The mother's duties

At the moment she understood the Angel's message the Virgin Mary replied: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Be it done unto me according to thy word." A "fiat," a burning "yes" to the call to motherhood! A virginal maternity, incomparably superior to any other; but a real maternity, in the true and proper sense of the word. Therefore, when reciting the Angelus, after baying recalled to mind Mary's acceptance, the faithful immediately reply: "And the Word was made flesh."

One of the fundamental demands of the true moral order is that to the use of the marriage rights there corresponds the sincere internal acceptance of the function and duties of motherhood. With this condition the woman walks in the path traced out by the Creator towards the goal which He has assigned His creature; He makes her, by the exercise of this function, partaker of His goodness, wisdom and omnipotence, according to the Angel's message: "Concipies in utero et paries—you will conceive and bear forth a child".

If such then is the biological foundation of your professional activity, the urgent object of your apostolate will be: to maintain, reawake and stimulate the sense and love of the function of motherhood.

When husband and wife value and appreciate the honor of producing a new life, whose coming they await with holy impatience, your part is a very easy one: it is easy enough to cultivate in them this interior sentiment the readiness to welcome and cherish that nascent life follows spontaneously. This is unfortunately not always the case; often the child is not wanted; worse still, it is dreaded. How can there be a ready response to the call of duty in such conditions? Your apostolate must in this case be exercised both efficiently and efficaciously: first of all, negatively, by refusing any immoral cooperation secondly, positively, by turning your delicate care to the task of removing those preconceived ideas, various fears or faint excuses, to removing as far as possible the obstacles, even if external, which may make the acceptance of motherhood painful.

If recourse is had to you for advice and help to facilitate the birth of new life, to protect it and set it on its way towards its full development, you can unhesitatingly lend your help; but in how many cases are you, instead, called upon to prevent the procreation and preservation of this life, regardless of the precepts of the moral order? To accede to such requests would be to debase your knowledge and your skill by becoming accomplices in an immoral action; it would be the perversion of your apostolate. This requires a calm but unequivocal "no" that prevents the transgression of God's law and of the dictates of your conscience. Hence your profession obliges you to a clear knowledge of this divine law, so that it may be observed without excess or defect.