About Saint Gianna Molla
Born into a large family in Milan, Italy, St. Gianna was inspired as a teenage girl to dedicate her life to God. As an adult, she faithfully discerned her calling as a doctor; her passion for expectant mothers and young families led her to earn her Pediatrics degree at the University of Milan in 1952. She gave special attention to mothers and babies, but also the elderly and poor.
With joy and simplicity, she balanced the demands of doctor, marriage, motherhood, and her passion for life. In September 1961, early in her pregnancy with her fourth child, unusual pain and swelling revealed a life-threatening uterine tumor; surgery was required. Conscious of the great risk her continued pregnancy brought, St. Gianna entrusted herself to prayer and God’s will. Preparing for the surgical operation, she directed the surgeon to save the life of her child she was carrying: “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child – I insist on it. Save him”.
On the morning of April 21st, 1962, baby Gianna Emanuela was born. One week later, on the morning of April 28th, in unspeakable pain and after repeated exclamations of “Jesus, I love you, Jesus, I love you”, St. Gianna died. She was 39 years old.
At the Sunday Angelus on September 23, 1973, Pope Paul VI remembered the then-Blessed Gianna as: “A young mother from the diocese of Milan, who, to give life to her daughter, sacrificed her own, with conscious immolation”. Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994, during the international Year of the Family, and canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004.
Get Involved!