A Prayer for Mothers

A prayer for mothers is the act by which we lift before God those who first carried us, fed us, and taught us to fold our hands. Motherhood is among the highest of natural vocations and a true sharing in the creative work of God, who Himself willed to be born of a Mother. To pray for our mothers, then — for their strength while they labour, their consolation in sorrow, and their reward when their work is done — is both a duty of the Fourth Commandment and a debt of love. We give below a traditional prayer for mothers, with shorter prayers in the manner of St Monica, St Anne, and Our Lady, and a word on how to pray for a mother whether she is living or has gone before us.

A traditional prayer for mothers

O God, who in Thy providence didst will that we should be born and nurtured by the love of a mother, look with mercy upon all mothers.

Strengthen them in their labours, console them in their sorrows, and give them patience in their many cares.
Reward the hidden sacrifices they make for their children, which Thou alone dost see.

Grant that they may raise their children in Thy fear and love, and at the last be gathered with them into the joy that hath no end.
Through Christ our Lord, who was born of a Mother and honoured her all His days. Amen.

This prayer may be said for one's own mother, for a wife who is a mother, for a mother who has died, or for all mothers together. Where a particular mother is meant, her name may be added at the words all mothers.

A short prayer for mothers

When time or words are few, a short prayer for mothers serves as well as a long one, for God looks at the heart and not the length. The shorter the prayer, the easier it is to repeat through the day — over the cradle, at the stove, on the road. The following may be said in a single breath:

Lord Jesus, who wast born of a Mother and lovedst her to the end, bless and keep all mothers; reward their toil, comfort their hearts, and bring them and their children safe to heaven. Amen.

A still briefer form, fit for a mother to say of herself, or for a child to say of his mother, is simply: Sweet Heart of Jesus, be the salvation of every mother; Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for every mother. These short prayers ask nothing more than the long ones; they only ask it more often.

A prayer for my mother

When the prayer is for one's own mother, it becomes the most personal form of the Fourth Commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land (Exodus 20:12). To honour a mother is not only to obey her in childhood but to love, help, and pray for her all her life, and to remember her after death. A son or daughter may pray:

O Lord, reward my mother for all she has done for me, the much that I saw and the more that I never knew.
Repay her with Thy grace what I can never repay; keep her in health of soul and body, and bring her safely home to Thee.
And if she has already departed this life, grant her eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon her. Amen.

The closing petition is the Church's own prayer for the faithful departed (see eternal rest). A mother who has died is not beyond our love; she is most in need of it, and the surest gift we can still send her is prayer and the holy Mass.

What does the Bible say about mothers?

A prayer for mothers rests upon what God Himself has said of them, and Scripture says a great deal. From the first pages, motherhood is set within the order of creation and blessing: Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land (Exodus 20:12) — the one commandment to which a promise is attached. The Book of Proverbs ends with the great praise of the valiant woman, whose children rose up, and called her blessed (Proverbs 31:28), and warns the son, forsake not the law of thy mother (Proverbs 1:8). The prophet Isaias gives us God's own tenderness in a mother's image: Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will I not forget thee (Isaias 49:15).

In the New Testament the dignity of motherhood is raised higher still, for God willed to have a Mother. The angel hails Mary, blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:28), and she answers, all generations shall call me blessed (Luke 1:48). Our Lord, subject to His Mother (Luke 2:51), honoured her to the end, and from the Cross gave her to us as our own (John 19:27). St Paul commends Timothy's unfeigned faith as the faith first of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5), showing how the faith is handed down at a mother's knee.

What does God say about mothers?

God's word treats the mother as a channel of His own care and a teacher of His law. He commands that she be honoured (Exodus 20:12; Ecclesiasticus 3:3-7), holds her instruction in honour (Proverbs 1:8; 6:20), and likens His own steadfast love to hers (Isaias 49:15; 66:13: As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you). To say what does God say about mothers is, at root, to find that He sets them among those we must love and reverence after Him, and that He chose motherhood as the very means of His Incarnation.

What does the Bible say about single mothers?

Scripture does not use the phrase, but it speaks with great force of the widow and the woman left to raise children alone, and places her under God's particular protection. God is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows (Psalm 67:6); He commands His people to do them no wrong (Exodus 22:22) and pronounces religion clean and undefiled that visits the fatherless and widows in their tribulation (James 1:27). Our Lord raised to life the only son of the widow of Naim, and he gave him to his mother (Luke 7:15). A single mother, then — whether widowed, abandoned, or bearing her cross from a past sorrow — is not outside God's care but especially within it. We may pray for her in that confidence (see the section below).

