Being a Catholic mother and wife is such a blessing because we have so many great saints to guide us on our journey! As a mother of (almost) six children, over the years I have grown close to so many new saints that have helped me through pregnancy and motherhood. Today I am sharing with you my favorite 7 great saints for mothers and housewives!
7 Saints for Mothers & Wives
Saint Monica
Saint Monica was such an amazing and devoted wife and mother. Her husband wasn’t even a Christian for most of his life but she prayed endlessly for his conversion and shortly before he died, he found Christ. How beautiful! She was also the mother of St. Augustine who was a trouble maker of a child to say the least and was troubled into young adulthood. She raised him as best she could and constantly prayed for him, which payed off immensely considering he is a well known saint and scholar! My takeaway from Saint Monica is to never stop praying for your husband and children!
Feast Day of Saint Monica: August 27th
Saint Zelie Martin
Saint Therese is a very well known and loved Catholic saint and is know for her little ways to love Jesus. Well, her parents are beloved saints as well and were the first to be canonized together! Saint Zelie Martin, Saint Therese’s mother was so dedicated to raising her children, even during the hardest times. She was a working mother, running her own lacemaking business, all the while gave birth to 9 children (4 of whom died in infancy) and raised them to have strong faith and humility. Saint Zelie is one of the great patron saints for mothers, especially working mothers as well as wives.
Feast Day of Saints Louis & Zelie Martin: July 12th
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
Saint Gianna was a remarkable woman! She was a physician as well as a mother and is a strong pro-life saint. Her heroic tale of motherhood consists of her having 3 children and 2 miscarriages. While pregnant with her fourth child, a tumor was found in her uterus. She was advised to have a hysterectomy but refused to save the life of her baby. They removed the tumor and left the pregnancy. Saint Gianna died a week after giving birth from infection. She is now the patron saint of doctors, mothers and unborn children. I pray to her daily during each of my pregnancies!
Feast Day of Saint Gianna: April 28
“The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that he, in his goodness, sends to us day after day.” – Saint Gianna
Saint Gerard Majella
While living most of his life being ill, Saint Gerard struggled to find his place. He was rejected from many monasteries because of his illness but remained devout and holy. Finally he became a lay brother and kept vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Saint Gerard was a humble servant to God! He has had many miracles attributed to him from woman in labor thus making him the patron saint of expectant mothers. I pray to him daily during pregnancy (here the prayer card I have!) and I always wear his medal close to my heart!
Feast Day of Saint Gerard Majella: October 16th
Learn more about my favorite maternity & nursing bra!
Saint Zita
Saint Zita is a newer saint to me but I am so glad that I have found her! In the last year of becoming of full time housewife and stay-at-home mom I have found much of my love and devotion to my family and God is in my housework! Saint Zita felt the same way! She grew up and worked as a maid for the same wealthy family for over 40 years! She did her job so well that the other servants would be jealous of her. Her employers would sometimes get upset with her at how much of her earnings she would give away but in the end they all fell in love with her faithfulness and charity. Saint Zita is the patron saint for domestic workers and I long to have the same dedication to Christ as she does, one house chore at a time!
Feast Day of Saint Zita: April 27th
“A servant is not holy if she is not busy; lazy people of our position is fake holiness.” – Saint Zita
Saint Anne
What better mother to model yourself after than the mother of our very own Blessed Mother?! Saint Anne, the mother of Mary was not only an amazing mother but she also had a very intimate relationship with Jesus…how special! Her and her husband, Joachim longed for years to have a child when an angel came to her telling her she would have a daughter named Mary. Saint Anne is one of the most amazing saints for mothers to turn to in times of need! And as my daughter Marlee puts it, how cool is it that she is Jesus’ grandma?!
Feast day of Saint Anne: July 26th
Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary
I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary last year on the Feast Day of our Lady of Fatima (I used this book) and not to sound dramatic but, my life has changed so much since then! The role Mary has in my life is astounding and I turn to her first for almost everything, especially when it comes to motherhood! Mary has a very, very special place in my heart and in our home and she always will! She is the mother of Jesus and any time I think I am having a bad day, I imagine myself in her shoes, at the foot of the cross. Her love and strength is unending and the fact that she loves us all that much is just breathtaking!
I also recently learned of Our Lady of La Leche and fell over the moon again for our Mother. The image of her nursing her newborn son (eh um, Jesus!) is powerful. I am a big advocate for breastfeeding and have breastfeed my own children. Knowing the amazing properties that come from that, from mother to child…imagine feeding and nurishing the son of God!
Many women having infertility issues have been known to visit the shrine and prayed to her only to finally become pregnant! I have a goal to visit the shrine in St. Augustine, Florida one day and plan to order a statue before baby number 6 arrives! I already ordered this sweet Our Lady of La Leche swaddle from Be A Heart designs and can’t wait to use it!
Learn more about Our Lady of La Leche (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery) here.
Praying to our Saints for Mothers
I hope you use these amazing saints to your advantage! I know I have. Ask these saints for mothers for their intercession and grow closer to Jesus. Add these saints to your list and pray to them often. I know that I do!
Here are a list of reference used for some of the information in this post:
Franciscan Media | Loyola Press | Catholic.org
