The Wife as Helpmate in the Home ~ True Womanhood

💮💮💮 Dear Friends, I am heading with my family to the FSSP Priestly Ordinations. 💮💮💮

🩷❤️🩷 I will resume posting next week. Have a lovely week! 🩷❤️🩷

True Womanhood, Fr. Bernard O’Reilly, 1894

In the earthly paradise of the true Christian home, the wife is a helpmate, the equal of her husband, neither his inferior not his servant. It is not in such homes that our modern theories or discussions about “Woman’s Rights,” or “the Sphere of the Woman,” have originated.

No woman animated by the Spirit of her Baptism, filled with the humility and generosity which are the soul of that self-sacrificing love indispensable to husband and wife in the performance of their undivided life-labor – ever fancied that she had or could have any other sphere of duty or activity than that home which is her domain, her garden, her paradise, her world.

There, if she is truly a wife, all are subject to her, even her husband. There never existed a true-souled Christian man who did not believe himself and demean himself from his bridal hour till his dying day like a willing and loving servant of his wife inside his own home.

This is true especially of the home of the wealthy and the great, where reigns and should ever reign the infinite respect and reverence of man for woman, in whom Christian faith bids us see the majesty and purity of her who is Mother of Christ.

There is no excuse for the high-born and the wealthy, when they fail to honor themselves, by doing service inside their home to mother, wife, and sister.

The difficulty will here be with the poor man, the laboring man, coming home at evening worn out by the toil of the day, faint with hunger too, and fearful it may be of the morrow. Has he not to be served rather than serve?

The answer is an easy one, and easily understood, where minds are enlightened and hearts are upright. If the poor man’s wife has done her duty throughout the day, she will have found in her home-work enough to weary.

The very labor of preparing for her husband and her sons, perhaps, the meal which is to restore their strength, and the care required to brighten up that home so as to make it look a paradise of repose for them, – is the task of her who is the natural helper in the household – and whose blessed help consists precisely in making the home what it ought to be, man’s heart-rest from all outside cares.

But that is enough about the fundamental notion of equality between husband and wife, the father and the mother in the Christian family.

Both are necessary to each other, they ought to have but one heart and one mind in the pursuit of the one great purpose of their lives, – the happiness of their home and the rearing to the practice of all goodness the children whom God send them.

Understanding this, their only true position toward each other, the husband never can entertain any notion of domineering over his wife, not the wife feel any sense of servile inferiority toward her husband.

But the love which binds her to him is an enlightened love which makes her view their respective labors as only two distinct parts of one task.

Besides all that she accomplishes in ordering, brightening, and warming the home, – there are a thousand ways in which she can be a helpmate to her husband, beyond what is required for mere companionship.

For it is one thing to be delightful company to a person one is traveling with, by being able to converse with him in his own language, or to discuss with him every favorite topic, or to enter into his recreations and amusements with zest, and thus to lighten the weariness of the road and charm away its dullness; and another to be a helper.

One’s companion may fail in strength, or be beset with dangers and difficulties: – and then it is that the office of the helper begins.

It is precisely when man’s heart fails him, and his courage yields to disappointment or difficulty, that woman comes to his aid.

And if this help is most sweet and welcome and above all price in moments of professional weariness, of business difficulties, or when all seems dark and bleak and hopeless to the stoutest heart, – how much more valuable is it in matters which concern the soul’s welfare, in trouble of the heart, in the dark and stormy hours of temptation!

Each morning is the dawn of a new day that God has given us. It is up to us how we receive it. And for a Catholic woman it is a choice that doesn’t just affect ourselves. No, the ripple effects of those first few minutes of the day will affect all the members of the household, each of their walks of life, the people they encounter, etc…

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Our attitude changes our life…it’s that simple. Our good attitude greatly affects those that we love, making our homes a more cheerier and peaceful dwelling! To have this control…to be able to turn around our attitude is a tremendous thing to think about!

This Gratitude Journal is here to help you focus on the good, the beautiful, the praiseworthy.

You will be disciplined, the next 30 days, to write positive, thankful thoughts down in this journal. You will be thinking about good memories, special moments, things and people you are grateful for, lovely and thought-provoking Catholic quotes, thoughts before bedtime, etc. Saying it, reading it, writing it, all helps to ingrain thankfulness into our hearts…and Our Lord so loves gratefulness! It makes us happier, too! *For personal use only* ©Finer Femininity

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Beautiful Blessed Mother Wire Wrapped Rosary! Lovely, Durable.

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Eucharistic Saints: Twenty Stories of Devotion to Jesus ~ Available here.

With such a great cloud of witnesses, we have much to learn from the saints. Allow the saints to be your child’s example for meeting Christ in the Eucharist.

In Eucharistic Saints, your children will encounter stories of saints they may already know, like Pope Saint John Paul II and St. Thomas Aquinas, and they will become familiar with saints they may not know yet, like St. Peter Julian Eymard and St. Tarcisius. This book also introduces your children to holy souls who were their own age, like Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. Jacinta Marto, and Blessed Imelda, patron saint of First Communicants. Your children will see how God’s grace filled these saints’ hearts and enkindled in them an enduring Eucharistic love.

With beautiful illustrations and engaging stories, Eucharistic Saints will inspire your children to recognize, adore, and love Christ in the Eucharist.

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament (Deluxe Leatherette)

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“Here, then, is our heaven on earth—the Most Blessed Sacrament.”
—St. Alphonsus Liguori

This book was conceived and written by the great St. Alphonsus Liguori to help us grow in the knowledge and love of God and in appreciation for what He has done for us. Designed to be prayed in front the Blessed Sacrament each day over the course of a month, users of this powerful book cannot help but grow closer to Christ. 

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament provides a wealth of spiritual treasures, including: 

• 31 days of meditations and fervent prayers of love by St. Alphonsus toward Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
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• An act of Spiritual Communion for each day, reigniting our love for Our Lord even when we cannot receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist

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