Here we are, already in March! Almost one third of 2025 is behind us.

St Patrick

March is the month of celebrations. There are multiple Mardi Gras parades and celebrations. We also honor and celebrate St. Patrick in March. St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, and people say that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. That is dubious, since, according to most experts, there have never been snakes in Ireland due to its climate and that Ireland is practically surrounded by water. What St. Patrick did do was to bring Christianity to a pagan Ireland. He spent six years in Ireland as a prisoner. During that time, he became deeply devoted to Christianity. He had visions of the children of Ireland reaching out to him and he became determined to help them and to bring them to Christianity. This one ordinary man is known around the world for the work he did to bring God into the lives of others. It is an amazing fact that New York’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place 14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence! St. Patrick is quoted as saying, “If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God and to teach His people.”

St Joseph, Worker and Father

Another great saint, whose feast day we celebrate on March 19^th, is St. Joseph, the earthly father to Jesus. St. Joseph was simply a worker, an insignificant man in his day. Yet he clothed and housed the God who flung the stars. He never held the Eucharist Bread of Life, but he did hold the baby Jesus. People called him Joe or Joseph or just “Hey You!” But he was there to welcome Jesus, and he was the only MAN God ever called, Father!

How extraordinary. How we love these examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things!

St Gianna, Patroness of Mothers and the Unborn

In April, we will be celebrating the Feast Day of St. Gianna. Our own St. Gianna is another ordinary but extraordinary person. She was a daughter, a wife, a mother, and a doctor. St. Gianna prayed for the ability to recognize God everywhere, in the beauty of nature, in her family, in her patients. She honored God in every walk of her life. She truly embodied a perfect servant of God. She gave herself, honoring God, to every person that she served. To physicians and those who care for the sick, St. Gianna said, “When you have finished your earthly profession, if you have done this well, you will enjoy divine life ‘because I was sick, and you healed me.’”

St. Gianna died on April 28, 1962. She was not forty years old. St Gianna is the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children. St. Gianna was canonized by Pope John Paul on May 16, 2004. Her husband, three living children, her granddaughter and her living siblings were present. This was the first time a husband was present at a canonization. Pope John Paul offered St. Gianna to the Church as a model of virtue, holiness, motherhood, professionalism, and devotion. In an age when marriage, family life, virtue and holiness are under assault from all sides, the life of Gianna Beretta Molla is a striking witness of hope and beauty.

On a Journey of Hope

We are excited and honored to be celebrating St. Gianna and our St. Gianna Center with a Gala on April 26^th. St. Gianna was always a witness to hope. The Pope has declared 2025 to be the Jubilee Year of Hope we have made the theme of our Gala: Journey of Hope.

It is so fitting with our mission and in celebrating the life of St. Gianna that we invite you to take part and celebrate this journey of hope with us. Please join us and walk with us as we continue our journey to offer hope to women and couples who suffer any type of reproductive disorder; to offer education about our gift of fertility to all. Your continuing support allows us to be faithful to this work and to be available to so many who would otherwise never get treatment or knowledge and would never get better. Our St. Gianna Center truly offers hope to so many. Thank you for helping us to continue to help unknown numbers of others. Remember, we can all be extraordinary…it only requires a little “extra!”

See you at the Gala!

Diane Hale, RN CFCE