STORY: Saint Gianna grew up in Italy in the 1920s. She was one of 13 children and grew up in a faith-filled family. After much study, she became a doctor and opened a clinic near her hometown. She considered her work as a calling and a mission. She married and had three children and continued to practice medicine. With her fourth child, however, doctors discovered a tumor and she was told to abort the child. She instead chose to have surgery to remove the tumor and carried the baby to term despite the danger this posed to her life. She died shortly after the baby was born. Her husband and children were present at her canonization.

PATRON OF: mothers, physicians, and unborn children

FEAST DAY: April 28

DATES: October 4, 1922 – April 28, 1962

SOURCE: St. Gianna Molla at Catholic.org

READ MORE: St. Gianna Molla at St. Gianna’s Center

Image attribution: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917)Public domain image (according to PD-RusEmpire), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons