"Saints of Empowered Prayer: St. Gemma Galgani"

St. Gemma Galgani: St. Gemma was born in 1878 in a small Italian town near Lucca. She is also known as "The Flower of Lucca". She was a mystic often referred to as the "Daughter of Passion" for her replication of the Passion of Christ. At a very young age Gemma developed a love for prayer. All who knew her as a school aged girl loved her. Though quiet and reserved, she always had a smile for everyone. She had to leave school at a young age due to poor health. At the age of 19 she helped to care for her seven brothers and sisters upon her father's death. She wished to become a nun, but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice.

          Throughout her life she received many mystical experiences and special graces. These were often misunderstood by others, causing ridicule. Suffering headaches she offered them in reparation, remembering that Our Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed. She was moved by the spirituality of the Passionists and their continued meditation on the Passion of the Savior, leading a life of penance and prayer. She once wrote that her greatest affliction was not being able to love Jesus as she wished. On June 8, 1899, Gemma had an internal warning that an unusual grace was to be granted to her. She felt pain and blood coming from her hands, feet and heart. They were the marks of the stigmata. She went off to live with another family at the suggestion of her confessor where she would be allowed more freedom for her spiritual life than at home.

          She reported to often seeing her guardian angel. During the apostolic investigation into her life, the witnesses said that there was no artfulness in her manner. Most of her severe penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her. She was a powerful intercessor. She died in 1903 at the age of 25 on Holy Saturday, April 11.  Her Parish Priest reported "she died with a smile which remained on her lips, so that I could not convince myself she was really dead." She was canonized on May 2, 1940. Her feast day is April 11th.

Questions:

1) Matthew 10:37 states:  "Whoever loves his father and mother more than me is not fit to be my disciple." How would you describe your love for Jesus in your life today?