As usual, that night I cannot sleep because I am united with Jesus, united more closely than usual, and also because my head aches a bit I kept vigil together with my beloved Angel.”Įlsewhere in her diary she writes: Friday, J“This Friday I suffered even more, because I had to do some chores and at every moment I thought I would die. Of this ingratitude how much I feel guilty myself! For sure, Jesus must have spoken of me. This is how things went yesterday evening, Thursday I thought Jesus would do like usual that evening: He placed the crown of thorns on my head, the cause of so much pain for my beloved Jesus, and left it there for several hours….How He was afflicted! And the cause: for the many sins committed, and the many ungrateful souls whom He assists, only to receive in return exactly the opposite. It is this latter, and the atrocious head pain that it caused, which we will now focus on for this article.Ĭoncerning the Crown of Thorns and the accompanying head pain Gemma writes: Thursday, Aug“A little strength, a little courage comes to me when I feel Jesus at the hour when he places the crown of thorns on me and makes me suffer until Friday evening, because this I offer for sinful souls, especially my own. In this mission of suffering in union with Jesus for the redemption of sinners she was given the Stigmata, along with the Crown of Thorns. It was the Passion renewed, in a lesser degree, in the body and spirit of the young virgin Gemma. To accomplish this mission, God would give her a share in the innumerable sufferings of Christ, beginning particularly on Thursday evenings until Friday afternoon. In other words, she was called to help Jesus for the salvation of souls. The Crown of Thorns -Sufferings of a victim soulĪfter her miraculous cure God called Saint Gemma to be a “victim soul”, that is, she was especially called to suffer in body and spirit for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins. The severe migraines stemming from her spinal meningitis and brain tumour were only a precursor of the violent headaches and head pain that she was soon to suffer. But, I felt very well because I no longer had any more pain in my head.”īut this was not the end of her head pain and migraines–now she was to suffer tortuous headaches stemming from a mystical grace- the Crown of Thorns.

Immediately after her cure she said: “When I was alone in the room afterwards I was able to raise myself to a sitting position, though I could not yet stand up. Her severe headaches lasted for months, until her miraculous cure on March 3, 1899. The doctors, thinking that I was no longer conscious, said among themselves that I would not live until midnight. I made my confession and I was waiting to go and be with Jesus. I grew worse from day to day, and on February 2nd they brought me Holy Viaticum. They could not operate because I was suffering with extreme weakness. The doctor whom they called said that it was very dangerous (he called it a brain tumor). Besides the usual pains, on January 28 I began to suffer with an unbearable headache. The cauterized me in 12 places on the spine. On January 4th (1899), the doctors tried another remedy.

“….but the months passed, and I did not get any better. I cannot move.” Initially her Physician, Doctor Del Prete repeatedly lanced the tumors along her spine, and injected them with glycerine, but as she continually grew worse he consulted with other physicians who together decided to cauterize her spine in 12 places. During this time she said to Father Andrew Bartolini: “See I am crucified. And because her spinal disease was continuously progressing for the worse, she initially could still walk and began wearing an iron back brace, but soon she became bedridden and almost completely paralysed, able only to move her head and arms a bit. Because of all of these conditions, St Gemma suffered atrocious headaches. And thirdly because she was given the mystical grace of receiving the crown of thorns. Those who are familiar with spinal diseases know that they can cause severe, debilitating migraines.Īdditionally, for various reasons the doctors thought she also had a brain tumor. Gemma suffered with severe headaches for three reasons- firstly because she was diagnosed with spinal meningitis (or possibly spinal tuberculosis), and she developed large tumors along her spine, which lead her to the brink of death in the Spring of 1899, prior to her miraculous cure. Given all the migraines and headaches that she suffered, Saint Gemma can certainly be considered a patron Saint for those who suffer with headaches, along with St Teresa of Avila and a few others. A Patron Saint for headache and migraine sufferers

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