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| Beatification of Gianna Beretta Molla Through her Husband's Eyes, Pietro Molla, on April 24, 1994.
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Gianna’s Beatification took place on April 24, 1994. What could Pietro, the man with whom Gianna had shared her life and love, be experiencing after such news? The author of A WOMAN’S LIFE, Giuliana Pelucchi, asked him:
I have contemplated Gianna’s holiness for years and, almost unconsciously, I have been preparing for this. I have accepted God’s Will. With the passing of time, I have overcome my great sorrow over her death.
Only recently, as I look through Gianna’s belongings for something…. I found a holy card in one of her prayer books with these words she wrote on the back: “Lord, let the light that has been lit in my soul never be extinguished.” That light, which gladdened my life and that of my children all too briefly, now spreads like a blessing on all who have known and loved her, on all who pray to her and entrust themselves to her intercession before God. In a powerful way, this knowledge reminds me of the gift the Lord gave me in allowing me to share part of my life with Gianna.
Pietro spoke at length about Archbishop Carlo Colombo’s request to open the process of beatification for his wife:
My decision to consent to opening the process was an agonizing one. When I was asked to give my permission in the Spring of 1970, my children were still very young and could not understand what was happening. I would have preferred to keep our affairs and sorrow private. I feared that the press would intrude on our everyday lives. Nevertheless, I accepted this request as coming from God. My one concern was that those involved not speak with the media until the cause had progressed sufficiently to be firmly established.
In time, my wife’s story became more widely known. It became evident that Gianna’s witness’s was the source of great blessing for many people. We continued to receive letters from all over the world, addressing Gianna as “mother.” They felt that they had a friend in her. They confided that they turned to her in their every need and felt that she was close to them….
This outpouring of love helped to ease the pain we experienced at having our intimate family matters made public; it also helped my children to understand and accept this invasion of our privacy…
I have many different feelings when I think of Gianna’s beatification: surprise, almost bewilderment, and gratitude to God, joy. As a wife and mother, Gianna gave the gift of herself… so I feel a kind of grateful acceptance of this gift of divine Providence, which I regard as a recognition of the innumerable unknown mothers who, like Gianna, are quietly heroic in their love and in their lives.
My wife had infinite faith in God, but I never realized I was living with a saint. Gianna was a woman full of the joy of living. She loved her family, her profession as a physician. She loved her home, music, mountains, flowers—all beautiful gifts that God has given. She seemed to me to be completely ordinary woman, but as Archbishop Columbo has said, ‘…holiness does not consist of extraordinary signs. Above all, it consists of the daily acceptance of the unfathomable designs of God.”
I hope Gianna will always rest in the cemetery of her hometown, next to our daughter, Mariolina, near the many women who affectionately called her “our doctor” and who were healed by her loving care and skill. For my children, Gianna will always be a tender mother and for me, a splendid wife. I would not add anything more; if anyone must say more, let it be the Church.
May God Bless You & Your Loved Ones!
The Board of Directors of
The Society of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
check out our website at http://saintgianna.org. |
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