Lady of La Leche, St.Gerard, and other patron saints of motherhood
happypinaymommy
I am not a very religious person, but I was brought up as catholic and I try to live like one.
Thank you for heeing my requests for intercession, St. Gerard and Our Lady of La Leche. Photo Credits
Prayer has always been my ally way back when im younger, and moreso now that I am a parent. In fact the mother of all mothers for me is the Mother of Perpetual Help, as firmly taught to me by my mom who tells me that she had always prayed to the Mother of Perpetual Help when she was pregnant with me.
When I learned I was pregnant, along with Mama Mary, I started to ask fr the intercession of St. Gerard Majella. I knew about St. Gerard through my officemate O, who was my ‘classmate’ in pregnancy. O gave me a copy of the prayer to St Gerard :
O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of thy meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of the Mother of God, enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in thee and made thee a seraph of love. O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, thou didst bear, like thy Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, thou hast been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers. Preserve me from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which I now carry, that it may see the light of day and receive the lustrial waters of baptism, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Recite Nine Hail Marys.
At the back of the ‘stampita’ she gave me was a brief background on St. Gerard:
It says that Saint Gerard Majella is the patron for childbirth, pregnant women, and motherhood. He was falsely accused of a crime, but he still had been very faithful to the roman catholic faith.
I recited this prayer every night, just like O told me. I thank St. Gerard, now that Little and I are both okay.
Upon giving birth, I decided to breastfeed. A year after into pumping every three hours in the office, I stumbled upon the information, that there indeed is a patron saint for breastfeeding moms! Our lady of la leche, who else!
I never knew that i could ask for intercession for continued breastmilk supply until i stumbled into a paining of Our Lady of La Leche in a Marian exhibit.
So I printed out a copy of her photo and pasted it on her pump. I have her to thank for my breastfeeding journey and I try to spread the word. Boy, I was just so happy when I saw a statue of her in one of the marian exhibits in the parish nearest our house. It was fun telling Little, that just like her, Baby Jesus was also breastfed!
Now that Little is bigger, I added St. Joseph and St. Michael the Archangel to the roster of saints I ask intercession from. St. Joseph because he is the patron saint of parents, and St. Michael the archangel to protect us from danger, especially little, during her phase of seeing “elementals.”
Speaking of that phase, we also heeded the intercession of St. Benedict. All religious shops would point you to St. Benedict for protection against evil and elementals. Even Quiapo and other church vendors sell his medallion to anyone who would ask about the saint who would provide protection from the ‘elements.’
On a lighter note though, I find myself praying to St. Anthony most of the time or SAINTHONY according to Little. As my staff A says, he is the patron saint for missing objects, and because of too many things on my mind, I tend to go on autopilot mode at times and misplace important stuff. Me and little pray to saint Anthony for this things. I know it is miniscule, but it is a miracle we believe in.
Another miracle worker for us is St. Jude, the patron saint of impossible cases. I got my dad — who is a nonpractising catholic — to ask for his intercession. He has helped us many many times. When im in Mendiola, i really try to drop by his church. This lenten season, i should do more discovering.
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thank you for the comment. I don’t remember mentioning film in the post?