St. Gemma Galgani is one of my favorite saints. To my shock, I discovered that I’ve never blogged about her. 

St. Paul the Apostle writes in Hebrews 12:1 about a ‘great cloud of witnesses.’ These are the saints in Heaven who are a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. They interact with us when we pray through them; we discover them in various ways, such as through our own exploration of the Catholic faith – perhaps the Holy Spirit ‘suggests’ someone. Sometimes they even pick us to become a devotee of theirs. If we were fortunate enough to be named after a saint or we took a saint’s name for Confirmation we might endeavor to learn more about them. Through them we become aware of other saints. This latter way is how I learned about St. Gemma Galgani, whose feast day is April 11.

I am a devotee of St. Maximilliam Kolbe. In my reading of his writings I discovered that he had a devotion to St. Gemma Galgani. While he was living in Nagasaki, he had written to his friary in Poland for a biography of her. He apparently had read this biogrpahy numerous times (I think 5? 6?)  (You can obtain it through Tan Books, its publisher. It’s also available from EWTN.)

Once I learned that St. Maximilian had a devotion to St. Gemma, to the point of having read her biography numerous times, I naturally became attracted to her and looked up things; I learned a lot from this site, and became hooked.

She was a mystic and was very dedicated to the Passion of Christ. She bore the stigmata (although not permanently; they appeared on Thursday evening and lasted until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.) Satan had attacked her and tried to burn her autobiography. 

She is the patron saint against temptations, against the death of parents, against tuberculosis, of students and of pharmacists. For these reasons I believe that sober Catholics should cultivate a relationship with her. She can help you with your temptations (of the drink, of impure acts, other things.) Many people who have sobered up return to school; she can watch over you in your studies. Since she was so dedicated to the Passion of Christ, perhaps she can even help you understand it better and apply it to your life. It is said that every saint meditated on the Passion. If you want to increase your chances of going to Heaven someday, St. Gemma can help you!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)