Famous Mothers and a Salute to Motherhood and Mothers on Mother’s Day
Famous Mothers
A Tribute to Motherhood and Mothers on Mother’s Day
Today I would like to speak about women and mothers. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers everywhere! Were it not for mothers, we would not have come into existence — they deserve our deepest gratitude.
Honoring one’s mother is a sacred duty, as one of the Ten Commandments states: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land” (Exodus 20:12). Saint Paul the Apostle adds that this is “the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2).
In honoring the mother, we remember how much she suffered during childbirth, and even before that, during pregnancy, when she nourished the child from her own body and blood. The child’s entire body came from her, and she fed herself to nourish him. She suffered again while breastfeeding, cleaning, and caring for him, and continued to bear him in her arms until he could crawl. She carried him everywhere and never ceased to care for his health and well-being. Let us not forget that the mother was also her child’s sponsor at baptism, carrying and presenting him to be baptized.
The relationship with one’s mother is the first human relationship in life. From his nursing days, the infant looks at his mother’s face while she smiles and caresses him. For this reason, even if the world’s greatest kingdoms were offered to him instead of his mother, he would still choose her — she is his source of tenderness.
As the mother has labored for her child, so must the child labor for her. As she cared for him, so must he care for her. As she carried him when he was small, so should he carry her in her old age — lifting her burdens rather than becoming one himself. Otherwise, he is ungrateful. We remember that our Lord Jesus Christ loved His mother, the Virgin Mary, and was obedient to her, as the Gospel of Luke tells us: “He was subject to them” (Luke 2:51). The Virgin also suffered much for His sake; she agreed to become a mother for Him, fled to Egypt for His sake, and lived there three and a half years. She fulfilled the Law by presenting Him, her firstborn, in the Temple and offering a sacrifice of two turtle doves as Moses commanded (Luke 2:22–23).
The first mother we honor on Mother’s Day is the Holy Virgin Mary.
The first miracle Christ performed at the wedding in Cana of Galilee was done at His mother’s request, even though He had not intended to reveal His divinity then. But because His mother told Him that the hosts were in need, He granted her request and supplied what was lacking (John 2:1–11).
The Virgin Mary continued to follow the Lord Jesus throughout His ministry and stood beside Him at the Cross, saying to Him — as we recite in our prayers — “While the world rejoices in receiving salvation, my heart burns as I behold Your crucifixion, which You endure, my Son and my God.” Simeon the elder had prophesied to her: “A sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35).
Among the seven sayings of Christ on the Cross, two were about His mother. Even in His suffering, He cared for her, saying to His disciple John, “Behold your mother,” and to her, “Behold your son” (John 19:26–27). From that hour, the disciple took her into his home.
The Holy Virgin remained with her Son until His burial, went to His tomb, and witnessed His resurrection. As she was His mother in the flesh, she also became a spiritual mother to John, the other apostles, and the entire Church. Thus, we call her “Our Mother and Lady, the Holy Virgin.”
Just as we celebrate the Virgin as our Mother, we also celebrate the Holy Church as our Mother. One of the saints said: “No one can call God ‘Father’ unless the Church is his Mother.” The Church gave birth to us in baptism by water and the Spirit, nourished us with Orthodoxy and all the teachings of faith, raised us in the faith, and administers all the Holy Mysteries — baptism, chrismation, absolution, forgiveness through the priest’s mouth, the Eucharist, marriage, and finally prayers for the departed, committing the soul to heaven and asking mercy for it.
On Mother’s Day, we also remember our mother Eve. Sadly, many remember her only for her sin! How ungrateful this is on Mother’s Day!
Our mother Eve, whom God created in His image and likeness, was blessed and told with our father Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Eve was innocent and simple when God made her. The serpent exploited her innocence and deceived her, for Eve knew nothing of lying or deceit. Yet though God punished her, He also promised that her seed would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).
