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As Catholics, we know that suffering is unavoidable, but it can teach us how to rely on God alone. That never stopped me from complaining about it, though, even as I tried to avoid even the hint of discomfort. When I compare myself to God’s saints, who often faced great suffering with incredible love and hope, I can be a bit of a whiny wimp.
That dichotomy stands out especially when I read the diary of St. Gemma Galgani, one of my great teachers in learning to endure suffering. The Italian saint had a tough go from the beginning, losing her mother and brother to tuberculosis when she was just a child. While that alone would be enough suffering for a lifetime, St. Gemma endured subsequent physical and spiritual trials with grace and even gratitude. Ever on her mind was a message she received from Jesus, “If you truly want to love Me, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.”
Finding a Patron Saint
I first learned about St. Gemma and her mystical visions when I suffered from sciatica for many months. The pain would pulsate throughout my hip and back, causing mobility issues and, sometimes, pretty severe depression. I was not handling it with anything resembling grace and neglected my prayer life.
A dear friend heard about my issues and sent me a thoughtful gift: a pocket token bearing the name and face of St. Gemma Galgani, the patron saint of back pain. On the reverse side of the token was a short prayer asking for St. Gemma’s assistance. I was initially bemused by the reminder that the Church has a patron saint for everything, but I was also touched to have a saint interceding for me. I added St. Gemma to my little litany of saints and am glad to say that my pain did subside after weeks of physical therapy. I still keep the small devotional token next to my bed to this day.
St. Gemma wasn’t done with me, though. Providence would lead me to learn more about the saint of Lucca who died eight decades before I was born. In sermons, books, and podcasts, I kept encountering stories about the dear saint and how she learned to endure painful suffering. By the time I finally sat down to read her diary, I knew I had found another heavenly friend.
I am far from the first person to find a patron in St. Gemma. According to the theologian and writer Wincenty Laszewski in the book The World of Jesus’ Apparitions, St. Maximilian Kolbe often quoted Gemma Galgani’s motto: that God should be loved without limits. Dr. Laszewski also lists St. Padre Pio and Servant of God Dolindo Ruotolo among her spiritual children. These saints—along with sinners like me—found in St. Gemma’s writings a way to approach suffering so that it brings us closer to Christ.
“When we are closely connected to Jesus,” St. Gemma wrote, “there is neither cross nor sorrow.” For the suffering mystic, loving God without limits meant that we didn’t flee from the calamities that befall us. Instead, we look to the Crucifixion—the purest love amidst the worst suffering—and unite our pain with Christ’s suffering. As St. Gemma attests, this approach gives meaning to our seemingly meaningless sufferings and, more importantly, opens us to receive the peace that surpasses all understanding.
None of this is easy. The Christian life is anything but easy and is often uncomfortable, especially in our culture, where comfort and luxury are held up as the height of human happiness.
St. Gemma Galgani, Pray for Us
The writings of St. Gemma are powerful, so much so that a demon had tried to prevent them from ever being read. Her spiritual director, the Passionist priest Fr. Germanus, had instructed her to write a spiritual diary detailing her mystical visions and spiritual life. While St. Gemma didn’t want anyone but Fr. Germanus to read the diary, she did as she was instructed.
Before Fr. Germanus could read the diary, St. Gemma had a vision of a demon who entered the room where her writings were kept. The demon went to the drawer containing the diary, laughed, and then disappeared. It came back later to tempt St. Gemma, and when those temptations failed, he shouted, “War, war! Your book is in my hands.”
Sure enough, St. Gemma informed her spiritual director of the vision, and Fr. Germanus found that the diary had disappeared. Undeterred, Fr. Germanus went to the tomb of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, another Passionist priest, and performed an exorcism. Fr. Germanus later gave an account of what happened after the exorcism:
In the same hour, the manuscript returned to the place from which it had been taken a few days earlier. But in what condition it was! The whole thing, from top to bottom, was slightly burned, and some parts were scorched as if each page had been separately exposed to intense fire. However, they were not so damaged that the letters could not be read.
Why would a demon want to destroy St. Gemma’s diary? Perhaps it is as Dr. Laszewski said in The World of Jesus’ Apparitions, “Those writings had the power to turn souls into saints—or, more precisely, into souls willing to suffer for the salvation of others.”
I’m still far from being a saint, but I can absolutely attest to how St. Gemma’s work can change our perception of suffering. All of us who will endure suffering in one form or another have a powerful patron saint who wants to show us how these misfortunes can bring us closer to Christ.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
