feminine-genius

Maternal solicitude

I have written often about the feminine vocation to prayer--especially our call to pray for priests. It is a priviledged dimension of our motherhood to support others through prayer and sacrifice, and to this end we should consider participating in this apostolate. (If it doesn't already exist in your diocese, perhaps you are called to create it.)

That said, the Holy Father has benefited by prayers of these fine women, one of whom recently spoke* of her vocation:

One of the seven cloistered nuns who until last October lived in the Mater Ecclesiae ("Mother of the Church") convent in the Vatican gardens, where Pope Benedict will live after his two months at Castel Gandolfo, has given an interesting interview to Vatican Radio.

 

The nuns were all Spanish except for one Italian, Sister Maria Francesca. This is what she had to say about living in the Vatican Gardens:

 

"E’ stata un’esperienza unica, ed è un’esperienza di quelle per cui uno comincia a misurare la vita da 'prima' di questo e 'dopo' questo. Quello che l’ha caratterizzata è stata essenzialmente la presenza del Santo Padre, cioè questa vita data e offerta per lui con una vicinanza, tra l’altro, fisica: la posizione del monastero è dentro i Giardini Vaticani. Proprio questa vicinanza implicava dei contatti con il Santo Padre ed il primo, il più importante in assoluto, è quello della preghiera. Noi eravamo lì essenzialmente per lui, per la Chiesa, per i suoi collaboratori della Curia. Tutte le mattine, aprendo le finestre della nostra casa, vedevamo il Palazzo Apostolico ed era un modo per mandare la preghiera quasi 'fisicamente' verso di lui." ("It was a unique experience, one of those experiences that one measures one's life by, 'before' and 'after' the experience. What characterized it was essentially the presence of the Holy Father, that is, this life given and offered for him with a nearness which was, among other things, physical: the position of the convent is inside the Vatican Gardens. Precisely this nearness implied contacts with the Holy Father, and the first, the most important of all, was that of prayer. We were there essentially for him, for the Church, for his co-workers of the Curia. Every morning, opening the windows of our house, we saw the Apostolic Palace and it was a way to send our prayer 'physically' toward him.')

 

She said she met the Pope only two times, once on December 14, 2010, on the 400th anniversary of her order's founding, and on October 14, 2012, a week before leaving the Vatican. On that last occasion, they met the Pope in his apartment.

 

What struck her, she said, was his very great capacity to be "present" and "open" to each person in front of him.

 

Asked what message she would like to communicate to the Pope, she said: "We love him very much. We loved him very much, and we love him very much." ("Lo amiamo tanto. Lo abbiamo amato tanto e lo amiamo tanto.")

God bless these dear women, and I know the next pope will have their continued support and affection.

* from Robert Moynihans newsletter #13

"Join me in magnifying the Lord"

Today's Office carries a most lovely reflection by Saint Anselm on Mary's visit to Elizabeth:

The angel Gabriel had announced the news of something that was as yet hidden and so, to buttress the Virgin Mary’s faith by means of a real example, he told her also that an old and sterile woman had conceived, showing that everything that God willed was possible to God.

  When Mary heard this she did not disbelieve the prophecy, she was not uncertain of the message, she did not doubt the example: but happy because of the promise that had been given, eager to fulfil her duty as a cousin, hurried by her joy, she went up into the hill country.

  Where could she hurry to except to the hills, filled with God as she was? The grace of the Holy Spirit does not admit of delays. And Mary’s arrival and the presence of her Son quickly show their effects: As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting her child leapt in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

  See the careful distinction in the choice of words. Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice but her son John was the first to feel the effects of grace. She heard as one hears in the natural course of things; he leapt because of the mystery that was there. She sensed the coming of Mary, he the coming of the Lord — the woman knew the woman, the child knew the child. The women speak of grace while inside them grace works on their babies. And by a double miracle the women prophesy under the inspiration of their unborn children.

  The infant leapt and the mother was filled with the Spirit. The mother was not filled before her son: her son was filled with the Holy Spirit and in turn filled his mother. John leapt and so did Mary’s spirit. John leapt and filled Elizabeth with the Spirit; but we know that Mary was not filled but her spirit rejoiced. For the Incomprehensible was working incomprehensibly within his mother. Elizabeth had been filled with the Spirit after she conceived, but Mary before, at the moment the angel had come. “Blessed are you,” said Elizabeth, “who believed.”

  You too, my people, are blessed, you who have heard and who believe. Every soul that believes — that soul both conceives and gives birth to the Word of God and recognises his works.

  Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, to rejoice in God. According to the flesh only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith Christ is the fruit of all of us. For every soul can receive the Word of God if only it is pure and preserves itself in chastity and modesty.

  The soul that has been able to reach this state proclaims the greatness of the Lord just as Mary did and rejoices in God its saviour just like her.

