CrucisSt. Gemma Galgani
St. Gemma Galgani was born on 12 March 1878 at Camigliano, near Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, and died on 11 April 1903 at Lucca, on the eve of Easter. Losing her mother in childhood and later her father, she grew up amid poverty and illness, yet from an early age she was drawn to intense prayer and love of God. A grave illness was, she believed, cured through the intercession of the Sacred Heart and of Blessed Gabriel Possenti, deepening her mystical life.
A laywoman who longed to become a Passionist nun but was prevented by her fragile health, she was favored with extraordinary graces: ecstasies, visions, and the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, which appeared on her body. She offered her many sufferings in union with the Passion of Jesus, which she contemplated with burning love, and endured them with humility and joy. She died of tuberculosis at only twenty-five. Canonized in 1940, she is honored as a 'daughter of the Passion' and a model of hidden holiness.
Selected quotes
“Throw yourself into the arms of Jesus, and let his love carry what you cannot bear.”
“Trust Jesus even in the dark, for he is never closer than when he seems most hidden.”
“Speak often with your guardian angel, for heaven is nearer than we think.”