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MENTOR-ON-THE-LAKE, Ohio — A trip of a lifetime for me and two of my daughters, Therese and Sarah, began after they met Gianna Emanuela Molla last Nov. 10.
Gianna Emanuela is the fourth child of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, canonized in 2004, by St. John Paul II. She is the patron for mothers, physicians and unborn children.
Gianna Emanuela invited Therese and Sarah to visit her in her native Italy, and so they did. I decided to tag along.
We arrived in Milan April 28, and travelled onto Magenta, Italy, where we stayed at a bed and breakfast owned by Gianna Emanuela’s friend. Magenta, located 20 miles from Milan, is where St. Gianna lived until she married Pietro Molla in 1955.
Mass at the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours, where St. Gianna was baptized and married, was our first order of business. Her christening gown was on display, next to the baptismal font where she was baptized. Photos of her wedding were behind the altar dedicated to Mary, where St. Gianna and her husband entrusted their family to the Virgin.
We then began a pilgrimage to various sites where St. Gianna worked, prayed, and lived. We visited her childhood home and the garden where her wedding reception was held. St. Gianna’s niece, who lives in the upstairs section of this home, gave us a tour of the home and property and then took us to visit the Beretta Family chapel where St. Gianna’s parents are buried.
That evening, we accompanied Gianna Emanuela to the local stadium for the arrival of the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which has been touring the world to underline the centennial of the apparitions of the Mother of God in Fatima. There, amid the sea of white handkerchiefs and songs of greeting, we experienced such joyful devotion to our Blessed Mother. As it turns out, St. Gianna had a strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.
We also visited Mesero, where St. Gianna worked as a pediatrician. We visited her old parish church of Mesero, which has since been dedicated to St. Gianna. We also visited the Molla Family chapel, where St. Gianna is buried along with her husband and daughter Mariolina.
Gianna Emanuela explained the suffering her parents experienced. St. Gianna lost her parents by the age of 20 and had some health problems. Pietro experienced profound suffering after losing his wife and then Mariolina when she was just six years old. She explained that her parents’ holiness came about through their acceptance and joyful embrace of suffering.
We visited the Sanctuary of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Magenta, which was undergoing renovations at the time. It was here that St. Gianna discerned her vocation to marriage. The various pieces of sacred art in this church greatly influenced her discernment. Faith permeated every aspect of St. Gianna’s life; it was never compartmentalized.
Our Italian guide took us to visit the Canossian Sisters House, where St. Gianna would meet the teens and groups of Catholic Action. Our guide explained that these halls were also walked by St. Josephine Bakhita, a former African slave who became a Canossian sister and was canonized in 2000, as well as St. Magdalene of Canossa, foundress of the Canossian Sisters.
We also had the opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of St. Gianna, which is normally kept under lock and key in the priest’s sacristy at the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours.
Finally, we went to Ponte Nuovo to St. Gianna and Pietro’s spousal home and to the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, where they prayed and worshipped. Our hearts broke to see the decrepit state of their home, where St. Gianna gave birth to her first three children and where she died April 28, 1962. Fortunately, the church was in fair condition since it is still in use.
Here we learned about Gianna Emanuela’s project to restore the home and the church, in order to create the St. Gianna Beretta Molla International Center, which will be a place of prayer, study and spirituality for pilgrims.
Gianna Emanuela wants to complete the project in her lifetime, facing many trials to get it up and running. She sees the urgent need for getting her mother’s message out to the world at this time when marriage and family are under attack.
We saw such a complete selflessness in her mission and promised to help spread the word. The cost to complete the project is estimated at $8 million.
Gianna Emanuela invited us for dinner at her home that evening. She moved all the furniture from St. Gianna’s spousal home into her home for safe-keeping until she can return them after the renovations. What an honor it was to eat from St. Gianna’s wedding china, play on her piano and sit on her furniture! It was an experience we will never forget!
On the evening before our departure, we joined Gianna Emanuela in a candle-lit procession with the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which was being processed from a church in Ponte Nuovo to a neighboring town, about an hour’s walk away. No words can express the beauty and solemnity experienced in this prayer-filled procession.
Donations for the St. Gianna Beretta Molla International Center may be made at www.nccfcommunity.org, by clicking on “Donate” and selecting “St. Gianna Restoration Fund” under gift designation.
Checks made payable to “St. Gianna Restoration Fund-NCCF” may be sent to: National Catholic Community Foundation, 1321 Generals Highway, Suite 202, Crownesville, MD 21032.
Caption: (left to right) Sarah Fetsko, Gianna Emanuela Molla, Jacqui Fetsko and Therese Fetsko stand beside the tomb of St. Gianna Beretta Molla in Mesero, Italy. The Fetskos are parishioners of Holy Transfiguration Parish in Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio.
As published in Horizons, Sept. 10, 2017.
