16 Patron Saints for Mothers
May 18, 2020
Want to learn from the best mothers of all time? Many great saints were simple wives, homemakers and moms just like you! Here are 16 patron saints for mothers.
1. Saint Anne
Saint Anne, as the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is arguably one of the most important saints. The official books of the Bible don't mention her, but fortunately Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich received many detailed visions about St. Anne, which you can you can read about here. For many years before she gave birth to Holy Mary, she was humiliated and ridiculed–even by her own servant–for not being able to bear children.
Patroness of: Housewives, women in labor, sterility, grandparents
Feast Day: July 26
2. Saint Elizabeth
Saint Elizabeth, another relative of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the mother of Saint John the Baptist, was at least 60 years old when she gave birth. In Luke 1:41-45, when Mary comes to visit Elizabeth, she is inspired by the Holy Spirit to exclaim the words we now pray in the rosary: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!"
Patroness of: Pregnant women
Feast Day: November 5
Learn more about St. Elizabeth.
3. Saint Monica
Saint Monica is the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo. She seems to have literally "wrestled with God" through prayer for the soul of her son for 17 years before he finally became a Christian. She also managed to convert her pagan, violent and promiscuous husband just before his death.
Patroness of: Married women, mothers, conversion
Feat Day: May 4 (traditional), August 27 (new)
4. Saint Martha
Saint Martha is mentioned in the books of Luke and John. In John 11:25-27, she makes a strong statement of faith in Jesus: “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’”
Patroness of: Homemakers, cooks, laundry workers, maids
Feast Day: July 29
5. Saint Zita
Saint Zita lived in Italy in the 13th century. She became a household servant at a young age, and was abused by her employers and fellow servants (rather like a Cinderella). However, she never lost her inner peace, and was always kind to everyone. She was extremely diligent in her work, which she viewed as assigned to her by God himself as part of her penance. She always rose several hours earlier than the rest of the family to pray, and assisted at Mass every morning.
Patroness of: Homemakers, people ridiculed for their piety, waitresses
Feast Day: April 27
6. Saint Perpetua
Saint Perpetua is a 3rd century martyr who is named in the Canon of Mass. She was married, a noblewoman, the mother of a nursing infant and about 22 years old when she was imprisoned and put to death in the military games of Charthage. Her father begged her to deny her faith so as not to disgrace her name, but she remained steadfast. The story of her death is narrated in The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity– this text includes her own words where she accounts her imprisonment, and was completed after her death by a redactor.
Patroness of: Mothers
Feast Day: March 6 (old rite), March 7 (new rite)
Learn more about St. Perpetua.
7. Saint Felicity
Saint Felicity was a slave who was martyred along with Saint Perpetua and companions. She was 8 months pregnant when she was imprisoned, and just 2 days before the games she gave birth to a daughter who was adopted by a Christian woman.
Patroness of: Mothers, expectant mothers
Feast Day: March 6 (old rite), March 7 (new rite)
Learn more about St. Felicity.
8. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Saint Elizabeth was a princess of Hungary in the 13th century. Her marriage was arranged when she was just 4 years old in order to form an important political alliance. She grew up a very religious child with a strong inclination to prayer, piety, and acts of self mortification. She had a happy marriage, and her husband was a saintly man. Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, she was extremely charitable to the poor, and her husband supported her efforts. When he died of a fever just a few weeks before the birth of her third child, Elizabeth was devastated. She was only 20 years old, and upon learning of her husband's death she cried, "The world with all its joys is now dead to me."
Patroness of: Nurses, brides, widows, bakers, lace-makers, homeless people
Feast Day: November 19 (traditional), November 17 (new)
Learn more about St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
9. Saint Elizabeth of Portugal
Saint Elizabeth of Portugal was named after her great aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. She led a life of strict regularity and self denial from her childhood, saying the full Divine Office daily and doing fasting and penance. She was married at the age of 12 to the King of Portugal, who unfortunately was not a virtuous man and was scandalously unfaithful to her. At one point, he accused her of being unfaithful. Nevertheless, Elizabeth always showed extraordinary forbearance and gentleness towards her husband, and eventually he was converted. Like her great aunt, she was devoted to the poor and the sick. She is known as "the peacemaker" because she brought about peace between her husband and her rebellious son.
Patroness of: Peace, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, victims of unfaithfulness, queens
Feast Day: July 8 (traditional), July 4 (new)
Learn more about St. Elizabeth of Portugal.
10. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first saint of the United States. She established the first Catholic girls' school in the nation and the Sisters of Charity, the first American congregation of religious sisters. Her mother died when she was just three years old, and was later rejected by her stepmother. In journal entries, she reflected on the grief she felt at the absence of a mother, and she expressed a love for nature, poetry and music (especially piano). Elizabeth was married at the age of 19, after which she cared for the needy, had five children, and endured many hardships including her husband's death. After his death, she founded the academy for girls in order to support herself and her children, and later established the Daughters of Charity dedicated to the care of poor children.
Patroness of: Catholic schools, widows, in-law problems, against death of children
Feast Day: January 4
Learn more about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
11. Saint Zelie Martin
Marie-Azélie Guérin (Zelie) Martin was the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. She initially wanted to become a nun, but was turned away due to health problems. Instead, she become a very successful lacemaker, and fell in love with Louis Martin (also a saint). The couple had nine children, but only five of them survived infancy. When each of her children were born, Zelie made sure they were baptized as soon as possible, and begged the Lord to either preserve them from the stain of even a single mortal sin, or to take them to Heaven at once. One of her other daughters, Léonie, is in the process of becoming beatified. Zelie died of breast cancer at the age of 45.
Feast Day: July 12
Learn more about St. Zelie Martin.
12. Saint Gianna Molla
St. Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian pediatrician. While pregnant with her fourth child, she developed a fibroma on her uterus. She refused to have an abortion to save her life. The teachings of the Catholic Church would have allowed her to have a hysterectomy, which would have resulted in the child's death as an unintended consequence, but she refused because she valued her child's life more than her own. Her baby daughter was delivered via C-section, and Gianna died of septic peritonitis one week later. Her daughter is now a pediatric doctor.
Patroness of: Mothers, wives, unborn children, families, doctors
Feast Day: April 28
Learn more about St. Gianna Molla.
13. Blessed Maria Torribia
Blessed Maria Torribia was a Spanish peasant woman who is believed to have been the wife of Saint Isidore. She worked very hard doing chores around the house and the farm. According to legend, Maria always kept a pot of stew on the fireplace in their humble rural dwelling, because she knew that her husband would bring home anyone who was hungry. One day, when her husband brought home more people than usual, the pot of stew miraculously yielded enough stew to feed them all. Another legend says that one day, their only child Illan fell into a deep well, and his parents could do nothing but pray. Miraculously, the water level suddenly rose to the ground, and the baby was easily rescued unharmed. Because of this, Maria and her husband committed themselves to sexual abstinence and lived separately from then on.
Learn more about Blessed Maria Torribia.
14. Blessed Maria Quattrocchi
Blessed Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi was born in Italy in 1884 to a noble family. She was very well educated, and became a professor of education. Maria lectured and wrote books and essays on education, religion, family, and the spiritual upbringing of children. When pregnant with her fourth child, she had placenta praevia, and the doctors told her husband to either abort the baby or prepare to be a widower with three small children to take care of. However, the baby was delivered prematurely and Maria survived– a miracle which she attributed to her faith in God.
Learn more about Blessed Maria Quattrocchi.
15. Saint Waldetrudis
Saint Waldetrudis (Waltrude) lived in Belgium in the 600's AD. She was married to St. Vincent Madelgarius, the Count of Hainault, and together they raised four children, who are also saints: St. Landeric, St. Dentelinus, St. Aldetrude, and St. Madelberta. Waldetrudis worked to free captives by paying their ransom out of her own pocket. After their children grew up, her husband retired to an abbey and Waldetrudis became a nun, founding her own convent. The city of Mons, Belgium grew around this convent.
Patroness of: Mons, Belgium
Feast Day: April 9
Learn more about St. Waldetrudis.
16. Saint Frances of Rome
At the age of eleven, St. Frances of Rome wished to enter a monastery, but instead was married at the age of twelve in obedience to her parents. She loved to pray, meditate and visit churches, but whenever she was called away by her husband or one of her children, she put everything aside right away saying: “A married woman must, when called upon, quit her devotions to God at the altar, to find him in her household affairs.” One time, after being interrupted four times while beginning the same verse of a psalm in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, after returning the fifth time, she found that verse written in golden letters.
Patroness of: Benedictines, widows, automobile drivers
Feast Day: March 9
Learn more about St. Frances of Rome.
That's it– 16 patron saints for mothers! Have I missed one of your favorite saints who should be on this list? Let me know in the comments below!
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