They Jubilated and Rejoiced in the Holy Kingdom
Days Before Mothers’ Day, Who Are the Holy Mothers?
“Behold, your mother” Said Jesus on the cross to one of his disciples. “Behold, your mother” … She has become our mother, the mother of the Church and of the whole of humanity. She is the Mother of The Lord and the Queen of Peace. The mother who endured constant hardship with patience and obedience, overcame evil and chose to cultivate holiness crowned with compassion and humility, to become a source of life of grace and a fountain of hope.
In this volatile world, the Mother of God protects us from all evil whims, especially from an illness that His Holiness Pope Francis called “spiritual orphanhood”, which besieges us whenever we lack the feeling of belonging to family, people, land, and one God.
In the footsteps of the Virgin Mary, many mothers have struggled throughout Christian history, walking a divine path and a life full of dangers and difficulties. However, they stuck to their faith and had patience and wisdom in overcoming all obstacles in an effort to cross towards the heavenly kingdom. Mothers who chose to “store up for themselves treasures in heaven,” so their path was manifested in purity and holiness.
On Mother’s Day, let us remember the Holy Mothers canonized by the Church, for it is in their remembrance that they are honored and the mothers following in their footsteps are honored as well!
Saint Anne
We must first mention Saint Anne, wife of Joachim, grandmother of Christ and mother of the Virgin Mary. Church heritage indicates that Joachim and Anne were a pious God-fearing couple unable to bear child as Anne was barren. This saddened the couple greatly as sterility was considered a stigma in that time. Nevertheless, Joachim and Anne never ceased praying that God bless Anne with the fruit of the womb.
Anne passed the age of childbearing with her wish not fulfilled but God did not turn away from her for it was part of a divine plan to bless her and grant humanity the greatest gift of all. The spouses continued their prayers with great zeal and with complete confidence that God is capable of everything. The Lord sent His angel to Anne and announced to her that God would bestow upon her a great blessing for all of humanity. Joachim and Anne believed the words of the angel, Anne conceived and gave birth to a child, and became the mother of the blessed Mary, the Mother of God.
Saint Sophia
Saint Sophia bore three daughters she raised on the principles of faith, hope, and charity and thus she named them accordingly. They lived in Italy during the reign of Emperor Hadrian between 117 and 137 AD and their lives were marked by piety and the love of our Lord Jesus.
Faith was 12 years old, Hope was 10, and Charity was 9. They were brutally tortured by Hadrian, who beheaded them in front of their own mother who witnessed their suffering with grace and steadfastness.
As for Sophia, Hadrian released her and left her to suffer in sorrow. She buried her daughters and prayed at their grave for three days and three nights before passing away.
Saint Helena
Saint Helena was born in the city of Edessa in Upper Mesopotamia in 247 AD to Christian parents. She married the Byzantine King Constantinus and bore his child Constantine whom she taught wisdom and ethics. After Constatantinus’ death, Constantine became Emperor of the East and made Constantinople his Capital. It is told that he had a vision in which he saw a cross of light under which it was written “In this sign thou shalt conquer”, thus he made the cross a banner for his soldiers and triumphed.
As for Helena, living for over seventy years old, she had a vision in which someone told her: “Go to Jerusalem and look for the Savior’s cross.” Her son sent her with a retinue of soldiers to Jerusalem, where she met the Bishop of Jerusalem, St. Macarius, and learned from an elderly Jew about the place where the cross was buried; on a plateau above which is a pagan temple of the God Venus.
Helena ordered the demolition of the temple, and found the cross of God among three crosses and confirmed it after placing it on the body of a deceased who immediately resurrected. After this discovery, Helena provided sums of money to Macarius in order to build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the Holy Grave, another church above the Grotto of the Nativity in Betlehem, and a church above the ascent on the Mount of Olives...
Saint Amelia
Saint Amelia was forced to marry, and gave birth to nine children in whose hearts she planted the true Christian spirit. Among them are five Saints of the Church: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebaste, Macrina the Younger and Theosebel.
Saint Amelia faced many adversities. Her parents died before she was married, her husband died after the birth of her son Peter, and her son Naukratius died. She was thus forced to raise her children on her own and faced many difficulties, but she managed to overcome them through faith, patience, and courage. In her old age, she founded a monastery in which she lived the rest of her life with her daughter Macrina. She died in 375 AD.
Saint Monica
Saint Monica was born in the Algerian region of Souk Ahras in 331 AD. She gave birth to two sons and a daughter, among them Saint Augustine, whose apostasy was due to her intense crying and continuous prayer for him, until he was baptized in the name of Christ after more than 17 years of intransigence.
Saint Monica died in 387 in Rome, becoming the patron Saint of married women, mothers, and widows.
Saint Rita
Saint Rita was born in the Italian region of Roccaporena in 1381, and her parents forced her to marry a cruel man. She lived with him for 18 years and endured a lot of torment, but she drew strength through constant prayer. After the murder of her husband and the death of her two sons due to serious illness, she entered into the monastic life and lived a life full of austerity and fasting, and was distinguished by her great confidence in the Lord.
She died in Cascia in 1457, and was canonized by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900, to become the patron Saint of unhappy married women, and of difficult and impossible matters.
Saint Zélie Martin
Saint Zélie-Marie Guérin was born in 1831 in the French city of Gondolin. She married Louis Martin and bore him nine children, four of whom died. Zélie is the mother of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus and the mother of five daughters who entered into the monastic life.
Saint Zélie Martin died in 1877. On October 18, 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis canonized the parents of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, on World Missionaries' Day and during the Synod of the Family.
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla was born in the Italian region of Magenta in 1922. She specialized in pediatrics, which she undertook as a profession and a mission. She distinguished herself through her upright faith which showed in her commitment to Catholic work, especially in supporting orphans and the elderly.
In her fourth pregnancy, she contracted cancer, and refused to abort her child, and preferred to die instead to save the life of her infant, saying: "Lord, if you want to choose between me and this child, do not hesitate. I am entirely yours and I beg you to save their life." She died in Ponte Novo in 1962.
On August 23, 1973, Gianna was honored by His Holiness Pope Paul VI. On April 24, 1994, she was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II, and canonized on May 17, 2004, becoming the patron Saint of the family.
Historically, many mothers have been canonized as Saints and have become examples of chastity and meekness, however many mothers today also deserve to be honored for their endless sacrifice in the difficult times our countries are going through.
The Bible presented in its divine pages the qualities of the ideal Christian mother, who was described as a source of comfort, “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.” (Isaiah 66:13), as a source of love and sacrifice, “we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children” (1 Thess 2:7). The Bible indicates as well that a mother leads her children to divine grace, “But she will be saved through motherhood, provided women persevere in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” (1 Timothy 2:15).
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