Saint Gemma Galgani

Gemma Umberta Maria Galgani (12 March 1878 – 11 April 1903), also known as Gemma of Lucca, was an Italian mystic, canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church in 1940. She has been called the "daughter of the Passion" because of her profound imitation of the Passion of Christ. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus (Passionists). Gemma Umberta Maria Galgani was born on 12 March 1878, in the hamlet of Camigliano in the comune of Capannori, province of Lucca. Gemma was the fifth of eight children and the first daughter; her father, Enrico Galgani, was a prosperous pharmacist. Soon after Gemma's birth, the family relocated north from Camigliano to a larger new home in the Tuscan city of Lucca. Her parents moved the family to Lucca to increase educational opportunities available to their children. Gemma's mother, Aurelia Galgani, contracted tuberculosis when Gemma was two and a half years old. Due to the difficulty of raising a child without her mother, young Gemma was placed in a private nursery school run by Elena and Ersilia Vallini. Several members of the Galgani family died during this period. Their firstborn child, Carlo, and Gemma's little sister Giulia died at an early age. On 17 September 1885, Aurelia Galgani died from tuberculosis, which she had suffered from for five years, and Gemma's beloved brother Gino died from the same disease while studying for the priesthood. Galgani was sent to a Catholic half-boarding school in Lucca run by the Oblates of the Holy Spirit. She excelled in French, arithmetic, and music. At the age of nine, Galgani was allowed to receive her First Communion. At age 16, Galgani developed spinal meningitis, but recovered. She attributed her extraordinary cure to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of Saints Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and Marguerite Marie Alacoque. Galgani had a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart.