Today's Ornament of Grace for Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent is St. Gianna Beretta Molla.
Luke 1:39-45
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out in a loud voice: Blest are you among women and blest is the fruit of your womb. But who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy. Blest is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.
Gianna Beretta Molla,an Italian wife, mother, and doctor, was born on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in 1922. Always attentive in prayer, Gianna Molla made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola prior to beginning university studies. Her schooling was interrupted in 1938-1939 due to poor health. But in 1942 she began her studies in Milan, getting a diploma in medicine from Pavia University there in 1949.
Since her brother Giuseppe was a missionary priest in Brazil, Gianna wanted to help there with gynecological services for the poor. She soon realized she could not do that due to her chronic health issues. In spite of her own frail condition, she enjoyed skiing and mountain climbing. Always reaching out to the poor in her area, she offered whatever services she could. In 1950 she began a practice in Mesero, Italy, and in 1952 pursued a specialty in pediatrics from the University of Milan.
Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer, in 1954; the pair married the following year. Just before their marriage, she wrote to Pietro: “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women.” Together they had four children who lived. One of her daughters, Mariolina, died as a young child. So, certainly this was a great suffering for Gianna, Pietro, and Mariolina’s siblings.
In spite of the suffering that often accompanies parenthood, Gianna and Pietro wanted to have more children and desired to bring them up in a loving and Christ-centered home. They would have recognized the joy that Elizabeth and Mary share in today’s Gospel. Gianna was inspired to help those in need by Mary, who ran to help Elizabeth. She had, like so many working mothers and fathers, to learn to trust God completely as she balanced family, prayer, professional duties, and outreach work.
Toward the end of September 1961, Gianna was just two months pregnant when she began having great pain. A uterine fibroma was discovered. The doctors told Gianna she could have an abortion, have a hysterectomy, or just have the tumor removed. She chose to just have the fibroma removed to preserve the life of her child. Her son later wrote that his mother loved her children unconditionally, and her first concern was her unborn child. He also said she wanted to have more children, so that may have influenced her choice as well. She understood all the implications since she was a pediatric surgeon herself. The surgery was successfully performed. For seven months, Gianna prayed for the safety of her child, that the baby would not suffer any pain in her womb.
On Easter Sunday morning in April, 1962, a baby girl whom Pietro and Gianna named Gianna Emanuela was delivered by Caesarean section. Yet, after the birth, Gianna continued to have excruciating pain. Suffering from septic peritonitis, Gianna died one week later as she prayed, “Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you.” Baby Gianna Emanuela grew up to become a physician and gives thanks to God that her mother loved her enough to give her life for her.
Gianna was beatifie
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