We regularly turn to Proverbs 31 for a wonderful picture of the faithful mother. If so, that passage can also fill out the characteristics of the Church. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. We get the impression that without her, the family would collapse. Without her, we would be hungry and naked and broken.
Mother holds life together.
This great gift also, O my God, my Mercy, You gave Your good servant, in whose womb You created me, that she showed herself, wherever possible, a peacemaker between people quarreling and minds at discord. . . . She was a servant of Your servants. She had been the wife of one husband, had requited her parents, had governed her house piously, was well reported of for her good works. The Church should be so central in our thinking that without her life would collapse. She should play prominently in our understanding of the past, the present, and the future.