St. Gianna Beretta Molla Prayer Card (PC-47)
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PC-47 — St. Gianna Beretta Molla Prayer Card
Wife, mother, physician, martyr — who gave her life so her daughter could live
Born on October 4, 1922 — the feast of St. Francis of Assisi — in Magenta, Italy, Gianna Beretta grew up as the tenth of thirteen children in a deeply Catholic family. She became a pediatrician, opened a medical clinic where she gave special care to mothers and babies, married engineer Pietro Molla in 1955, and had three children she called her "jewels." She skied. She climbed mountains. She attended daily Mass. She volunteered with the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She was, in every visible sense, a joyful, ordinary Catholic woman living an extraordinarily full life.
Then, in 1961, during the second month of her fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a large fibroma growing on her uterus. They gave her three options: an abortion, which would save her life; a hysterectomy, which would also end the pregnancy; or the removal of the fibroma alone — the riskiest choice, which would preserve the baby but gravely endanger the mother. Gianna, fully aware of what she was choosing, opted for the third. She told the surgeons clearly: "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child — I insist on it."
On April 21, 1962 — Holy Saturday — her daughter Gianna Emanuela was born healthy. One week later, on Easter Saturday, April 28, 1962, Gianna Beretta Molla died of septic peritonitis at the age of thirty-nine. Her husband Pietro, who never remarried, attended her canonization by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004 — the first time in history that a saint's spouse witnessed the other's canonization. Her daughter Gianna Emanuela became a physician herself.
She is the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children. Her feast day is April 28th. Pope John Paul II called her "a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love."
Perfect for: Pro-life ministry, expectant mothers, physicians, healthcare workers, Catholic women, April 28th feast day, marriage preparation, and anyone who needs a modern saint who truly understands the cost of love.