The lives of the saints are a great source of inspiration and reassurance for us. The holy women in Saintly Moms can help us better to understand motherhood as a vocation, just like any other calling from God, and a path to holiness. Whether you’re a new mom, a grandmother, or somewhere in between, this book will encourage all mothers in their vocation as they identify themselves in the lives of these saints, who also experienced the joys and challenges of being a mom. Their stories will also be inspiring to young women exploring the vocation of motherhood and anyone with an interest in saints who were mothers. Each chapter profiles a different holy mother, reflects on a lesson learned in her life, and ends with a prayer through her intercession. While we grow in admiration and devotion to them, these Saintly Moms can help us see the saintly possibilities each one of us possesses. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kelly Ann Guest is a youth minister, contributing blogger at CatholicMom.com, and contributing author for The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion. Previously, she was a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia in Nashville, an education coordinator for a Catholic Charities' program for pregnant teens, a middle school teacher, and a director of religious education. Her most challenging and rewarding calling, though, is as a wife and the mother of ten children.

This is the inspiring story of a canonized contemporary woman. Gianna Molla (1923-1962) risked her life in order to save her unborn child. Diagnosed with uterine tumors during her fourth pregnancy, she refused a hysterectomy that would have aborted the child, and opted for a riskier surgery in an attempt to save the baby. Herself a medical doctor, Molla did give birth to the child, but succumbed to an infection. An Italian woman who loved skiing, playing piano, attending concerts at the Milan Conservatory, Molla was a dedicated physician and devoted wife and mother who lived life to the fullest, yet generously risked death by cancer for the sake of her child. A unique story, co-authored by her own husband, with his deeply moving personal insights of the heroic witness, love, sacrifice and joy of his saintly wife. A woman for all times and walks of life, this moving account of the multi-faceted, selfless St. Gianna Molla, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save her unborn child, will be an inspiration to all readers. Illustrated "A woman of exceptional love, an outstanding wife and mother, Gianna Molla gave witness in her daily life to the demanding values of the Gospel." - Pope John Paul II

Using extensive excerpts from the writings of St. Augustine, notable from his Confessions, Giovanni Falbo sheds new light on St. Monicas patience, sweetness, and unwavering determination. This mother never yielded in her efforts to see her beloved son find comfort and peace in God, and she endured countless sacrifices and health risks in her quest to help Augustine embrace the faith. Monicas quiet wisdom and courage, coupled with her earnest tears and prayers to God, bore fruit she could only have dreamed of.

Seeing, understanding, and appreciating motherhood as a special life vocation in which women share and participate in God's works of creative and redemptive love is the focus of this book. Through prayerful reading and reflection upon scripture along with practical contemplative exercises, mothers are invited to a spiritual awakening of their unique calling in life as Christian mothers. This insightful reading resource offers an approach for a renewed understanding about Christian motherhood that may be used individually and in discussion groups. Book jacket.

Winner of a 2016 Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Award (first place, inspirational books). Winner of a 2020 Catholic Press Association book award (honorable mention, backlist beauty). In this edgy, honest, and often audacious book of Catholic spirituality, blogger and popular podcaster Maria Morera Johnson explores the qualities of twenty-four holy women who lived lives of virtue in unexpected and often difficult circumstances. In My Badass Book of Saints, Johnson shares her experience as a first-generation Cuban-American, educator of at-risk college students, and caregiver for a husband with Lou Gehrig's disease. Through humorous, empowering, and touching portraits of twenty-four spiritual mentors who inspired her, Johnson shows how their bravery, integrity, selflessness, perseverance, and hope helped her and can help others have courage to reach for a closer connection to God. She presents remarkable holy women and saints--including the gun-toting Servant of God Sr. Blandina Segale who tried to turn the heart of Billy the Kid, and Nazi resister Irena Sendler who helped smuggle children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II--in a way that brings their vivid personalities to life and helps readers live out the challenges of their lives with virtue and conviction. The book includes a group discussion guide.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ... sicut in caelo et in terra The saints were not picture perfect. But they were real men and women who loved Jesus in the midst of their struggles with sin and suffering. In the most difficult moments in history, these men and women were lights in the darkness, prophets of hope, and beacons of peace. Joyfully persevering through life's trials, they lived the Gospel in unique, fascinating, and inspiring ways. The Daughters of St. Paul at Pauline Books and Media noticed that most books on the lives of the saints are paperback and do not have a presentation as timeless or as beautiful as we believe the lives of the saints deserve. For this reason, we decided to take on the monumental project to write, design, and illustrate a volume of 365 saints and blesseds. Supported by the prayers of our sisters in convents and Pauline Books and Media bookstores around the world, over thirty of our sisters worked on all aspects of this timeless volume for over a decade. It's our hope that it will reflect the striking beauty of the saints' lives--a meeting of heaven and earth. Through the beautiful reflections and exquisite artwork, may you forge deeper bonds with these holy men and women in heaven who show us how to live in Christ. Let's become saints! Features & Benefits - daily reflections on the saints and blesseds, written by the Daughters of St. Paul - original illustrations by Sr. Danielle Victoria Lussier, FSP - includes indices of names, patron saints, feast days - includes prayers written by the saints - keepsake quality with durable hardcover - gold-stamped cover - includes a ribbon

A poignant and powerful spiritual memoir about how the lives of the saints changed the life of a modern woman. In My Sisters the Saints, author Colleen Carroll Campbell blends her personal narrative of spiritual seeking, trials, stumbles, and breakthroughs with the stories of six women saints who profoundly changed her life: Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Faustina of Poland, Edith Stein of Germany, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Mary of Nazareth. Drawing upon the rich writings and examples of these extraordinary women, the author reveals Christianity's liberating power for women and the relevance of the saints to the lives of contemporary Christians.

Textual Mothers/Maternal Texts focuses on mothers as subjects and as writers who produce auto/biography, fiction, and poetry about maternity. International contributors examine the mother without child, with child, and in her multiple identities as grandmother, mother, and daughter. The collection examines how authors use textual spaces to accept, negotiate, resist, or challenge traditional conceptions of mothering and maternal roles, and how these texts offer alternative practices and visions for mothers. Further, it illuminates how textual representations both reflect and help to define or (re)shape the realities of women and families by examining how mothering and being a mother are political, personal, and creative narratives unfolding within both the pages of a book and the spaces of a life. The range of chapters maps a shift from the daughter-centric stories that have dominated the maternal tradition to the matrilineal and matrifocal perspectives that have emerged over the last few decades as the mother’s voice moved from silence to speech. Contributors make aesthetic, cultural, and political claims and critiques about mothering and motherhood, illuminating in new and diverse ways how authors and the protagonists of the texts “read” their own maternal identities as well as the maternal scripts of their families, cultures, and nations in their quest for self-knowledge, agency, and artistic expression.