On April 28, 1962, St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a wife, mother and physician from northern Italy, took her last breath after having selflessly refused the most reasonable type of treatment for a tumor that would have taken the life of her newly-born daughter while she was still in the womb.  It’s hard to imagine any saint being more qualified than St. Gianna to be held up as a model to be emulated in the United States of America at the present time.  Caught up in a culture in which many a person places his own interests ahead of the needs of others, and even above those of the common good, St. Gianna stands out as a woman who imitated Our Lord’s act of emptying Himself in order to save others.  At a moment in our nation’s history when the unborn child’s right to life has been tossed out the window, and when the humanity of these babies has absurdly become subject to debate, the sacrifice of St. Gianna on behalf of her daughter speaks volumes on the infinite value of the unborn as beloved children of God.  While devotion to St. Gianna has spread like wildfire among pro-life Catholics because of the manner in which she died, it would be quite a disservice to ignore the life she led prior to that moment.  It’s easy to see that St. Gianna’s courageous decision to lay her life down for her daughter is what one would come to expect after examining the way in which this holy woman lived during her 39 years on earth.  

THE BERETTA FAMILY – SHINING EXAMPLE OF THE “DOMESTIC CHURCH”  

In Familiaris Consortio[i], John Paul II reminded us that the family is a “church in miniature” (“ecclesia domestica”), in which the parents are called to become the first evangelizers in the lives of their children.  St. Gianna was raised by parents who took very seriously their duty to introduce their children to the Gospel and to nourish their relationship with Our Lord.  She was born to Alberto and Maria Beretta, a pair of Third-Order Franciscans, on October 4, 1922 in the town of Magenta (province of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy).  Only a week later, on October 11, Gianna was baptized in the Basilica of San Martino, a sign of the vital role that the Sacraments played in the lives of the Beretta family.  As the tenth of 13 children, Gianna grew up attending Mass with her parents and siblings each morning, while being led nightly by her father in the recitation of the Holy Rosary and the consecration of the family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Gianna witnessed her parents participate in ministries of mercy to the poor through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, while spreading the faith through catechesis as members of a movement known as Catholic Action.  The following glance at the vocational choices of Gianna’s siblings sheds light on the fruit that was produced by years of family prayer and concern for the needy:      

-          Father Giuseppe Beretta (still living) was trained as an engineer prior to entering the seminary and being ordained a diocesan priest.  The title of monsignor was later bestowed on this holy man. 
 

-          Father Alberto Beretta, OFM, MD (birth name was Enrico - deceased) became a doctor before answering God’s call to become a Capuchin priest.  Father Alberto made his way across the Atlantic Ocean to a mission in Grajau, Brazil, where he founded a hospital.  There, he served as both priest and doctor.  Father Alberto was able to attend St. Gianna’s beatification ceremony at the Vatican prior to his death.  The cause for his canonization was recently introduced in Rome by Bishop Ambrogio Spreafico of the Diocese of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino. 
 

-          Francesco Beretta (deceased) was a civil engineer who designed and built the hospital that Father Alberto Beretta founded in Brazil. 
 

-          Zita Beretta (deceased) was a pharmacologist.  Since she never married, she was available to aid Gianna’s husband, Pietro Molla, in raising the children after the death of their mother. 
 

-          Ferdinando Beretta (deceased) was a doctor who was a partner with Gianna in a family clinic near Milan. 
 

-          Amelia Beretta (deceased) lived for only 26 years.  Being 11 years older than Gianna, Amelia served as a mentor who was particularly close to her sister. 
 

-          Mother Virginia Beretta (still living) is the baby of the family.  She attended medical school and made good use of her knowledge and skills when, after becoming a Canossian sister, she gave her life in service to a hospital for lepers in India.   

As a young girl, Gianna was mature beyond her years in regard to her faith.  Due to her ability to enthusiastically absorb the fine religious instruction received from her parents and her sister Amelia, she was allowed to receive her First Holy Communion at age five, a couple of years ahead of schedule.  Gianna grasped the Church’s teaching on Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist and was continuously drawn back out of love to attend Mass daily for the remaining 34 years of her life.  In school, Gianna learned the value of hard work since she had to apply herself and spend a tremendous amount of time studying to earn decent grades.  Despite the difficulties she faced academically, fellow students and teachers were fond of Gianna as a sweet, simple girl whose love for Christ attracted others to “come and see” what it was that caused her to be so filled with joy and to treat her neighbors with complete love and respect.  The death of Gianna’s beloved sister Amelia at age 26 after a lengthy bout with illness became for her an encounter with the cross that caused her to lean on Our Lord for strength and to place her trust in Him.  Gianna, age 15 at the time, made the transition from divulging her daily thoughts and concerns to Amelia, to placing her troubles in Jesus’ hands with afternoon visits to the Blessed Sacrament.  