A mother's prayer, in the manner of St Monica

The Church has always honoured a particular grace in a mother's own prayer, and its great figure is St Monica. For nearly thirty years she wept and prayed over her son Augustine, who had fallen into heresy and a disordered life, until she lived to see him baptised; a bishop had told her that the child of those tears could never perish. A mother who fears for her own children may make Monica's perseverance her own:

St Monica, mother of St Augustine, who by thy long perseverance in prayer didst obtain the conversion of thy son: obtain for me the grace never to grow weary in praying for my children, that I may see them turn to God and be saved. Amen.

For a fuller treatment of this intercession, see our prayer for my children, said in her manner.

A mother's prayer for her son

A mother's prayer for a son is St Monica's own prayer renewed in every age, and the Church holds it in high honour. Whether the son is small, grown, far from home, in danger, or far from God, his mother may lift him up daily:

O God, into Thy hands I commend my son N. Guard his body from harm and his soul from sin; give him faith to know Thee, courage to do right, and the grace of a holy life and a holy death. As Thou didst restore the widow's son to his mother, restore mine to Thy friendship, and let me one day see him with Thee in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

For a son who has fallen away from the faith, the example of St Monica is the surest comfort: she prayed for nearly thirty years and was heard. A mother need never think her prayers too late or her son too lost; the child of those tears could never perish.

Saints and patrons of mothers

Catholic tradition gives mothers powerful intercessors, and a prayer for mothers naturally calls upon them.

• St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the patron of mothers, grandmothers, and women in childbirth. The faithful come to her as to a grandmother of the household of faith. See our life of St Anne.
• St Monica, patron of mothers and of those who pray for wayward children, obtained by tears the conversion of St Augustine.
• St Gerard Majella is widely invoked as the patron of expectant mothers and of those who long for children. See St Gerard.
• Our Lady stands above all, the Mother of God and our mother, given to us from the Cross when Our Lord said to the beloved disciple, Behold thy mother (John 19:27).

A prayer to Our Lady for mothers

Because Our Lord willed to have a Mother, every Christian mother shares in something of Mary's own vocation, and every mother may be commended to her. A traditional way to do this is simply the Memorare or the Hail Mary, offered for the intention; or this brief prayer:

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, who didst bear, nurture, and follow thy Son even to the Cross: take under thy protection every mother who calls upon thee.
Teach them thy patience, thy purity, and thy trust; carry their cares to thy Son; and obtain for them and for their children the grace of final perseverance. Amen.

It is fitting to add a decade of the Rosary, or the Magnificat — Our Lady's own song of a mother who is also a handmaid of the Lord.

A prayer for expectant and pregnant mothers

A prayer for an expectant mother carries two souls to God at once: the mother who bears and the child she carries. The Church has long surrounded pregnancy with prayer and entrusted it to particular patrons. An expectant or pregnant mother — and those who love her — may pray:

Almighty God, who didst will that Thine own Son should be borne in the womb of the Virgin Mary, look kindly upon this mother and the child she carries. Keep her in health and peace through the months of waiting, bring her safely to the hour of birth, and grant that her child may come quickly to the grace of holy Baptism and grow up to love and serve Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Gerard prayer for expectant mothers

St Gerard Majella, a Redemptorist lay brother (1726–1755), is the best-loved patron of expectant mothers, of childbirth, and of those who long for children. The traditional St Gerard prayer for expectant mothers may be said throughout pregnancy:

O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and wonder-worker of our day, I call upon thee and seek thy aid. Thou who on earth didst always fulfil God's design, help me to do the holy will of God. Beseech the Master of life, from whom all parenthood proceeds, to bless me with offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the kingdom of His glory in the world to come. Amen.

A mother already with child may use the shorter petition: St Gerard, patron of expectant mothers, watch over me and my child; keep us both in safety, and bring us to a happy and holy birth. Many keep his feast on 16 October, or wear a St Gerard medal as a sign of confidence — never as a charm, for it is God who gives and protects life, and the saint who prays with us. (A printable copy of these prayers is the sort of St Gerard prayer for expectant mothers PDF the faithful often keep by them; the texts above may be copied freely for that use.) See St Gerard and St Anne, patroness of childbirth.

