Love Letters to My Husband

by Gianna Beretta Molla, Carlo Maria Martini (Foreword), Elio Guerriero (Editor)

biography, Gianna Beretta, human modern day saint, refreshing blessed , God, Molla

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction, Marriage, Faith

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of Catholic saints, we think of great men and women of the Faith who lived centuries before us, died for the Faith in some way, and lived the life of a celibate. This is generally a fair assessment. Most of our saints are religious in some form or another, be they popes, priests, monks, nuns, etc. There are very few married saints, and even then, most of the married saints chose to live celibate lives as brother and sister. What about saints for the rest of us? What about the married man or woman who aspires to sainthood? Where is he to look for inspiration and example? Allow me to introduce you to St. Gianna Beretta Molla.


Before I review the book, The Journey of Our Love, I would like to share some background on St. Gianna Beretta Molla. She was born in Magenta, Italy in 1922 and was the 10th of 13 children. In 1942, she began to study medicine and received her diploma in 1949. In December of 1954, she met Pietro Molla. They became engaged in April 1955 and were married in September 1955 as well. They had three children Pierluigi born in 1956, Mariolina born in 1957, and Laura born in 1959. In 1961, St. Gianna became pregnant again but developed a fibroma on her uterus which left her with three options - abortion, hysterectomy (which would have terminated the pregnancy), and removal of the fibroma. She opted to remove only the fibroma, but still had complications throughout the pregnancy. On Holy Saturday of 1962, she gave birth to their fourth child Gianna Emanuela. Seven days later, St. Gianna Beretta died of septic peritonitis.

Now for the review. The Journey of Our Love is the personal correspondence of St. Gianna Beretta Molla and her husband Pietro Molla. The book is divided into five parts - Introduction (which includes information I covered above, the content of their letters, and their spirituality), Engagement Letters, Letters in the First Year of Marriage, Letters from Pietro's Trip to the United States, and Letters of Maturity. Some gems in this book are that Pietro Molla wrote a preface to his wife's letters, and their daughter, Gianna Emanuela, wrote a preface to Pietro's letters. The chronology of the husband and wife in the end is also extremely useful for putting the letters in the proper context of their lives.

There is no way to legitimately review this book. As these are personal letters between husband and wife, all you can do is read them and appreciate them. I would hate for someone to critique the life and/or love between my wife and I, so I will show St. Gianna Beretta and Pietro Molla the same respect. With that being said, the letters were beautiful to read. There was humor, joy, and most of all love. It was clear reading the letters that these two people loved each other and weren't afraid to show it. The letters also showed a growing maturity both individually and in their love.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In a culture where the definition of marriage has been twisted, divorce rates are high, and people don't even know what love is anymore, this was a welcome and encouraging read. Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is a worthy saint, but in my opinion (and I'm sure many others), her husband Pietro Molla is also a worthy saint. Let us pray for his eventual sainthood. May we use them as a model for married love. Let us hold true to our beliefs like Saint Gianna. Let us fight for the unborn. And let us always say an emphatic YES to life.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have like to have read more of Pietro's letters, to see the whole of the correspondence unfold. I wonder if they're archieved somewhere?... Maybe I should read Saint Gianna Molla Wife Mother Doctor

[Amy Chakladar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kinda stopped reading books for about a month because I got busy (not my best moment, this is not good RIP) but this has been on my "to read" list for a while and it reminded me why I love reading! I love seeing the world through her eyes and the goodness within St. Gianna and how that goodness permeates through her relationships with others, especially her husband. Her love is centered on Christ and is pure, a model for the kind of woman I want to be!

[Meghan Marrer]

Did not finish

[Christian Engler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love letters of St. Gianna Beretta Molla and her husband, Pietro, are very engaging in their offering of mini geographic profiles of their environment--Ponte Nuovo and Courmayeur--as well the workings of a genuinely healthy and sincere Catholic-Christian oriented marriage. Just a brief insight on the type of woman and wife that Gianna hungered to be is cited by her own example in the Book of Porverbs 31:10-31--"I often meditate on the text [assoicated with] St. Anne: 'A strong woman, who will find her? The heart of a husband can trust in her. She will do only good things for him and never bring evil upon him throughout all of his life.' Pietro, I want to be that strong woman for you..." page 30. It is a simple yet stark example of what should be striven towards, a pinnacle for husbands and wives and those soon to be married; at the top of that pyramid for the Mollas was not materialism, self-aggrandizement or an arrogant brandishing of success--family, career or otherwise. Rather, at the peak was God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By their own deep-rooted faith of living out joys, sorrows, fears and hopes, they worked very hard towards creating and realizing a family trinity, not always an easy thing to achieve and maintain but certainly something to labor towards. What Saint Gianna offered her husband was always quickly reciprocated, especially illustrated in a letter sent while he was in the United States on a business trip: "Before I go to sleep I will tell Jesus, our Heavenly Mother, and our guardian angels: 'Bless Gianna, and help me to always know how to make her happy. Bless the little one we are expecting with so much love and eagerness. Bless and protect Pierluigi and Mariolina (the children), protect them from every misfortune and sickness..." page 94. The Mollas had their crosses to carry, too: loneliness, self-doubt, etcetera, but Christ Jesus was the staple for all their actions, up to the pro-life martyrdom of Saint Gianna herself. What makes these intimate and beautiful letters such a pleasure to read is not any degree of Catholic-Christian mysticism, as say in the cases of the other saints. But it is in the truthfulness of their humanity, especially similar to war love letters. These short letters, lucidly written, boldly bring out to what is so common in the day-to-day human experience: paying bills, caring for the sick, family reunions, child delevopment, through the Grace of God trying to be the best man or woman that one can be. The most profound truth that these letters convey, irrelevant of one's economic position in life, is that the Holy Trinity lovingly stoops down to us and that surely, in the ordinary, the phenomenal lies.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this book than the actual satisfaction I received from reading it. Maybe it was because I read the introductory material a while ago and then jumped in and read the letters in one day. But it felt difficult to follow their story through mostly just St. Gianna’s experience and then only during the times that they were apart.

The affection that St. Gianna had is quite clearly apparent and at times it feels cheesy, although never forced, as she was writing authentically and without the intention of these letters being published. It’s obviously unquestionable that she was a wife of heroic virtue and she knew how to create the domestic church in her home, while still being a compassionate career woman, which makes her a saint for modern times. She writes about ordinary concerns and lived a middle to upperclass life, proving that sanctity is for all.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am LOVING this book ... I read a half-dozen to a dozen of these amazing letters St. Gianna wrote to her husband. Her life was pretty tough -- full of illness and separation and death -- and yet she is ALWAYS so full of joy.

This is definitely one to read and re-read. Also, this would be a great book for parishes to give to their Pre-Cana attendees!

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this book, but since I'm getting married in just a couple of weeks, I thought it would be worth it to re-read the letters of a modern-day, married Saint. It was. I hope I can live out my married life with the same spirit and faithfulness as Gianna and Pietro.