  The Lord’s greatness is proclaimed, as you have read elsewhere, where it says Join me in magnifying the Lord. This does not mean that anything can be added to the Lord’s greatness by human words, but that he is magnified in us. Christ is the image of God and so any good or religious act that a soul performs magnifies that image of God in that soul, the God in whose likeness the soul itself was made. And thus the soul itself has some share in his greatness and is ennobled.

Lamps and Love

This weekend, Benedict offered a beautiful Angelus message concerning Sunday's Gospel:

The Pope referred to the reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew, "the famous parable of the ten bridesmaids invited to a wedding banquet, symbol of the kingdom of heaven, of eternal life", he said. "Of the ten, five entered the banquet because, when the bridegroom arrived, they had oil to light their lamps, while the other five could not enter because they had foolishly failed to bring oil with them. What does this 'oil' represent?" the Holy Father asked. "St. Augustine and other ancient writers saw it as a symbol of love: a love which we cannot buy but receive as a gift, which we keep in our hearts and practise in good works. True wisdom is to take advantage of mortal life to do works of mercy, because this will not be possible after death. When we reawaken for the final judgement, we will be assessed on the basis of the love we have shown during our earthly lives. This love is a gift of Christ, poured upon us by the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in God-Love carry an invincible hope, like a lamp with which to cross the night after death and to reach the great feast of life."

In conclusion, the Pope invited the faithful to learn from the Virgin Mary "to live and die in the hope that does not disappoint."

This message was also--providentially--the culmination of the retreat I offered over the weekend. If you would like me to visit and share this message with the women you know, feel free to contact me. It is also found in the book, The Authentic Catholic Woman. (Study guide available upon request.) As the world dims and cultures deteriorate, our lamps are more important than ever!

UPDATE: A friend has pointed me to this marvelous explanation of Jewish wedding rituals, that makes even more sense of the Gospel references to the Bridegroom. For instance, after the dowry had been paid, there was a waiting period:

During the betrothal year the boy would build a place for him and his bride to live--this was usually a room which was an addition to his father's house. Then after about a year he would come with his groomsmen at night in a torchlight process to the bride's house. She would be waiting there with her bridesmaids, not knowing when exactly he was to come. Then the cry would go up, "The bridegroom is coming!" and the bride and her maids would go out to meet him and process back to his house with her family and the whole village in order for the wedding to take place. After the wedding the marriage was consummated in the new home he had built for his bride and the wedding supper lasted for a whole week.

There's much more -- don't miss his wonderful details!

Lay woman as superiori in Rome

As John Allen carefully explains, each dicastery in the Vatican is headed by a prefect (usually a cardinal or archbishop), assisted by a secretary (usually an archbishop or bishop) and an under-secretary (usually a monsignor or cleric). For the second time ever, a woman has been named as under-secretary, and for the first time a lay woman (the other was a Salesian nun). Flaminia Giovanelli, 61, a longtime official of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has just been appointed as the new under-secretary of that dicastery, which has as one of its upcoming tasks to promote the beautiful message of Benedict's encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. This assignment is a beautiful recognition of her aptitude, and is a move for which she is herself very grateful (and a little nervous).

As to the statement it makes about the Church's recognition of the talents of women, she reminds us of this fact:

"Maybe it’s growing in what I might call a visible way, but it’s always been there, and  anyone who knows the life of the church and its mechanisms, including its institutions, knows that women have always had a very important role. Now, I would say, that’s becoming more visible."

Indeed, the faith is not about titles and power grabs, which is what some confused souls believe in their push for women's ordination. She is absolutely right that women have always been extremely important, beginning with the foundational fact that all of our joy rests in the Fiat of Our Lady. Priests are icons of the Bridegroom, which explains the proscription against women priests, and yet women as icons of Holy Mother Church -- the Bride -- allows them tremendous latitude in their own feminine service.

Our heartiest congratulations to this faithful woman for this honour, and our prayers for her effective service for years to come!

UPDATE: stumbled across another extraordinary lay woman here!

A most delightful story

Few know that the Anglican Church has nuns, and now they have ten fewer than before:

After seven years of prayer and discernment, a community of Episcopal nuns and their chaplain will be received into the Roman Catholic Church during a Sept. 3 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien.

The archbishop will welcome 10 sisters from the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor when he administers the sacrament of confirmation and the sisters renew their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the chapel of their Catonsville convent.

Episcopal Father Warren Tanghe will also be received into the church and is discerning the possibility of becoming a Catholic priest. 

“For us, this is a journey of confirmation,” Mother Christina said. “We felt God was leading us in this direction for a long time.”

When they say a long time, they mean it, for their discernment was the result of tremendous systematic study and investigation:

Mother Christina Christie, superior of the religious community, said the sisters are “very excited” about joining the Catholic Church and have been closely studying the church’s teachings for years... Members of the community range in age from 59 to 94.

