St Gemma Galgani :
From the Decretal Letter Sanctitudinis Culmen of Pope Pius XII
The distinguished servant of God, Gemma, earnestly committed herself to the spiritual life. With her adopted mother, the notable Mrs. Cecilia Gianinni, she had long discussions about Jesus and spiritual things.
Avoiding the frothiness of society life, she spent much time in fervent contemplation of the passion of Christ. Day and night she was engaged in intimate communion with God. Reliable witnesses testify that, during the last years of her life, the servant of God, Gemma, was often in a state of rapture and was favoured by God with prolonged ecstasies and unusual gifts, such as we read about in the lives of many saints.
"He asked me if I loved Him. I wept, for you know, Father, whom I have loved more than Jesus. I have loved myself, and often times creatures and pleasures. What could I answer to Jesus? I wept for a long time, and that was my reply. It is Jesus alone whom I should love, and I have never loved Him as I should." - St. Gemma Galgani
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Neumann, Thérèse (1898–1962)
Bavarian peasant girl of Konnersreuth, whose stigmata, visions of the Passion of Christ, and other supernormal phenomena aroused worldwide attention. Neumann was born on April 8, 1898. As a young girl she was educated to have a religious mentality and aspired to become a missionary sister. Constitutionally she appeared robust. In March 1918, while she aided in putting out a fire that had broken out in a neighboring house, she was stricken by a violent pain in the lumbar regions and collapsed. In the hospital of Waldsassen she was seized with terrible cramps, became blind, from time to time deaf, and paralyzed, first in both legs, then in the right and left cheeks. She spent miserable years at the home of her parents in constant suffering and religious meditation.
On April 29, 1923, the beatification day of St. Thérèse de Lisieux, she suddenly recovered her sight. On May 3, 1923, an ulcer between the toes of her left foot that might have caused the foot to be amputated was unaccountably healed after she put three rose leaves from the tomb of St. Thérèse in the bandage. On May 17, 1925, the canonization day of St. Thérèse, she saw a light and heard a voice that comforted her and assured her that she would be able to sit up and walk. She sat up immediately and afterward could walk about the room with the help of a stick and a supporting arm. On September 30 she dispensed with this support and went to church alone. In December she was seized with violent intestinal pains. An urgent operation for appendicitis was recommended. She had a vision of St. Thérèse and heard a voice that told her to go to church and thank God. During the night the pus found a natural outlet and she was cured.
The stigmata appeared during Lent in 1926. An abscess developed in her ear, causing violent headaches. She saw in a vision Jesus in the Garden of Olives and felt a sudden stinging pain in the left side. A wound formed and bled abundantly. It was followed by stigmatic wounds in the hands and legs. There was no pus and no inflammation, but there was a fresh flow of blood every Friday. She also shed tears of blood and became, by Friday, almost blind. With an awe-inspiring dramatic vividness she lived through the whole tragedy of the crucifixion; and in ancient Aramaic (which famous linguists established as such) she reproduced what were claimed to be the words of Christ and the vile swearing of the crowd as she clairaudiently heard them in that archaic language. Her pronunciation was always phonetic and many believed that she was in communication with someone who was a spectator of the events.
At Christmas in 1922, an abscess developed in Neumann’s throat and neck. From this date until Christmas 1926 she abstained from solid food. She took a little liquid—three or four spoonfuls of coffee, tea, or fruit juice. After Christmas 1926, she only took a drop of water every morning to swallow the sacred host. From September 1927 until November 1928 she abstained even from this drop of water. Nevertheless she retained her normal weight. But four Roman Catholic sisters declared on oath that during the Friday ecstasies Neumann lost four pounds of weight, which she regained by the following Thursday without taking nourishment in any form. On August 15, 1927, Neumann had a vision of the death, burial, and ascension of Mary. She visualized Mary’s tomb at Jerusalem and not at Ephesus, as usually assumed.
In the socialist and communist presses of Germany, Russia, and Austria, many libellous statements and quasiexposures were published about Neumann. Whenever they were followed by suits for libel the editors were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment and fine. Neumann was something of an embarrassment to the Nazis during World War II, and the authorities made difficulties for visitors to Konnersreuth, but immediately after the war, hundreds of thousands of American and other servicemen lined up to visit her. She often gave accurate information on distant events through out-of-the-body travel, and appears to have traveled astrally to the death chamber of Pope Pius XII.
Although pilgrims presented many gifts to her, she would not use these for her own comfort and, before her death September 18, 1962, she had contributed to the church a training seminary for priests, as well as a convent. During her lifetime over 133 books or papers were written about her. Read More > >
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Gabrielle Bossis (1874-1950) was a Catholic Mystic and layperson who lived in France in the 20th century. Born in Nantes, France in 1874, she was the youngest child of a family of four children. As a child in a well to do family, she was taught and raised in proper social graces and etiquette, and she grew up to be a graceful, happy and high spirited young woman, but as from her childhood she possessed a strong yearning for God and the things of the Spirit. She obtained a Degree in Nursing, and enjoyed the fine arts of that time, including sculpting, painting, illuminating and music. Later in life she discovered that she had another talent- that of writing moral plays and also acting. From that point on until two years before her death she traveled extensively in France and abroad, producing her own plays and acting in the principal role. Those who still remember her remark about her infectious laughter and her unfailing charm. Read More > >
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Sister Maria Consolata Betrone (6 April 1903 – 18 July 1946), baptised as Pierina Maria Betrone was a Catholic mystic and nun of the Franciscan Capuchine Order. Betrone was born in Saluzzo, Piedmont, Italy in a middle-class family, and later died in the convent of Moriondo, Testona, Italy.
She was known for the intense propagation of the Holy Rosary, along with an alleged apparition by the Sacred Heart of Jesus and her personal Guardian Angel in 1916 during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The alleged messages reputedly asked the recitation of "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you! Save Souls!", an ejaculatory prayer which Betrone claims to release a soul from Purgatory and pardons 1000 blasphemies against the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The pious devotion is very popular among Filipino and Portuguese Catholics, who include invocations in their recitation of the Rosary along with the Fatima Prayer. Read More > >
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