 

St. Gianna on the day of her First Holy Communion (photo courtesy of The Society of St. Gianna- http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm)

 

 

 

                                                                 DISCERNING HER VOCATION

 

 

 

 

 

A retreat according to the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola in March 1938 made a lifelong impression on Gianna and inspired her to begin listening for God’s call to discern what she was being asked to do with her life.  Having moved with her family to Genoa so that several of the eldest Beretta children could attend college, the secondary school staffed by Dorothean Sisters in which Gianna was enrolled invited a Jesuit priest to give the retreat.  Gianna emerged from the three-day event moved by grace to state, among other things, that:[ii]  

-          She would “prefer to die rather than commit a mortal sin”. 
 

-          She resolved to study, even when she didn’t feel like it, for “love of Jesus”. 
 

-          She asked the Lord to help her “avoid all that would harm (her) soul” and possibly lead her to Hell. 
 

-          She felt humiliation was the “shortest way to holiness” and asked Our Lord to “lead (her) to Paradise”.  

Gianna followed in the footsteps of her parents by becoming an active member of Catholic Action, a movement which aimed to arouse Catholic lay persons to live out their faith intensely.  Gianna lent a hand in organizing retreats and conferences for young girls.  She became a role model to these spiritual sisters of hers by asking them to accompany her on visits to the sick and homebound.  Together, they delivered food and medicine, and performed chores that their hosts were unable to do on their own because of their age and/or poor health.  Eventually, Gianna would serve as Catholic Action’s regional president in her area because of the success she had in motivating others to live out the group’s motto: “Prayer…Action…Sacrifice”.[iii]  

In addition to the hardships brought on by World War II’s devastating effect on Italy, the deaths of Gianna’s mother and father within four months of each other made 1942 a year that required her ever-increasing faith to help bear her cross on a daily basis.  In April of 1942, Maria Beretta died at the age of 53 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while knitting an altar cloth that she intended to ship off to the missions.  Alberto Beretta died the following September after a bout with pernicious anemia that had rendered him mentally unstable for a prolonged period of time.  Grounded in her faith in Our Lord and filled with hope that her parents were now enjoying the beatific vision, Gianna was able to withstand storms such as these in her life with serenity and the will to go on.  

Shortly after the death of her parents, Gianna began to consider the possibility of becoming a medical missionary in Brazil where her brother, now known as Father Alberto, toiled among the sick.  She attended medical school at Milan, which was literally a warzone, with buildings leveled from bombing and residents streaming out of the city in fear for their lives.  Gianna refused to let these distractions break her will to serve God through the practice of medicine.  She felt that she would actually be showing mercy to Our Lord by providing care for the sick.[iv]  After the war ended, Gianna resumed her studies at a medical school in Pavia along with her sister Virginia, who, as already noted, would use her medical knowledge to serve lepers in India.    

 

St. Gianna as a medical student (photo courtesy of The Society of St. Gianna- http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm)  

 

After earning her doctorate in medicine and surgery in 1949 and still unsure whether she was being called to join Father Alberto in Brazil, Gianna teamed with her brother Ferdinando at a health clinic in Mesero, a small town 15 miles west of Milan.  Specializing in pediatrics, Gianna became responsible for much more than simply tending to the physical needs of children.  The mothers of Gianna’s patients found her to be a good listener and counselor pertaining to the upbringing of these little ones.  She was not afraid to challenge parents who were admittedly leading immoral lives to repent and live in conformity to God’s will.  Gianna was known for providing free medicine for patients whose families were struggling financially.  Gianna was also convinced that her mission did not end when a patient physically recovered from illness.  Her top priority was to help set anyone she came in contact with at the clinic on the road to union with Our Lord.  She once noted that, “(Doctors) have opportunities to do good that the priest doesn’t have.  Our mission is not finished when medicines are no longer of use.  We must bring the soul to God.”[v] Gianna offered her services to the village nursery and at a parish summer camp free of charge.  She also became a member of The International Medical Association of Our Lady of Lourdes, which has as its objective the examination of cures that have taken place at the shrine that may be attributable to divine intervention. 
 

