About St. Gianna

Finding St. Gianna

By Theresa Cavicchio
Special to The CS&T

Before departing on our recent trip to Italy, my niece, Sister Maria Kateri, S.V., arranged a wonderful surprise — we were to visit the family of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. My niece’s order, the Sisters of Life, enjoys a natural affinity for St. Gianna because of her association with the cause of life.

With the assistance of Joseph Cunningham, president emeritus of the Society of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a brief stop was scheduled for us at the home of Gianna’s husband and daughter at Mesero.

St. Gianna was born in 1922, in Magenta, near Milan. Her parents and siblings formed a large, loving, family circle. She was a diligent student, and eventually graduated from medical school.

Her pediatrics practice was located near the family home of Pietro Molla. They met, became engaged, and married in 1955. Following the birth of their fourth child, St. Gianna died on April 28, 1962, in circumstances that contributed to her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 1994, and her canonization in 2004.

These facts outline the life of Gianna Beretta Molla. There is, of course, much more to tell.

Her family was devoutly Catholic, providing a firm foundation in the faith that sustained St. Gianna throughout her life. Parents and children prayed together. She joined family members in groups such as Catholic Action, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Their faith was not an adjunct to the Beretta’s family life, but rather it was woven into its very fabric.

That emphasis on prayer combined with good works remained a hallmark of St. Gianna’s life. The rosary kept her close to Our Lady. Lifelong attendance at daily Mass and reception of holy Eucharist fostered profound dependence on God, and trust in His providence. As she progressed through young adulthood, her prayer life focused on discerning God’s will for her life and, in particular, for her vocation.

St. Gianna viewed the practice of medicine as a mission entrusted to her for the care of God’s people, body and soul. The same attitude characterized her choice of vocation. Having discerned God’s call to married life, she approached her union with Pietro Molla with joy, but she also viewed it as a sacred commitment —a sacramental covenant, through which God would act in their married life. Thus, St. Gianna found the grace to plunge deeply into marriage, to start what she called “a truly Christian family,” and to continue her medical work, focusing professional and charitable efforts on mothers, babies, and the poor.

My niece and I made many stops on our “St. Gianna day,” including visits to her birthplace and her medical office, where we noted the simple equipment and unpretentious surroundings. We saw the home she shared with Pietro, and the nearby chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel, where the Molla children were baptized and dedicated to Mary. Numerous churches where Gianna worshipped gave evidence to the depth of her faith expressed in a life of lay sanctity.

That does not mean to imply that all her time was spent on her knees. On the contrary, she was a modern woman with a zest for life — finding satisfaction in travel, cultural pursuits, fashion, and adventurous outdoor sports. She played piano and painted.

And within her multi-faceted life, her husband and children provided her greatest joy. She lived her short life to the fullest.

That love for life makes the story of her death all the more poignant.

Early in her pregnancy with their fourth child, a uterine tumor was discovered. Doctors informed St. Gianna of her options, including surgery that would abort the baby.

Given the strength of her principles, her immediate decision was not surprising. She insisted that if it came to a decision between her baby’s life and her own, the doctors must save the baby. In that act, termed by Pope Paul VI as one of “conscious immolation,” St. Gianna surrendered her life for the life of her child.

After risky surgery to remove the tumor, the pregnancy proceeded to term. The baby was a girl — born one week before Gianna’s extremely painful death from peritonitis.

That daughter now shares her mother’s name and profession. At present, Gianna Emanuela is not practicing medicine but devoting herself to caring for her elderly father. Clearly, qualities of self-sacrifice and surrender to God’s will have passed from mother to daughter.

Couples trying to conceive or experiencing difficult pregnancies, women and men suffering the effects of abortion, families in crisis situations — all can find in St. Gianna a ready confidante, and a powerful intercessor. The first lay woman, wife, and working mother to be canonized understands such heartaches.

Finding the courage to protect an unborn child’s life at the expense of one’s own is an act of heroic proportions. St. Gianna’s life prepared her well for this ultimate act of self-sacrifice — the crowning achievement of a woman whom Pope John Paul II termed a “holy mother of a family.” She was a woman dedicated to the cause of human life, and of unwavering devotion to the Author of life, Himself.

Prayer of St. Gianna Beretta Molla
Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me.

Make me only know Your will.

My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls, and in a particular way, of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms,

I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart, the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will, the grace to confide in You, the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms.

For more information on St. Gianna, visit the official website, www.saintgianna.org.

Theresa Cavicchio is a wife and mother. She works in the Religious Education Program for her parish, St. Madeline.

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A visit with Pietro and Gianna Emanuela Molla

by Sister Maria Kateri
Special to The CS&T

When Sister Maria Kateri learned that her family in Italy, whom she planned to visit, lived near Mesero, Italy, where Gianna Emanuela Molla lives with her 94-year old father, she wrote to ask the saint’s daughter whether they could meet.

When Sister Maria Kateri and her aunt [CS&T contributor Theresa Cavicchio] arrived in Milan, the meeting seemed unlikely. But two days later, the hoped-for meeting took place at the Molla home.

On Monday, [Pietro and Gianna Emanuela Molla’s] housekeeper, Sandra, welcomed us, then Gianna came downstairs, smiling broadly. My heart leapt.

We embraced and exchanged gifts — convent-made toffee for Gianna, and relics, holy cards and calendars from her to the [Sisters of Life] community.

Gianna agreed to a photo with me. When I asked where we should stand, she indicated a portrait of her mother, and exclaimed, “Con la mamma, con la mamma!” (“With Mom, with Mom!”) Viewing the portrait, I was struck by Gianna’s resemblance to her mother.

Upstairs, I greeted Gianna’s father, Pietro. He was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. Gianna announced joyfully, “Daddy, open your eyes; you have a guest from America.”

He took my hands and thanked me for visiting. I felt myself in the presence of holiness. He asked where I was from, and nodded knowingly at my response, as he had traveled often to the United States while working as an engineer.

I asked if we could pray together.

Pietro nodded. Although frail, he raised his hands together vigorously, like a young schoolboy, and closed his eyes.

At the prayer’s end, I added the words, “St. Gianna …”

A pregnant pause followed while tears fell from Pietro’s eyes. Gianna Emanuela gazed at him in silent understanding.

I thought to myself, “Gianna is a saint of the Church, but for Pietro she is the wife whom he loves dearly, and for Gianna Emanuela, the mother she never knew in person.”

The silence was broken as they responded quietly, “Prega per noi (pray for us).”

Later, I recalled how Sandra, their devoted housekeeper, related Gianna Emanuela’s words: “My mother gave her life for me — now I give mine for my father.”

This time with the Molla family is engraved forever on my heart, a brief visit with ordinary people living the life of holiness to which we are all called.