Canticle of Praise for the unborn

A solemn Canticle of Praise Mass, held at St. Michael’s Church in Grand Forks on Apr. 16, brought attention and blessings to the St. Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home in Warsaw, ND in honor of 20 years of saving and protecting the unborn and their mothers.
           
The Mass was celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, who is a staunch supporter of the maternity home and of the sanctity of human life. In his homily, Cardinal Burke praised those who run the home for their tireless efforts in defending the lives of the innocent.
          
“The staff of the Saint Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home, receiving the gift of love from the glorious-pierced Heart of Jesus, have brought that love to the over 300 mothers and their little ones whom the Home has served over the past 20 years. God’s grace at work in the hearts of the staff of the Maternity Home has made it a true home for these mothers and their children. For what greater excellence can we strive than the excellence of pure and selfless Christ-like love of our neighbor, especially our neighbor most in need? What is truer, more honorable, more just, purer, lovelier, and more gracious than the unconditional love of an innocent and defenseless child, unborn or born?”

Cardinal Burke went on to praise Doctor Gianna Emanuela Molla, the daughter of St. Gianna and Pietro Molla, as “A living witness to the work of Divine love in the hearts of her saintly parents.” Doctor Molla spoke to hundreds of supporters of the St. Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home, who gathered later at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks for the Canticle of Praise banquet.

“It is with great joy and an honor for me to be here with so many dear friends, and to praise the Lord for the St. Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home. Here in the United States, in North Dakota, and at the Maternity Home, I always feel at home, where both of my parents are loved and honored.”

Several supporters of the maternity home were recognized by St. Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home’s director, Mary Pat Jahner, with first-ever Canticle of Praise Awards, signifying their dedication and support of the maternity home. As a surprise, Jahner also presented Father Joseph Christensen, the home’s spiritual director, with a Canticle of Praise Award.
           
St. Gianna Molla, whose feast day is celebrated on Apr. 28, was a devout Catholic and a Doctor of Pediatrics in Milan, Italy. She specialized in helping mothers and their babies. In 1961, St. Gianna was pregnant with her fourth child when doctors told her she was not only carrying a child, but also a fibroma, or tumor, in her uterus. Given the choice of having an abortion or a hysterectomy, both options that would save her life but kill her unborn child, or having just the tumor removed, which could save her child but endanger her own life, St. Gianna chose the latter.
           
On Apr. 21, 1961, Gianna Emanuela Molla (Doctor Molla) was born, but seven days later St. Gianna passed away due to septic peritonitis. Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Gianna on May 16, 2004. She is the patron saint of mothers, unborn children, and physicians.