Jessie

Jessie first learned of St. Gianna while teaching kindergarten at Sacred Heart Elementary School in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Each year, her students participated in a service project collecting items for women and babies in need at the Saint Gianna Maternity Home (now the Saint Gianna and Pietro Molla Maternity Home) in Warsaw, North Dakota. Through this work, Jessie learned about the extraordinary beauty of Saint Gianna’s life - her courage, her self-giving love, and her unwavering faith. A mural of Saint Gianna was painted in the school library- which especially touched her heart and planted a devotion that quietly grew. 

A few years later, during her season as a stay-at-home mother to two, Jessie's pregnant friend found herself in need - a beloved Sacred Heart connection, what we lovingly call a “Godwink.” It was during this time that Jessie discovered Jen’s beautiful ministry. She reached out to the Sisterhood to request a prayer card, and to share her story and devotion to our beloved saintly sister.

Soon, Jessie's mother was diagnosed with stage-four metastatic breast cancer. When a clinical trial became their last option for treatment, Jessie's family turned to St. Gianna in fervent prayer. What followed were undeniable graces: miracles of time, a remarkable lessening of symptoms during treatment, a 76% shrinkage of her cancer, and the incredible blessing of being the last remaining participant in her trial.  

Amid her mother’s cancer journey, Jessie and her husband were trying to grow their family. It was also around this time that she became virtual friends with Jessica Hanna (@blessed_by_cancer), who was walking her own courageous path - cancer while pregnant. Jessica's story so closely mirrored that of St. Gianna’s that Jessie felt compelled to share the Sisterhood ministry with her. Within days, Jen invited Jessie to join the ministry team. After prayerful discernment, and learning that Jessica had been in contact with Dr. Gianna Emanuela, Saint Gianna’s daughter, Jessie felt God's clear urging to say “Yes!”  

Early in her work with the Sisterhood, Jessie learned that she had developed a progressing autoimmune disease, making it increasingly difficult to conceive. She and her husband had already experienced miscarriage before their firstborn, so their hearts were familiar with loss. At 13-weeks gestation they endured another devastating loss, a missed miscarriage, after months of trying to conceive their youngest child. Once again, they placed their trust in St. Gianna’s intercession. 

Through God’s mercy, Jessie and her husband's youngest daughter was conceived and born without complication on the 28th, the very day the Sisterhood prays each month with St. Gianna's intercession in mind (another "Godwink!"). Through Saint Gianna’s powerful intercession, Jessie has witnessed God answer prayers in ways both miraculous and deeply personal: healing for her mother, joy in the midst of grief, peace that surpasses understanding, and mountains moved in ways only the Lord can accomplish. 

Jessi considers it an honor to serve this ministry and to walk alongside others who, like her, have found hope, strength, and love through our beloved sister and friend, St. Gianna.