Rule of Life for Wives & Moms

Obedience to Him, through our vocation, is our path to holiness.

General Rule of Life Talk  (55 min) from Fr. Rippinger

A Mother's Rule of Life (book) by Holly Pierlot
A must read for Moms.

Do you know if you are living in God's Will (Matthew 7:21)?  For a mom, this book is a necessity. This book teaches us that even in a day where there are a lot of "good" things to do, there are "greater goods" than others. God is a God of order; therefore, our priorities, daily schedule, and time commitments need to be in proper order, too. A disordered life leads to an unsettled, unhappy, discontented life and God wants more for us.

What is a Rule of Life?
According to the book, A Mother's Rule of Life, "A Rule of Life is not just a schedule, not just a collection of activites organized into a set pattern for efficient repetition. A Rule is an organization of everything that has to do with your vocation, based on a hierarchy of the priorities that define the vocation and done with the intent to please God."

The activities worked into a Rule are determined by the specific calling of the person living the Rule.

Example of Mother Teresa's (St. Teresa of Calutta's) Missionaries of Charity. The daily schedule of the sisters is quite simple:

  4:30-5:00    Rise and get cleaned up
  5:00-6:30    Prayers and Mass
  6:30-8:00    Breakfast and clean-up
  8:00-12:30  Work for the poor
  12:30-2:30  Lunch and rest period
  2:30-3:00    Spirtual reading and meditation
  3:00-3:15    Tea Break
  3:15-4:30    Adoration
  4:30-7:30    Work for the poor
  7:30-9:00    Dinner and clean-up
  9:00-9:45    Night prayers
  9:45             Bedtime

If your "P's" aren't in order, you may not have great confidence that you are living God's will to the best of your ability and may not be growing in holiness, and oh... a mom's life with disordered priorities will be full of chaos. Let's explain:

According to Holly Pierlot, priorities for a mom's life need to be in this order:
1. PRAYER - God first.  Scheduled prayer time and attention to spiritual health above all else.
2. PERSON - Ignoring your personal needs brings the entire system down.
3. PARTNER - Husband before kids.  Children are more demanding so this takes work!
4. PARENT - Again, notice parent goes AFTER partner.
5. PROVIDER (or some of us call it PROJECTS) - Finances, or Jobs, Projects, etc., not related to your primary vocation of wife and mother. Extra jobs, hobbies, ministries, that you spend time on.

She calls this system of order your Mother's Rule.  This guides us in our scheduling, prioritizing, decision-making - everything we do. It encompasses our established daily schedules, our chore lists, etc.  After (or as you) read the book the below section includes links and templates and samples to help support you as you design your rule.

"...Remembering here that we're trying to live a Rule and not just a schedule, it's important to try to call to mind at the beginning of each new time frame that you're doing all of this as a response to the call of God."                                   - Holly Pierlot

RESOURCES

• The entire book is available on FORMED if you have a membership.
• Read Proverbs 31 -> Your Mission
• Join Facebook Group: A Mother's Rule of Life Discussion Group
• Article/Interview with Holly, the author on Catholicmom.com (2014)
• Listen to beautiful talks on each "P" with this recorded workshop. Hard to find!
    A Mother's Rule of Life in the Domestic Church (MP3) by Kimberly Hahn
• Overview of Book by Kristen Soley 
• PowerPoint Presentation by Kristen Soley 
• Talk on A Mother's Rule of Life, given at the Minnesota Catholic Homeschool Conference, by Kristen Soley 
• *12/15/19 appears Holly's FB page and website have been taken down.
  Holly's Facebook Page Website www.mothersruleoflife.ca Workbook  Support Page

READY TO GET STARTED WITH DESIGNING YOUR RULE ? 

REMINDERS/TIPS

·       When assessing different needs of each P, write down ALL ideas you think of.  Even if you have an idea you can’t implement right away, you may want to refer to it when you re-evaluate your Rule down the road.

·       When adding something new to your schedule, sometimes it is easiest to add it connected to an already existing activity.  For example, if you decide to add praying a decade of the Rosary to your schedule, consider adding it right before or after a meal.

·      Don’t over-shoot.  If you’re not a morning person, don’t all of a sudden decide you’re going to get up at 5:00AM to make a Holy Hour.  Slow and go is the name of the game here.

Step 1 - Help Getting Started

Step 2 - Help with Your First P - Prayer

Step 3 - Help with Your Second P - Person

Step 4 - Help with Your Third P - Partner

Step 5 - Help with Your Fourth P - Parent

Step 6 - Help with Your Fifth P - Provider or Projects

"It takes uncommon virtue to fulfill with exactitude, that is, without carelessness, negligence, or indolence… but with attention, piety, and spiritual fervor, the whole combination of ordinary duties which make up our daily life."     -Pius XI

"Duty before anything else, even before what is holy."      -Padre Pio

OTHER HELPS

More Templates or Samples