About the book: St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was a beautiful Italian laywoman who was born near Lucca, lived in obscurity, died at only 25, and yet has become known the world over and is fondly called "The Gem of Christ." Orphaned at seven, she had nonetheless been well schooled in spirituality by her holy mother, and from that early foundation in the Faith, she quickly rose to the highest stages of sanctity and is considered by authorities on spirituality to have advanced through all nine of the classic stages of growth in holiness-which the author briefly but beautifully describes.
Written by her spiritual director shortly after her death, The Life of St Gemma Galgani is the primary source of information about this holy girl-of whom a great deal is known, because of her own writings and because her director wrote this present biography from first-hand knowledge about her. A mystic, stigmatist, visionary, ecstatic, victim soul, discerner of spirits, seer of hidden things, prophetess, spouse of Christ, zealot for souls, devotee of the Poor Souls in Purgatory, St Gemma Galgani seemed to possess every hallmark of sanctity-and that to a marked degree.
Ever humble, quiet and dignified, she detested "singularity" and contented herself with attending church only twice a day-in the morning, when she heard two Masses and received Holy Communion, and in the evening for Vespers. Outside of her family circle, no one realized she was extraordinary. But the family members with whom she lived knew, for they had all witnessed her frequent ecstasies, sufferings of the Passion of Our Lord, unusual mystical phenomena, and being incessantly harassed by the devil, right up to the end of her life. Though she kept her eyes downcast most of the time, St Gemma was exquisite to behold, and others often found it hard to look her directly in the eye and yet withstand her gaze. Frequently, the Blessed Mother or Our Lord would appear to her, and she saw and conversed almost continuously with her Guardian Angel. Her spiritual director was convinced she had never committed a mortal sin or even a purposeful venial sin. In fact, she was so sensitive to sin that she would sweat blood on hearing God blasphemed. Her heart during ecstasy would often palpitate so greatly that it would rock her bed or chair, though she herself remained tranquil in mien. Three of her ribs were "bent" at right angles because of the exuberance of her heart during these ecstasies. And at death her heart was discovered to be greatly enlarged.
Those who knew her thought she was "an angel in human flesh," and the mistress of the home where she lived-the mother of eleven young children-claimed, "I never knew of the least trouble arising in our family on her account," and "I never noticed in her the least defect."
St Gemma was totally detached from earthly things, and kept her mind and heart focused on God - to do Him service in any way she could. "With her, faith seemed no longer to be faith, but evidence." When she was in ecstasy, "one could not look at her. She did not seem to be a mortal." And Our Lord Himself gave her Communion three different times. Toward the end of her life, she had wanted to become a Passionist nun, but the convent would not accept her; so she commented that though they would not have her in life, they would in death, and this prediction came true, for the Passionists possess her relics and consider her as one of their own.
This book contains much, much more than all the above, and it will give everyone confidence that he or she too can attain to high sanctity, even if living as a lay person in the world.
The Life of St Gemma Galgani (1914, 2012) is translated from the Italian by Fr A M O'Sullivan OSB.
About the author: The Venerable Father Germanus Ruoppolo (1850-1909), CP, was a Roman Catholic priest in the Passionist order and an author. His name in religion was Father Germanus of St Stanislaus. Born in 1850 at Naples, he was noted for his service as St. Gemma Galgani's spiritual director, a practice which he began in September 1900. He was also a highly-esteemed theologian, practicing great piety, and authored many works on such subjects as philosophy, theology and mathematics. He was also an expert in Archeology, and for years he oversaw on behalf of the Vatican an important archeological excavation under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul in Rome, a site which Father Germano discovered holds the original house of the martyr Saints John and Paul, who were martyred on June 26, 363. He was also the official Postulator for the cause for canonization of the Passionist brother, Gabriel Possenti (now Saint-editor).
Pope Pius X, after reading Father Germano’s “The Life of St. Gemma Galgani”, had his Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Merry Del Val, write to Father Germano the following-
“The Holy Father has charged me to make to make known to you the deep pleasure he derived from reading your book (in which you display a deep knowledge of mystical Theology)* and describe the riches of extraordinary graces that Our Lord poured so abundantly into the soul of that innocent maiden. The August Pontiff trusts that by reading this Life, hearts may become more inflamed with that love of the supernatural which the enemies of the Faith strive to obliterate”.
* The words in parenthesis are in the original letter, but were left out of "The Life of St Gemma Galgani" by Father Germanus out of humility in the editions that he published while he lived.
After St Galgani's death, he took it upon himself to compose The Life of St Gemma Galgani, which was published in 1914 with the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. Father Germanus died suddenly of an apparent heart attack on 11 December 1909 at age 59 and he is entombed next to St Gemma in the Santuario di Santa Gemma in Lucca, Italy. Alongside him in his room were found a large variety of Gemma's writings, which he had been tirelessly compiling and publishing in the years leading up to his holy death. He has been officially declared “Venerable” by the Roman Catholic Church. Venerable Germanus Ruoppolo's feast day is 11 December.
For a more detailed sketch of Venerable Germanus, see the book "Gemma Galgani - A Child of the Passion" by Philip Coghlan, or in Italian see "La Povera Gemma" by Padre Enrico Zoffoli CP (pages 345-385).
The above information is taken from stgemmagalgani.com.
