To join The Confraternity of Spiritual Mothers for Priests
email us your name and address at:

spiritualmother4priests@gmail.com


or mail your request with your name and address information to:

Spiritual Mothers
908 Queens Court
Santa Maria, CA  93454

Your names will be written in our member book and your intentions will be prayed for.  Thank you
and
God Bless you!
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A Cardinal’s Dream

Nicholas Cardinal of Cusa (1401-1464), Bishop of Brixen, was not only a great Church politician, reputable Papal legate and reformer of spiritual life for the clergy and the faithful of the 15th century, but also a man of silence and contemplation.

He was deeply moved by a dream in which he was shown that spiritual reality which still has meaning for priests and laity to this very day: the power of self-offering, prayer and the sacrifice of spiritual mothers hidden in convents.

The Offering of Hands and Hearts Nicholas and his guide entered a small, ancient church decorated with mosaics and frescoes from the early centuries, and there the Cardinal saw an amazing sight. More than a thousand nuns were praying in the little church.

Despite the limited space, they all fit due to their slender and composed nature. The sisters were praying, but in a way that the Cardinal had never seen. They were not kneeling but standing; their gaze was not cast off into the distance but rather fixed on something nearby which he could not see. They stood with open arms, palms facing upwards in a gesture of offering.

Surprisingly, in their poor, thin hands they carried men and women, emperors and kings, cities and countries. Sometimes there were several pairs of hands joined together holding a city.

A country, recognizable by its national flag, was supported by a whole wall of arms, and yet even then there was an air of silence and isolation around each one of them in prayer. Most of nuns, however, carried one individual in their hands.

In the hands of a thin, young, almost  child-like nun, Nicholas saw the Pope. You could see how heavy this load was for her, but her face was radiating a joyful gleam.

Standing in the hands of one of the older sisters he saw himself, Nicholas of Cusa, Bishop of Brixen, and Cardinal of the Roman Church. He saw the wrinkles of his age; he saw the blemishes of his soul and his life in all their clarity. He looked
with stunned and surprised eyes, but his fright was soon mixed with an unspeakable bliss.

His guide whispered, “Now you see how sinners are sustained and carried and, in spite of their sins, have not given up loving God.”

“What about those who do not love anymore?” the Cardinal asked.  Suddenly, he was in the crypt of the church with his guide, where once again, more than a thousand nuns were praying.

Whereas the former ones were carried in the nuns’ hands, here in the crypt, they were carried in their hearts. They were  exceptionally serious because the fate of eternal souls was at hand. “So you see, Your Eminence,” said the guide, “that also those who have given up loving are still carried. It happens occasionally that they become warm again through the ardent hearts which are being consumed for them—occasionally, but not always.

Sometimes, in the hour of their death, they are taken from these saving hands into the hands of the Divine Judge, and they must also answer for the sacrifice that has been made for them.

Every sacrifice bears fruit. However, when the fruit offered to somebody is not picked, the fruit of corruption ripens.”

The Cardinal was captivated by the  women who had made an offering of their lives. He always knew they existed, but he saw
now, clearer than ever, their importance for the Church, for the world, for nations and for every individual. Only now was it so surprisingly clear. He bowed deeply before these martyrs of love.

For more than half a millennium, Saben was the Bishop’s Seat for the diocese of Brixen beginning in the year 550. The bishop’s castle was later converted  into a convent for Benedictine nuns in 1685. To this day, they live their spiritual
motherhood by praying and consecrating themselves to God just as Nicholas of Cusa saw in his dream.
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Eliza Vaughan

It is a fact that vocations to the priesthood must be prayed for;
Jesus speaks about it himself in the Gospel:

“The harvest is abundant, but the labourers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest!” (Mt. 9:37-38)

The Englishwoman Eliza Vaughan is a particularly encouraging example of a mother imbued with a priestly spirit who frequently prayed for vocations.

“Let us give our children to God” Eliza came from a strong Protestant family; in fact, it was one of the founders of the Rolls-Royce car company. Yet even during her childhood
education in France, she was deeply impressed by the exemplary efforts of the Catholic Church toward the care of
the poor.

After she married Colonel John Francis Vaughan in the summer of 1830, Eliza converted to the Catholic Faith, despite
the objection of her relatives. During the Catholic persecution in England under Queen Elisabeth I (1558-1603), the Vaughan’s ancestors preferred imprisonment and expropriation to being unfaithful to their beliefs.
 
Courtfield, the ancestral family home, became a place of refuge for priests during the decades of terror in England, a place where the Holy Mass was often celebrated secretly. Nearly three centuries had now passed, but the Catholic beliefs of the family had not changed.

