This morning, when I was sitting in a waiting room, I was surrounded by many mothers and pregnant women all of whom, like myself, put their trust in our doctor. It made me want to write about St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children.
She even has children who are alive today. St. Gianna was born on Oct. 4 (Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi), 1922 in Magenta, Italy. She received a medical degree from the University of Pavia in 1949 and married Pietro Molla in 1955.
St. Gianna had four children. During her fourth pregnancy she was diagnosed with a large fibroma (benign tumor) in her uterus. She told her husband if he had to choose, that he should chose the baby. They had a daughter, Gianna Emanuela, born on April 21, 1962. St. Gianna contracted a high fever and stomach pains caused by septic peritonitis. She died on April 28, 1962 in Monza, Italy. Canonized: May 16, 2004. Her feast day is April 28.
Here is a wonderful Web site about St. Gianna Beretta Molla where you can learn her prayer and read about her family, miracles, shrine, and much more.
