The Voices of Gemma Galgani
The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint
336 pages
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26 halftones, 1 table, 1 map
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6 x 9
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© 2002
My sister Angelina knows all about my things. This morning she was talking about my things like they were no big deal; and my brother was making fun of them together with her. I'm not afraid of their jokes, you know? . . . My sister even brought her classmates to the house, and she tells them this, just to make fun of me: "Come, let's go see Gemma go in ecstasy."
Gemma Galgani was the first person who lived in the twentieth century to become a saint. Born in Lucca to a pharmacist and his wife, Gemma died of tuberculosis at the young age of twenty-five after a life of intense personal spirituality. Jesus caressed her as lovers do; the Virgin Mary was her affectionate Mom; Brother Gabriel playfully teased her about whether she preferred his visits to those of Jesus; and she even received all of Christ's wounds in her hands, feet, and side. At the same time, she was mocked by her family and labeled a hysteric by doctors and the local bishop. Her trials and the intimate details of her supernatural encounters—the voices of Gemma Galgani—are revealed here in this marvelous book by Rudolph M. Bell and Cristina Mazzoni.
Bell and Mazzoni have chosen and translated the most important of Gemma's words: her autobiographical account of her childhood, her diary, and key selections from her "ecstasies" and letters. Gemma emerges as a very modern saint indeed: confident, grandiose, manipulative, childish, admired, and with this book, no longer forgotten. Following Gemma's own voice, Bell carefully contextualizes her life and passion and explores her afterlife, specifically the complicated process of her canonization. Mazzoni closes the book with a "Saint's Alphabet" that finds, through Gemma's voice, spiritual meaning for women in the twenty-first century.
Far more than the reinvigoration of a neglected historical figure, The Voices of Gemma Galgani is a portrait of a complex girl-woman caught between the medieval and the modern and a potent reminder of spirituality in a supposedly secular age.
Gemma Galgani was the first person who lived in the twentieth century to become a saint. Born in Lucca to a pharmacist and his wife, Gemma died of tuberculosis at the young age of twenty-five after a life of intense personal spirituality. Jesus caressed her as lovers do; the Virgin Mary was her affectionate Mom; Brother Gabriel playfully teased her about whether she preferred his visits to those of Jesus; and she even received all of Christ's wounds in her hands, feet, and side. At the same time, she was mocked by her family and labeled a hysteric by doctors and the local bishop. Her trials and the intimate details of her supernatural encounters—the voices of Gemma Galgani—are revealed here in this marvelous book by Rudolph M. Bell and Cristina Mazzoni.
Bell and Mazzoni have chosen and translated the most important of Gemma's words: her autobiographical account of her childhood, her diary, and key selections from her "ecstasies" and letters. Gemma emerges as a very modern saint indeed: confident, grandiose, manipulative, childish, admired, and with this book, no longer forgotten. Following Gemma's own voice, Bell carefully contextualizes her life and passion and explores her afterlife, specifically the complicated process of her canonization. Mazzoni closes the book with a "Saint's Alphabet" that finds, through Gemma's voice, spiritual meaning for women in the twenty-first century.
Far more than the reinvigoration of a neglected historical figure, The Voices of Gemma Galgani is a portrait of a complex girl-woman caught between the medieval and the modern and a potent reminder of spirituality in a supposedly secular age.
"A young Italian laywoman, Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was the first person who lived in the 20th century to be canonized (1940) as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She was a mystic in the medieval mode, complete with ecstatic visions, extreme asceticism, and stigmata. . . .The book under review includes English translations of Galgani's complete autobiography and diary as well as selected letters and ecstatic utterances. Bell introduces the historical setting, while Mazzoni applies feminist theology and theory to expand understanding of Galgani's life and work. This sympathetic yet thoroughly scholarly work is the first book-length treatment of St. Gemma in English since 1950."
"Bell and Mazzoni demonstrate how potentially subversive Gemma's physical eloquence was.... At the heart of Bell and Mazzoni's endeavour is an understanding that a phenomenon may retain spiritual value, even after its biological and psychological roots have been uncovered."
