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Scholars generally regard the twelfth century as an era of renaissance and spiritual renewal. However, Hildegard saw it as a time when scripture was being neglected, Christian people were ill-informed, and the clergy were “lukewarm and sluggish.” She understood her mission as a prophetic one, in which she, a weak woman, was called to bring justice to a “womanish” age in place of priests who were failing in their respon­sibilities. Hildegard penned one of the highest praises of women to emerge from the Middle Ages: “O, woman, what a splendid being you are! For you have set your foundation in the sun, and have conquered the world.” Because women have been created so splendidly by God, they ought to adorn this splendor when they come to worship the Creator. Hildegard claims that these ideas were not her own, but came from the “Voice of the Living Light.”

Essay by Dr. Joan Nuth and prayer by Christine Schenk, CSJ

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In the spring of 1838, in a small chapel on St. Claude Street in New Orleans, Henriette Delille, a free creole woman of African descent, and Fr. Etienne Rousellon, a white priest, served as godparents to fourteen-year-old Marie Therese Dagon, a free black catechumen. This simple tableaux had been repeated many times, through many generations, by other creole women of color and other white priests who also performed the baptisms. It is perhaps the best explanation for why, against nearly insurmountable odds, Henriette Delille was ultimately successful in founding the U.S. Church’s second black order of nuns, the Sisters of the Holy Family.

Essay and prayer by Christine Schenk, CSJ

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While never identifying herself as a feminist, Edith opposed a male dominated curriculum taught solely by men. She lobbied for an educational system more supportive of women’s distinct nature and quest for wholeness. After the First World War in Germany, most women worked outside the home, usually in response to economic need. In opposition to the encyclicals of Pope Pius XI, Edith supported women’s right to full employment. As a philosophical pioneer in the nature of women’s psyches, she lectured extensively on women’s vocations, affirming their unique gifts as greatly beneficial to society. Edith believed that there was no profession that could not be practiced by a woman, and that the “natural” vocation of wife and mother could not be considered her only vocation, since all are called to be perfect in the image of God. Even in the most mundane job, Edith asserted, women can have an impact using their interpersonal skills, creativity, and capacity for service.

Essay and prayer by Christine Schenk, CSJ

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While Brigit’s life is shrouded in myth as well as in history, there is much that the thoughtful Christian can take from her story. Foremost is her apparent ability to stand at the threshold of shifting cultural paradigms and, like the wise householder of scripture, bring forth good things, both old and new. As a preeminent bridge builder between ancient and new ways, Brigit’s story is strangely compelling for earth’s peoples in the second millennium CE. More than ever we are required to respect the religious understandings of people different from ourselves.

Essay and prayer by Christine Schenk, CSJ

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Who are the anonymous ones? They are women who have been able to “see through the cracks of the present reality system,” who embrace the indwelling of God while crying out in a loud voice, YES ! They are women becoming partners in the mystery of redemption. They are women who look at their own fractured lives, who witness the suffering of those in their community who fall through the cracks. They are women who see the fissure between Gospel justice and the failing solutions of the day. Women who, through these small openings, see not only the possibility but also the means for making change happen. And then, they do it!

Essay and prayer by Karen Flotte

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