March 19 is Father’s Day in Italy. Why March 19? Because it’s universally the feast of St. Joseph, patron of fathers. So, wish your beloved, your pastor ( a spiritual father) and men who are godfathers, mentor or work with youth (spiritual fathers) a happy father’s day, and send them this link to a previous entry on St. Joseph (includes a talk I’ve given).
(Note: It’s a solemnity in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, so you can ease off your Lenten fast a little March 19!)
Other links:
- Catholic Culture on St. Joseph & his feast
- Scripture readings for the feast day
- Saints Online: St. Joseph
- About the swallows that return on St. Joseph’s Day
Remember to pray for fathers (spiritual and biological), people with Joseph as their namesake (Joseph, Josephines, & other Joseph-related names), workers, and especially for the underemployed (my husband and me!) and unemployed, seminarians, and also these, of which St. Joseph is also the patron:
Against doubt; against hesitation; Americas; Austria; Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; California; Belgium; Bohemia; bursars; cabinetmakers; Canada; Carinthia; carpenters; China; confectioners; craftsmen; Croatian people (in 1687 by decree of the Croatian parliament) dying people; emigrants; engineers; expectant mothers; families; Florence, Italy; happy death; holy death; house hunters; immigrants; interior souls; Korea; laborers; Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky; Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire; Mexico; Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee; New France; New World; Oblates of Saint Joseph; people in doubt; people who fight Communism; Peru; pioneers; protection of the Church; Diocese of San Jose, California; diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; social justice; Styria, Austria; travelers; Turin Italy; Tyrol Austria; unborn children Universal Church; Vatican II; Vietnam; Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston West Virginia; wheelwrights; workers.
I’ve been remiss to post something about this AMAZING one-day conference happening in LaCrosse, Wisconsin at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine on Sunday, August 2. So, here it is.
Top Five Reasons to Go to the St. Gianna Conference
5. Archbishop Raymond Burke will be there. Meet the big cheese (he’s from Wisconsin!) of the Holy See’s highest court. He’s a dang holy man, too, and preaches with gentle fire. Last time I heard him preach at a sacred arts conference I cried.
4. The stunning art and architecture of the Shrine will leave you breathless and prayerful, and it will restore your faith in the sacred arts (you will not confuse the shrine with a parking garage from the outside).
3. If you’re trying to conceive, St. Gianna has been a powerful intercessor for this. In fact, in the painting of her by Neil Carlin (above), Mr. Carlin used children for models who were conceived through her intercession! There will be a special blessing for those who wish to conceive.
2. You’ll get to hear and meet St. Gianna’s son, PierLuigi. How many times have you met the son of a saint?
1. You need to learn more about this very recent saint, called a “Martyr of Maternal Love.” (Another post I did on St. Gianna for mother’s day here.)
St. John (H/T Tony Visco for the illustration)
I just was reading up on St. John of Sahagun, whose feast day is today, June 12th. It looks like his parents were infertile for sixteen years before they conceived John, and afterwards had many children. Talk about fruit of the womb!
He was also very faithful in denouncing vices of impurity, and knowing that pure love is the true “free love,” that makes him a super NFP saint!
Other NFP Saints:
- Mary (of course–the most open, fruitful mother ever!)
- St. Joseph
- St. John the Baptist–miracle child of infertile couple, died defending purity and marriage, and incidentally, this was Pope Paul VI’s birth name
- St. Elizabeth–long infertile woman gifted with a beautiful boy in old age!
- St. Gianna Molla–martyr of maternal love
- Venerable John Paul II–theology of the body founder, defender of purity, holiness, marriage and social justice
Who else is an NFP Patron?
Painting by Neilson Carlin at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
St. Gianna Molla, mother and physician, is called “the martyr of maternal love.” If you’re not familiar with St. Gianna’s life, read St. Gianna’s story here or here. Quick facts:
Born: 4 October 1922
Died: 28 April 1962
Canonized: 16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II
Feast Day: April 28
Patron Saint of: mothers, physicians
Imagine the extraordinary occasion of attending the canonization to sainthood of your own spouse. Many people love and admire their husband or wife dearly, and many even have attained great virtue. Even of the holiest of laypeople, could you imagine attending a Mass declaring the heroic virtue and miraculous intercession of your deceased beloved surrounded by multitudes and lead by the Vicar of Christ?
On May 16, 2004 Pietro Molla, husband of Gianna Beretta Molla, did just that, with his three living children in attendance, including the youngest, Gianna Emmanuella, for whom her mother died.
St. Gianna is the first laywoman and doctor to be canonized, and is truly a saint for modern times. Pope John Paul II said in his homily on the day of her canonization,
Following the example of Christ, who “having loved his own… loved them to the end” (Jn 13: 1), this holy mother of a family remained heroically faithful to the commitment she made on the day of her marriage. The extreme sacrifice she sealed with her life testifies that only those who have the courage to give of themselves totally to God and to others are able to fulfil themselves. Through the example of Gianna Beretta Molla, may our age rediscover the pure, chaste and fruitful beauty of conjugal love, lived as a response to the divine call! “
But before St. Gianna decided God was calling her to the vocation of Holy Matrimony, though, she discerned very carefully, and even considered a consecrated vocation. She meditated, spent time in silent prayer, and patiently waited for the Lord to reveal His will. We should all do the same thing, waiting for the Lord in His own time, never forcing his hand, and obeying with great swiftness and generosity once we do understand His will.
Helen Hull Hitchcock, director of Women for Faith & Family, explains very eloquently St. Gianna’s beautiful balance between her vocational life as wife and mother, and her professional life as physician,
“In canonizing Gianna Beretta Molla this spring (2004), the Church officially recognized the extraordinary sanctity of a woman who chose to live an ordinary life – as a professional and, later, as a wife and mother. Though she had once considered entering a religious order, instead she practiced medicine (receiving her medical degree in 1949, and her specialty in pediatrics in 1952). She devoted herself to caring for her patients, and her selflessness and dedication as a physician endeared her to the people. But it was not only her practice of medicine that influenced them. She regarded her profession as a mission through which she could aid and nurture both bodies and souls. The young doctor’s devotion to her Catholic faith was well known in her community, and especially her instruction of young Catholic girls in their faith.”
So today, give thanks for the life and death of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, and pray for the unity of families and the holiness and conversion of physicians, that they may serve unselfishly, choose life and stop prescribing contraception.
Ways to celebrate St. Gianna’s feast day (honestly, it’s tough because it’s also the feast day of two other great saints, St. Peter Chanel & St. Louis Mary de Montfort):
- Thank a mother for their heroic and ordinary sacrifices.
- Thank a medical professional that doesn’t prescribe contraception or perform/ cooperate in sterilizations
- Read a book on the life of St. Gianna–St. Gianna Molla: Wife, Mother & Doctor by Pietro Molla, Elio Guerriero, James G. Colbert (Ignatius Press)
- Pray for a physician or pharmacist you know who still prescribes contraception, and give them Patty Schneier’s “Prove It, God! CD” or the book, “Physicians Healed.”
- Make a donation to the Catholic Medical Association.
- Order St. Gianna Holy Cards, and include them in your Mother’s Day cards.
- Check out St. Gianna on Facebook, or see one of her Facebook Groups here.
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