A prayer for a mother's health and strength

When a mother is ill, exhausted, or simply worn down by the daily weight of her cares, we pray for her health and strength of body and soul. The Church does not promise that every sickness will be lifted, but bids us bring it to God with confidence and to ask, above all, the strength to bear what He sends:

Lord Jesus, who didst heal the sick and raise up the weary, look upon this mother in her need. Restore her health if it be Thy will; and whether in sickness or in health, strengthen her with Thy grace, that she may carry her burdens in peace and find her rest in Thee. Amen.

For strength in particular — the kind a mother needs day after day rather than in a single trial — the words of St Paul are her own: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). A mother may make them a daily prayer, asking God for patience, endurance, and a quiet heart. The holy Anointing is the Church's sacrament for serious illness, and should be sought for a mother who is gravely sick.

A prayer for single mothers

A single mother — widowed, abandoned, or carrying her child alone — bears a double labour, and the Church commends her with special tenderness to God, the father of orphans, and the judge of widows (Psalm 67:6). She is not less under His care for being alone; she is more. For her one may pray:

O God, protector of the widow and the fatherless, look with mercy upon every mother who raises her children alone. Be Thou her strength where she has no other, her counsel in every care, and a Father to her children. Provide for their needs, lighten her burden, and let her never lose heart, knowing that she is not alone, for Thou art with her. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A single mother may take Our Lady herself as companion, for the Mother of God knew poverty, exile, and at the last the loss of her Son; and she may invoke St Monica, who for long years raised and prayed for her children largely alone.

A prayer for mothers in heaven

A prayer for a mother in heaven — that is, for a mother who has died — is among the holiest of filial duties, for the bond of love is not broken by death. We do not pray to a mother as we pray to a canonised saint, but we pray for her, that God may bring her quickly to the vision of His face, and we may ask her, in love, to remember us before Him. The Church's own prayer is brief and sure:

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

This may be said daily, and especially on the anniversary of her death and in November, the month of the holy souls. The single greatest gift we can still give a departed mother is to have Holy Mass offered for her, since the faithful departed are helped above all by the Sacrifice of the altar. See eternal rest for the Church's full prayer for the dead.

Enrolling a mother in prayer

Some choose to enrol a mother — living or departed — in the continual prayer of a religious community, such as the spiritual enrolment offered by certain Norbertine and other contemplative sisters, who pray for those entrusted to them. This is a worthy custom: it joins one's mother to the unceasing prayer of consecrated souls and, in the case of the departed, to many Masses and offices. It is an act of love, not a transaction; the grace comes from God through the prayer offered, not from the enrolment itself.

How to pray for a mother

A prayer for mothers is best not a single word said once a year but a steady remembrance.

• Pray by name. For your own mother, name her, and name her present need or trouble.
• Offer the Mass. The holy Sacrifice is the greatest prayer; have a Mass said for your mother, living or departed. For one who has died, this is the chief act of filial love that remains.
• Keep the feasts. The feasts of St Anne (26 July) and St Monica are natural days to pray for mothers; so is any anniversary of birth or death.
• Pray with confidence, not anxiety. Cast all your care upon Him, for He hath care of you (1 Peter 5:7). We commend our mothers to God and leave the manner and the hour to Him.

A Catholic prayer for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is not a feast of the Church, but it is a fitting day for Catholics to give thanks for their mothers and to pray for them — living and departed, near and far. A Catholic prayer for Mother's Day turns a secular custom toward God, who is the author of all motherhood. On that day a family may pray together over the table, or a son or daughter alone:

God our Father, on this day we thank Thee for our mothers, and for every gift of love and faith we received through them. Reward those who are living with health and peace, and grant to those who have died eternal rest. We commend them all to Mary, the Mother of Thy Son and our Mother; through her prayers keep them in Thy love until we are gathered together in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Catholic way to keep Mother's Day is to bring one's mother to Mass, to have the Holy Sacrifice offered for her, or to give her a spiritual bouquet of prayers said on her behalf — a gift worth more than any other. For a mother who has died, the day is best kept by prayer for her soul and a Mass offered for her repose. The traditional prayer for all mothers given at the head of this page may also be used; and where the prayer is for all mothers, it gathers into one petition the living and the dead, our own and every other.

