Since the creation of the world, a profession has existed which has ensured its survival. It is a profession through which God redeemed humanity, which was immersed in sin and condemned to eternal death. In reality, it is much more than a profession, it is a vocation: motherhood. From it all human life springs forth, and we know that as Mother Theresa said, life is God's love in action.

God chose to demonstrate His creative love through mothers. Each child born is proof of that love. Mothers collaborate with God the Creator, not only in the formation of their children's bodies, but more important, in the salvation of their immortal souls. It is precisely in the womb of a mother where God instills an immortal soul in the first instant that a tiny human being is conceived. Can there be a greater or more dignified vocation than that of being a mother?

Mother Teresa tells us that men as well as women "have been created to love, but each in a different manner" and that "maternity is a particularly feminine blessing". She later adds: "Whoever destroys God's gift of motherhood, destroys His most precious gift to women."

The fact that God chose to come into the world through a mother in order to redeem humanity, further dignifies the vocation of motherhood. God chose this way to demonstrate the importance of mothers and families. The will of God was fulfilled when he carried out his promise made in the Garden of Eden to all humanity: it would be a woman who would crush the head of the serpent. The seed of the woman, her son Jesus, would be the one to triumph over the devil many years later. Is this perhaps the reason why the devil unceasingly fights against this sacred vocation and its fruits?

War on Motherhood

Of all the attacks launched against motherhood ever since the world began, the most fierce have occurred in this century. The "modern" movement for the "liberation" of women has led many women to believe that motherhood is an "obstacle" to their personal fulfillment. A war has emerged between the woman and "her seed," an enmity that could not have arisen except from the "father of all lies". This war that has been unleashed against the unborn child, is perhaps the vengeance of the devil, precisely because it was through a human mother, Mary, that God's only son came into the world.

The other violent attack against motherhood in these end times, comes from the birth control movement. Those who wish to stop new births at any cost, try to convince us that having more than one or two children is a disadvantage and even a disgrace; an obstacle for the "development of the population". They claim that it is necessary to submit the woman's body to harmful contraceptive and abortive chemicals and devices. Or they seek to mutilate the woman's body through sterilization, in order to destroy her most precious gift: the capacity to procreate. All with the intention of preventing births, without any concern for the physical or spiritual costs this may have for the woman!

This bloody war against motherhood and its fruits is causing the deaths by abortion of more than 50 million babies a year worldwide; this figure does not even include the countless millions who die in the first stages of their development in the womb through the pill, the IUD, Norplant, Depo-Provera, etc.

The Feminist Plan

Radical feminism is the main movement that is carrying out the war against motherhood in these end times. It exerts much power and influence on the governments of the most powerful nations on earth, and even in the United Nations Organization (UN). A perfect example of this nefarious influence is the U.N's Fourth World Women's Conference, which was held in Beijing, China, from the 4th to the 15th of September 1995.

In fact, even before the Beijing Conference, radical feminists manipulated the preparatory conferences when they excluded from the "Action Platform", the legitimate interests and needs of ordinary women. This affected especially third world women and imposed on them a feminist anti-life ideology that has nothing to do with the true rights of women.

The key concept of radical feminism to change the role of women as wives and mothers, is the term "gender", which is mentioned several times in the document submitted at the Summit in Beijing; whereas the term "mother" or "motherhood" are rarely mentioned. Instead of accepting the usual definition of the word "gender", which indicates both sexes: the masculine and the feminine, the radical feminists have reinterpreted it in such a way as to deny the natural differences between men and women. For them, the different roles for male and female are not based on the different feminine and masculine natures, but are instead a pure social fabrication in order to oppress women.

This re-definition of the word "gender", opens up the door to all kinds of evils: unions between homosexuals and lesbians, as well as, abortion, contraception, etc. In fact, "gender feminists" claim that there are at least five genders: male, female, homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual. The concept of "gender' as used by radical feminists, also constitutes one of the most insidious and perverse attacks against motherhood and the family. In effect, the most obvious difference between man and woman is the marvelous and noble capacity women have for motherhood, to carry within them and to deliver a human being gifted with an immortal soul. Moreover, motherhood implies caring and special attention by the mother for her child. But the radical feminists vehemently reject this distinctive characteristic of women, because they see it as an "obstacle" to personal fulfillment outside of the home.

