By Father Christopher Kubat
Most of us, I’m sure, are familiar with the life of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. On April 28, 1962, she gave her life for the infant baby girl that she and her husband Pietro named Gianna Emanuela.
After being inspired by the Holy Spirit to start a home for women escaping the pressures of having an abortion and domestic violence, with the help of the Marian Sisters, we were inspired to name the home after St. Gianna. I am happy to inform you that we are about to start our sixth year. With the grace of God and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her most chaste spouse St. Joseph, and St. Gianna, we have helped save 31 babies, along with their mothers and the numerous other women who have come to us with little or next to nothing.
St. Gianna’s is open to women of all faiths, but not surprisingly, it has been a place of conversion to the Catholic faith. It is amazing how the Holy Spirit draws the women and their children at St. Gianna’s into the chapel where they are consoled and comforted by Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
One mother, after being told that Jesus Himself is present in the tabernacle behind the altar, started bringing her 2-year-old daughter into the chapel on a regular basis to say hello to Jesus. Since the door to the chapel is adjacent to the main entrance, everyone has to pass it in order to enter or exit the building. On one particular day, it was the toddler who, while walking past the chapel door said, “Mommy, let us say hello to Jesus!” After entering the chapel, the little girl, who is just learning to talk, said, “Mommy, I want to sing Jesus a song!” So she walked past Sister Bernadette who happened to be praying in the chapel and stopped in front of the altar and looking over at the tabernacle and crucifix said, “I want to sing Jesus a song!” She then promptly started singing, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!” Sister Bernadette melted in her pew, just like I did when she told me about it.
Friday, April 28 is the feast day of St. Gianna, and we are most appreciative of her loving example and powerful intercession. It has been a place of healing for the many ladies and children who have graced our doors. Through the intercession of St. Gianna, may we too grow more in love of God and our neighbor. St. Gianna, pray for us!
