St Gemma Galgani Tomb and Sanctuary, Lucca

St Gemma Galgani Tomb and Sanctuary

The Sanctuary Santa Gemma is a Roman Catholic church  -Sanctuary devoted to the local saint and mystic Gemma Galgani located on Via di Tiglio outside the medieval walls of Lucca, the region of Tuscany, Italy.

The church and monastery date from 1935. The convent hosts nuns of the community of Passionist nuns. Gemma Galgani lived at this monastery and is buried here after her death in 1903. The design of the new convent was entrusted to Italo Baccelli. The dome and bell-tower suggest a reduced-size version of the Cathedral of Berlin. The work was not completed until 1965 by the architect Adriano Marabini. Sanctuary of Saint Gemma Monastery.

The relics of the St Gemma Galgani are below the main altar in an urn sculpted by Francesco Nagni. The church’s altarpiece depicts Christ creates stigmata on Gemma Galgani while she is held by the Angel of Passion by Primo Conti. To the left of the altar is a marble sculptural group depicting the Passion of Christ by Tommaso Gismondi. The same sculptor completed the bronze reliefs of the Passion of Mary.

There you can also find the tombs of Father Germano, her spiritual director, and Monsignor Volpi, her regular confessor. Outside the church there is a little bookshop which has many books in several languages about St. Gemma. There are also statues, photos, souvenirs, and holy cards available. In the bookshop, on the left side, you can see a little “museum” with some of St. Gemma’s clothes, her shoes, personal objects, books she used to read for prayer.

There is a very kind lady who works there whose name is Maria. She is responsible for taking people to visit “Casa Galgani,” which is St Gemma Galgani’s house where she received the Holy Stigmata.

St Gemma Galgani Sanctuary Mass Times

• Weekdays: 08.00 and 17.30
• Sundays: 10.30 and 17.30

Source:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/
• http://www.stgemma.com