January 12, 2007

Introduction

On this past Jan. 1 and 2, I had the great privilege to visit the holy places of St. Gianna, wife and mother and physician, who, on Easter Saturday of 1962, at her home in Mesero, in Northern Italy, offered her life to save the life of her infant daughter in the womb. The newest parish of the St. Louis Archdiocese, St. Gianna Parish in the St. Charles Deanery, has been given St. Gianna as its patron. 

In visiting the places made holy by the heroic Christian life of St. Gianna, I had the even greater privilege of meeting her husband, Pietro; the daughter whose life she saved, Gianna Emanuela; her other living daughter, Laura; her brother, Father Giuseppe Beretta, a retired priest of the Diocese of Bergamo in Italy; and her sister, Sister M. Virginia, a Canossian Sister. I also met other relatives and friends of St. Gianna. When I visited with Pietro, her husband, he presented me with a first-class relic of St. Gianna to be placed in the altar of the church of St. Gianna Parish when it is consecrated. 

Those with whom I visited repeatedly spoke of St. Gianna’s extraordinary humility, her trust in Divine Providence and her generous love toward all. One of her classmates told me that she always knew that St. Gianna was an extraordinary person, although Gianna never drew attention to herself but rather acted very humbly and generously with everyone. 

It was clear to all who knew Gianna that the heart of her holiness of life was a great love of the Holy Eucharist, manifested in a devotion to daily Mass and visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and a closeness to the Blessed Virgin Mary, expressed by her daily praying of the rosary.

I learned that her parents educated St. Gianna, from her earliest days, to love the Holy Eucharist and to call upon the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially by praying the rosary. As her sister, Sister M. Virginia, somewhat humorously commented: "It is all the fault of our parents that Gianna became a saint."

St. Gianna and Vocation

One of the essential signs of St. Gianna’s holiness of life was her response to her vocation. When she was 15, she made a three-day retreat with Father Michael Avedano, SJ, who focused his conferences on cooperation with God’s grace in the circumstances of everyday life. From that time, St. Gianna devoted herself to doing God’s will in all things. As she entered into her adult years, she naturally pondered, most of all, how God wanted her to give herself totally to Him and to her neighbor through her vocation. 

After she had finished medical school, she thought that God was calling her to join her brother, Father Alberto Baretta, OFM Cap, a physician and missionary who was founding a hospital in Grajaù, located in the southern Amazon region of Brazil. Her spiritual director and her bishop, however, were convinced that God was calling her to form a marriage and family, in imitation of her saintly parents. They did not believe that God was calling her to be a missionary because her health would not support the intense heat of Grajaù. 

Although she was greatly disappointed at having to abandon the idea of a missionary vocation, she gave herself, heart and soul, to the vocation to the married life. God brought Pietro Molla and her together on the occasion of the dinner following the First Mass of Thanksgiving of Father Lino Garavaglia, native son of Pietro’s home parish at Mesero, in which Gianna was practicing medicine. From that meeting, their love of each other grew ever stronger. They were united by Christ in marriage on Sept. 24, 1955. The purity and generosity of their love is documented in the love letters of St. Gianna to Pietro, which were published in English in 2002 under the title, "Love Letters to My Husband" (Boston: Pauline Books and Media). 

Vocation Sunday

On this coming Sunday, Jan. 14, at 10 a.m., I will celebrate a Mass for vocations at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, praying for our young people that will know the will of God for them and respond to it with a completely generous heart, following the example of St. Gianna. The Mass will be offered, in a special way, for those called to the priesthood and consecrated life.

In praying for them, those who participate in the Mass will also imitate St. Gianna, who prayed that one of her children would be called to serve the Church as a priest or consecrated religious. 

I invite you to participate in the Mass on Jan. 14 at the cathedral basilica. As we recall, in these days, the manifestation of the vocation and mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ at His Baptism in the Jordan, let us all pray that our young people will know their vocation in life and find their deepest joy in doing all that God asks of them. 

Following the Mass, there will be a reception in Boland Hall, next door to the cathedral basilica, during which those considering the vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life will be able to visit with priests and consecrated persons. 

Please pray that God will bless our archdiocese with many young men who will hear the call to the priesthood, and with many young men and women who will hear the call to the consecrated life. Please pray, too, for the young men and women who are responding to God’s call and are presently doing seminary studies or are in the novitiate of a religious community.