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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