This is but one piece of advice that St. Gemma Galgani’s guardian angel gave her. He gave her many. In fact, they spoke very frequently.
Born in 1878 near Lucca, Italy, St. Gemma Galgani was a soul blessed with immense graces—and immense sufferings. Imbued with a deep love of Our Crucified Lord and a mystical inner life, she desired to join the Passionist order but was prevented due to ill health.
She nonetheless is considered one of that order’s great saints, because she lived the Passion in her soul in an extraordinary way. She was profoundly united to Our Lord’s sufferings through her mental prayer, and even bore the wounds of the Passion—the stigmata.
She also had an extraordinary friendship with her guardian angel.
He guided her in her spiritual life, advised and admonished her, and delivered messages to Jesus and Our Lady for her.
Gemma would pray with her angel whenever they conversed. They often alternated in their praises of God, vying with one another in the fervor with which they would say, “Blessed be Jesus” or another pious ejaculation.
The angel would also, during Gemma’s prayer, give her extraordinary insights into divine truths and the immeasurable love of Jesus, illustrated so poignantly in His Passion.
Though we may not see our guardian angels with our physical eyes, they are present and working in our lives constantly. We can—and should!—cultivate our friendship with them just like St. Gemma did. Learn more about these holy messengers of God, their nature and work, and how they interact with us in Encounters with the Angels: The Invisible Companions of our Spiritual Life. Available today at The Catholic Company!