Gianna’s growing desire to leave for medical missionary work overseas was continuously stifled.  She felt a sense of duty to her patients, who had become dependent on her as a doctor and, equally so, as a dear friend and confidant.  She had no success attracting a new pediatrician to Mesero, and felt obliged to carry on her work at the clinic until a suitable replacement could be found.  A priest who served as Gianna’s spiritual advisor suggested that she postpone committing herself to a life in the missions.  There were also concerns about Gianna’s health that could have become further complicated living in a hot region of Brazil, not far from the equator.  Feeling a bit frustrated over being prevented from leaving for South America while also feeling called to be there, Gianna predictably turned her situation over to Our Lord in prayer. 

Gianna made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France along with a group of sick persons to visit the famous Marian shrine and to ask for the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession to help her make a vocational choice that would be pleasing to God. There, after much prayer and priestly guidance, Gianna was able to attain complete peace by accepting God’s call to marriage and the raising of children.  To her friends who could not seem to understand why Gianna abandoned her dream of pursuing a life in the missions, she stated, “Every vocation is a ‘call’ from God for a particular mission of good and for one’s own sanctification…All the Lord’s ways are beautiful because their end is one and the same: to save our own soul and to succeed in leading many other souls to Heaven.”[vi] Knowing that she would be carrying out God’s will as a wife and mother, Gianna felt that was the path on which Our Lord had chosen for her to advance toward Heaven, and she refused to look back at what might have been in Brazil.  It is probable that Gianna would have reflected on Jesus’ words: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”[vii]

 

FAMILY LIFE

The Blessed Virgin Mary seems to have played a major role in aiding Gianna in her search for a man who would make a good husband.  As previously noted, she had made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the site of an apparition of Our Lady to St. Bernadette Soubirous in which she introduced herself to the young visionary by saying, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  Shortly after completing her visit to the shrine and returning to Mesero, Gianna was invited to the first Mass of a newly ordained priest on December 8, 1954, which just so happened to be the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Another person who was a friend of the young priest and also in attendance that day was Pietro Molla, an engineer who lived near Gianna’s clinic.  Pietro met Gianna briefly several years earlier and she had provided medical care to his sister in the past, but the two had never before spent a significant amount of time together.  At a gathering after the Mass, Gianna had the pleasure of conversing with Pietro at length and surmised that the two of them were a potentially good match for each other.  An entry in Pietro’s diary made later that evening reveals that he had also sought Our Lady’s counsel in finding a person who would make a suitable spouse: “I sense a tranquility that makes me feel certain of having made a good impression.  The Immaculate Mother has blessed me.”[viii]  Gianna and Pietro began to spend much time together, continually finding that they shared similar hopes, dreams and beliefs.  Just over two months after their meeting on Our Lady’s feast day, Pietro proposed to Gianna and a wedding date was set. 

On September 24, 1955, Gianna was married to Pietro at the Basilica of San Martino in Magenta, with her brother, Father Giuseppe, presiding.  When Gianna entered the church and was walked down the aisle by her brother Ferdinando, thunderous applause erupted from all in attendance.  Many men and women whose children Gianna had cared for at the clinic showed up to pray for and support their good friend.  United in the Sacrament of Matrimony, Pietro and Gianna honeymooned in Rome, as well as several other destinations in Italy and throughout Europe. 

The happy couple was eager to make additions to their family.  Shortly before the wedding, Gianna had written to Pietro, who was occasionally on the road because of his occupation: “With God’s help and blessing, we will do our best to                 make our new family a little Cenacle where Jesus reigns over all our affections, desires, and actions…We will become collaborators with God in His creation and so we will be able to give Him children that love and serve Him.”[ix]  On November 19, 1956, Gianna gave birth to her first child, Pierluigi, a beautiful son who was baptized within several days by Father Giuseppe Beretta.  Just over a year later on December 11, 1957, Pietro and Gianna were blessed with a daughter, Maria Zita, who was affectionately called Mariolina.  Then, on July 15, 1959, the ecstatic couple welcomed another daughter named Laura into the world.  In thanksgiving, Pietro and Gianna donated money from their savings to the missions which, in total, equaled six months worth of a worker’s salary.  This was very much in line with the way Gianna was raised, as she would easily have recalled how her mother Maria would sew clothes for her children rather than spend money shopping, opting to send the saved funds to the foreign missions. 

