Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878 in Bogonuovo di Camigliano (Lucca) and was struck by suffering from a very early age: she was in fact only 7 years old when her mother died.

But the family was struck by other losses: the death of her brother Gino, a seminarian, then that of her father. The Galgani brothers ended up broke and Gemma was taken in by an aunt. Her very existence was also marked by illness: lumbar vertebrae osteitis and mastoid otitis.

She remained in bed semi-paralyzed for several months. During that period she read the biography of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, which struck her deeply. She then invoked Saint Mary Margaret Alacoque and after a novena, she was healed. It was 1899.

The young Gemma deeply felt the desire to consecrate herself to the Lord but for various reasons she was not given the opportunity to become a cloistered nun. This however did not prevent her from immersing herself in the contemplation of Jesus Crucified. On June 8, 1899, the Octave of Corpus Christi and the eve of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she received the stigmata, which would be repeated periodically from Thursday evening to 3:00 pm on Friday.

For a certain period they will manifest themselves almost every day. Some had doubts about the authenticity of these signs, but Father Germano Ruoppolo, general postulator of the Passionists and a great scholar of mysticism, defended her. Strong expression of her mystical life are also the conversations with Jesus, Mary, the Guardian Angel and Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. These conversations are reported in the correspondence, the Diary and the Autobiography.

A guest in Lucca at the Giannini house, this would be like a family to her until her death. In May 1902 Gemma was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She therefore had to move to another apartment, even if it was close to the Gianninis'.

His death occurred on Holy Saturday, April 11, 1903, when the bells had already announced the Resurrection of Christ.

She was beatified 30 years later by Pius XI. She was canonized in 1940 by Pius XII who called her “the star of his Pontificate”.