WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
In Part 1 of this three part series, we dealt with some of the women of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and how God used them in building up His Kingdom. In Part 2 we looked at some of the women of the New Testament. This third part will look at some of our women Saints and how God used their strength and courage to continue to build up His Kingdom. As was the case in both Parts 1 and 2, this is by no means a complete list, but includes some that I personally feel should be mentioned.
Part 3 – Powerful Women Saints:
1. St. Helena: Saint Helena was born in to a poor and simple Roman family in Asia Minor in the mid 200’s. Somehow she married in to a higher class Roman family when she married Constantius Chlorus. In 274 she gave birth to Constantine and in 292 her husband, Constantius became co-regent of the West. Shortly after that, her husband divorced her to marry the Emperor’s step daughter. When her husband died in 308, her son Constantine became Emperor and moved her in to a place of prominence in the Roman government. She became an Empress.
Constantine’s conversion to Christianity greatly influenced his mother and she became a good Christian. Constantine asked his mother to find Christian relics and so in 328 she traveled to the Holy Lands. Through contact with the local bishops there she was able to locate many Christian relics and Holy Places. When she located the Holy places, she had large Churches built over them. She often replaced earlier Christian structures. In the year 130 the current Roman Emperor built a Temple to Venus over the site of Jesus’ crucifixion in order to keep Christians from worshiping there. Helena tore down that temple and did excavations to find the original location. In doing so she uncovered the three crosses that the early Christians venerated. Not knowing which cross was the one Jesus died on, she had a woman who was near death brought to all three. When she touched the first cross, nothing happened. The same occurred on the second cross. When she touched the third cross the woman was miraculously and immediately healed. She found the true cross of Jesus.
Helena had a large Church, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher built over that place. She had large columns brought in from Rome that can still be seen to this day. Helena also had churches built over the other Holy places including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. Many of the Holy Places we visit today had churches built there by St. Helena. She brought back to Rome many relics, including the True Cross. Not only did she do this, but she is noted for helping the poor and the destitute. She was a devout servant of God and true Christian who helped spread the Good News throughout the world. She was a woman born in to a poor family who rose to be Empress of the Roman Empire. She also, through a lot of hard work, re-discovered the Holy places of the Holy Lands. Because she built large Churches over these, we can still visit these Holy places today.
2. St. Monica: Saint Monica is known most for her persevering in prayer. For thirty years she prayed for her wayward son, Augustine to leave his wicked lifestyle and to become a Christian. Not only did he become a Christian, he became one of the greatest Saints ever known. Monica was born in 331 in Tagaste (modern day Algeria). When she was young she was married off to a Roman pagan, Patricius. Her husband had a violent temper. To make things even worse, his mother lived with them and she too had a violent temper. This caused a great deal of stress to Monica. Monica was a good Christian but her husband would not allow their three children to be baptized. For years she prayed for her husband and her mother in law to become Christian. Finally about one year before her husband’s death, both became Christian. Two of Monica’s children, Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious life, but Augustine preferred a life of drinking and laziness. Monica sent Augustine off to school in Carthage. There he became a Manichaean, a non-Christian religion that saw things as light or darkness. When Augustine shared this with Monica she became so upset at him that she kicked him out of the house. Sometime later, Monica had a vision that led her to reconcile with Augustine. She continued to pray for his conversion but Augustine seemed to enjoy the drinking and loose life more. Monica did not give up praying for him or trying to convince him. She followed him to Rome and then Milan where she found the Bishop Ambrose. St. Ambrose helped her in convincing Augustine of the trueness of Christianity. Finally, after many years of prayers, Augustine became a Christian. He was baptized in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Milan. After his baptism he and Monica planned to travel together to Africa to draw more people to Christ. She died before that could be realized. St. Augustine shares that when Monica was close to death she told him, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” Her perseverance had won for the Church one of the greatest and brightest Saints it has ever known.
3. St. Adelaide of Burgundy: St. Adelaide was born a princess in 931 in Burgundy in Italy. Even though she was a princess, she had a difficult life. Her father died when she was only six. When she was only 15 or 16 she was married to Lothair, the King of Italy. Her life as a queen was difficult too. She became a widow at the age of 18 and her Kingdom was taken over by Berengar of Ivrea and she was thrown in to prison. Berengar wanted to have her marry his son, but Adelaide wanted nothing to do with that. She suffered greatly in prison but knew that she had to escape. Somehow she found the strength to escape and when heading north to Germany she found the Emperor Otho I who the Pope had sent to rescue her. He soon became her second husband and together they were able to recapture the Kingdom of Italy that she had lost. Pope John XII crowned them both rulers of the Holy Roman Empire in 952. In 973 she became widowed again and her son Otto II became regent. At this point in her life Adelaide spent most of her time in building many monasteries and churches and helping the poor. This kind heartened and brave woman is the patron of people with second marriages and widows.
