Maude Goodman (1853–1938)
This is a beautiful article on the importance of the woman in the home as mother. She talks about how a woman finds her maturity and fulfillment in the giving of herself.
Singles, do not fret. You can also find your fulfillment in the giving of yourself…just in different ways. And Janet talks about this in another place in her book…
by Janet Kalven, 1946, The Task of the Woman in the Modern World
WOMAN IN MARRIAGE
Woman’s nature is admirably adapted to her functions as wife and mother. The responsibilities of the family develop her powers and mature her spiritually, mentally and physically.
Spiritually, a woman becomes mature through surrender, through finding the particular role in which she can accomplish her total dedication to God.
The young woman who has found her vocation in life in marriage and is wholly given to her task of bringing her family to God is a mature person whatever her age. She will have that air of serenity and peace which are the sign of the basic fulfillment of her being.
The woman who has never surrendered wholeheartedly to any purpose outside herself remains immature all her life, like a bud which never unfolds itself.
In marriage, woman can develop a spirit of selflessness which makes her dedication deeper and richer with the years. Her service to her family both expresses her love of God and increases her power of loving.
The woman who has no outlet for her love, no one for whom she can spend herself, is apt to become hard, bitter, selfish, because she has no one but herself to consider. The woman who is constantly concerned with the needs of her family can unfold the qualities of love, tenderness, and unselfish devotion which make her truly great and truly happy.
Mentally, a woman’s mind matures under the stimulus of the varied practical activities she performs for those she loves. In the concrete, living experience of the family, she can develop sound judgment and a keen insight into human nature.
Lombroso’s observation can readily be verified. “The mother of a large family who has had no time to study, having been occupied with her children and her household, has more life, more breadth of ideas, than the old maid of the same age who has done nothing else than to potter about at universities and libraries.”
The responsibilities of her family life exercise all woman’s mental powers. Her intuition and powers of observation are called into play constantly to discover the unexpressed desires of her family, particularly the needs of the helpless child.
She has need of her intuition, too, as well as her tact, to help her solve the hundred problems of human relations and practical affairs that arise in the course of her day. Providing for the family helps to develop woman’s natural ingenuity and inventiveness.
It is to the ingenuity of women intent on meeting the needs of their families that we owe the discovery of many of the most important arts: horticulture, for example, the creative arts of weaving, pottery, basketry, the domestic arts of food preparation and preservation; the uses of medicinal herbs in healing.
Physically, too, marriage and childbearing represent a development and completion for the normal woman, giving her new beauty and vitality. The mother of a large family experiences a physical fulfillment with the birth of each child which gives her fresh vigor and health.
THE GIGANTIC TASK
In a well-balanced society, where the family performs all its proper functions, the home is a society in microcosm, presenting all the problems of human relations, all the variety of human activities.
The home is at once an economic and industrial center, preparing goods for family use; a school in which the young are introduced to the universe; a sanctuary for rest and relaxation; a temple dedicated to the praise of God.
It is woman’s function to organize and direct this complex undertaking, a role which demands intelligence, talents and spiritual qualities of a high order.
Chesterton describes the vastness of woman’s task in the family in the following passage from “What’s Wrong With the World”:
“To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors, and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology and hygiene: I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it.
How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No… a woman’s function is laborious but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.”
One of the greatest of woman’s responsibilities is her task as educator, transmitting the fundamental heritage of civilization, the traditions of culture and religion, to the new generation.
The child receives his first introduction to civilization from his mother. The first formation of his mind and character belong almost entirely to her. She gives the child his first concepts of reality, his basic acquaintance with his mother tongue.
The child’s ideas of God, of right and wrong, of repentance for faults, his first meeting with God in prayer–all come through the mother’s teaching. She socializes the young human being, training him to honesty, courage, generosity, developing self- control, responsibility, and all those other virtues without which society cannot exist. She molds the men and women of the future. No other influence is as strong as the mother’s in forming and preparing human beings for life.
