Physical Motherhood and spiritual motherhood between theory and practice: some Late Antique examples

In Late Antiquity, Christian thinking on motherhood produced a deep change of mentality: motherhood is understood by Christians to be both a gift from God and availability to welcome the gift. On the other hand, the Church Fathers open the door to another concept of motherhood: under certain conditions, any woman can become a mother of souls. This paper examines some concrete cases of more or less voluntary renunciation of physical motherhood and the exemplary embodiment of spiritual motherhood. However, through education and exemplary conduct, spiritual motherhood could also be exercised towards one’s own children: in this respect, physical motherhood assumed renewed importance.