5 Things To Know About Spiritual Motherhood
1. The Virgin Mary is the Icon of Spiritual Motherhood, and priests receive the first fruits of her divine maternity.
God formed Mary to bring Jesus Christ into the world. She became Mother of the Eternal High Priest, but the Incarnation also set the stage for her spiritual motherhood of all priests who would follow Him. At the foot of the Cross, Jesus entrusted all priests to his mother through John the Apostle. Mary's love for Jesus and John is given today to all priests, and will last for all eternity.
2. The Holy Spirit and Mary work together to form spiritual mothers.
A spiritual mother desires to be formed by the Holy Spirit in the mold of Mary, who is the model of feminine virtue. As Archbishop Luis M. Martínez wrote: "Two artisans — the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary — must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product. Both the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary are necessary to souls, for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ." Spiritual motherhood is a gift of the Holy Spirit and characterized by nine Marian virtues: faith, hope, love, humility, courage, praise, gratitude, magnanimity and wisdom.
3. Spiritual mothers transmit spiritual life to priests through their communion with Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, and Mary, Mother of Priests.
It is through the sacramental rivers of grace that a woman, as a daughter of the Church, receives her spiritual life. In turn, she, as a spiritual mother, becomes a vessel of life-giving grace. A spiritual mother encounters the Eternal High Priest in the Eucharist and then, like Mary, carries Christ to others, offering prayers and sacrifices along the way. To priests, she mirrors Mary. The vocation to spiritual motherhood of priests is at the heart of the New Evangelization, since by the intercession of spiritual mothers graces are obtained to renew priests and strengthen them in spreading the Gospel.
4. The Lord calls all women to imitate Mary as spiritual mothers of souls.
By God’s design, all women are called to behold the Virgin Mary as Mother of Jesus, Mother of the Church, Mother of Grace, Mother of Priests and Mother of all God’s family. God created all women with a unique feminine dignity and the potential to bear life, both physically and spiritually. Spiritual mothers are women of the Church, women of grace, and women of Marian virtue—the greatest of which is charity. Love by its nature is self-giving, and spiritual mothers place themselves at the service of God’s plan for the salvation of souls. Spiritual motherhood includes birth pangs, but the offering of suffering in union with Jesus brings forth new life for priests, families, and the entire world.
5. Consecration to Jesus through Mary is a powerful way for a woman to be formed into a spiritual mother.
Marian consecration is a covenant of love, formed by the power of the Holy Spirit, that results in a powerful union of one's heart with Mary’s heart. Various saints and the tradition the Church tell us that this is a sure pathway to Jesus. Our new unity with Mary draws us into her mission on earth. What is Mary’s mission? To continually birth Jesus on earth in priests and in all souls by the power of the Holy Spirit. Marian Consecration is a path for ordinary women of faith to become spiritual mothers of priests. The Church invites all women to the spiritual fruitfulness of authentic femininity: the spiritual motherhood of souls.