Gemma Galgani waited for the moment she would be united with Jesus. Asked whether she wished to be cured of her illness, she replied “It is all the same to me.” (stgemmagalgani.com)
St.
Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother, who died in 1862, appeared to St. Gemma. One day he said, “Gemma,
take of your own freewill a vow to become a religious, but add nothing further.”
The saint called her “my sister” and gave her the sign of the Passion which
Passionists wear upon their habits. Gemma took the vow the next morning.
At the end of January of 1899, Gemma was so weak and sick that doctors decided
nothing could be done for her except to wait for death. On Feb. 2, Gemma
received Viaticum. She recalled: “I went to confession, and then waited for the
moment when I should be united with Jesus. But how slow it was! The doctors,
believing that I could no longer hear, said among themselves that I could not
survive midnight.”
But the doctors were wrong, and on Feb. 19 her confessor suggested she make a novena to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Out of obedience to her confessor, Gemma began the novena, but she forgot all about it the next day, and then began over again, only to forget it in the same way. She began the novena for the third time on Feb. 23.
On that day, St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother appeared to her and prayed with her. He asked, “Do you wish to be cured?” Gemma replied, “It is all the same to me.” St. Gabriel continued, “Yes, you will be cured. Pray with faith to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Every evening until the end of the novena I shall come and we shall pray together to the Sacred Heart.” Gemma asked, “And what about Blessed Margaret Mary?” St. Gabriel said, “Add the Glory be to the Father three times in her honour.”
The novena ended on the first Friday of March. Christ cured Gemma after she received Holy Communion. Gemma’s miraculous cure was soon known throughout Lucca, and for a while everyone was talking about it. For many years she was known as “the little girl who received the heavenly favour.”
Six days after her cure Gemma wrote to a relative: “Let whoever read these lines know that I have been granted the cure of my soul and body, not through my own merits, but through the prayers of so many good people who have had pity on me. I could not have obtained anything ...”
After her miraculous cure, Gemma considered that her life was not her own, but belonged to God. She desired to consecrate herself to God in the religious state.
Since St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a Visitation nun, Gemma wanted to follow her footsteps. On May 1, Gemma entered the Visitation Convent. The nuns treated her with great kindness. However, Gemma was not altogether satisfied. She felt that the life of the Visitation nuns was not for her. She had need of a more austere mode of life.
Nevertheless, Gemma requested the nuns approach Archbishop Ghilardi for permission to formally accept her, for her desire to leave the world was very strong. However, the Archbishop hesitated because of her delicate health. He allowed her to stay in the convent until May 21 in order to be present at the profession of several novices.
Gemma left the convent on May 21. She wrote, “Weeping I asked the blessing of the Mother Superior and said good-bye to the nuns. My God, what sorrow.”
In order for Gemma to be admitted to the religious life, four doctors had to certify her to be in perfect health. But the reality was that it was due to the instigation and suggestion of the doctor that the confessor of the convent strongly opposed Gemma’s entrance. The doctor said her mother had died of tuberculosis.
吉瑪追尋她的聖召
有一天，聖痛苦聖母佳播給吉瑪.金錦妮顯現，說：「吉瑪，你自發地發要成為修女的誓願吧，但不要加其它的東西。」聖佳播稱吉瑪為「我的妹妹」並給她基督苦難的標誌 ── 那是苦難會會士們佩帶在會衣上的。翌日早上，吉瑪私下發了要成為修女的誓志。
一八九九年一月底，吉瑪病倒，甚為虛弱，群醫無策，只待死亡的來臨。二月二日，吉瑪領受臨終聖體。她憶道：「我辦了告解，懇切靜待和主耶穌結合。但時間過得真慢！醫生們還以為我不能再聽到，說我活不過午夜。」
醫生們錯了。二月十九日，告解神師建議吉瑪做九日敬禮，向真福瑪加利大祈求。出於聽命，吉瑪唯諾開始，不過她在第二天已經忘記了，再一天想起來，便重新開始，可惜這次又忘記繼續。二月廿三日她作了第三次重新開始的九日敬禮。
聖痛苦聖母佳播顯現，和吉瑪一起祈禱。他問吉瑪：「你願意痊癒嗎？」吉瑪答說：「為我來說，痊癒與否都是一樣。」聖佳播說：「是，你會痊癒的。以信德向耶穌聖心祈禱吧。每天黃昏直到九日敬禮結束我會來，而我們會一同向耶穌聖心祈求。」吉瑪問：「那真福瑪加利大又怎樣 ？」痛苦聖母佳播道：「為恭敬真福瑪加利大，加唸三遍聖三光榮經。」
三月的首瞻禮六完成九日敬禮，吉瑪領聖體後痊癒了。吉瑪奇蹟痊癒的消息，傳遍盧卡，每個人都議論紛紛；多年坊間都稱吉瑪為「得天恩的小女孩」。
痊癒後的第六天，吉瑪給一位親戚寫信：「讓每一個閱讀我這幾行字句的人，都明白我身心得以痊癒，非由於我自己的功勞，而是眾多可憐我的善心人為我祈禱，否則我什麼都得不到…。」
病癒後的吉瑪，把自己的生命看作非自己的生命，而是完全屬於天主的生命，要把自己奉獻給天主，渡修道的生活。
既然真福瑪加利大是往見會的修女，吉瑪有意追隨她的足蹟。五月一日，吉瑪到往見會修院，得到熱情的招待；但她感到這修會的生活，並不適合自己，她追求的是更克苦的生活。
不過，吉瑪仍請修會向吉拉爾迪總主教申請入會，因為她實在很想脫離俗世。礙於吉瑪脆弱的健康，總主教十分猶疑，終於允許她逗留到五月廿一日，讓她參與初學生發願的典禮。然而，吉瑪在五月廿一日離開往見會。她寫道：「我含淚請求修院院長祝福我，向各位修女道別。我的天主，我確實很難過！」
要被批准在修院修道，吉瑪需要四位醫生證明有良好的健康，卻又事與願違。基於吉瑪母親因肺病致死，在醫生的評語下，修院的告解神師反對准許她進入修院，參與修道的生活。