When the Saints Ask for Our Friendship

Friends in High Places
At certain times in one’s life, a particular saint will begin, in so many ways, to say, “Will you too be my friend?” This generally happens when the saint in question starts turning up again and again in books, articles, letters, pictures, and conversations. One mustn’t be too quick to discount such things as mere coincidence. From their places in the glory of heaven, the saints are continually widening their circles of friends and clients. It pleases Our Lord to allow this because He wishes, through a given saint, to draw us to a particular virtue, to assist us in a trial, to bestow upon us certain graces, or to make us aware of certain mysteries of the faith.

Saint Gemma Galgani
For some time now, a young Italian saint, who was born in 1878 and who died in 1903, has been making discreet overtures to me. She seems to be saying, “I want to include you in the circle of my friends.” Her name is Gemma Galgani. Saint Gemma is one of those mystics of the Passion of Jesus who are given to the Church whenever hearts are in danger of growing cold, and when indifference, ingratitude, and a practical denial of the supernatural threaten the vitality of the Catholic faith.

I would invite readers to invoke Saint Gemma, the patron of those suffering from infirmities of the back, for my mother, Emma, who suffers from back pain. With two rhyming Italian names, that should be easy to do: Santa Gemma, prega per Emma! Saint Gemma, pray for Emma!

The Website
Glenn Dallaire of Bristol, Connecticut has prepared a marvelous website devoted to Saint Gemma. It is well worth visiting. You will find his homepage here.