(St. Gianna holding one of her children- photo courtesy of The Society of St. Gianna - http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm)

Pietro and Gianna were far from being immune to the struggles of everyday life faced by most families.  Gianna juggled many tasks, amazing her friends with her ability to do so.  She continued to serve her patients at the clinic while caring for her husband and children, cooking, cleaning the house, entertaining friends, and visiting her extended family.  The pressure from his job and from dealing with family matters sometimes affected Pietro, who occasionally left the family behind to spend time alone in the mountains.  Gianna was very much understanding, but let it be known to Pietro in letters that she loved him dearly and needed him at home.  The couple was able to get away once in a while, with Gianna tagging along on Pietro’s business trips and with excursions to Milan for concerts.  Despite being exhausted by the end of each day, Gianna made sure to pray with her children and to discuss the life of Christ and how the Gospel applied in their own lives.   

 

PAYING THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL  

After enduring two miscarriages, Gianna discovered that she was pregnant once more during the latter part of the summer in 1961.  That September, Gianna was tormented by pain from a large fibroid in her uterus.  A fibroid is a benign tumor that, in most cases, would not have been bothered with until after the birth of the child.  In Gianna’s case, the fibroid was extremely huge and posed the following threats:  

-          Compression of the unborn child, which could have terminated the pregnancy or caused developmental problems  

-          Preterm labor 
 

-          Outgrowing its own blood supply, causing the risk of infection  

Gianna was given the following three options:  

-          Gianna could have chosen to have her uterus removed (hysterectomy) in order to eradicate the fibroid from her body.  The two-month old unborn child would have died and she would not have been able to give birth to additional children in the future.  Experts in Catholic morality would have seen no problem with this situation under the Principle of Double Effect.  In this particular case, “such an intervention is directed towards saving the life of the mother by removing the…uterus (which has the undesired effect of ending the life of the unborn child).  Morally, such a case would be properly considered under the aspect of a hysterectomy, not under the rubric of elective abortion.”[x]  Knowing that this option would not violate Church law, many friends and family members of Gianna unsuccessfully attempted to persuade her to go this route.  
 

-          Gianna could have chosen to have the fibroid removed while also aborting the pregnancy, which would have allowed her the possibility of giving birth to children in the future.  If opted, this action would have been morally unacceptable since it called for the direct abortion of a child.  Gianna would never have seriously considered this option because she had spoken and written frequently about the sanctity of unborn life.  
 

-          The option that Gianna actually agreed to was to have the fibroid surgically removed and to take her chances with the remaining seven months of her pregnancy.  This choice carried with it major risks, including the possibility of the uterus being irritated and causing the immediate termination of her pregnancy; tremendous blood loss from the uterus posing a threat to Gianna’s life; and the opening of the scar from the surgery during the continued pregnancy that would cause massive blood loss and, again, threaten Gianna’s life.  

In spite of unending pleas to elect a hysterectomy, Gianna was relentless in her decision to protect the life of her unborn child, even if it meant having to die.  Like most mothers, Gianna felt that her three children, ages four, three and two at the time, would have been worth dying for.  Gianna believed that the developing child within her womb possessed a value equal to that of Pierluigi, Mariolina and Laura.  She commented that, “I am necessary for the three children, but I am indispensable for this child”.  She firmly commanded Pietro, “If you have to decide between me and the child, do not hesitate; I demand it, the child, save it.”  

After the fibroid was removed, Gianna’s pregnancy progressed free from major problems until her seventh month.  Entering April, Gianna seemed to sense trouble brewing and told her friends that she would soon be admitted to the hospital and was not sure whether she would return.  Doctors were cautious about Gianna’s chances if she was to make it the full term, so they decided summon her to Monza Maternity Hospital to induce labor with oxytocin on Good Friday, April 20, 1962.  This proved to be unsuccessful, leading the doctors to use several alternative methods over a 24-hour period.  Though Gianna’s water broke, none of their actions were able to force labor.  Finally, on the morning of April 21, Gianna gave birth by Caesarean section to a girl named Gianna Emmanuela[xi], who appeared to be completely healthy.  Sadly, this was not the case for Gianna, whose condition was diminishing quickly.  