So profound and zealous was Eliza’s religious conversion that she proposed to her husband to offer all of their children
back to God.  Convinced of the power of silent, faithful prayer, Eliza spent an hour in adoration every day praying for
vocations in her family.  The mother of six priests and four
religious sisters, her prayer was bountifully heard. Mother Vaughan died in 1853 and was buried in the grounds of her beloved family property, Courtfield.

Today, Courtfield is a retreat center for different groups in the Welsh diocese of Cardiff.  In consideration of Eliza’s holy life,
the family chapel was consecrated as the shrine of “Our Lady of Vocations” by the bishop in 1954 and confirmed as such in the year 2000.

This remarkable woman made a habit  of praying for an hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament in the house chapel at Courtfield. She prayed to God for a large family and for many religious vocations among her children. And her prayers were answered!

She bore 14 children, and died shortly after the birth of the last child, John, in 1853.

Of the 13 children that lived, six of her eight boys became priests: two priests in religious orders, one diocesan priest, a
bishop, an archbishop and a cardinal.

From the five daughters, four became nuns in religious orders. What a blessing for the family, and what an impact on all
of England!

The Vaughan children enjoyed a pleasant childhood because their virtuous mother knew how to educate them in a very natural way by uniting spiritual and religious obligations with
amusement and cheerfulness.

Thanks to their mother, prayer and daily Mass in the house chapel were just as much a part of everyday life as music,
athletics, amateur theatre, horse riding and playing. It was never boring for the children when their mother told them stories from the lives of the saints, who little by little became their dearest friends.

Eliza happily let her children accompany her on visits to the sick and needy of the area. On such occasions, they learned how to be generous, to make sacrifices and to give away their savings or their toys.

Shortly after the birth of her 14th child, Eliza died. Two months after her death, Colonel Vaughan wrote in a letter that
he was convinced divine providence brought Eliza to him. “I thanked the Lord in adoration today that I could give back to him my dearly beloved wife. I poured out my heart to him, full of thankfulness that, as an example and a guide, he gave me Eliza with whom I am still now bound by an inseparable, spiritual bond. What wonderful consolation and grace she brought me! I still see her as I always saw her before the Blessed Sacrament: her inner purity and extraordinary human kindness which her beautiful face reflected during prayer.”

Laborers in the Vineyard of the Lord The many vocations from the Vaughan family are a unique legacy in British history and a blessing which came especially through their mother, Eliza.  At the age of 16, Herbert, the oldest son, shared his priestly vocation with his parents. Their reactions were very
different. His mother, who had prayed a great deal for it, smiled and said, “Child, I have known it for a long time.” His
father, however, needed a little time to come to terms with the decision, since the inheritance goes to the oldest, and he
had hoped Herbert would have a prestigious military career.

How could he have known that his son would one day be the Archbishop of Westminster, founder of the Millhill Missionaries and then a Cardinal? Yet the father also bowed to his wishes writing once to his friend, “If God wants Herbert for himself, he can have all the others as well.”

During a personal summer retreat at theage of 16, Herbert Vaughan decided to become a priest. He was ordained in Rome at the age of 22 and later became the Bishop of Salford, England and founder of the Millhill Missionaries who today work all over the world. He was eventually made a cardinal and the third Archbishop of Westminster. His motto on his coat of arms reads:

“Amare et servire!” “Love and serve!” Cardinal Vaughan said, “These two words express my agenda: Love must be the root from which all my service blossoms.”

Although Reginald married, as did Francis, who inherited the family estate, the Lord did call nine other Vaughan children. Roger, the second oldest, became a Benedictine prior and later the beloved Archbishop of Sydney,  Australia, where he built the Cathedral.  Kenelm was a Cistercian and later a diocesan priest; Joseph, the fourth son, became a Benedictine like his brother and founded a new abbey.

Bernard, the most lively of them all, loved dancing, sports and anything fun; he became a Jesuit. On the day before he entered the order, he went to a ball where he told his dance partner, “This dance with you is my last, because I am joining the Jesuits.”

Shocked, the girl replied, “Really? You want to become a Jesuit!? But you who love the world so much and are such an
excellent dancer!?”  His equivocal, but beautiful answer was,
“That is why I am consecrating myself to God.”

John, the youngest, was ordained a priest by his oldest brother, Herbert, and later became the Auxiliary Bishop of Salford, England.

