Gianna Emanuela’s Visit to Lincoln

Details: 24 June 2011

Now that the visit of Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla is close at hand, the details of her visit are solidified. I am elated to announce that she will be giving a talk to the public about her mother, St. Gianna, Wednesday, July 20 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ. Please note this is a change from what I earlier stated in a previous Seedlings column.

Her mother St. Gianna, canonized by Blessed John Paul II in 2004, was born in Magenta, Italy October 4, 1922 to loving and faith-filled parents. During her early life she spent considerable time prayerfully discerning her vocation. After earning a medical degree from the University of Pavia in 1949, she opened a clinic in Mesero in 1950. After further training at the University of Milan she concentrated her efforts in pediatrics. Like other saints, she had an intense love for the Blessed Sacrament and the poor which affected her private life and her medical practice. She was involved in Catholic Action, helping young girls, and in the society of St. Vincent DePaul.

She married Pietro Molla on September 24, 1955 at the basilica of St. Martin in Magenta. They were blessed with Pierluigi in November 1956, Mariolina in December 1957, and Laura in July 1959. During the first trimester of her fourth pregnancy, she developed a fibrous tumor on her uterus. As a doctor, she understood the gravity of the condition, not only for herself, but for her unborn child. Instead of choosing a procedure which would have led to the death of her unborn baby, she chose a riskier procedure, the simple excision of the fibrous tumor, leaving intact her uterus containing her unborn child. She knew exactly what she was doing. Her heroic choice ultimately lead to her untimely death at the age of 39. She died one week after the birth of Gianna Emanuela on April 28, 1962. Shortly before her due date, she was quoted as saying to her husband Pietro, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate, choose the child, I insist on it. Save him." While dying and holding her little baby, she felt intense suffering knowing she wouldn’t be alive to raise her, but her joy was even greater, knowing her sacrifice saved her life. What a perfect patron for our home for women escaping domestic violence and abortion!

We are truly blessed that Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla is coming to Lincoln to talk to the faithful about her mother St. Gianna and her father Pietro. She has followed in the footsteps of her mother and is also a medical doctor. My prayer is that we will see you in Lincoln to hear her speak if you are able. It’s not every day we are able to meet and hear the daughter of a canonized saint.

After her stop in Lincoln, Dr. Molla will be traveling to Kansas City, Kansas where she will be speaking at a conference entitled Being Faithful Even Unto Death, Catholic Wisdom on the Treatment of the Disabled and Dying, sponsored by the St. Gianna Physicians Guild. Other speakers include Cardinal Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. I hope to see you at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ Wednesday, July 20 at 7 p.m. Please pray for the safe travels of Dr. Molla to the United States and back to her home in Italy. St. Gianna, pray for us!