Santos (santidade), Apóstolos, Mártires e Personalidades da Igreja
       Lista e história dos Santos, Veneráveis, Apóstolos, Mártires e Personalidades da Bíblia e da Igreja
             Gema Galgani (santa)

 Santa Gema intercede por uma alma no Purgatório

“What shall I say of the zeal with which the pious young woman helped the suffering souls in Purgatory? If love, when it is true, has no limits, certainly that of Gemma, who had reached the highest degree of perfection, could not have any. In fact, the interest she had in those poor souls was extraordinary. In her suffrage, she offered to God her continuous prayers and penances, her great physical and moral sufferings. But among these, as with sinners, there were always some who were privileged. “Yes,” she said, “to suffer, to suffer, for sinners, and in particular for the souls in Purgatory, especially for this one…” and she named one. And the God of mercy, who so desires to receive these just souls quickly into Heaven, encouraged the zeal of his servant more and more and provided her with new means of expiation. “The angel told me,” she wrote, “that tonight Jesus will make me suffer a little more, that is, for two hours, beginning at 12:00 p.m. nine, in favor of a soul in Purgatory. And she confesses: “This suffering was very strong, and it lasted exactly the time announced. My head hurt so excessively that every movement I made caused me terrible torments.” Heaven accepted the generous atonement of such a worthy creature, and the poor souls felt relieved of their sufferings, and saw the time of their captivity shorten . Let us speak of one in particular: Gemma learned, by supernatural light, that in the monastery of the Passionist Sisters of Corneto, there was a nun very pleasing to God, who was seriously ill, and she asked me if it was true. When I answered in the affirmative, she begged Jesus to make that nun pay here in the world on her bed of pain, her debts to divine justice, so that, upon dying, she could fly immediately to Heaven. The Lord answered her, at least in part, because the good nun only died after a few months of cruel suffering. ^{[she paid part of the penance while she was still alive]} Gemma communicated the news of her death to everyone in the house, to ask for suffrage for this soul, giving the full name of the deceased, which no one in Lucca knew: Maria Teresa of the Child Jesus. She had appeared to her with a look of pain on her face, begging for her help in the terrible sufferings she was suffering in Purgatory because of certain defects. It took nothing more to move every fiber of the good young woman's heart. From that day on, she had no peace; she prayed and cried without ceasing, and fought lovingly with her Lord. As she had nothing else to do, she used everything for this intention. “Oh! Jesus, save her!” she exclaimed; “Jesus, send Maria Teresa to Heaven quickly. She is a soul so dear to You; make me suffer greatly for her, because I want to save her.” The generous maiden, as a voluntary victim, suffered for sixteen whole days, at the end of which God's justice was satisfied and that soul was freed. This is how Gemma told me: At half past one in the evening, I seemed to see Our Lady who came to warn me that the hour of that soul's liberation was approaching. Some time later, I thought I saw Maria Teresa coming towards me, dressed as a Passionist, accompanied by her guardian angel and Jesus. Oh! How different she was from the day I saw her for the first time! She approached me, smiling and said: "I am truly happy and I will enjoy my Jesus forever!" Then she thanked me again. She waved goodbye to me several times, and with Jesus and her angel, she flew to Heaven at half past two in the morning."

^{[See original text in Portuguese]}

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