4. St. Clare of Assisi and 5. St. Agnes of Assisi: St. Clare was born in 1194 to a very wealthy Italian Count. She was known as a very beautiful girl. As a young girl Clare dedicated herself to prayer. When she was 18 years old she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach and went up to him asking that he help her to grow closer to God and to become more Christ like. On Palm Sunday in 1212 she left her family and went to the chapel of Porziuncula to meet St. Francis. At that chapel her hair was cut off and she was given a plain robe and veil and sent to the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo for formation as a nun. Her father was furious and tried to get her to return home but she refused. She told him that she would have no other husband than Jesus Christ. She desired solitude to be with Jesus. In order to give her even more solitude, Francis moved her to the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo monastery.
St. Clare had a sister named Catarina. Catarina also wanted a life with Christ and solitude that she could not find at home. She joined St. Clare at this new monastery. The two sisters remained there until a home could be built for them next to the church at San Damiano near Assisi. This made their father even angrier and he sent a contingent to bring her back home by force. Because of the prayers of St. Clare, miracles occurred that made it impossible to do that. When a sword was drawn to strike Catarina, miraculously the man’s arm went limp and he couldn’t wield the sword. Then they tried to pick up Catarina (now called Agnes because Francis named her that due to her being gentle as a lamb) she miraculously became too heavy for the men to pick up. They then gave up and left. Francis immediately welcomed her in and she too was put in to formation.
When the home at San Damiano was completed, both St. Clare and St. Agnes went there. There they lived a simple life eating no meat, wearing no shoes and lived in a poor house. They maintained silence most of the time. Their lives consisted of prayer and manual labor. Soon other women from Assisi joined them there and they lived according to rules of St. Francis forming the Second Order and were known as Poor Clares but officially were the “Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano.” St. Francis initially was their director. In 1216 he made St. Clare the abbess. Later, in 1219 St. Francis made St. Agnes an abbess and sent her to Monticello near Florence.
We have some of the letters that the two sisters sent to each other. They reflect their love for each other, for Jesus, for the Poor Clares and St. Francis. It should be noted that Clare and Agnes had to stand up to the current Church leaders who wanted to impose upon them the rule of St. Benedict. They stood their ground and followed St. Francis’ rule. They also had to stand up against Muslim invaders. In 1240 Muslims were invading the whole area around Assisi. St. Clare, although quite sick, prayed hard to repel them and took the Eucharist and with the sisters behind her commanded them to go away. Miraculously they obeyed. St. Clare knew that the power of prayer and the Eucharist could stand up to these invaders.
Clare had drawn up a rule for her sisters and in 1253 Pope Innocent IV declared Clare’s rule would serve as the governing rule for Clare’s Order of Poor Ladies. Two days later Clare died, with Agnes at her side. She was declared a Saint two years later. St. Agnes died three months after St. Clare. These two women went from riches to rags, but helped to change the face of the Church.
6. St. Joan of Arc: Joan of Arc was born in 1412 to a poor farming family. From her earliest childhood she loved God and was often seen in prayer. She also loved the poor. Around the age of 13 she started hearing voices accompanied by flashes of light. Gradually she recognized figures who she described as Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret, St. Catherine and other Saints and angels. These voices seemed to be leading her to go to the aid of the King, At first she doubted these voices, but in May 1428, when she was 16 years old, she knew that they were real and that she had to do what they said. They directed her to King Charles’ military commander Robert Baudricourt. He was quite rude to her and said to the cousin who accompanied her: “Take her home to her father and give her a good whipping.” The war continued on and King Charles and his supporters thought that defeat was imminent. The voices continued to persuade Joan to go but she resisted saying, “I am a poor girl; I do not know how to ride or fight.” The voices only reiterated: “It is God who commands it.” At that, she decided that she must go. She went back to Baudricourt who remained skeptical. However, her perseverance and her descriptions of battles that were later confirmed caused him to send her to the King. Joan went to see the king dressed in male clothes. This was probably to protect her from the soldiers along the way.