Woman not only transmits the foundation of culture to the child; she is the great keeper of tradition in society, the custodian of manners and morals, conserving the gracious customs and fundamental standards of the race. She inspires and enforces the code of social behavior as, for example, the great chatelaines of the Middle Ages upheld the noble code of chivalry, and the hostesses of the seventeenth century salons cultivated the refinement of taste and manner.
She keeps alive those religious customs and traditions in the home and community which link the daily life of man to God by so many intimate bonds. She is the guardian of the moral standard, especially in all that concerns the family. In this respect, as in so many others, the modern woman has abrogated her traditional role with tragic consequences for society.
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance for society of woman’s achievement in the family. The family is the foundation of all the larger social structures, the basic cell on which all other agencies depend for the very existence and first formation of their members.
A nation can flourish only to the extent that it is composed of healthy, flourishing families. But the family can endure only if the woman spends herself wholeheartedly to create a real home.
If the woman looks down upon her function and neglects her task in the family, nothing can take her place; the family will disintegrate and with it the whole society. This should be abundantly clear to us when we see how powerless the most elaborate schools and the most advanced methods of social work are in the face of the rising tide of juvenile delinquents from neglected and broken homes.
It is superficial to think as women that we must be in the forefront of public affairs, politics, or business to influence the course of the world.
“Not in the branches of a tree but in its roots do force and power reside,” writes Gertrude von Le Fort. Woman is at the very roots of social life. If she keeps the sources of life pure and healthy, the entire social order will be renewed and reinvigorated by her effort.
You are assured of God’s help. The Church teaches that through the sacrament of Matrimony, you and your spouse are assured of God’s constant help. Therefore, you must firmly trust in God. -Fr. Lovasik, Catholic Family Handbook, Painting by Walter Biggs, 1934
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ST. BENEDICT BRACELETS! Spiritual Protection
Available here.
One of the powerful weapons in spiritual combat is the St. Benedict medal. Used for centuries, this medal has been associated with many miracles, as well as with powers of exorcism.
St. Benedict medals are used in many ways, but always as a protection against evil. Some people bury them in the foundations of new buildings to keep them free from evil influences, while others attach them to rosaries or hang them on the wall in their homes. But the most common way to use the St. Benedict medal is to wear it. The medal can be worn by itself or embedded in a crucifix.
Regardless of how it is used, the medal should always be blessed with the special St. Benedict blessing. While, in former times, only Benedictines could bless the medal, now any priest can.
Excellent book by Fr. Jacques Philippe…
This book describes the great spiritual power of the Mass, how it holds back the wrath of God, its wonderful eternal and temporal benefits, and several excellent ways to pray at Mass. Hidden Treasure is the prototype book on the Mass for all other books on the same subject; others basically repeat what this small book contains.
“She keeps alive those religious customs and traditions in the home and community which link the daily life of man to God by so many intimate bonds. She is the guardian of the moral standard, especially in all that concerns the family. In this respect, as in so many others, the modern woman has abrogated her traditional role with tragic consequences for society.”
This last part is true even in places were it shouldn’t! Very very sad! 😣
This is excellent! I look forward all the more to the posts right now to distract me from the grating of morning sickness for the length of the wonderful read! This post had me savouring each line! So aptly put! Thank you!
God bless you and I hope your morning sickness quickly subsides! ❤️
Thank you so much! 🙏
We wives/mothers/grandmas/aunts/big sisters can make such a difference in family life. Either for the possitive or the negative. We can either reflect Our Lord to others, or, we can show what it is to be self-absorbed and negligent, uncaring and cold of heart-the antithesis of The Lord Our God Who is Love. And if we chose to be a reflection of Our Lord, our lives will not have been in vain, but for the benefit of all who’s lives have touched ours. No man, no woman is an island. We all leave an impression, we all affect others. May it be that we are a reflection of He Who created all that is in His Perfect Love, so that others might be drawn to Him in seeing us. Please, God.