April 11, 2024
“Dear Blessed Mother, lend me your heart. I look for it each day to pour my troubles into.”
— St. Gemma Galgani
When Gemma Galgani was 8, she lost her mother. When she was 18, her father died. Today, she is recognized as the patron saint of those who have lost a parent and those who are orphans.
This young woman knew suffering throughout her short life. After her parents died, Gemma had to care for her seven brothers and sisters, and they lived in poverty because her father had been ill a long time before he died and was unable to work. Several years later, she went to live with an aunt. Because of her chronic sickness, she quit school. Although she wanted to become a nun, her poor health prevented her from entering the religious life. However, this young woman was blessed with special graces and mystical experiences.
Born in the small town of Luca in Italy on March 12, 1878, Gemma was known as the “Flower of Lucca” and the “Daughter of Passion” because she shared in Christ’s Passion and suffered much.
On June 8, 1899, she was told that she would receive a special grace. It was the stigmata, the physical wounds of Christ, which she endured with bleeding from her hands and feet. These marks, which appeared every Thursday were the wounds of the crucified Christ, and they “appear on the bodies of some men and women whose lives are so conformed to Christ’s that they reflect those wounds of redemptive love for others.”
In January 1903, Gemma was diagnosed with tuberculosis at 25 years old and died shortly after on Holy Saturday, April 11, which is her feast day.
Many people who have lost a loved one pray to her, and it brings them comfort in carrying their own crosses.
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