Gianna had contracted an infection of the inner lining of her abdomen, a condition referred to as septic peritonitis, which ultimately proved to be deadly.  Immediately after her daughter was born, she began to display symptoms of the infection, including a high fever, racing pulse, and exhaustion.  Even though the pain experienced by Gianna was excruciating, she refused all forms of medication to lessen its severity.  Gianna knew that she was reaching the end of her life and she chose to die like Our Lord, offering her suffering in union with His.  Gianna lingered on for seven days, fully conscious and ready to endure her final moments reflecting on Christ’s passion and death.   Nothing mattered to her other than the state of her soul before Almighty God and the well-being of her dear family members who were going to survive her.  She remarked to one of her sisters, “If you only knew how differently things are judged at the hour of death...How vain certain things appear, to which we gave such importance in the world!”[xii]  

During the week between the birth of Gianna Emmanuela and the death of St. Gianna, much was revealed about her relationship with God and how she used her plight as a stepping stone into Paradise.  Her sister, known as Mother Virginia, came all the way from India and was able to spend the final few days with her.  Gianna’s last conversation with Pietro came during midweek, when she had temporarily taken a turn for the better.  She told her husband that she had been to the other side of eternity and that it was beautiful beyond description.  She said that she returned to suffer further.  Gianna was able to hold her newborn daughter and look lovingly into the eyes of the little one whose life she spared.  Gianna’s doctor allowed her to leave the hospital on April 27 after she begged for the opportunity to spend her final moments at home.  She died on the morning of April 28 in the presence of Pietro, her children, two of her brothers and two of her sisters.  Just as Our Lord told His Father, “It is finished”[xiii] as He gave up His soul on the cross, Gianna could have uttered the same words in reference to the fact that she had completed her sacrifice and was able to rest assured that tiny Gianna Emmanuela was now safe.  

With the passing of Gianna, it was apparent that quite a few people felt that they had lost a dear friend, but gained a saintly intercessor in Heaven.  Over the following two days, a seemingly endless stream of relatives, friends and admirers who had come to hear about Gianna’s holiness filed into the Molla home to pay their respects and to pray before the body of the future saint.  The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel was unable to hold the vast crowd that showed up for the funeral Mass.  Later that same year, a medal bearing the image of Gianna was created, as devotion to this holy woman began to extend beyond the environs of Milan.  

WHAT BECAME OF THE MOLLA FAMILY?  

While Pietro and his family welcomed Gianna Emmanuela into the world, the loss of the family’s matriarch took a major toll on the the Molla household.  Gianna’s sister Zita moved into the home to help Pietro raise the children.  Two short years after the death of Gianna, tragedy once more visited the Molla family when six year-old Mariolina, who had been attending a boarding school under the care of Pietro’s sister (a nun), died from a virus associated with exanthematic disease.  Pietro began seeking the intercession of Mariolina to strengthen him and to protect the family.   

Pietro reluctantly cooperated with the Vatican in the investigation of Gianna’s life when the canonization process had begun.  Eight months after Gianna died, on Christmas Eve 1962, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, the Archbishop of Milan who would become Pope Paul VI in June 1963, attended a ceremony that recognized the heroic sacrifice that she had made.  In 1970, Pietro was notified of the Church’s desire to proceed with the usual examination into a person’s life and writings before he or she can be officially declared a saint.  For Pietro, saints were priests, nuns, or martyrs.  Despite being well-aware of Gianna’s sanctity and certain that she was with Our Lord in Heaven, it seemed as if this were a dream.  Though he felt that he and his children would be burdened forevermore by a lack of privacy and that the constant “reliving” of Gianna’s death every time her story was told would reopen his own emotional wounds, Pietro agreed to let the canonization process move forward because he did not want to oppose what might be the will of God.   

Pietro and three of his children are living.  Pierluigi, an accountant, has a wife and a teenage daughter.  Laura is happily married.  Gianna Emmanuela, the child for whom St. Gianna laid down her life, followed her mother’s footsteps into the medical field.  She specializes in the treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  She has taken an extended leave of absence from her practice to care for her Pietro, who is in poor health.  In 1997, Gianna Emmanuela spoke before Pope John Paul II at the 2^nd World Meeting with Families in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, bringing him to tears as she thanked her mother for having twice given her life and in asking for her mother’s prayers for all mothers and their families.   

RECOGNIZED AS A SAINT BY HOLY MOTHER CHURCH  

The miracle that the Church investigated and accepted in order for Gianna to be beatified involved the healing of a Protestant woman who was under the care of the hospital in Grajau, Brazil that had been founded by Father Alberto Beretta.  After having given birth to a stillborn child, the woman’s life was endangered by a vaginal abscess.  The nearest facility that could provide the special surgery needed was 375 miles away in the city of San Luis.  Realizing that the woman would not survive the trip, one of her nurses, Sister Bernardina di Manaus, pulled out a picture of Gianna Beretta-Molla and asked for her intercession.  She gathered two other nurses and they joined together in prayer.  Immediately and without explanation, the patient’s wound was healed, her condition returned to normal, and a mysterious scar appeared where the abscess was only moments before.  There was no medical explanation for how the scar could have developed.  This first miracle took place in 1977.  

