Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Mothers
Saint Gianna Molla
Married laywoman († 1962) Feast: April 28
Gianna was the dream child of any Catholic parent. She lived out her faith as a teenager, believed in the power of prayer, accepted setbacks as part of God’s providence, and volunteered to serve the needy. She believed God wanted her to become a medical doctor and help the sick, so she earned medical degrees and specialized in pediatrics. She particularly loved caring for babies and their mothers.
Gianna planned to travel to Brazil to help her brother, who was a missionary priest, but health problems prevented her from doing so. Then, when she was thirty-two years old, she met her future husband, Pietro. Five months later, they were engaged, and the next year, they were married.
Gianna and Pietro soon had three children. Gianna loved being a mother, but she also continued her work as a medical doctor, seeing that as part of her life’s work. But during her fourth pregnancy, the doctors discovered a tumor growing on her uterus. As a doctor, a mother, and a Catholic, Gianna refused to permit a surgery that would save her life at the expense of her child’s. Gianna gave up her life for her daughter, and that daughter repaid the gift by eventually becoming a medical doctor herself, just like her mother.
Heavenly Father, may the sacrifices
and blessings of motherhood lead both mothers
and their children to heaven.
