We are mothers... (St. Francis of Assisi)

  We are... mothers when we carry [Jesus] in our heart and body through love, and a pure and sincere conscience; and give Him birth through a holy activity, which must shine before others by example.

--St. Francis of Assisi

Image source:  Jacques Daret, Visitation, from the Altarpiece of the Virgin, ca.1435 (Staatliche Museen, Berlin)

Quotation source:  St.  Francis of Assisi, Letter to the Faithful