Gema Galgani (1878–1903)

Biography

Having been orphaned at eight years of age, Gemma asked the Blessed Virgin to replace her mother, and the Virgin Mary accepted her request, helping and comforting her throughout her life. She always suffered from severe illnesses that made her suffer a lot and her poor health prevented her from entering a convent, as she desired. She had a very great devotion to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and since 1899, she had the five wounds of Jesus Crucified imprinted on her body, which she carefully hid. Since then, every week, from Thursday at 8 at night until Friday at three in the afternoon, the wounds from the lashes and the crown of thorns appeared all over her skin, and she felt the weight of a large cross on her shoulder that made her bend painfully. At the end of his life he suffered great temptations of blasphemy, followed by great inner peace and joy. When she was barely 25 years old, this simple secular woman died a holy death. Saint Gemma is the patron saint of those who suffer serious illnesses or temptations.