"Was Gemma an inspired young woman, heroic in her physical sufferings and prescient in her mystical understanding? Or was she simply mad? Her writings show her to be perhaps a combination of the two--thoroughgoing in her religious devotion, yet also emotionally manipulative and psychologically precarious. This absorbing collection of primary sources and scholarly analysis sheds light on one of the modern era's most intriguing yet understudied female saints."
“Rudolph Bell and Cristina Mazzoni offer here a compelling portrait of Gemma Galgani, a thoroughly medieval modern saint. They refuse to allow Galgani to appear one-dimensional to her modern readers; through the context they provide—including a detailed account of the relationships between church and state in post-unification Italy, the conflicted canonization process, even a feminist approach to Galgani's spirituality—the saint emerges as a complex figure through which to read twentieth-century conflicts between spirituality and rationality, Catholic faith and scientific orthodoxy. By the end of the book, readers will still not have resolved all the contradictions presented by this gripping personality, who emerges simultaneously in the book as a disturbingly familiar troubled adolescent and a strikingly alien medieval saint.”—Laurie Finke, Kenyon College
“Gemma Galgani—the first person to be made a saint in the twentieth century—still stands at the crossroads of modernity and mysticism. In this first English translation of her writings, Rudolph Bell and Cristina Mazzoni have brought together this woman's autobiography, diaries, and accounts of her ecstasies and have framed her words with insightful biographical and critical essays. In all, Bell and Mazzoni have created an unforgettable portrait of a young woman caught in a web of adolescent enthusiasm, papal politics, self-doubt, and fervent religious belief.”—Elizabeth Johnson, Fordham University
“The authors skillfully navigate the boundaries distinguishing biography from hagiography. . . . The volume tackles important issues of source bias and historical veracity, which loom especially large when trying to make scholarly sense of the ineffable. . . . This volume makes for interesting reading and enhances our understanding of female spirituality and modern Catholicism.”—Sharon Strocchia, Biography
“[The authors] rescue Gemma from contempt, pity, and platitude. They render her empathetically by tracing the stages of her life and placing her in the context of larger political and religious currents affecting the newly unified Italian state. . . . The book is a fascinating resource for students of women’s mysticism, Italian popular Catholicism, and hagiography. The imaginative use of documentary sources and the richly drawn multivocal portrait of Gemma and her culture are a model for future work.”—Paula Kane, Journal of Religion
“This is a multi-textured study of the spiritual experience of Gemma Galgani. . . . Mazzoni allows Saint Gemma Galgani to speak to a postmodern world by considering her embodied self and clothing, her devotion to the Eucharist, her difficulties with food and hysteria, and much more. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.”—John J. O’Brien, Catholic Historical Review
“Bell and Mazzoni have done a masterful job translating and presenting Gemma Galgani’s writings, which represent an important scholarly contribution in its own right. Moreover, they have used the translations to create a broadly appealing, reflexive case study that teachers and students from a variety of backgrounds will benefit from exploring. This is a thoroughly engrossing book.”—Jeff Bennett, Journal of Modem History
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Historical Setting—Rudolph M. Bell
Part One: Her Words: Gemma Galgani's Life
2. Autobiography—Until Fall 1899
3. Diary—Summer 1900
4. Ecstasies and Letters—Summer 1902
Part Two: Our Readings: Gemma Galgani's Afterlife
5. Canonization—Rudolph M. Bell
6. A Saint's Alphabet, or Learning to Read (with) Gemma Galgani: Theory, Theology, Feminism—Cristina Mazzoni
Notes
Index
Introduction
1. The Historical Setting—Rudolph M. Bell
Part One: Her Words: Gemma Galgani's Life
2. Autobiography—Until Fall 1899
3. Diary—Summer 1900
4. Ecstasies and Letters—Summer 1902
Part Two: Our Readings: Gemma Galgani's Afterlife
5. Canonization—Rudolph M. Bell
6. A Saint's Alphabet, or Learning to Read (with) Gemma Galgani: Theory, Theology, Feminism—Cristina Mazzoni
Notes
Index
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History: European History
Literature and Literary Criticism: Romance Languages
Religion: Christianity | Religion and Society
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