of us will have to endure pain.  Each one of us may have to endure humiliation and suffering at some point or another.  And, as stated earlier, it is our first reaction to run from these things.  And, yet, Our Lord did not run when He was faced with suffering, with rejection, with pain, with misery.  He accepted it and moved forward.  So, too, we must embrace our own personal crosses in life.  It is often through the our crosses that we not only grow stronger but also learn from them as well.

On a personal level, St. Gemma has been so good to me.  As I moved through my years of the seminary, and courses and course-work seemed to get more and more difficult, I could always feel St. Gemma praying for me and sending her heavenly assistance to me in times of need.  She pointed out Christ to me in His Passion.  She helped me to appreciate my own personal crosses as never before.  And she assisted me when I asked her to pray for me.   In St. Gemma, I felt as though I had a special friend in Jesus.  Ever since I learned about her, she has become very dear to me.

If you would like to visit a wonderful website in honour of our dear St. Gemma, please visit:

St. Gemma Galgani website

The above website is an absolute treasure-house of information concerning St. Gemma.  It is maintained by a wonderful gentleman named Mr. Glenn Dallaire, who has a very special devotion to St. Gemma.  Please visit this website and find out more about St. Gemma.

Some people question why devotion to the saints.  It is a fair question and my answer would be a simple one:  the saints help to inspire us to greatness; the saints lead us closer to God not only through their words but also through the way in which they led their lives; and, finally, the saints become our friends, our companions on this journey called life.  St. Gemma has indeed become a very dear companion to me on my Christian journey.  She has assisted me when I found myself in times of difficulty.  She led me closer to God through her inspiration.  She has helped me to find the courage and the strength to stay close to the Cross of Our Saviour and to not run away.








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