"A Mother's Sacrifice"

The Story of Saint Gianna: A Mother's Sacrifice

By Nora V. Clemente-Arnaldo 

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is an Italian mother and doctor. As she is a product of our generation, I find her sainthood very edifying especially in our times when abortion is rampant all over the world. She was one of the six blessed who were elevated to sainthood on May 16, 2004 by the late Pope John Paul II. The other five were from religious orders.

It is interesting to note that of the six, Saint Gianna drew the most attention for she was a lay person, a typical modern lady who died only last April 28, 1962.

Saving the Baby

In these times when even the lives of innocent unborn babies are threatened, what Saint Gianna did is being held up high by the Church: this lady doctor gave up her life in order to save her unborn child.

Her ordeal started when she was two months pregnant with her fourth child. She began to complain about painful, irregular swelling and was diagnosed with malignant uterine fibroma.

The head physician of the hospital, Dr. Mario Vitali, told her that the pregnancy should be "interrupted" (therapeutic abortion). Such a pronouncement of the doctor elicited a Holy Spirit-inspired reply from Saint Gianna: "That's out of the question, doctor It's a sin to kill one's creature in the womb."

Gianna and Pietro, her husband were faced with three choices: 1) removing the tumor and uterus, terminating the pregnancy and all hope for future pregnancies; 2) removing the tumor and terminating the pregnancy but leaving open the possibility for future pregnancies, and 3) removing the tumor in such a way that would not interrupt the pregnancy but would put Gianna's life in grave danger. Saint Gianna chose the third option.

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