One of my favorite saints is St. Gianna Molla — I am inspired by her holiness, her fashion sense and her “I could be friends with her” quality.

I would enjoy chatting with her over coffee.

So I enjoyed perusing An Exemplary Couple (TAN Books), focusing on the  letters of St. Gianna Beretta Molla and her husband Pietro Molla to one another, plus personal reflections.

As the book relates, “Gianna’s well-groomed, elegant, and extremely jovial appearance can be also seen from the numerous photographs available. She is one of the first saints of whom we have images taken from everyday life.” In addition to working as a pediatrician, she played sports and read fashion magazines, among other hobbies.

Their meet cute transpired following quick exchanges and passings.

True to a couple valuing their faith, “Finally, they officially met when both were invited to the first Mass of Father Lino Garavaglia of Mesero (future Bishop of Cesena-Sarsina).”

The book includes Pietro’s sweet impressions of that special day:

“In my diary of that day I remember her as with her gentle, wide, and good smile she congratulated Father Lino and his relatives; I remember her as she made, devotedly, the sign of the Holy Cross before lunch. I remember her still in prayer at the Eucharistic benediction. I still feel her cordial handshake and see again her sweet and bright smile that accompanied it. And in my diary of the following day, December 9, I wrote: ‘I feel the serene tranquility that gives me the certainty that I have had the good meeting. Mary Immaculate has blessed me.’” 

Their love story, of course, is rooted in Christ: “The two young people begin dating each other; the initial shyness disappears and between Gianna and Pietro grows the knowledge and the certainty of sharing the same desires and ideals matured within deeply Christian families.”

It’s adorable how Pietro describes being smitten:

“Talking with Gianna I immediately had the confirmation of my first impression; I was in front of an extremely clear, extremely charming person. It was her gaze, her attitude, her eyes, her beauty that made her so attractive. I realized that woman was good for me. I would have liked to be together with her. I had, therefore, fallen in love, but I was not able to find the words to express my feelings. Gianna, thank God, was more expansive than me, more open. …”

And then there is this lovely line, penned by Gianna in an Austenian manner:

“Now there is you, whom I already love.” 

 

The saint also quotes Scripture to Pietro:

“I often like to meditate on the passage from the Epistle of the Mass of St. Anne. ‘Who will find a strong woman? . . . The heart of her husband can trust in her . . . she will do him only good, and she will never harm him, throughout all of his life’ etc. Pietro, may I be for you the strong woman of the Gospel! Instead, I seem and I feel myself weak. This means that I will lean on your strong arm.” 

Pietro’s reassuring response:  “You are for me the strong woman of the Gospel. Near to you my joy is perfect.” 

Catholic life is evident too, for example in this excerpt from Gianna: “I love you so, so much Pietro, and you are always present to me, starting from the morning when during the Holy Mass, at the Offertory, I offer your work with mine, your joys, your sufferings, and then throughout the day until the evening.” 

And gratitude underscores their love: “Just think, Pietro, since the Lord has given us this great grace, how grateful we must always be to Him!” 

And going to their first Mass together is also a subject of reflection: “For the first time we attended Holy Mass together and received Jesus in Holy Communion. ‘Thank you for giving me Gianna as the sweetest companion of my life. Grant that we may always love each other with the strongest, the sweetest, and the purest love. Grant that I may be worthy of her and grant that our family may be blessed by Heaven and be holy in us and in our children’: this was my prayer to Jesus as soon as He descended into my heart, while you moved me with your most devout recollection in conversation with Jesus.” 

Bonus in this book: the beautiful photos of the couple together and with their children — really heartwarming! (Also included in the book are reflections of their daughter Gianna Emanuela Molla.)

As their married life gets underway, the blessing of children, the difficulties of pregnancy and Pietro’s work travels are part of their notes:

“The heartburn never leaves me, but at least I have some suffering to offer to the Lord for you, my treasure, that you may return soon and safe and sound.” 

And Pietro’s prayers are touching parts of the letters, addressing his “wife of gold” and their “Treasures” (children): 

“Jesus, who created me and who preserves me amidst graces and blessings without limits: You who between my distant flights now in time and those of today, in these same Heavens, have given me the immense gift of a Wife of gold, like the most marvelous dawn that only up here can be admired, and of two Treasures, splendid as the Heaven in its full brightness that can only be embraced from on high; You who will soon give to us again the divine gift of another Treasure, hear my prayer: Bless Gianna and our Treasures! Transform into graces their anxiety and trepidation for my long staying far away and my flights.”

Gianna’s love is evident in lines like this: “What a dear little husband and what a holy dad our children have!” 

As the book recounts, “From the testimonies, it emerges, in particular, the complementarity of their characters: Gianna, sunny and involving people in every activity, even playful; Pietro, more reserved and dedicated to work … Gianna and Pietro always treat each other as equals; an equality in dignity and a diversity in the identity of man and woman, father and mother, which enriches their relationship and their being.”

Overall, the book makes clear why they are “an exemplary couple”: “Gianna and Pietro are the example of how the love between two persons and their plan to be a family can be a condition within which to develop holiness.”

The Molla family strives to be, as Gianna put it, “a small cenacle where Jesus reigns over all our affections, desires, actions.”