A 2020 survey by The Cooperative Election Study found that Catholics aged thirty-five to forty-five have an average of 2.1 children, which is close to the national average of 2.06 children. It is evident that Catholics are having fewer children compared to previous generations. One study even suggested that by 2035, babies born to Muslims will outnumber those born to Christian families. While these figures are disconcerting, the parents of the saints remind us that God desires to raise saints from our families. Moreover, the more children couples welcome, the greater their opportunity to raise a saint.
Here begins the seventh and final hallmark in the series of learning about the parents of the saints and what they did to raise holy children: Sacredness of Life.
Many saints came from large families. For instance, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was one of nine children. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was one of eleven children. St. Dominic Savio was one of eleven children. St. Ignatius of Loyola was one of thirteen children. St. Gianna Molla was one of thirteen children. St. Catherine of Sienna was one of twenty-five children.
At the same time, some saints came from small families. Pope St. John Paul II was one of three children, and Bl. Chiara Badano was an only child. In both cases, their parents desired more children but were unable to have them due to health issues or other circumstances.
Children are not a right but rather a privilege and a blessing from God. The key difference between the parents of saints and many secular parents is that the parents of saints remained open to the number of children God wished to give them, trusting in His divine plan for their family.
When many women reach the age of forty or have two children, it’s common to hear them say, “I’m done,” regarding their fertility. One mother, however, who had already given birth to 23 children—some of whom tragically died during the Bubonic Plague—could have easily adopted this mindset. Yet she remained open to God’s holy will.
Her openness bore extraordinary fruit: she was blessed with twin daughters, one of whom was St. Catherine of Siena. Tragically, St. Catherine’s twin sister, Giovanna, passed away shortly after birth. Despite this sorrow, St. Catherine’s mother exemplified the sacredness of life by embracing generosity in her fertility and trusting in God’s plan.
Not every parent of a saint embraced the sacredness of life. The parents of St. Margaret of Costello struggled to accept their daughter, who was born blind, deformed with kyphosis, had difficulty walking, and was a dwarf. Unable to cope with her disabilities, they entrusted her to their maidservant for several years. When Margaret was about six years old, her parents confined her to a small cell with a window at the nearby Church of St. Mary. Despite this cruel treatment, Margaret developed a deep love for prayer and grew spiritually even in her isolation.
At the age of twenty, St. Margaret’s parents abandoned her after a miraculous cure was not granted while praying at the tomb of Fra’ Giacomo. Had they resigned themselves to God’s will and embraced their daughter as she was, perhaps they, too, might have been canonized alongside her.
Today, many expectant couples often say they don’t care about their baby’s gender, as long as the child is healthy. This mindset echoes the attitude that crept into the hearts of St. Margaret of Costello’s parents. Yet the sacredness of life reminds us that every child—healthy or not—is a precious gift from God.
St. Zélie Martin, the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, loved being around babies and dreaded the day when she could no longer have any. But not everyone in her town felt this way. A wealthy woman once told St. Zélie:
My God! Oh, how happy I am! I lack nothing. I have my health, I have wealth, I can buy all that I desire, and I don’t have any children to disturb my rest. In short, I don’t know anyone as well off as I am. (Quoted in O’Hearn, 2021, p. 454)
Tragically, this woman and her husband died shortly thereafter, falling into a ditch while taking a shortcut during the night. The allure of wealth and the focus on careers are just a few reasons why children are no longer treasured as the supreme fruit of marriage.
It was recently discovered that Pope St. John Paul II’s mother, Emilia Wojtyla, faced pressure to abort him due to her health complications. Thankfully, Emilia chose life and gave birth to her son, who would go on to impact the world profoundly. Abortion remains one of the greatest threats to marriage and the family, undermining the sacredness of life at its core.
As the culture becomes increasingly pro-death, today’s Catholic couples can learn a great deal from the parents of the saints. They can learn that children are the greatest blessing of marriage and that many parents of the saints desired large families. They can learn that being open to life means accepting a child, whether that child is born healthy or not. Most importantly, they can learn that raising a saint is the most noble task God entrusts to Catholic couples.
Raising a saint will take a miracle, but if Catholic couples correspond to the grace God pours out daily, nothing is impossible—for with God, “all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26).
Editor’s Note: This is the concluding, seventh article of a series on the parents of saints by Patrick O’Hearn.
Image from the Little Flower Basilica
