A Patroness for Life and Love: St. Gianna
On April 28, we celebrated the feast day of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, one of CCL’s beloved patron saints. Her life is a powerful witness to the beauty of marriage, the dignity of motherhood, and the profound respect for life that we are all called to embrace.
A devout Catholic, she pursued a vocation in medicine, becoming a pediatrician who cared for both the physical and spiritual well-being of her patients. Her professional life was never separate from her faith; rather, it was an extension of it. After marrying Pietro Molla, she embraced family life with great joy. Together they welcomed three children—Pierluigi, Maria Zita, and Laura—while also carrying the quiet sorrow of two miscarriages.
A Path Chosen
During her fourth pregnancy, Gianna faced a serious medical complication: a fibroma on her uterus. Doctors presented her with three options, two of which would have ended the life of her unborn child. The third—removing the fibroma—offered a chance for the baby to live, but carried significant risk to her own life. With conviction and courage, Gianna chose the path that honored both her vocation as a mother and her unwavering commitment to the dignity of life.
She made her wishes unmistakably clear: if it came down to a choice between her life and her child’s, the baby was to be saved.
On April 21, 1962, her daughter, Gianna Emanuela, was born. Though the delivery was successful, complications followed. A week later, St. Gianna died from septic peritonitis, having given everything for the life entrusted to her care.
A Testimony
Her sacrifice is not simply a story of loss—it is a testimony of love lived to its fullest. In a world that often separates love from sacrifice, St. Gianna reminds us that the two are inseparable. As she once said, “Love and sacrifice are closely linked, like the sun and the light. We cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love.” Her words echo the very heart of the Gospel.
For those of us involved in teaching Natural Family Planning, her witness carries particular meaning. St. Gianna saw her role as a wife, Catholic doctor and mother not as a limitation, but as the very place where she could live out God’s call. Her example affirms the truth that openness to life and trust in God’s design for marriage are deeply life-giving, even when they require great generosity and sacrifice.
As we honor her feast day, we turn to her intercession with renewed trust. May her example strengthen our commitment to uphold the dignity of every human life, to practice responsible parenthood through natural family planning and to serve couples with compassion and conviction.
“Love is the most beautiful sentiment the Lord has put into the souls of men and women.” St Gianna
St. Gianna Beretta Molla, patron Saint of mothers, physicians, and pre-born children, pray for us.
Why is NFP so important? Take the Natural Plan course for a quick intro. Learn Natural Family Planning – as an engaged couple or as a married couple.