From a young age, St. Gemma Galgani experienced hardship, losing her mother to tuberculosis when she was only eight. Despite this grief, Gemma clung to her faith and a deep devotion to the Passion of Christ. Having contracted spinal meningitis, she attributed her miraculous healing to prayer. She felt a strong desire to become a Passionist nun but was unable due to her poor health. However, she lived with a family who hosted Passionist Fathers and became close to them, embracing the Passionist spirituality. Gemma's life was filled with extraordinary mystical experiences. She reportedly received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, which would appear weekly and then close. She also claimed to converse with her guardian angel, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and other saints. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1903, Gemma's health declined rapidly. She died on Holy Saturday, April 11, 1903, at the age of 25. She was beatified in 1933 and canonized in 1940.