Happy feast day! Today is All Saints’ day.
If you were like me who thought that all saints belong to a religious order (i.e. priest, nun), it is good to know there are lay people too, and mothers at that. Here’s some saints who were mothers too:
St. Monica
She is the patron of difficult marriages and (verbally) abused women as she suffered greatly from her husband’s temper, adultery, and paganism. She is also the patron of disappointing children and it was through her prayers that her wayward son became one of the greatest doctors of the Church, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo.
St. Anne
In Blessed Anne Catherine Emerich’s visions, it is said that St. Anne belonged to a group of Jewish pious and modest women that today would have been similar to nuns. She was married to St. Joachim upon her parent’s orders and customs. It took awhile for her to conceive a child, which was perceived as “not blessed” in those days. All the while, God reserved for her the highest honor: to be the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandmother of the Saviour!
St. Frances of Rome
St. Frances was frequently visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary. During feasts of the Blessed Virgin, she would be brought to heaven to witness the celebrations together with the saints.
She was very generous to the poor, giving the family’s supplies to them, which somehow angered her father-in-law. Amazingly, the supplies would never run out.
She was often in prayers and would only be interrupted by her motherly duties. She once thought that her household chores are distractions from her prayerlife. She was made to understand that God is also present even in mundane house tasks.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The first saint of the United States of America, she founded the first Catholic girls’ school in the country and the first religious congregation called Sisters of Charity.
Sister Eve Marie (Eve Lavallière)
Note: Sister Eve Marie’s story appears in Ann Ball’s book, Modern Saints: Their Lives and Faces Volume 2. She is not yet officially canonized.
A famous, talented, and beautiful actress in France, she was portrayed in the Coco Chanel movie as a visionary actress. It was said that she pioneered the short length hair, defying the usual norm of long hair for women. But the fame, wealth, and beauty that the world could offer only made her empty and suicidal.
The start of her conversion to Roman Catholic came about when she was under the care of religious sisters in a nursing home. She found inner peace.
For the last 12 years of her life, she lived in obscurity from the limelight, was a Franciscan third order, and died with ‘Jesus I love you’ on her lips.
There are more saints like St. Rita of Cascia, Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas. How about you, do you know of other saints who were mothers too?
Disclaimer: I wrote this post to the best of my memory with some help from Wikipedia to recall some facts and dates. I do apologize if there are any factual errors and misrepresentations.