WARSAW, N.D. — Residents of Warsaw, N.D., are familiar with one of the Church's newest saints — Gianna Beretta Molla. She has had a significant impact upon the rural city.

The Italian doctor died in 1962 of medical complications that could have been prevented by an abortion. Pope John Paul II will formally name her a saint and give her the title Mother of the Family on May 16.

But in North Dakota, a maternity home named for her has already welcomed at least 12 newcomers to this town of 60, six of them babies that might not have otherwise been born.

It's only appropriate, especially given the sacrifice Gianna Molla made for her own unborn daughter.

“You can't find a more appropriate modern woman who sanctified the ordinary events of her life and [who] shows us the sacrifices that a mother makes to give life to the child in her womb,” said Mary Pat Jahner, resident director of Blessed Gianna's Maternity Home. “She is a great model of heroic virtue for all of the young mothers who come here.”

Trained as a medical doctor and pediatrician, Gianna opted for a risky surgery to remove the tumor but to protect the developing baby at all costs. She entered the hospital on Good Friday 1962. She gave birth to her fourth child, Gianna Emanuela, on Holy Saturday and developed an infection that led to several days of excruciating pain. She died of septic peritonitis.

Jahner, Father Damian Hils, the home's spiritual director, and Fargo Bishop Samuel Aquila will all be in attendance at Blessed Gianna's canonization.

“Gianna is the only layperson being canonized that day,” said Joseph Cunningham, president of the Society of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. “Here's a layperson who has lived a life like we have.”

Well, almost.

‘Time to Intercede’

Gianna's cause for canonization was first introduced in the early 1970s. The first miracle occurred through her intercession in Brazil in November 1977. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994.

The Pope proposed her as a model for all mothers saying, “A woman of exceptional love, an outstanding wife and mother, she gave witness in her daily life to the demanding values of the Gospel. By holding up this woman as an exemplar of Christian perfection, we would like to extol all those high-spirited mothers of families who give themselves completely to their family, who suffer in giving birth, who are prepared for every labor and every kind of sacrifice, so that the best they have can be given to others.”

The miracle needed for her canonization was recognized formally Dec. 20.

That miracle took place in Brazil in 2000. Elisabeth Comparini Arcolino, a mother of three, was 16 weeks pregnant with her fourth child when she sustained a tear in the placenta, resulting in the loss of her amniotic fluid. She was told the baby's chances of survival were nil.

By divine providence, Bishop Diogenes Silva Matthes of Franca, Brazil, was visiting a friend at the hospital. After being summoned to Arcolino's room, Arcolino told him the doctor had advised her to have an abortion.

“You don't kill life inside the mother,” the bishop told her. “This is the time for Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla to intercede for the life you are carrying.” At home the bishop began praying, “The time for your canonization has arrived. Intercede to the Lord for the grace of a miracle and save the life of this little baby.”

Despite the lack of amniotic fluid, Elisabeth delivered a healthy baby girl, Gianna Maria, by Caesar-ean section on May 31, 2000. The Arcolino family will be present for the canonization.

The evening before the canonization, Cunningham will be meeting with the Molla family — Gianna's husband, Pietro, and her children, Gianna Emanuela, Laura and Pier-luigi — in the Vatican Gardens to pray a rosary in thanksgiving for her canonization. The following morning the first Mass of the new saint will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls followed by the family's private audience with Pope John Paul II.

Fitting Patron

Officially licensed last December, Blessed Gianna's Maternity Home is located 30 miles north of Grand Forks, N.D. Housed in a renovated 9,000-square-foot former convent, the home has 19 beds available to mothers in crisis pregnancies.

The idea for the home came as the result of individual prayer on the part of Father Hils, Jahner and Colleen Sampson. Father Hils serves as pastor of the Church of St. Stanislaus, which sits across from the convent. Jahner, a teacher, had volunteered time with the Missionaries of Charity in California. Her failure to help two former students caught in crisis pregnancies led to her desire to help women in similar situations. Sampson is the director of a crisis-pregnancy center in Park River, N.D.

The process officially began in December 2000. The group raised nearly $500,000 for the necessary renovations and enlisted the help of 30-40 volunteers every weekend to bring the building up to code. Three years later it became licensed and began accepting women. To date, the home has assisted six women and their babies. It expects to welcome several more this summer.

“Some come for a weekend, others come for longer,” Jahner said. “They find the home a place of peace and healing.”

An original painting in the home's Chapel of the Visitation shows Blessed Gianna being welcomed into heaven by the Blessed Mother. The home's founder thinks Blessed Gianna is the perfect patron for the home.

“Gianna speaks to the example that she sets for women today and her commitment to the dignity of life, no matter what the cost,” Bishop Aquila told the Register. “The purpose of the center is to provide a real home that is Christ-centered for women in difficult pregnancies.”

“Gianna proves the sanctity of human life,” Father Hils said. “She proves the heroic nature of motherhood.”

“These women's stories have opened up a new window on the sufferings of Christ for me,” he said. “They are complex and tragic. By starting the home, I've seen so much of Christ's cross in the world that I had never seen before. These women are deserving of God's love and kindness and often do not receive it until they arrive on our doorstep.”

“Gianna has impacted people in many ways,” Cunningham said. As an example, he offers Gianna Homes, an Alzheimer care facility in Minnetonka, Minn. He said he is also aware of Gianna's impact on the ministry of priests and the life-and-death decisions made by physicians. Although he's lost count, he is aware of more than 200 children who have been named after the saint.

“Just last week,” he said, “one of my students told me her mother gave birth to her 11th child and named her Gianna Maria.”

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.