Our Inspiration: Holy Mothers of the Church

Women who have inspired the Community of Saint Anna

The Community of Saint Anna is inspired by the example of countless unnamed women throughout history who have prayed for others through everyday events and times of great joy and distress, becoming spiritual mothers to those around them.

To fulfill our intention to pray for the whole world without exception, the Community of Saint Anna has adopted an ancient litany of petitions as our daily prayer on behalf of all and for all¹. We feel privileged to entrust everyone and all creation to the loving care of God.

¹ Orthodox Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, 5^th Century AD

Ancient and Contemporary Mothers of the Church

We are motivated by the example of mothers of the Church throughout the ages including our patron, Saint Anna the Prophetess, who prayed in the temple and was among the first to greet the infant Jesus as the Messiah, fearlessly proclaiming her good news to all; Mary, the Mother of God, particularly in her supportive role in the early Church during her elder years and her continuous love and care for all humanity today; women of the early Church who taught, guided, and served the community; and others who followed in their footsteps, such as the beguines.

This list includes Mechthild von Magdeburg, a Beguine and mystic who was beloved for professing that God wished to lavish the experience of intense love on everyone, not only on those with traditional religious vocations, and who challenged the proud and power-seeking clerics of the time. We are also inspired by Saint Jane de Chantal, who taught that the love of God is shown more in inner freedom, confidence in God’s everlasting love, and gentleness than heroic feats or asceticism. Her legendary kindness to people, particularly those who were not valued in society, prompted the Catholic Church to designate her as the patroness of forgotten people.

Modern mothers of the Church who inspire us include Dorothy Day, who provided care for the poor and fostered the cause of peace in New York and beyond, Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, theologian and ardent supporter of ecumenism, and Mother Maria Skobtsova of Paris, whose efforts to rescue people during World War II, including Jewish children whom she tucked into garbage cans to enable their escape from Nazi-controlled Paris, led to her death in the Ravensbruck concentration camp.

Lesser known Mothers of the Church include Blessed Olga of Alaska, a Yup’ik midwife and counselor who is called a Northern Light of the Church and Tender Healer due to her kindness and generosity, the Russian babushkas whose service and prayer protected many during the Soviet regime, and other women everywhere whose prayer and kindness conveys the Gospel message that “each person is the very icon of God incarnate in the world” (attributed to Mother Maria Skobtsova). Icons of Prophetess Anna, Mother Maria, and Dorothy Day are below.