The Value of Motherhood
If you ask the magic of AI technology to explain the value of motherhood, you get some surprising answers. A few of our favorite AI finds… “It’s a concept with deep meaning, extending beyond mere fertility, and involves various roles, emotions, and experiences.” or “Motherhood is often viewed as a profound and transformative experience, shaping both the mother and the child.”
Although these are pretty good, we thought to turn to a few more reliable sources – the holy men and women of the past and present. Many of the popes and saints have written and spoken about motherhood, expressing their admiration for hard-working, earthly moms.
The Saints
“Not only a woman’s days but her nights. Not only her mind, but her body must share in the calvary of motherhood. That is why women have a surer understanding of the doctrine of redemption than men have. They have to associate the risk of death with the life in childbirth and to understand the sacrifice of self to another through the many months preceding it.” – Venerable Fulton Sheen
“Look at the mothers who truly love their children: how many sacrifices they make for them. They are ready for everything, even to give their own blood so that their babies grow up good, healthy, and strong.” – St Gianna Beretta Molla
“When we had our children, our ideas changed somewhat. We lived only for them. They were all our happiness, and we never found any except in them. In short, nothing was too difficult, and the world was no longer a burden to us. For me, our children were a great compensation, so I wanted to have a lot of them in order to raise them for Heaven.” -St. Zelie Martin
“The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.” – St Therese of Liseiux
“That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women. How grateful we must be to God for this wonderful gift that brings such joy to the whole world, women and men alike!” – St Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“To be a mother is to nourish and protect true humanity and bring it to development.” – St Edith Stein
The Popes
“Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.” – Pope St John Paul II
God entrusts to women and men, according to their respective capacities, a specific vocation and mission in the Church and in the world. Here I am thinking of the family, a community of love open to life, the fundamental cell of society. In it the woman and the man, thanks to the gift of maternity and paternity, together carry out an irreplaceable role in regard to life. – Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Francis emphasized the idea that motherhood provides a beautiful testimony to the value of self-sacrifice. He boldly called motherhood an antidote to selfishness. His decision to dedicate his papacy to Mary, and the tips for embracing the vocation of motherhood he gently suggested to mothers worldwide, are more examples of the value he placed on motherhood.
“Their specifically feminine abilities – motherhood in particular – also grant duties, because womanhood also entails a specific mission in this world, a mission that society needs to protect and preserve for the good of all.” – Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love)
“A society without mothers would be a dehumanized society, for mothers are always, even in the worst moments, witnesses of tenderness, dedication, and moral strength. … Dearest mothers, thank you, thank you for what you are in your family and for what you give to the Church and the world.” – Pope Francis
CCL Staff
Subsequently, the words of these holy men and women prompted CCL to ask our staff of mothers and daughters to express their thoughts on the value of motherhood. Following are their responses.
Maria Alejandra Martinez:
There is an Argentinian cartoon in which there is a mother on the beach giving a ton of instructions to her little boy.A little girl is watching and says, “There is only one mother, thank God!” And at many points in my life I have related to that. Still, there are so many other times I think of the many gifts my mother provided for me. to begin with, my life, hen my faith. I think of her tireless efforts to provide an education for me and my siblings. I recall her interest in feeding us the best food she could possibly find. Her presence has made me, in a great way, who I am. There is no perfect mother, but I thank God for giving me MY mother!
Silvia Schmidt:
Coming from a family of 9 siblings, motherhood is something I took for granted; that anytime, whenever I wanted, I would get pregnant. I learned that this is not the case during seven years of painful infertility. The suffering of not being able to be a mother is one of the biggest crosses I had to bear in my life. My body, made to carry and breastfeed a baby, was not able to do so. Eventually God sent Bernie and I two adorable daughters. They came to complete our family and they brought so much joy to our lives. I learned during these agonizing years that becoming a mother is a gift from God.
Stacey Nagle:
I have seen a funny meme where the mom says, “Don’t make fun of me when I can’t use my mobile phone / computer, I taught you to use a spoon!” This makes me smile but also reminds me of the importance of all of the little things that we, as mothers do that we don’t think are important. It’s a realization that we were once dependent on another person, mostly our mother, to help us learn the basics of living. It’s a great reminder to us moms that even the smallest or simplest task is worth doing! It took me until my third child to learn how to “die to myself” when caring for my baby, who was truly beautiful and innocent and in need of my care. I was then able to take this same approach to care for my husband and others. It is at these moments that I feel closest to God as a mother. Others may call it a waste of time, but for me, they are the most important times.
Like many people, Pope Saint John Paul II lost his mother at a young age. Even so, he had a close relationship with his mother in prayer, respect, gratitude and filial love. He wrote a poem and a prayer in 1939 for his mother, showing that the value of a mother is eternal.
Over This, Your White Grave
Over this, your white grave
the flowers of life in white–
so many years without you–
how many have passed out of sight?
Over this your white grave
covered for years, there is a stir
in the air, something uplifting
and, like death, beyond comprehension.
Over this your white grave
oh, mother, can such loving cease?
for all his filial adoration
a prayer: Give her eternal peace.
– Poem by Pope John Paul II from 1939 about his mother who died when he was young
— Written by CCL Staff Members. Find CCL’s Mother Daughter Program here.