When Joan came in to the King’s presence, something interesting happened. The King was wearing a disguise to test her and was among many other men. Immediately, without ever having met the King before, she went to him and saluted him. The King’s inner court thought Joan was crazy and advised the King to have nothing to do with her. However, the voices revealed to Joan a secret that only the King knew about (probably concerning his birth) and when she told him he started to believe in her mission. However, to be sure, he had her undergo a trial headed by bishops, doctors and theologians. Joan’s faith, simplicity and honesty convinced the trial committee that she was indeed of sound mind and faith and recommended that she be allowed to continue with further examination of her actions. She returned to King Charles who gave her a sword as she prepared a campaign for fighting. However the voices told her to have the King get a sword that was buried behind the altar in a nearby Church. That sword was found exactly where the voices said. She also had the King make up a shield with the name of Jesus and Mary on it as well as a picture of the Father and angels. Interestingly the King received a report, before the battle saying “that she would save Orléans and would compel the English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orléans would be wounded by a shaft but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims, together with other things which the King keeps secret.”
Before leading the battle, Joan told the King of England to give up. Of course, he didn’t and battle ensued. Joan led the battle and even though many of her commanders scoffed at her and didn’t always do what she said, the battle was won. Joan was wounded by an arrow in the battles just as the letter said that was written 8 days prior to the campaign. King Charles was also crowned at Reims and the English left, as the letter said. In a battle about a year later, Joan was captured by a follower of John of Luxemburg. He then sold her to the English for a large amount of money. They couldn’t kill her for winning against them, so they decided to try her as a witch. The Bishop of Beauvais was an unscrupulous and ambitious man who was a tool of the English. The examination trial seemed quite unfair but Joan continued to show her love of God. She was finally found to be a witch and heretic and was burned. Her ashes were thrown in to the Seine River. Twenty four years later a revision of the trial was made. The appellate court and the Pope found that injustice was made by the first examination and that it was declared illegal. Her beatification cause was begun in 1869 and she was declared a Saint in 1920. This very young holy woman listened to God no matter what it cost her. She fought harder that most men could and never gave up, no matter how badly she was treated.
7. St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton: Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native born American to become a Saint. She was born just two years before the American Revolution to a wealthy New York City family. The family was Episcopalian. Elizabeth was a bright girl and prolific reader. She especially found comfort in the reading the bible. In 1794 she married a wealthy businessman, William Seton. The first couple of years of their marriage were wonderful but when William’s father died the couple had to take in William’s seven younger half brothers and sisters. They also had to take over running the father’s import business. William’s health started to fail as did his business. He had to declare bankruptcy. His health was deteriorating so bad that they felt that a move to Italy would help. William had business friends there that they stayed with.
Unfortunately William died of tuberculosis while in Italy. Elizabeth was very moved by the Catholic faith of the family that she lived with in Italy. She found that their love of the Eucharist helped her to better understand the true presence of Jesus. Also, since Elizabeth’s mother had died when she was young, their devotion to Mary helped satisfy her need for a mother. Elizabeth converted to Catholicism and headed back to the United States. Since she was a widow with many children to feed, she opened a school to help support them. The first school was all Protestants and when the parents had heard that Elizabeth had converted to Catholicism, they withdrew their children from school. Fortunately, Elizabeth met a priest who encouraged her to open up a school for Catholic children in Emmetsburg, Maryland. This is seen as the beginning of Catholic education in the United States. Shortly after opening the school, Elizabeth founded an order of Catholic women to help in educating poor children. This was the first congregation of religious sisters to be formed in the United States. They are known as the Sisters of Charity and have grown tremendously throughout the United States, Canada and the Philippines.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a hard working woman who suffered from the deaths of many loved ones. Her faith continued to allow her to make a tremendous change to the Catholic faith in the United States. Pope Paul VI canonized Mother Seton on September 14, 1975, in a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square. In his words, “Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with special joy, and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage.” NOTE: if you would like to hear about how Elizabeth Ann Seton personally changed my family go to: http://deaconmarty.com/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton-and-how-she-personally-brought-a-miracle-to-my-family-by-deacon-marty-mcindoe/
8. St. Marianne Cope: St. Marianne was born in Germany in 1838 but spent most of her life in Hawaii ministering to lepers. She is often known as Saint Marianne of Moloka’i. One year after she was born her family moved to the United States. She attended a Catholic parish school until the eighth grade when her father became an invalid and she had to leave school to go to work and help support her family. When her father died, and her siblings became mature she quit her factory job and became a novitiate of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis based in Syracuse, New York. She became a teacher and later principal of a school that helped immigrant children. She also helped in setting up the first two Catholic hospitals in central New York. In 1883 she became the Superior General of her Congregation. Shortly after, she received a letter from King Kalakaua of Hawaii asking for aid in treating leper patients who were isolated on the island of Moloka’i. The King had already been declined by more than 50 other religious institutes. St. Marianne went with six sisters arriving on November 8,1883. She originally managed a hospital on the island of O’ahu, where victims of leprosy were sent for triage. The next year, Mother Marianne helped establish the Malulani hospital on the island of Maui. The government had appointed an administrator for the hospital on O’ahu when Mother Marianne left. However, she heard news of his abuse and returned to O’ahu and demanded that the government fire him. They did and put her in charge. Mother Marianne continued to help the leper patients, including clergy who had contracted the disease. She continued working, even when she was in a wheel chair. Miraculously, the disease never came to her.
