The Virtuous Wife Reaches Outside Her Own Doors

by J.R. Miller, early 1900’s

But a wife’s ministry of mercy reaches outside her own doors. Every true home is an influence of blessing in the community where it stands. Its lights shine out. Its songs ring out. Its spirit breathes out. The neighbors know whether it is hospitable or inhospitable, warm or cold, inviting or repelling.

Some homes bless no lives outside their own circle; others are perpetually pouring out sweetness and fragrance. The ideal Christian home is a far-reaching blessing. It sets its lamps in the windows, and while they give no less light and cheer to those within, they pour a little beam upon the gloom without, which may brighten some dark path and put a little cheer into the heart of some poor passer-by.

Its doors stand ever open with a welcome to everyone who comes seeking shelter from the storm, or sympathy in sorrow, or help in trial. It is a hospice, like those blessed refuges on the Alps, where the weary or the chilled or the fainting are sure always of refreshment, of warmth, of kindly friendship, of gentle ministry of mercy.

It is a place where one who is in trouble may always go confident of sympathy and comfort. It is a place where the young people love to go, because they know they are welcome and because they find there inspiration and help.

And this atmosphere of the home, the wife makes; indeed, it is her own spirit filling the house and pouring out like light or like fragrance.

A true wife is universally beloved. She is recognized as one of God’s angels scattering blessings as far as her hand can reach. Her neighbors are all blessed by her ministrations. When sickness or sorrow touches any other household, some token of sympathy finds its way from her hand into the shadowed home.

To the old she is gentle and patient. To the young she is inciting and helpful. To the poor she is God’s hand reached out. To the sufferer she brings strength. To the sorrowing she is a consoler. There is trouble nowhere near—but her face appears at the door and her hand brings its blessing!

Some wife, weary already, her hands over-full with the multiplied cares and duties of her household life—may plead that she has no strength to spend in sympathy and help for others. But it is truly wonderful how light these added burdens seem—when they are taken up in love.

Always the duties we perform out of love for Christ and his suffering ones—become easy and pleasant as we take them up. Heaven’s benediction rests ever on the home of her who lives to do good.

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“Hospitality is so much more than entertaining – so much more than menus and decorating and putting on a show. To me, it means organizing my life in such a way that there’s always room for one more, always an extra place at the table or an extra pillow and blanket, always a welcome for those who need a listening ear. It means setting aside time for planned camaraderie and setting aside lesser priorities for impromptu gatherings.” -Emilie Barnes. Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home

When we are on our deathbed, it won’t be how much we have accomplished, how clean our house is or how many Christmas cookies we baked…. It will be: Do I go to the door to greet my husband when he comes home? Do I take the time to listen to him? Did I take time out to look and listen when the kids were talking to me? Did I read them a bedtime story? Did I make sure they said their prayers? These are the priorities…

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Joan of Arc ~ Available here.

Very few people know that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote a major work on Joan of Arc. Still fewer know that he considered it not only his most important but also his best work. He spent twelve years in research and many months in France doing archival work and then made several attempts until he felt he finally had the story he wanted to tell. He reached his conclusion about Joan’s unique place in history only after studying in detail accounts written by both sides, the French and the English. Because of Mark Twain’s antipathy to institutional religion, one might expect an anti-Catholic bias toward Joan or at least toward the bishops and theologians who condemned her. Instead one finds a remarkably accurate biography of the life and mission of Joan of Arc told by one of this country’s greatest storytellers. The very fact that Mark Twain wrote this book and wrote it the way he did is a powerful testimony to the attractive power of the Catholic Church’s saints. This is a book that really will inform and inspire.

Come Rack, Come Rope ~ Available here.

Come Rack, Come Rope, one of Robert Hugh Benson’s best-known novels, is based on true events and individuals in the time of the Elizabethan persecution of Catholics in England. Come Rack, Come Rope centers on Robin and Marjorie, who give up their love for another and hope of marriage in order to minister to their persecuted neighbors. Surrounding Robin and Marjorie are a host of fascinating characters—including the historical figures of Richard Topcliffe, Anthony Babington, and Saint Edmund Campion.

Weaving the historical source material with his own creative additions, Benson presents an unflinching, honest portrayal of the terror of those times along with an achingly beautiful depiction of true faith. Come Rack, Come Rope illustrates the words of Christ from Matthew’s Gospel, “you will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved,” in its stirring movements from doubt to faith, from hatred to love, and from fear to the heroic death of a martyr.

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