BROTHER OF A SAINT - ALSO A DOCTOR

As I have said in past Blogs, it never ceases to amaze me how the saints influence each other even while here on earth. Our next modern missionary is not only the brother of another canonized saint- GIANNA MOLLA- but also influenced our previous Venerable, Marcello Candia.

St. Gianna Molla

VENERABLE ALBERTO BERETTA was born in 1916 in  Milan one of 13 children. He received  an exemplary Christian upbringing from his parents, who prayed frequently, went to daily Mass and practiced love of neighbor. While still a young man he met a Capuchin missionary, learning of the plight of the  abandonment of the poor, sick and lepers in the state of Maranhão. He decided he wanted to be a missionarty doctor to these people.

Day of First Mass - 1948

At the age of 29, while practicing as a doctor and surgeon, he began to study theology by attending his first two years in Freiburg Switzerland and later the last two years at the formation house of the theology students of the Capuchin friars of Piazzale Velasquez. He was ordained March 13, 1948 in the church of San Bernardino in Milan.

Graduation Day- 1942

On March 12, 1949, he left for Brazil arriving in Grajau  on August 2 (after delays along the way).

Because Brazil's standards did not include recognition of the academic titles obtained in Italy, the young and earnest missionary patiently accepted to repeat the tests of numerous medical disciplines in which he had already passed his homeland. This determination led to a return to future times his willingness to act immediately in the medical field for which he already brought science, competence and experience and traveled to Rio Grande do Sul. What at first seemed a painful obstacle to be faced became in advantage, because it also had the opportunity to study other specializations and acquire precious knowledge that would be useful to him in his work in the backlands of Maranhão.

In 1950, with the help of his brothers who lived in Italy, especially Monsignor Giuseppe the Engineer, he began the construction of the St. Francis of Assisi Hospital. In 1957 the construction of the Hospital was completed, something unbelievably for the time, considering the scarcity of transportation at the time and the lack of roads. Later Friar Alberto himself felt the need to expand the structure.

Vila San Marino

Friar Alberto also created Vila San Marino, for the proper treatment of people with leprosy, extremely numerous in the region at that time, and where he  made a point of going every day, devoting himself to the sick, as a doctor and as a priest. In this village he tests a practice he learned from a Russian doctor, who teaches him a revolutionary technique even today: the use of the human placenta to treat the most complex pathologies using stem cells. 

Doing therapy

The Hospital soon becomes a reference throughout the state of Maranhão. His techniques, especially the placental treatment, diligent and carefully treated with an autoclave made especially for sterilization, are known throughout Brazil. That is why,  the city of Grajaú received patients with various pathologies from the most distant regions of Brazil. Friar Alberto, with his extraordinary training, could have practiced his profession in any developed country of the world, but he chose Grajaú and the region, making such a choice only because he knew that in this part of the world there was no doctor for so many souls.

His final vows into his order was long in coming but In August 1964 he was consecrated inot the Capucian Order. In the intervening years he labored among the people giving himself with the fervor of a neophyte and a saint to alleviate the suffering of the poor who could not reward him.  At that time, many Grajauenses who needed medical care, had no resources and were simply left to their own devices. He was at the same time an obstetrician, pediatrician, geriatrician, surgeon, ophthalmologist, general practitioner and many other specialties.  With Friar Alberto, a patient was never left unattended, no matter what his problem. This caused crowds from all nearby communities to seek the hospital, turning the place into a sanctuary of hope and charity.

In December 24,1981, after 33 years in Brazil, after attending to a father of ten who had an accident that almost amputated his hand, Friar Alberto had a stroke losing his speech and partial movement. He was transferred to San Luis where he was treated and soon after was sent  back to Italy for treatment  and finally to the house of his brother, Monsignor Giuseppe in Borgo Canale, where he lived for another twenty years until his death in 2001. 

In June  2008, at the Curia in Bergamo,  Italy, Archbishop Roberto Amadei, began the process of beatification of Friar Alberto Beretta. On the occasion, Bishop Roberto said:  "He was a great witness of charity in daily life, capable of making life become a teaching of the gospel. A great and silent witness." " Father Alberto continued to witness to Christ through prayer and his serenity," said the bishop. "An important testimony in today's society that considers those who do not produce useless people , " he concluded.

Ordination Day (ST. Gianna 2nd left)

 Present at the opening ceremony of the beatification process were present his brothers, Monsignor Giuseppe and Sister Virginia, some nephews and other relatives.