April 11 is the feast of St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), the Italian mystic and stigmatic venerated at Lucca. Orphaned young, refused entry to the Passionist nuns because of her tuberculosis, she lived as a laywoman in the household of the Giannini family and received extraordinary mystical graces: the visible stigmata every Thursday evening through Friday afternoon, visions of her guardian angel, ecstasies before the crucifix, and a mystical marriage with Christ.
Gemma's spiritual director, the Passionist Germano Ruoppolo, edited her autobiography and promoted her cause after her death at twenty-five. Her incorrupt body lies in the Sanctuary of Santa Gemma at Lucca, built by the Passionist fathers who took possession of her remains in 1923. The Passionist monastery attached to the sanctuary keeps her cell reconstructed and her relics displayed.
Gemma is one of the modern stigmatics — alongside Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo and St. Faustina at Krakow — whose visible participation in the Passion has been scrutinized by the Church and found credible. She was canonized in 1940, and her feast is kept by the Passionist family and by the many who suffer chronic illness and ask her intercession.
Connected Destinations
Lucca
Italy · Europe
Medieval Tuscan city on the Via Francigena, home to the Volto Santo—the oldest monumental wooden crucifix in the West—and the incorrupt body of St. Zita.
San Giovanni Rotondo
Italy · Europe
San Giovanni Rotondo is home to Saint Padre Pio's shrine, drawing millions to venerate this beloved stigmatic priest and experience his spiritual legacy.