The Sweet Flower of Nazareth ~ The Privilege of Being a Woman, Alice von Hildebrand

by Alice von Hildebrand, The Privilege of Being a Woman

Mary is the one creature who unconditionally accepted her creatureliness with all its limitations and weaknesses, with the trust that the Lord, who has seen the humility of His servant, would accomplish great things in her soul. Those women who have repeatedly been deemed “weak” find in Mary their special title of glory.

How sweet to be weak when one is carried by the all loving and all-powerful God who can do all things. That this “weakness,” this gentleness and frailty (she is called in the liturgy “the meekest of the meek”) is transfigured by grace is powerfully expressed in the liturgy in which the sweet flower of Nazareth is referred to as “an army set in array.” Mary must be “terrible as an army with banners.”

God has never made or formed but one enmity; but it is an irreconcilable one: it is between Mary, His worthy mother, and the devil; between the children and servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and instruments of Lucifer. Satan fears Mary not only more than all angels and men, but in some sense more than God Himself.

It is not that the anger, the hatred, and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited; but it is because Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the divine power.

The devils fear one of her sighs for a soul more than the prayers of all the saints, and one of her menaces against them more than all other torments.

No other human being has been given such a power, because no other human being was more anxious to love and to serve. The liturgy has this admirable prayer: “Adonai, Domine, Deus magne et mirabilis, qui dedisti salutem in manu feminae, exaudi preces servorum tuorum” (“O Adonai, Lord God, great and wonderful, Who didst give salvation by the hand of a woman; hear the prayers of Thy servants”), the Saturday before the Fourth Sunday of September.

This willingness to give everything and to feel privileged in doing so explains why Mary is the “one who refutes all heresies.”

Fathers of the Church, Doctors of the Church, truly Catholic theologians, are all called upon to defend Catholic orthodoxy. But it is the humble Virgin of Nazareth who refutes all the errors that the enemy of man keeps spreading, and sometimes, alas, through the very theologians, priests, and others who have the special mission of defending revealed truth.

But what a mystery that poor, weak humanity, inferior to the angels by nature, should be chosen to give to the angels their king and their queen.

Every woman should tremble with gratitude when reading these words which highlight so powerfully the dignity that, through Mary, they have been given in the economy of redemption.

The perfume of Mary’s purity has attracted innumerable souls, anxious to offer to God the “rich worth of your virginity.”

She has revealed to the “weak sex” the greatness and sublimity of femininity. In the light of what has been said, one must marvel at the fact that the feminists have succeeded in convincing so many women that the Roman Catholic Church is sexist and looks down upon them.

In fact, the contrary is true. She has exalted the status of women in a unique fashion, and the fact that they have no “power” in the Church is once again a sign of God’s special love for the “weak” sex.

It is safer to obey than to command, and the one truly worthy to be a leader is not only the one who has learned to obey, but the one who much prefers to do so, and only reluctantly—under the cross—accepts to give orders. This is a truth that has been constantly repeated by the Church.

Romano Guardini writes: “Christianity has always placed the life struggling for inner truth and ultimate love above that intent on exterior action, even the most courageous and excellent. It has always valued silence more highly than words, purity of intent more than success, the magnanimity of love more than the effect of labor.”

The greatest victory was achieved at Calvary at the very moment of what seemed to be the ultimate defeat, with the death of the One who was obedient unto death.

A small story: Many years ago, a young Jewish man, a student of my husband, found his way to the Church. He became a Carthusian monk and after having received his formation at the Grande Chartreuse and having spent some time in England, he was sent to the United States to the first Carthusian monastery in this country. He became prior and was reelected and reelected every single time the monks voted, for some twenty-five years.

One day, I received a letter from him, informing me that — after having attended a meeting at the Grande Chartreuse—it was decided unanimously that when a superior had reached a certain age and had exercised the charge of superior for many years, he should not be reelected. He ended this brief note by saying: “Finally, I can once again be a real Carthusian and obey.”

This is the victory of the supernatural.

It is appropriate to end this short work dedicated to the beauty of femininity by remarking that pagan art in various countries has honored the male genitals and developed a phallic cult still visible today in monuments and sculptures.

The moment the Church gained ascendency, she waged a relentless war against this aberration. But She has introduced a prayer, repeated millions of times every single day for centuries, in which the female organ par excellence—the womb — is exalted: “Blessed is the fruit of thy Womb, Jesus.”

Indeed, it is a privilege to be a woman.

The beautiful companionship which Jesus gave to His mother, to Martha and Mary, to the women saints of the Church, the understanding forgiveness that He showed to Magdalen and to the sinful women who turned to Him, the strength for their weakness and sympathy for their sorrows, the gentleness for their need that He gave to the women of that ancient world and to every woman who seeks Him in the Blessed Sacrament, He holds out to the women of today.

In Jesus Christ they find the ideal of their dreaming, the realization of their hopes, the man who fulfills their highest desires, the only one who never disappoints.

Penal Rosaries!

Penal rosaries and crucifixes have a wonderful story behind them. They were used during the times when religious objects were forbidden and it was illegal to be Catholic. Being caught with a rosary could mean imprisonment or worse. A penal rosary is a single decade with the crucifix on one end and, oftentimes, a ring on the other. When praying the penal rosary you would start with the ring on your thumb and the beads and crucifix of the rosary in your sleeve, as you moved on to the next decade you moved the ring to your next finger and so on and so forth. This allowed people to pray the rosary without the fear of being detected. Available here.

Roses Among Thorns ~ St. Francis de Sales     Available here.

If you find it difficult to live amid the clamor of the world with your eyes fixed on Christ alone, let St. Francis de Sales teach you how to live as a true rose among thorns as you learn . . .

• What to do when you stop finding consolation during prayer
• How to place yourself in the presence of God
• How busy people should pray
• Do you fear vice more than you love virtue? A guide to discernment
• How to be patient with your family
• The dangers of too many devotions
• How to know when your feelings are from God or the devil
• What to do about repeated spiritual dryness
• The three things you must do to be at peace
• How to avoid thoughts that give us anxious and restless minds

Absorb the wisdom in these holy pages, and you’ll soon make true progress on your spiritual journey and navigate with confidence the treacherous waters of our secular world.

Finding God’s Will for You ~ St. Francis de Sales     Available here.

As you begin to discern God’s loving hand even in seemingly chaotic events, St. Francis de Sales will lead your mind and your heart to the still waters of God’s gentle consolation.

From St. Francis de Sales you’ll learn:

• Four signs that your heart conforms to God’s will does yours
• How to accept God’s will even when it seems terrifying and painful
• Sacred inspirations: not just for the prophets. The many ways God may be knocking on your door — now!
• Changing your life’s direction: how to spot and avoid all-too-common dangers
• The simple rule of charity: how it can help you make vital decisions
• Are you as mature in the virtues as God wills you to be?
• How to distinguish zeal for God’s will from selfish arrogance
• Three ways you can recognize a thought or sentiment that comes from God
• The key ingredient that makes all your actions pleasing to God: can you name it?

• Making decisions: practical advice to help you distinguish between times when you should move slowly and carefully, and when you should act quickly, without undue time for deliberation

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