The honour we owe our mothers

To pray for one's mother is itself an act of the Fourth Commandment, which God set among the first precepts and to which alone He attached a promise. Our Lord Himself, subject to His Mother (Luke 2:51), kept this commandment perfectly, and from the Cross provided for her even in His agony. A Christian who prays for his mother stands in that company. Whether she is near or far, devout or fallen away, living or in the silence of death, she is never beyond the reach of prayer; and the love that cannot now do everything for her can still do this — lift her up to God, who loves her more than we are able, and ask Him to keep and reward her. Her children rose up, and called her blessed (Proverbs 31:28).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good Catholic prayer for mothers?

The traditional prayer given above — asking God to strengthen mothers in their labours, console them in sorrow, and reward their hidden sacrifices — serves well for all mothers together or for one in particular. It may be joined to the Hail Mary or the Memorare, commending the mother to Our Lady, who is herself the Mother of God.

How do I pray for my mother who has died?

Pray for the repose of her soul. The Church's own prayer is, Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her (see eternal rest). The greatest gift you can offer a departed mother is to have Holy Mass said for her, since the faithful departed are helped by our prayers and most of all by the Sacrifice of the altar.

Who is the patron saint of mothers?

St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the chief patron of mothers, grandmothers, and women in childbirth. St Monica is the patron of mothers who pray for wayward children, and St Gerard is invoked by expectant mothers. Above all stands Our Lady, the Mother of God and our mother.

Is there a prayer for an expectant mother?

Yes. Expectant mothers traditionally invoke St Gerard Majella and St Anne, patroness of childbirth, and commend themselves to Our Lady, who bore and brought forth the Son of God. A simple prayer asks God to keep the mother and the child she carries, and to bring both safely to the grace of Baptism.

Why should I pray for my mother at all?

Because the Fourth Commandment — Honour thy father and thy mother — binds us not only to obey our parents in childhood but to love, help, and pray for them all their lives and after death. Our Lord Himself honoured His Mother to the last. To pray for our mother is to render a small return for a debt we can never fully repay.

What does the Bible say about mothers?

A great deal. It commands that mothers be honoured (Exodus 20:12), praises the valiant mother whose children call her blessed (Proverbs 31:28), and likens God's own love to a mother's: Can a woman forget her infant... yet will I not forget thee (Isaias 49:15). In the New Testament God gives motherhood its highest dignity by willing to be born of a Mother, Mary, blessed among women (Luke 1:28). See the section above for the fuller scriptural treatment, including what Scripture says of single mothers and widows.

What is the St Gerard prayer for expectant mothers?

St Gerard Majella is the patron of expectant mothers and of childbirth. The traditional prayer asks him to beseech the Master of life... to bless me with offspring, that I may raise up children to God. The full text is given above and may be said throughout pregnancy or copied for personal use. Expectant mothers also invoke St Anne, patroness of childbirth.

What is a good Catholic prayer for Mother's Day?

Mother's Day is not a Church feast, but a Catholic may keep it by thanking God for his mother and praying for her, living or departed. The prayer given above commends all mothers to God and to Our Lady. The best gift is to bring one's mother to Mass, or to have the Holy Sacrifice offered for her — and for a departed mother, a Mass for the repose of her soul.

How do I pray for a single mother?

Pray to God as the father of orphans, and the judge of widows (Psalm 67:6), asking Him to be her strength, to provide for her children, and to keep her from losing heart. A single mother is not outside God's care but especially within it. She may take Our Lady as her companion and invoke St Monica, who raised and prayed for her children largely alone.

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Sources. Scripture quotations are from the Douay-Rheims Bible (Exodus 20:12; 22:22; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; 31:28; Psalm 67:6; Isaias 49:15; 66:13; Ecclesiasticus 3:3-7; Luke 1:28, 48; 2:51; 7:15; John 19:27; Philippians 4:13; 2 Timothy 1:5; James 1:27; 1 Peter 5:7). The life and intercession of St Monica follow St Augustine's Confessions (Book IX) and the traditional Roman accounts of her feast; the honour of St Anne as patroness of mothers follows ancient tradition and Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year. St Gerard Majella (1726–1755), Redemptorist lay brother, is honoured as patron of expectant mothers in the traditional devotional manuals and the prayers approved for his cult. The prayer for the faithful departed is the Church's Requiem aeternam. The duty owed to parents is that of the traditional catechisms on the Fourth Commandment.