Gianna Beretta was born in 1922 in Magenta, a town located in Milan, Italy. Since she was little, Gianna accompanied her mother to Mass every day. At the age of 15 she had the opportunity to attend an Ignatian spiritual retreat that would leave a deep mark on her interior: Gianna decided to always walk alongside God and strive to achieve holiness. It was in that retreat where she made the resolution to always live under the following maxim: “Die a thousand times rather than commit a mortal sin.”
The following years were spent between home, school, the beauty of the Lombardy meadows and service to the Church. Gianna was a great devotee of the Virgin Mary, to the point that, shortly before she died, her prayers were constantly directed to the Mother of God, “her Mother” – as she used to call her -: “I trust you, sweet Mother, and I have the certainty that you will never abandon me.”
The young Italian constantly made reference to the Virgin in her apostolate; Thus, almost imperceptibly, the traces of her filial love would remain deeply engraved in the memories of many people. And Gianna always had María close, be it in her home, be it in meetings with other young women from Catholic Action, or in the letters she wrote to Pietro, her future husband.