9. St, Katherine Drexel: St. Katherine is the second native born American to become a Saint. She was born in 1858 to a wealthy banker. Her mother died shortly after her birth but her father remarried and Katherine grew up in a home that was both financially and spiritually endowed. She received a private education and travelled throughout the United States and Europe. The family was very devout in their faith and an excellent example to Katherine. Her father prayed 30 minutes each evening and on weekends they opened their home to help care for the poor. After seeing her step-mother suffer with cancer for three years, Katherine’s life took a significant turn. She developed a passionate love for God and for neighbor. She especially felt called to help black and native Americans.
Katherine’s father passed away about a year after his wife’s death. He had a substantial estate of over 15 million dollars and he gave a considerable amount to charities and left the rest to his three daughters. The daughters worked together to try to help Indian missions. In 1887 they had an audience with Pope Leo XIII and asked that missionaries be sent to the Indians. Pope Leo XIII looked directly at Katherine and asked her to be a missionary. When she arrived home she met with her spiritual advisor and decided to give her life, and her money, to God as a nun and missionary. She started a religious order called “Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored” and spent the rest of her life serving blacks and native Americans. She worked hard to found schools throughout the west to educate Native Americans. She even founded Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic University in the United States for African-Americans. She spent her fortune on the blacks and Native Americans. She also gave fully of herself in helping them until she finally had a serious heart attack at the age of 77. She lived until the age of 96 praying for her missions and writing. By the time of her death, she had more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country and she established 50 missions for Native Americans in 16 different states. This one woman changed the face of America for the better.
10. Servant of God Dorothy Day: Although she isn’t a Saint yet, she is on her way. Dorothy Day is a great example of a woman who was a sinner, but turned toward being a Saint. Her love of the poor, and her love of God make her an outstanding woman of God’s power. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan calls her “a Saint for our times”. Dorothy Day started out being someone quite outside the Catholic faith. She described herself as having an attraction to the radical life among anarchists, socialists and communists. She was arrested on many occasions and spent time in jail. She drank heavily and had an abortion and had an illegitimate child. This isn’t what usually makes up a Saints life. However, all of these ups and downs helped her to think seriously about where she was headed. The heartache that her abortion caused her helped her to become staunchly pro-life. She was very moved by Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven” and its description of the relentless pursuit of God towards man. One day she found herself in the back of Saint Joseph’s Church on Sixth Avenue in New York City and found solace in watching the mass.
Dorothy had a daughter with a man that she lived with. She said that the birth of her daughter connected her to the beauty of the Divine in a deeply personal way. She wrote, “The final object of this love and gratitude is God” She was moved to worship with others and even though the man she loved rejected religion she had her daughter baptized Catholic. About six months later she too was baptized. This ended her common law marriage. About five years later, Peter Maurin, a French immigrant taught her about Catholic radicalism. Together they founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 and began publishing the Catholic Worker to promote their radical Catholic vision to oppose Communism. They also opened a “House of Hospitality” to welcome everyone, especially the poor. They focused on helping the poor. Dorothy Day said, “The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him. It is the only way of knowing and believing in our love”. Dorothy Day was noted for seeing the beauty of God in everything and every person. She truly was a Saint for our times.
