19th-century Italian mystic Saint Gemma Galgani was known as the “Gem of Christ.”

Born in Lucca in 1878, Gemma was a mystic, a victim soul, and a stigmatist. The Catholic Church celebrates her feast day on April 11.

Saint Gemma particularly had a deep and mystical relationship with her guardian angel, often seeing visions of him and conversing with him.

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Saint Gemma’s spiritual director Venerable Father Germanus C.P. said:

“Gemma saw her guardian angel with her own eyes, touched him with her hand, as if he were a being of this world, and would talk to him as would one friend to another.” (“The Life of St. Gemma Galgani”, Venerable Father Germanus, C.P.)

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Saint Gemma Galgani’s Conversations with Her Guardian Angel

Gemma described her guardian angel as a “handsome adolescent.” Her angel corrected her when she misbehaved in Mass, encouraged her to embrace humility, and comforted her in sickness.

One documented instance explains her angel delivering her coffee. She felt ill, and immediately after drinking it, was healed!

“The coffee was so good that I was instantly healed,” her autobiography says.

Venerable Father Germanus C.P. wrote this about Saint Gemma’s Guardian Angel:

“…He let her see him sometimes raised in the air with outspread wings, with his hands extended over her, or else hands joined in an attitude of prayer. At other times he would kneel beside her.

“If they were reciting vocal prayers or the Psalms, they did so alternately; if aspirations or prayers from the heart, ‘they rivaled one another’ [these are Gemma’s words] that is, they had a holy rivalry as to whom would say them with more fervor saying ‘Viva Gesu’ or ‘Benedetto di Dio’ and other such beautiful invocations.

“When it was time for meditation, the angel inspired her with sublimest ideas, and moved her affections so that the result of this holy exercise may be more perfect. The subject of these meditations was, for the most part, the Passion of Our Lord, the angel like a good master, laid open its profound mysteries to her soul.

“‘Look’ he would exclaim, ‘at what Jesus suffered for men. Consider each of these wounds. It is love that has opened them all. See how horrible sin is, since to expiate it, so much pain and so much love have been necessary.’”

Gemma also struggled with pride. Her angel gently corrected her, saying, “Pride is the beginning of every sin.”

Saint Gemma’s Guardian Angel Delivered Letters to Her Spiritual Director

Saint Gemma’s guardian angel reportedly delivered letters to her spiritual director, Father Germano.

Father Germano wrote:

“I always received the angelic letters faithfully. The fact is unusual … I confess I do not understand it at all….To how many tests did I not I submit this singular phenomenon in order to convince myself that it took place through a supernatural intervention! And yet none of my tests ever failed; and thus I was convinced again and again that in this, like in many other extraordinary things in her life, Heaven was delighted in amusing itself, as it were, with this innocent and dear maiden.”

Witnesses, including the Giannini family who cared for her, noted these supernatural events with her guardian angel. During ecstasies, she spoke aloud with her angel, her face radiating with joy.

Her angel also protected her from spiritual attacks, reassuring her with words like, “Do not fear; I am here.”

Saint Gemma Galgani’s Inspirational Legacy

Saint Gemma died in 1903 at age 25 and was canonized in 1940. Today, she is the patroness of those with illnesses, back and spinal problems, and students. Her visions of her guardian angel inspire devotion to these heavenly protectors, encouraging Catholics to pray to their angels often.

“Comparing my recollection of her person, which I keep alive and present in my mind, with her portrait, I find my recollection to be true. That face, luminous and peaceful, remains and will remain in my mind and heart as the face of a saint.” – Pope Pius XI

Prayer to Saint Gemma Galgani

Oh Saint Gemma, how compassionate was your love for those in distress, and how great your desire to help them. Help me, also in my present necessity and obtain for me the favor I humbly implore, if it be profitable for my soul.

The numerous miracles and the wonderful favors attributed to your intercession instill in me the confidence that you can help me. Pray to Jesus, your Spouse, for me. Show Him the stigmata which His love has given you. Remind Him of the blood which flowed from these same wounds, the excruciating pain which you have suffered and the tears which you have shed for the salvation of souls. Place all this as your precious treasure in a chalice of love and Jesus will hear you. Amen.

Saint Gemma Galgani, pray for us!

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