It is true that the emergence of radical feminism is partly due to "machismo", the abuse of women by many men, which causes them to reject their own femininity. Their pain leads them to reject motherhood because they see it as a source of oppression. They erroneously believe that by rejecting motherhood they will be liberated. However, it is precisely the contrary. The solution to the problem of oppression starts with recovering the unmeasurable value of motherhood, the glory of women, the greatest gift that God has given them.

A light in the Darkness

In the midst of the darkness in this modern age, a ray of divine light has emerged. In 1987 on the Feast of the Annunciation, which celebrates the sublimeness of our Blessed Mother's motherhood; the purpose of the visions that allegedly took place and were related in the book titled, The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood, was revealed. This work was published in 1991 by the Riehle Foundation in Milford, Ohio.

Although the Church is still studying the authenticity of these apparitions, the book, in which the visionary relates the apparitions, has been given the nihil obstat by Mons. Joseph P. Marara and the imprimatur of the Bishop of Steubenville, Mons. Albert H. Ottenweller, D.D.,S.T.L. It seems that God is intervening in the world in order to restore the value and dignity of motherhood, which He wished to give it from the beginning. In reality, when meditating upon the evils in the world today, we must admit that their main cause is that motherhood and the family are in a state of crisis. The anti-life mentality, which has led us to a "culture of death" as it has been called by Pope John Paul II, has led women to place their own personal fulfillment above the well-being of their born and unborn children.

A Call from Heaven?

Submitting to the final decision and authority of the Catholic Church where it concerns the visions that this book reveals, I offer a summary of the messages that were received by the visionary "Mariamante" (pseudonym), from February 8 through August 11, 1987. These messages led to the emergence of the "Apostolate of Holy Motherhood for Catholic Families" movement and are addressed to mothers.

The book states on page xii:

"The three basic tenets of the Apostolate of Holy Motherhood (announced on March 25, 1987, during a vision of the Christ Child and Our Blessed Mother):

1. "...they must devote all their time, energy, and resources,, including their very selves to the greater glory of God and the pursuit of the Divine Will in their lives";

2. "(they) must be consecrated to My Most Holy Mother under the title, ‘Mother of God';"

3. "(they) must seek to fulfill their daily duties, that is, as mothers and wives in an exemplary manner of holiness by pursuing the contemplative life in their homes..."

"This is the way of perfection for those called to the sublime vocation of motherhood."

"God wishes for the exaltation of this vocation to be extolled, motherhood having already been exalted by the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ's presence in the Holy Family and in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, emphasizing also the great dignity of children. He wishes for this exaltation to be made known, understood, and highly recognized in our day and at this time in history."

Then on page xiii, is also states:

"This is a spiritual movement rather than an organization. The messages will inspire those whom Our Lord and our Blessed Mother wish, and aid in opening their hearts for the reception of the extraordinary graces necessary to fulfill this Their divine plan."

"One of the major fruits of the movement will be renewed appreciation of an esteem for children and the person of Christ in children, brought about particularly through devotion to the Christ Child. The Holy Family is to be the model for these families. The graces won by the members of this Apostolate will aid in the mitigation of the suffering of innocent children throughout the world, many of whom are now suffering from spiritual and physical neglect. Children are being impoverished spiritually in the developed world by materialism and spiritual neglect of their parents. They are not receiving the faith from their parents. This is the most severe neglect, the one which robs the children of eternal life with God in Heaven. God in His Goodness loves in an unfathomable way each one of these precious children and wishes for them to be loved as ‘precious jewels', which they truly are, by their parents."

On page xiv, it continues:

"Eucharistic adoration is emphasized, as well as frequent reception of the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, and daily fifteen decade Rosary."

"Now a movement of mothers in imitation of the Blessed Virgin is necessary to ‘stem the tide of evil' and cause holiness to flourish in the world."

"So may the hearts of these mothers, called to this silent apostolic work, be gardens for Our Lord where He can come and repose, even as He reposed His Sacred Heart near the Heart of His Mother Mary while on earth."

Finally, on page xv the book states:

"In this summary of the message and movement by Mariamante, we note firstly that the Apostolate that is to come as a result of these messages is not to be organizational, but rather a spiritual movement, a silent movement of domestic sanctification that take place through the humble and dedicated living of the message by mothers. Again, the cornerstone of the living message of Holy Motherhood is found in the three basic tenets as listed by Mariamante."