April 19, 2024

Hello John,

In the quiet spaces of our hearts, where the whispers of the Divine echo, we find ourselves pondering a profound question: Where am I being called to bring more of God’s peace? It is not merely a query; it is an invitation—a beckoning to step beyond the ordinary and embrace the extraordinary. Being Franciscan transcends habits and symbols; it is a way of living, a deliberate choice to cradle all of creation in our arms. St. Francis, our gentle guide, knew that prayer was not a ritual but a rhythm of existence—a way of being.

May the spirit of St. Francis guide you, and may your life become a living prayer—a testament to the boundless love that flows through you and beyond.

If you are inspired, please consider supporting the friars through this important work with a gift to Franciscan Media at: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/newsletter.

With profound gratitude, 

Christopher Meyer
Director of Development 

Saint of the Day for April 19: Gianna Beretta Molla

(October 4, 1922 – April 28, 1962)

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla’s Story

In less than 40 years, Gianna Beretta Molla became a pediatric physician, a wife, a mother and a saint!

She was born in Magenta near Milano, the tenth of Alberto and Maria Beretta’s 13 children. An active member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and a leader in the Catholic Action movement, Gianna also enjoyed skiing and mountain climbing. She earned degrees in medicine and surgery from the University of Pavia, eventually specializing in pediatrics. In 1952, Gianna opened a clinic in the small town of Mesero, where she met engineer Pietro Molla.

Shortly before their 1955 marriage, Gianna wrote to Pietro: “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women.” In the next four years the Mollas had three children: Pierluigi, Mariolina, and Laura. Two pregnancies following ended in miscarriage.

Early in her final pregnancy, doctors discovered that Gianna had both a child and a tumor in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the tumor but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which would have killed the child. Seven months later in April 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla was born at the hospital in Monza, but post-operative complications resulted in an infection for her mother. The following week Gianna Molla died at home, and was buried in the cemetery of Mesero.

Gianna Emanuela went on to become a physician herself. Gianna Beretta Molla was beatified in 1994 and canonized 10 years later. Her liturgical feast is celebrated on April 28.

Reflection

With great faith and courage, Gianna Molla made the choice that enabled her daughter to be born. We can often wish that we were in different circumstances, but holiness frequently comes from making difficult choices in bad situations.

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is a Patron Saint of:

Doctors
Unborn Children
Wives

Have you ever stopped to marvel at how amazingly unique you are? I don’t mean in an inflated sense, as in our delusions of grandeur, but in the mere odds of it all. Of all the billions and billions of people in the world, and none of them is quite like you. From the color of your eyes to the shape your nose, from the way you walk to what you dream about, you are a complex combination of features that exists nowhere else in time and space than where you are. No one ever has been or ever will be the you that you are.

That is remarkable. You are remarkable.

—from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship
by Casey Cole, OFM

"If we are willing to be led, and our ego can sustain some suffering, we are all led toward “salvation.” The hero cannot really intend, choose, or even fully decide for enlightenment. He does not know what it is yet. All he can do is be ready for it! 

—From Wild Man to Wise Man

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