I have been interested in reading about the lives of the saints- Saint Benedict, Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Francis, Saint Joseph of Cupertino, Saint Jean Vianney and monasticism in general. Are there any saints that have especially inspired you and why?
Yes, Saint Therese the little Flower. My RCIA teacher told me to pick a Saint to help me come into the Catholic Church 15 years ago. She did and has been by my side ever since. Read the book, THE STORY OF A SOUL. It will change your life. I went to Mass at Saint Joseph Seminary 10 years ago. I saw her come down the isle. Moving.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe and Venerable Augustus Tolton.
I will add them to my reading list. Thank you.
Like Cade, I am a fan of Father Gus Tolton. Twice I saw a one-man play about him, and I believe that he helped bring me together with the woman who became my wife.
I can relate to some of the trials Thomas More faced, and I have watched “A Man for All Seasons” a few times. He is the patron saint of the diocese of Arlington, Virginia, where I lived for more than 25 years.
Finally, there’s Marianne Cope, who was head of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, NY, and then went to Hawaii with other nursing sisters to serve the lepers. When I learned about her, I was a volunteer hospital chaplain, so I adopted her as one of my patron saints and later wrote a play about her.
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Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian Pediatrician and mom who refused chemotherapy for her cancer when pregnant so as to not harm her unborn child. The two miracles attributed to her intercession are healing of mothers in labor and healing of a medically fragile pregnancy. Her feast day is April 28th. She is the patroness of mothers, expectant mothers, pediatricians, unborn children, and wives. She was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II on Mother’s Day in 2004.
Novena Prayer to St. Gianna
(Composed by His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke)
Saint Gianna, heroically Christlike wife, mother and physician, I ask the help of your prayers, as I strive to follow your holy example in my physical and spiritual trials.
Help me, by your prayers, to recognize the suffering of the Cross as the way to pure and selfless love of God and my neighbor. May your practice of medicine with priestly care of both body and soul inspire physicians to see the Face of the suffering Christ in their patients.
May your loving acceptance of illness and death help patients to know and do God’s will in all things, uniting their sufferings to the Passion and Death of Christ for the salvation of the world.
Saint Gianna, pray for us always that we may have a heart, meek and courageous, like the Heart of Jesus, in Whom we find our healing and strength.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord. AMEN