Before deciding to enter the Catholic Church, the sisters had explored Episcopal splinter groups and other Christian denominations. Mother Christina noted that the sisters had independently contemplated joining the Catholic Church without the others knowing. When they found out that most of them were considering the same move, they took it as a sign from God and reached out to Archbishop O’Brien.

“This is very much the work of the Holy Spirit,” Mother Christina said.

It is quite fascinating that their faith hasn't changed over the decades (except their understanding of papal infallibility, which was more of a misunderstanding, most likely). They have consistently held to a faith that is substantively Catholic while living in a religious body that has slid out from under them. Heroically, they thought they could hold the line, but eventually the scandal of what their hierarchy was doing undermined their own work and confused the wider world about their mission.

It came down to the Icon they were called to image. While they were each individually faithful, zealous and industrious witnesses, they couldn't attach themselves unreservedly to their church as the perfect model of bridal fidelity. They discovered that their fidelity, even heroically lived, couldn't pull their church back on track, because the Anglican hierarchy has only the most ephemeral ties to its original identity. Ultimately, their personal vocations couldn't echo the deeper reality that the Church must be -- unless they were lived within the authentic relationship to the vicar of Christ, whose authority has been entrusted to him by the Bridegroom.

It's lovely that their priest is completing the journey with them and that so many in the Baltimore archdiocese are waiting with open arms (and liturgical accomodations). God is patient, because He is the perfect Lover. Welcome home, dears!

The other shoe drops

The hard-working Anchoress has put all the necessary pieces together to understand the visitation of Women Religious, save one element, perhaps. We must pray. There is the necessary guidance of the Holy Spirit to solicit so that this effort will bear the proper fruit. We cannot just sit on the sidelines as though this is a Catholic spectator sport. All the members of the Mystical Body are built up (or diminished) by these strong and essential communities which exist as eschatological signs for the rest.

Pieter Vree offers some different angles, which explain more of the logistics and administrative details, as well as quotes from Donna Steichen, who knows more than most about the rot that passes for some forms of religious life. As for this being 30 years too late, I agree that those with motherly hearts often see it this way. We don't see "trends" or "outcomes" as much as we see individual souls -- especially loved ones who are hurt by bad theology or broken trust. Successful administrators often operate with patient strategies that serve in the long run, while we want immediate action and accountability for this person now. Both are necessary and the Church thrives on such collaboration.

Ultimately, the visitation will benefit by our prayers and sacrifices, which I know you'll provide.

Praying for Il Papa

Our Sisters in Jordan are preparing with joy!

Source

Tokenism or effective strategy?

Is it possible that Benedict has been convinced that a little job parity will help the Church's image with women?

Pope Benedict is working on a plan to put more women in top jobs at the Vatican, his spokesman has disclosed.

Briefing journalists after visiting the Pope at his holiday retreat in the Alps, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the pontiff would give women "more space and more importance". At a debate late on Wednesday, the cardinal, who runs the Vatican bureaucracy, said changes would be introduced in an expected reshuffle of senior posts.

"We're drawing up the new appointments in the Vatican - everyone knows that - and in the context of the responsibilities of the women, there'll be posts that they take up", he said.

The top priority of Benedict's papacy is to tackle what Catholic leaders see as rampant secularisation in Europe. A key reason for this, in the view of many Vatican officials, is the disaffection of women who once formed the backbone of Catholic congregations.

Personally speaking, this does nothing for me. Besides the fact that I heppen to believe that Christ died for my sins and established the Church on the rock of Peter, I love the Church because of her teaching on women. I am in the image and likeness of God and find my dignity in the beautiful truth of authentic femininity.

Will women who are disaffected from the Church say, "Aha, the Pope takes me seriously" because of such a manoeuvre? Not a chance. Disaffected women (and men) usually disagree with the Church's view of human sexuality, the nature of the family, and/or the Church's uncompromising respect for all human life. Usually, people leave due to a personal choice or proclivity, and often it's related to a particular wound. The average Catholic -- disaffected or not -- hasn't a clue who's in the hierarchy and who's pushing papers in the Vatican.

Now, that said, it's entirely possible that if women push certain papers, they would push them along a trajectory that will end up engaging women to reconsider their dismissiveness of the Church, but even that is doubtful to me. When the Holy Spirit guides an apostle, good things happen, and there is no gender-game that makes things succeed. (In that case, all sorts of quotas would have to be used to attract souls to Christ.)

Sadly, even the notion of this seems to pander to the male-model that "power brokers" make things happen, and unless women have their hands on some of those "levers of power," women won't be taken seriously in the pews. The Church is not only a sign of contradiction, but should be a manifestation of nuptial love. Redecorating with pink chair setasides is dangerous because of the very premise, and utterly unnecessary, since the Church is the one institution on earth that has always taken women seriously.

And finally, we also know that tokenism is toxic to those trying to accomplish things, surrounded by folks who are suspicious of the "why's and wherefore's" of their very presence.