St Gemma allegedly miraculously appears in Israel
Angelo, a friend in St Gemma, sent me this story that he was told during his recent visit to Saint Gemma's Monastery/Sanctuary in Lucca, Italy. It concerns Gemma's remarkable intercession to a young Muslim man in Israel. Here it is:
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[...]"When I was in Lucca, one of the volunteers in the book store told me of a Saint Gemma miracle. Here is the short version. The volunteer had a visiting priest that was a friend of his in Lucca. This priest was normally stationed in Israel but was in Lucca for a visit. They were together in the book/gift store of the St Gemma monastery/shrine when the priest gets a cell phone call from a young Muslim friend of his from Israel. This was 2003* and all the young Muslims were being made to move out of Israel over the border to I guess Palestine.
[*Editors note: It is interesting to note that 2003 was the 100 year anniversary of Gemma's holy death]
The priest’s friend was very concerned, as he had no paper work, and if he was stopped at the border he would be in serious trouble. This young man asked the priest to pray for him. Both the priest and the volunteer told him they would and so they immediately went into the monastery church where Saint Gemma is buried*. They prayed for his safety and safe passage and then soon forgot about it.
[*Editors note: St Gemma's remains are kept beneath the main altar of the monastery Church as shown in the photo at the top of this article.]
Three days later the priest gets a call from this young man and briefly this is what happened: The young man asked the priest who the young woman was who he had sent to help him. The priest asked him what he meant. The young friend said that as they were getting into cabs to take them across the border, this young woman all dressed in black came up and asked if she could share his cab. He agreed and she got in. As they approached the border, all the cabs were stopped and checked except for his; his was waved on.
When they got across the border they said farewell, but before she left the young man asked her name. She responded:
'I am Gemma Galgani' (I almost always tear up when I tell this story…)
And then she left.
Living in Israel and being a Muslim he of course did not know anything about her or that she was a Saint. The priest then explained to him who she was. Long story short, he later converted to Catholicism!!!!
Regards,
Angelo
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Update: October 30, 2013
On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 3:57 PM, , Angelo wrote:
Interesting event to tell you. Remember the story I told you concerning the Muslim man that converted after he was helped by Saint Gemma?
Well in this last trip [to St Gemma's monastery in Lucca -editor] we met a pharmacist in Torino Italy. He started to tell me the same story as we were having discussions on Saint Gemma and his version is, now get this:
He was in Israel at the time and actually knows the young man this happened to. He [the young man] actually told him that Saint Gemma held his hand all along the car trip to across the border!
Now I did not mention anything about this story to him; he just came out and told me and my wife. All we told him was that we were in Lucca and have a devotion to her!
Also, he is a pharmacist and Saint Gemma’s father was a pharmacist!
Viva Gesu
Viva Gemma!
Regards,
Angelo
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I would like to sincerely thank Angelo for sharing this story. -Webmaster
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"Alas, evening comes and the usual coldness, the usual repugnance assails me; fatigue would want to win over me, but with a little effort I never want to neglect to do my duty.
Tonight Jesus placed his crown on my head at about 10:00, after I had been collected for a little while. My suffering, which in no way equals Jesus', was very strong: even all my teeth hurt; any movement brought a sharp pain; I thought I could not resist but instead I did; everything went well. I offered those little penances for sinners and in particular for my poor soul. " -Diary of St Gemma, Thursday, August 23, 1900
11 comments:
That is an excellent story about St. Gemma. I continue to be astounded by the miracles associated with her.
"Alas, evening comes and the usual coldness, the usual repugnance assails me; fatigue would want to win over me, but with a little effort I never want to neglect to do my duty.
Tonight Jesus placed his crown on my head at about 10:00, after I had been collected for a little while. My suffering, which in no way equals Jesus', was very strong: even all my teeth hurt; any movement brought a sharp pain; I thought I could not resist but instead I did; everything went well. I offered those little penances for sinners and in particular for my poor soul. " -Diary of St Gemma, Thursday, August 23, 1900. It is like a page torn from my life, except I never thought to pray for my own soul. And I am frequently grieved by the events in the middle east and pray that God and Mary might be able to guide things in a better direction.
Thanks be to God, for another Soul rescued by
Saint Gemma!
Great story just goes to show how the saints in heaven can help people in their every day lives.great
I believe this story to be very true. Interestingly, I am of the Hindu faith and something curious was told to me just a few days back by a disciple of a well known Indian Guru who is based in the US. The story goes like this: "A few years ago while cleaning out Guruji's office, I saw a picture of a bearded fellow whom I have never seen before. I asked him, Who is this man?" Guru ji said it is Padre Pio, a famous Catholic saint who came to me in the flesh about 30 years ago to warn me that I should catch the next flight back to Sri Lanka as my mother lay dying" Guruji did as he was warned to do and consequently made it to Sri Lanka shortly before his mother passed away. this story tells me that people of God see no distinctions in the soul, and observe no ostracizing sectarian differences. Glory be to God and the Christ Jesus. Interestingly, here is a link to Therese Neumann's encounter with Paramahamsa Yogananda, the noted Indian saint and author of Autobiography of a Yogi
http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/chap39.php
Concerning the comment that, in 2003, the Government of Israel was forcing Muslims into Palestine, I think there should be further research into this alleged action seeing that acts of terrorism are used by young Palestinians, who believe that killing Jews, along with themselves, will be rewarded by their god, Allah. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been forced, on many occasions, to make the Palestinians go to the territory known as the West Bank, which includes Bethlehem, the tomb of Joseph, who God used to save Israel from famine, Rachel's tomb, and other Holy Sites. Joseph's tomb was set on fire by young Palestinians, and Sacred Writings of the Jews were destroyed. I ask St. Gemma to intercede for those of all three faith traditions in the Holy Land. Violence, hatred, and terror are not the answer.
Thank you Janice for your insightful thoughts and reflections. You commentary is much appreciated.
-May God bless you and your loved ones,
Glenn Dallaire
I was living in Israel at that time and it was at the time that America and its allies invaded Iraq to get rid of Saddam. So it was a very precarious time for all-Israelis were carrying around gas masks just in case. I love St Gemma and I took her as my spiritual girlfriend many years ago.
Praise be to God!
Pray for me, PLEASE! May God be my ONE love! The world doesn't seem to want Him for anything and I am so disheartened. May the Lord reward you for the work and suffering you embrace. St. Gemma, pray for us!
Not possible!
Purest Gemma getting into cab with man!
Purest Gemma holding mans hand!
Never happened.
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