The Dominican nuns in Squamish say you don't need to have children to embody the qualities of motherhood.
While many families celebrate Mother's Day with brunch and gifts, the Dominican nuns at the Queen of Peace Monastery in the Squamish Valley will mark the day in a quieter kind of celebration.
Although the nuns who live at the monastery gave up marriage and children of their own, they say they still practise "spiritual motherhood" by having compassion for all people.
"I think the capacity for motherhood is in all women," said Sister Magdalen Coughlin. "So I have it, but I'm not carrying it out in a physical way. But it's in my heart and soul."
That said, they do hold mothers to children around the world in their prayers on on Mother's Day. Mothers, said Sister Magdalen, are to be admired.
"They've often lived such beautiful and unselfish lives for the sake of us, their children," she said.
The Dominican nuns live in quiet contemplation and prayer at their monastery flanked by B.C.'s striking coastal mountains. They occasionally venture into Squamish where Sister Magdalen says she sees wonderful families.
"They look happy, and we want them to keep on being happy," she said.
On May 13, the sisters will eat a festive meal as they do most Sundays. At mass, they'll make special mention of their mothers.
"Our parents… they've given us the great gift of life," she said. "That is the first and greatest gift."
They'll also keep in mind mothers who may be suffering or whose children may have died before them. In a nation recently rocked by the deaths of 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, the sisters say they'll be offering prayers to mothers who've lost their children in a "tragic accident."
"Every family has difficulties and hard times, and we pray that they will work through them," she said.
Many of the sisters' parents are still alive, and they may come to visit the monastery, or the sisters may phone them. Sister Magdalen said none of the sisters at the monastery have children of their own — she thinks it would be very hard to move into the role of a nun if one already was a mother.
Orders of Dominican nuns, like those at the Queen of Peace, tend to seek solitude and silence in their spiritual practice. The Squamish nuns welcome people "seeking a time of silence and prayer" to join them for a stay at the monastery guest house.
Even though they're removed from what they call the "busy noise" of modern life, they still have a few ideas about how the values of motherhood could change society for the better.
This Mother's Day, Sister Magdalen said they'll pray for those values to enter government so that politics can "become a force for nurturing peace and the good of the people."
They'll also offer prayers for Mother Earth in the hopes that people around the world can come together to protect their common home since everyone depends on the earth for life.
