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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holy valor in everyday life: Letters of love and marriage.,
By
This review is from: Love Letters to My Husband (Paperback)
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.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting--if protracted--snapshot of a holy relationship,
By
This review is from: Love Letters to My Husband (Paperback)
Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla once wrote:
"One should not enter into marriage without knowing how to love. To love means to desire your own and your beloved's perfection, to overcome your own selfishness. Love must be total, full, complete, regulated by the law of God, and must last for all eternity in heaven" (109). This book contains dozens of letters exchanged between Gianna and her husband Pietro over the course of Gianna's lifetime (1922-1962), as the couple strives valiantly to work out this understanding of love & marriage in the chaos of daily life. Gianna's sacrificial spirit and eagerness to please shines through brightly, and she frequently comes up with thoughtful ways to integrate their shared catholic faith into the relationship. For example, even though Pietro was away on travel right before their wedding, they were united by celebrating a "mass tridium"--attending mass in their respective places each day for 3 days before the wedding--to prepare for the marriage. That said, it should be noted that at 160 pages this is probably a lot longer than it really needed to be. The beautiful nuggets of faith and wisdom like the one mentioned above are buried deeply within the drudge and details of their daily life ("Pietro, did the gas coupons I sent you arrive yet?"). At first this was charming--because it was so real--but halfway through the book it became tedious. Recommended only for readers who have a special interest in Blessed Gianna. If you are simply looking for ideas on how couples can have a holy relationship, then you might be better off with a book like 'Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar'.
5.0 out of 5 stars
enjoy reading,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Love Letters to My Husband (Paperback)
The book came in great condition and on time. I have now read through the book and I will definately keep it to pick up and re read some letters. It is an easy read and yes describes day to day living, but for me I appreciated reading this. While St Gianna lived on earth her day to day living and stressful moments is just like all of us. But it is how she handled those stressful times, her faith in Jesus, how she appreciated the day to day living, and how much love she gave. Her faith in Jesus and her unselfish actions are such an important examples to have. HOw often we can all be selfish (in our day to day living) and we do not even realize it. To read the affectionate words she had for husband and I think it is clear that her husband loved and appreciated Gianna as well. It is beautiful and up lifting. I believe as well Pietro her husband could become a saint as well and I will start asking for his intercession. How beautiful it would be to have a modern day husband and wife team of saints.
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