The Voices of Gemma Galgani : The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint

Rating:
Summary: A Scholarly Book that's Great for Regular Readers
Review: Composed of a scholarly discussion of early 20th century Italy, diary entries/transcripts of the ecstatic prayer a young Tuscan girl and the theories of a feminist scholar, THE VOICES OF GEMMA GALGANI is not so much a book as a resource for a book that (one hopes) may one day be written.

It's about a young girl who loved and was loved by Jesus, who talked to her guardian angel and was frequently visited by her friend, the not-yet-canonized Passionist saint, Blessed Gabriel of the Sorrowing Virgin, and who frequently depended for consolation on the Mother of Jesus, her "Mom."
This is Gemma Galgani, who lived not in medieval times, as one might expect, but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the bustling Tuscan city of Lucca, in northern Italy. Gemma's life was approximately contemporaneous with that of Therese of Lisieux and with the reign of Pope Leo XIII, but she did not teach a "little way" to sanctity nor address problems of the industrial world.
Gemma's sanctity, her closeness to God was, it would seem, thrust upon her. The book does not tell when it began, but Gemma's own words tell the reader that sometimes when she prayed her head would "take off" and she would be unaware of anything but the presence of the Jesus she loved.
Sometimes, when she regained awareness, she would find her brothers and sisters laughing at her, along with a few of the playmates they had invited in to see the funny spectacle of"Gemma in ecstasy." Neighbors and relatives were undecided whether Gemma was a holy child or an oddity. Her father a successful chemist defended and supported her.
In her letters to her confessor, Gemma describes herself sometimes as "bad." She went to confession every morning before receiving Holy Communion. No hint is given in the book of what the "bad" might be, but one can imagine the puzzlement of her parish priests at finding this girl seeking confession so often, and with so little to tell. They solved it by passing her up to the Bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Volpi, who became her spiritual adviser. He was not quite sure, it would seem, what he had on his hands.

He urges her to be "obedient" and continue her prayers, although he cautions her often that her experiences may be the work of the devil, or even perhaps just her own imagination.

Gemma tries to be "obedient" but sometimes she is confused by whether to be obedient to her confessor or to her Jesus. When Jesus does not visit her or send her angel, she thinks he is displeased with her because she has failed to be obedient.

At one time, almost in despair, she promises, "I will be obedient to everyone."

Gemma's mother dies when she is five years old, her father before she is twenty. A short stay in a convent school leaves her longing to become one of the nuns and live her life in a convent, but the oddity of her daily life, an unrelated illness she experiences from time to time, and the rumor that she has the stigmata make the nuns' superior wonder if Gemma would fit into the routine of convent life.

Help comes for Gemma in her late teens, when a monastery of the Passionist religious order is established in a nearby town and one of the Passionist priests comes to Lucca to conduct a "mission," a week-long revival. Father Gaetano takes an interest in Gemma and later introduces her to Father Germano, a noted spiritual director, who becomes Gemma's adviser.

Gemma had been given a home by the neighboring Giannini family, whose mother, Cecilia, believed in Gemma's holiness and defended her from the curious and the doubting. Gemma submitted, against her will, to examinations by doctors, the most prestigious of whom, in the fashion of the time, pronounced her an "hysteric."

After her death in 1903, Gemma's cause for sanctification was proposed by the Passionist fathers, who understood and had no doubt of her faithfulness and honesty. The contention and uncertainty that followed her through life continued after her death. Only the intervention of two Popes, Pius X and Pius XI, brought the contention an end, and Gemma was canonized.

THE VOICES OF GEMMA GALGANI is a fascinating book about the life of a modern day saint. It is constructed with three main parts. First, it includes a discussion by Professor Bell on the conditions of church and state in Italy at the time. The second section details the words of Gemma herself in her ecstasies, letters and a brief diary. The third part is a discussion by Professor Mazzoni about Gemma's life and spirituality through the lens of the modern feminist movement which emphasizes the Church's incomprehension of feminine spirituality.

Appropriate for scholars interested in religion,THE VOICES OF GEMMA GALGANI is also just a good book for ordinary folks interested in the life of an extraordinary person.