Four of the five daughters in the family entered convents. Gladis entered the Order of the Visitation, Teresa joined the
Sisters of Mercy, Claire became a Poor Clare, and Mary an Augustinian prioress. Margaret, the fifth Vaughan daughter, wanted to be a religious sister, but could not do so because of her poor health. Consecrated to God, she lived at home, but spent the last years of her life in a convent.
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Blessed Maria Deluil Martiny
(1841-1884)

Approximately 120 years ago, Jesus began to reveal his plan for the renewal of the priesthood to consecrated women living in and out of convents. He entrusted this so-called “Priest Work” to spiritual mothers.

Blessed Maria Deluil Martiny is a precursor of this work for priests.  Regarding this great intention of her heart, Mother Maria Deluil Martiny said, “To offer yourself for souls is beautiful and great… but to offer yourself for the  souls of priests is so beautiful, so great, that you would have to have a thousand lives and offer your heart a thousand times… I would gladly give my life if only Christ could find in priests what he
is expecting from them. I would gladly give it even if just one of them could perfectly realize God’s divine plan for him!”

She did, in fact, seal her priestly motherhood with the blood of
martyrdom at age 43. Her last words were, “This is for the work, for the Priest Work!”

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Venerable Louise Margaret Claret de la
Touche
(1868-1915)

Over the course of many years, Jesus prepared the Venerable Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche for her apostolate for the renewal of the priesthood. The Lord appeared to her on 5 June 1902, while she was in adoration: “Praying to him for our little novitiate, I asked him to give me some souls I might form for
him.

He replied: ‘I will give you the souls of men.’ Being profoundly astonished by these words, the sense of which I did not understand, I remained silent…until Jesus said:

‘I will give you the souls of priests.’Still more astonished I asked him: ‘My Jesus how will you do that?’ …Then he showed me that he has a special work to do, which is to enkindle the fire of love again in the world, and that he wishes to make use of his priests to accomplish it.”

“He said to me: ‘Nineteen centuries ago, twelve men changed the world; they were not merely men, but they were priests.
Now, once more twelve priests could change the world…but they must be holy.’” Subsequently, the Lord let Louise Margaret see the outcome of the Work. “It is a special union of priests, a Work, which encompasses the whole world.

Priests who will form part of this work will undertake, among other things, to preach Infinite Love and mercy, but first his heart must be penetrated by Jesus and enlightened by his spirit of love. They must be united among themselves, having but one heart and one soul, and never impeding one another in their activities.”

Louise Margaret wrote so impressively about the priesthood in her book “The Sacred Heart and the Priesthood”, that priests believed the anonymous writer to be a fellow priest. A Jesuit even exclaimed, “I do not know who wrote this book, but one thing I do know, it is not the work of a woman!”

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C O N F R A T E R N I T Y   O F   S P I R I T U A L    M O T H E R S   F O R   P R I E S T S
"I have my Mother to thank for what I
have become and how I got there!"



St. Augustine


Independent of age or social status, any
woman can become a mother for priests.

This type of motherhood is not only for mothers of families, but is just as
possible for an unmarried girl, a widow,
or for someone who is ill.  It is especially pertinent for missionaries and religious sisters who have given their lives entirely to God for the sanctification of others.

John Paul II even thanked a child
for her motherly help: “I also express my gratitude to Bl. Jacinta for the sacrifices and prayers offered for the Holy Father, whom she saw suffering greatly.”  (13 May 2000)

Every priest has a birth mother, and
often she is a spiritual mother for her
children as well. For example, Giuseppe Sarto, the future Pope Pius X, visited his 70-year-old mother after being ordained a bishop.

She kissed her son’s ring and,
suddenly pensive, pointed out her own
simple silver wedding band saying,
“Yes, Giuseppe, you would not be
wearing that ring if I had not first worn
mine.”

Pope St. Pius X rightfully confirms his experience that, “Every vocation to the priesthood comes from the heart of God, but it goes through the heart of a mother!”

One sees this particularly well in the life
of St. Monica. Augustine, who lost his
faith at the age of 19 while studying in
Carthage, later wrote in his famous”
Confessions” regarding his mother:”

For love of me, she cried more tears than a mother would over the bodily death of her son. Nine years passed in which I wallowed in the slime of that deep pit and the darkness of falsehood. Yet that pious widow desisted not all the hours of her supplications, to bewail my case unto Thee where her prayers entered into Thy presence.”

After his conversion, Augustine said
thankfully, “My holy mother never
abandoned me. She brought me forth in
her flesh, that I might be born to this
temporal light, and in her heart, that
I might be born to life eternal.”

St. Augustine always desired to have his mother present at his philosophical
discussions.

She listened attentively and sometimes
intervened with such fine intuition that
the scholars who had gathered were
astounded by her inspired responses to
intricate questions. It should come as no surprise then that Augustine described himself as her “disciple of philosophy”!

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