St. Gianna Molla received her doctorate in medicine and surgery in 1949, and then specialized in pediatrics, joining her brother in a private health clinic in Mesero.
Gianna saw her profession as a chance to serve both the bodies and souls of her patients:
Everyone works in the service of man. We doctors work directly on man himself … The great mystery of man is Jesus: ‘He who visits a sick person, helps me,’ Jesus said … Just as the priest can touch Jesus, so do we touch Jesus in the bodies of our patients … We have opportunities to do good that the priest doesn’t have. Our mission is not finished when medicines are no longer of use. We must bring the soul to God; our word has some authority … Catholic doctors are so necessary!
As so many doctors and nurses continue to sacrifice so much to care for the victims of the pandemic, we ask St. Gianna to pray for them.
Prayer to St. Gianna for Heath Care Professionals Dear St. Gianna, you who knew that Christ Himself was present in each of your patients, and who chose medicine as a way to serve Him, we entrust to you the health care professionals of our times. We ask you to take into your care in a special way those who do not know Christ, beseeching the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts with Love since God is Love. We ask you to comfort those who are Christians. Keep their eyes focused on their Divine Savior, and never let them forget that He is present before them and through them. You who knew so well the challenges of combining your work with your family life, take care of the families of our doctors, nurses, and health care workers. Help them to know that in their generosity, they too are serving God. Intercede for the health care workers who are sick in body or in spirit, overwhelmed by the high price their bodies and their spirits must pay in order to assist others. Ask God to bring the souls of the health care professionals who have died into the mercy of his loving embrace. St. Gianna Molla, pray for them and pray for us.
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And today we celebrate...