After the beatification of Gianna on Mother’s Day 1994, the Church awaited another miracle to proceed with canonization.  Once more the miracle took place in Brazil, the country in which Gianna had longed to serve as a lay medical missionary.  Elisabete Comparino Arcolino, a teacher and mother of three, faced terrible complications from the instant she discovered that she was pregnant with her fourth child in November 1999.  The amazing and detailed story of this miracle can be found on the website of Father John Zuhlsdorf at http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/04/prepare-to-be-amazed-the-2nd-miracle-of-st-gianna-molla/.  If you have a few minutes of free time, I suggest you read how Elisabete imitated Gianna in placing her unborn child’s life ahead of her own life while seeking Gianna’s prayers for survival.  It’s truly an inspirational story.  This miracle led to Gianna’s canonization on May 16, 2004, an event that was attended by Pietro and her surviving children.   

 

DEVOTION TO GIANNA SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES  

Joe Cunningham, a trial attorney from Philadelphia, was generous enough to share many facts about the life of St. Gianna Beretta-Molla and stories of how many people in need have obtained answers to prayers through her intercession.  Joe is the President of the Society of St. Gianna, an organization that promotes holiness within families and respect for the sanctity of life, as well as maintains the St. Gianna Shrine at Nativity of Our Lord Church in Warminster, Pennsylvania.  Joe became aware of St. Gianna when he was encouraged to learn about and spread devotion to her after her beatification by Father Angelus Ferrara, a monk of the Order of St. Paul the First Hermit.  Since Joe could read Italian, Father Angelus supplied him with books and articles about Gianna’s life.  Joe was inspired to write an article about St. Gianna for The Catholic Standard and Times, a local paper, to be published on January 22, 1998 – the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the United States.  Joe obtained Pietro Molla’s phone number and so began a close relationship with Gianna’s husband and children.  Joe wrote additional articles and gave talks on Gianna’s life at parishes and for prayer groups.  Then, by taking a couple of chances, Joe was able to instantly inform thousands of people about the sacrifice that Gianna had made.  He invited himself to an international meeting in Manhattan of The Catholic Medical Association and gave a talk, which led to him being asked to host a weekly show on Holy Spirit Catholic Radio.  Joe also wrote to the folks at the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and invited himself onto Mother Angelica’s popular talk show.  The show on which Joe appeared as a guest proved to be one of the all-time most popular episodes of “Mother Angelica Live”.  Since this episode was dubbed into Spanish, Joe was able to reach many persons throughout Latin America. 

Pietro Molla with Joe Cunningham – November 2007 (photo courtesy of The Society of St. Gianna- http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm)

 Joe is very thankful to Our Lord for the wonders that he has witnessed in the lives of couples that have asked for St. Gianna’s intercession while struggling to conceive a child.  One case in particular stands out very strongly in Joe’s memory.  Darren and Fran Guidi, a couple from Newark, Deleware, had tried unsuccessfully to have a child during the first ten years of their marriage.  Darren, while praying on his knees before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist at a chapel of adoration, noticed a St. Gianna prayer card and took it home to Fran.  Together, they began praying for St. Gianna’s intercession to conceive a child.  Within two weeks, ten years of frustration were forgotten when they learned that Fran was pregnant.  A year later, as Joe was speaking about St. Gianna at a parish event at St. Peter’s Church in the town of Newark, Darren and Fran stood up with their daughter – named Gianna – to vouch for the graces that have been showered down on seemingly infertile couples through this saint’s prayers.  

 

CONCLUSION  

St. Gianna’s greatness lies in her love for Our Lord and her willingness to imitate Him regardless of the cost – even her life.  She is a patron to many groups within the Church, especially working mothers since Gianna balanced family life with the business of running a medical practice.  St. Gianna’s story instills great hope in the battle to obtain respect and the right to live for unborn children.   

 

REFERENCES

 1.       Interview with Joseph Cunningham, President of The Society of St. Gianna

 2.       Website of The Society of St. Gianna at http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm

 3.       “Mother Angelica Live” show with host Mother Angelica and guest Joseph Cunningham, taped October 13, 1999

 4.       Biography of St. Gianna Beretta-Molla from the Vatican website at http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20040516_beretta-molla_en.html