SAINT GEMMA GALGANI
Mystic - Stigmatic - Saint
A new film coming soon from Mary's Dowry Productions
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| Saint Gemma Galgani - Mary's Dowry Productions © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
During our filming day on March 24th 2018 we filmed selected visuals from the life of Italian Saint Gemma Galgani for the production of a DVD about this important young Saint. We have wanted to make a DVD about Saint Gemma Galgani for a long time and were pleased to finally be able to begin work on our film this year.
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| Saint Gemma, Mrs Giannini and Cecilia Giannini © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
For specific scenes in Saint Gemma Galgani's life, we created sets to represent the dining room in the Giannini house where Saint Gemma lived with the family as well as Saint Gemma Galgani's bedroom. Saint Gemma Galgani died when she was only 25 years of age and her life was filled with supernatural graces and signs, she bore the wounds of the stigmata and was able to see and converse with her Guardian Angel. For us, several specific events stand out in Saint Gemma's life so we focused upon these to recreate for our film.
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| Saint Gemma and he aunt © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
We have always been struck by how Saint Gemma Galgani disdained the world and its fashions. She went with her aunt to a millinery shop and insisted that the hat maker make her a black, unfashionable hat she could wear as she walked to Mass and back. She also wore plain black clothes made of a dark woolen material which she wore throughout summer and winter. Saint Gemma owned very little and kept her small belongings in a wooden box in her little room. It was in this room that she spent many hours in prayer, conversing with Jesus, Mary and her Guardian Angel.
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| A wooden box where Saint Gemma kept a few items such as her rosary a couple of devotional books and small items of clothes © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma spent much of her time alone in her room in prayer © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma's Guardian Angel watches over her © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
Saint Gemma's relationship with her Guardian Angel is really amazing and inspiring to read about, especially in her autobiography. We recreated several instances in the life of Saint Gemma with her Angel including a time when Saint Gemma was at the Giannini family dining table and someone blasphemed. Saint Gemma fainted but her Guardian Angel assisted her.
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| Saint Gemma's Angel rushes to her side to assist her © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma Galgani's Guardian Angel © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma walking with her Angel © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
In obedience to her spiritual director, Saint Gemma wrote her autobiography. She had already been keeping a little diary in which she recorded graces received. In her autobiography Saint Gemma wrote about her infancy up until her 22nd year. She began writing in February 1901 and finished it in May. She died two years later.
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| Saint Gemma writing her autobiography © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
In the Giannini house, Saint Gemma worked as housekeeper although the family loved her as a member of their own. Saint Gemma always felt deeply indebted to the Giannini family for taking her in so she did everything she could to assist the daily life. Part of her routine was to fill up the water jugs in the rooms of the house.
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| Saint Gemma undertaking household tasks © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
Saint Gemma had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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| Saint Gemma pauses for prayer © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
Saint Gemma was miraculously cured from an illness on Friday March 3rd 1899 which was the 1st Friday in the month after undertaking a Novena in which Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, a Passionist priest who had died in 1862 aged 23, appeared to Saint Gemma every evening of the Novena to help her pray and complete it. Afterwards she was cured.
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| Saint Gabriel Possenti assists Saint Gemma © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
As part of her daily devotions, Saint Gemma would kneel on her hands and pray three Hail Mary's, asking Our Lady to protect her purity.
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| Saint Gemma kneels on her hands as she prays © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
Saint Gemma also had many encounters with the devil who appeared to her, tormented her, often beat her, struck her, dragged her around her room and tried to stop her prayers for sinners. On one occasion, the devil stole her diary and when it was returned after Saint Gemma's spiritual director performed an exorcism, its pages retained burn marks which can still be seen today.
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| Satan torments Saint Gemma Galgani © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma before she is struck on the shoulder with a hard blow from Satan © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
We also filmed a little of the stigmata of Saint Gemma Galgani and her death. Saint Gemma died on Holy Saturday, April 11th in 1903. She was canonized in 1940 by Pope Pius XII, who said of Saint Gemma: "Among these Divine favours that Gemma received, was the very special one of manifesting in her virginal flesh the living image of Christ and mysteriously sharing in the various sufferings of His Passion."
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| Saint Gemma suffers the Passion of Christ - carrying the Cross © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma bore the wounds of Christ when she suffered the Passion © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
Saint Gemma Galgani's life is filled with very inspiring examples that lead us to a greater love of God. Saint Gemma is known as 'The Passion Flower' and many of her thoughts are preserved in her writings, diary, autobiography and letters. She was on fire with love for Jesus and wished everyone to love God as much as possible in this life, and love Him forever in eternity.
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| Saint Gemma died a painful yet holy death in isolation aged 25 © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| The Giannini family gather around Saint Gemma's bed after her death © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
We spent a good few hours recreating several scenes from the life of Saint Gemma Galgani and hope that these screenshots taken from the footage we recreated and which will be used in our upcoming film about Saint Gemma will help share devotion to Saint Gemma and knowledge of this great Saint of the Catholic Church. Our film about Saint Gemma Galgani will be released worldwide on DVD through our online shop:
SAINT GEMMA GALGANI - PRAY FOR US!
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| Saint Gemma Galgani © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
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| Saint Gemma Galgani © 2018 Mary's Dowry Productions |
COMING SOON FROM MARY'S DOWRY PRODUCTIONS
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