Two Translations
I'm pleased to be able to share with you two translations from the letters of the Italian mystic and stigmatic, St. Gemma Galgani. One is a translation of her first-year letters to her spiritual director, Father Germano. The second is a short volume of his letters back to her.
I first discovered St. Gemma about five years ago while doing a Google search on saints who'd experienced stigmata, a subject I wanted to read more about. Gemma's name and picture popped up. I'd never heard of her before, and started to read everything I could find. Her story was fascinating to me. She's not well-known and, I soon discovered, her many letters are still largely unavailable in English.
I began, slowly and methodically, to translate them so that I could continue reading. For a mystic like myself, her letters are a precious find. Gemma spent much of her short life in daily contact with Jesus, Mother Mary, angels and demons, and experiencing the supernatural in many forms. She found these occurrences exhilarating at times, but also confusing and frightening, and her correspondence with Fr. Germano seemed to provide the strength and understanding she needed to not just endure them, but benefit from them.
She died in 1903 at the age of 25 without really being known outside of the Italian village she lived in. Interest in her, at least in the U.S., now seems to be growing. My hope is to eventually translate her remaining letters to Fr. Germano into English.
Additional books by and about her can be found at StGemmaBooks.com
 Eleven Letters to St. Gemma From Her Spiritual Director St. Gemma Galgani, the 20th Century Italian mystic and stigmatic, wrote over 130 letters to her Spiritual Director, Father Germano. The letters have long been available in Italian, French and Spanish, with a few sets of them more recently published in English. Less attention has been given to Fr. Germano's letters to Gemma. This short collection offers a glimpse into the other half of a fascinating dialogue, shedding light on how Gemma and Fr. Germano navigated the extraordinary graces and supernatural events occurring daily in the life of St. Gemma. Buy on Amazon |
 Letters to Father Germano: The First Year Now available in English, these are the first-year letters from the 20th Century Italian stigmatic and saint, Gemma Galgani, to her Spiritual Director, Father Germano. In January 1900, twenty-one year old Gemma Galgani wrote a letter introducing herself to her soon-to-be Spiritual Director, Father Germano. The correspondence continued until her death, just over three years later, leaving more than 130 letters that provide a unique understanding of the ways in which God was leading a highly blessed soul through the last stages of perfection into divine union. Buy on Amazon |