Catholic Moms Can Be Saints, Too!

​Actually, everyone is called to be a Saint.  

According to Pope Francis, “To be a saint is not a privilege of a few... all of us in baptism have the inheritance of being able to become saints. Sanctity is a vocation for everyone.”

When we think of Saints we think of people like Saint Theresa of Calcutta, Saint John Paul II, Saint Maximilian Kolbe , Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, to name a few.

The two words that stand out the most to me from the paragraph above are: Saints and People.   The Saints were people.  People like you and me.  For a while, I thought that All Saints Day was a day dedicated to the wonderful Saints that I listed above.  What I learned recently is that All Saints Day, which falls annually on November 1st is actually dedicated to “those who have attained heaven.”

A Saint is a person who has gone to heaven.  Miracles, sufferings, almsgiving, visions, and other “saintly” attributes do not only make a Saint.  Sometimes I think that I have not suffered enough to be a Saint or that I have not done enough good to be Saint.   However, Pope Francis reminds us that a Saint is made in the day-to-day activities and decisions on how we treat ourselves and each other.

The Solemnity of All Saints or Feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation, in which Pope Francis stated, “reminds us that the goal of our existence is not death, it is paradise!”

To further quote, Pope Francis: “All of us are called to walk in the way of sanctity, and this way has a name, a face: the face of Jesus Christ.”

When we listen to and follow Jesus Christ in all moments of our lives regardless of the circumstances, we will become Saints when we die and, I pray, go to heaven.

Heaven is the Goal

I want to go to heaven and I pray that all of my family members and friends that have passed away are in heaven watching over me and my loved ones.  Unfortunately, there is a chance that not everyone is in heaven.  This makes me very sad.  However, that is why we have All Souls Day which annually falls on November 2nd and is “dedicated to those who have died and not yet reached heaven.”

We are constantly reminded to pray for those who have passed away so that their sins can be forgiven and so that they can be welcomed into heaven.

Let us remember that Our Lady warned the three children at Fátima that there are “many souls in purgatory that had no one to pray for them.”  100 years ago, the Blessed Mother gave us the “Fátima Prayer” which is so important to pray each day, especially when praying the Holy Rosary. 

Fátima Prayer
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell. Take all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of thy mercy.

Don’t Gamble With Your Soul

Two ways that we can “better our chances” for heaven is to go to Mass and confession regularly.
I have written about the importance of confession in my life.

There is a fantastic article on Catholic.com which answers “How to Go to Heaven” and two of the main “ways” to get to heaven is to be baptized and go to confession.

While the first way is only celebrated once in a Catholics life, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as confession, should be celebrated much, much, much more often.

After confessing, I almost feel like what I would imagine I felt like after I was baptized.  In fact, my husband who was fully initiated into the Catholic Church as an adult said that confessing gave him the same “weight-lifted-off-my-shoulders” feeling that he felt after being baptized.   I also felt that “weight-lifted-off-my-shoulders” feeling when my son was baptized.  In addition to feelings of overwhelming joy, gratitude and thanksgiving that he was officially welcomed into our Catholic church, the same and only Church that Jesus Christ Himself was baptized into.

Catholic Mom Saints

Moms, let us ask these Saints to pray for us as we continue in our vocation as mothers so that we can take the best care of ourselves, our families, our friends and our neighbors and one-day be welcomed into heaven.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
Saint Angela Merici
Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Saint Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist)
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
Saint Helen
Saint Jeanne of Chantal
Saints Louis and Zelie Martin
St. Monica (mother of St. Augustine)
 
 
While motherhood is a blessing and a vocation filled with love, miracles (big and small), laughter and endless joy, it can also bring us moments in which we are ready to pull out our hair and throw in the towel.  Motherhood is the hardest and most trying job on the planet.  In these moments where we are really in the trenches of exhaustion--  in both mind and body-- let us pray for strength, hope, faith and love.  It is also in those trying moments when we should recall the beautiful testimony of the beauty and importance of the vocation of motherhood from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty.

“The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation... What on God's good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?”

I pray that when I hopefully (God please!) get to heaven one day, that all of my family members and friends will be there as well.

As Padre Pio said, “Let us become saints so that having been together on earth, we may be together in Heaven.”

Will you please join me on the journey to Sainthood aka heaven?  Don’t forget to connect on Facebook!

As always, thank you for reading and May the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always.

Sources:
All Saints' Day - Saints & Angels. Catholic Online, www.catholic.org/saints/allsaints
“Pope Francis: Sanctity is for everyone, saints are not 'supermen”, Catholic News Agency, 1 November 2013,
www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-sanctity-is-for-everyone-saints-are-not-supermen
Akin, Jimmy. “How to Go to Heaven.” Catholic Answers. 12 May 2015,
www.catholic.com/index.php/magazine/online-edition/how-to-go-to-heaven
“Saints List 2016.” Great Saints,  
www.greatsaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SaintsList2016-11.pdf
Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation,
www.mindszenty.org/mother.htm