Eve is the great ancestor of Christ — may God grant rest to her soul in His Paradise. She suffered deeply when one of her sons killed the other and before that, from the Lord’s reproach and being cast out of Eden. Yet when she bore Seth, and later Enosh, “then men began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). Their descendants were called “the sons of God” (Genesis 6:2).
Among the saintly mothers, we remember the mother of St. Mark the Apostle, in whose house the first Christian church was established (Acts 12:12). In that same house, the Lord washed His disciples’ feet, spoke with them at length, instituted the first Eucharist (John 13–16), and where the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost (Acts 2).
Among the mothers who gave birth to prophets, apostles, and priests:
Jochebed, the mother of Moses the Prophet, Aaron the first high priest, and Miriam the prophetess who led the women in praise after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20). St. John Chrysostom said: “A woman does not become a mother by giving birth, but by raising her children.”
We also remember the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee — both apostles among the Twelve — and the mother of Peter and Andrew, who were also among the Twelve.
We recall the mother of St. Basil the Great and her four saintly children: St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa; St. Peter, Bishop of Sebaste; and their sister St. Macrina, who became a spiritual guide and mother to them. When she departed, her brother St. Gregory wrote a touching eulogy that became a book.
We also remember St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. Her son went astray in his youth, and she wept and prayed for him for many years until St. Ambrose of Milan said to her: “The son of such tears shall not perish.” Indeed, Augustine repented, was baptized, became a monk and bishop, and a fountain of spirituality — author of The Confessions and The City of God. He defended the faith against the Pelagians and Montanists and became one of the great champions of faith and contemplation, thanks to his mother’s prayers.
We also recall the mother of the Prophet Samuel, who was barren and wept before the Lord, vowing that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate him to Him. When she bore Samuel, she fulfilled her vow and gave him — her only child — to serve in the Temple at Shiloh. Samuel grew up to be the prophet who anointed David as king (1 Samuel 16).
And we remember Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who was barren and was granted a son by God. She was filled with the Holy Spirit when the Virgin greeted her, and her unborn child leapt with joy in her womb (Luke 1:15, 44). The Lord said of him: “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:9, 11), and Scripture calls him an “angel.”
Among the saintly mothers is Sarah, mother of our father Isaac, whom God promised a son though she was barren (Genesis 18). She was ninety years old and still very beautiful — so much so that King Abimelech desired her, though God appeared to him in a dream and rebuked him, preventing him from touching her (Genesis 20:2, 7).
We also remember Rebekah, the mother of our father Jacob and Esau, who was barren and whom God spoke to, saying: “Two nations are in your womb… the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). She was the one who advised Jacob to flee from Esau to save his life (Genesis 27:43).
Speaking of saintly mothers, we also remember the mother and grandmother of St. Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, of whom St. Paul wrote: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice” (2 Timothy 1:5). I recall when I visited Russia in 1972 how impressed I was by the faithful mothers and grandmothers who secretly taught their children the faith and prepared them for baptism during communist times when men could not openly confess their faith.
Among the saintly mothers, we also honor the mothers of martyrs and spiritual mothers.
Among the mothers of martyrs: St. Dolagy, whose church in Esna is being renewed; St. Rebecca of Sanbat; and St. Julitta, the mother of St. Cyriacus. We remember the mother whose sons were slain on her lap while she encouraged them, saying that in a moment they would be with Christ — and she too was martyred.
Among the spiritual mothers, we remember St. Demiana, who guided forty virgins and was martyred with them; St. Catherine of Sinai; and St. Sarah, who advised the monks of Scetis, saying, “Truly you are monks of Scetis: the virtues you possess you conceal, and the faults you lack you ascribe to yourselves.”
We also remember St. Melania, who guided St. Mar Evagrius to repentance and monasticism, and St. Postumiana, who became abbess of a convent in Jerusalem and received a letter from St. Jerome (his twentieth letter), as did her mother, who had been abbess before her after her widowhood.
May the blessings of all these mothers be with us.
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