11. St. Faustina Kowalska: St. Faustina was born in 1905 to a very poor but quite religious family. She was the third of ten children. When she was seven years old she attended an Eucharistic Adoration and immediately felt the call to become a nun. When she finished her schooling at the age of 16 she wanted to enter a convent, but her parents wouldn’t allow her to. Instead she cleaned houses to help support the family. In 1924 she saw her first vision of Jesus who told her to go to Warsaw and join a convent. She immediately packed her bags and left. When in Warsaw she tried to enter several convents but was rejected because of her looks and her poverty. Finally the Mother Superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy told her she could enter if she could pay for her own habit. St. Faustina worked cleaning houses and finally had enough to pay for the habit. She entered the convent in 1926 at 20 years old. She worked primarily as a cook and traveled to several of the convents. In 1931 she was visited by Jesus who told her that He was the “King of Divine Mercy”. He asked her to become an apostle and secretary of God’s Mercy. She said that she would. Jesus also instructed her to have painted an image of her vision of him. Since she didn’t paint she had to have a painter paint it based upon her description. She was never fully happy with the way the painting came out.
Sister Faustina told her fellow sisters about her visions but they weren’t initially receptive to her. She took some harassment because of them. Sister Faustina told the priest spiritual advisor of her visions and calling. He had her evaluated by a psychiatrist who found her in perfect mental health. Eventually this priest saw the truth of her visions and the Divine Mercy apostolate and he was the first to preach about it at mass. Fortunately Sister Faustina kept a diary that is still in existence today and makes for a great read. Even though her health kept failing, she continued to do all that she could to spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy. Unfortunately, due to several mistakes in translations and printings, some of her writings were seemed objectionable to the Church and the Divine Mercy apostolate was quieted for many years. In 1965, Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) took an interest in the Divine Mercy and opened up an investigation into Sister Faustina and her writings and apostolate. The Church formally approved the apostolate and began procedures for her canonization. The apostolate of Divine Mercy spread and Sr. Faustina was made a Saint in 2000 and a Feast day for the Divine Mercy became part of the Church calendar. This poor and sick little woman was chosen by God to become an Apostle of the Divine Mercy.
12. Sr. Gianna Beretta Molla: St. Gianna was born in Italy in 1922. She was the tenth of thirteen children in her family. As a young child Gianna loved her faith and loved learning about it. She saw the need for prayer and she enjoyed life for all that it was. In 1942 Gianna began studying to be a medical doctor. She was a great student and a great practitioner of her faith. In college she joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and worked with the elderly and the needy. In 1949 she received her medical and surgical degree and within two years specialized in pediatrics at Milan Hospital. She felt a very strong calling to mothers, babies, the elderly and the poor. She became involved with Catholic Action and considered her practice of medicine a mission. She wanted to join her brother, who was a priest, in Brazil by tending to the health of the poor women there. Unfortunately, her health prevented her from doing so. IN 1954, Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office. They were married the following year. Gianna considered marriage a precious gift and vocation. She considered her marriage a gift from God and planned dedicated herself to “forming a truly Christian family.” Gianna wrote to Pietro, “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women.”
She gave birth to her first child, Pierluigi in 1956. Her second child, Maria was born in 1957. She had the third baby, Laura in 1959. She loved being a mother and wife and worked hard to keep her family going along with her practice. In 1961 Gianna became pregnant again with her fourth child. Unfortunately near the end of her second month she had intense pain in her abdomen and they discovered that she had a tumor as well as the baby in her uterus. The doctors recommended that she choose from three possibilities; One, an abortion that would save her life and allow subsequent pregnancies, but take the life of the baby. The second was a hysterectomy which would save her life but take the life of her baby and not allow any further pregnancies. The third option was to take out the tumor which would save the life of her baby but might result in further complications for her. She chose the third option which saved the baby’s life but put hers in danger. She told the surgeons that her baby’s life must be saved at all costs, even if it cost her own life. She said that her comfort was in having the baby and in her prayers and in putting her faith in to action. They did what she asked. She had the operation which removed the tumor but allowed the baby to continue to grow. Gianna continued her pregnancy but with many complications. Her faith gave her the strength to continue on as a mother and as a doctor. Gianna told the doctors that they must save the life of her baby even if it meant she died. She kept insisting, “save the baby”. On April 21, 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla was successfully delivered by Caesarean section. One week later Gianna, the mother, died from septic peritonitis.
Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994, and officially canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004. Her husband and their children, including Gianna Emanuela, attended her canonization ceremony, making this the first time a husband witnessed his wife’s canonization. Pope John Paul II said that Gianna was “a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love.” The first pro-life Catholic health center in New York, the Gianna Center, was named after her. In today’s world where abortion is rampant and often mothers have abortions because the timing is inconvenient, the story of Gianna and her love for life and for her children stands out as a beacon of light.
CONCLUSION: God gave mankind a precious gift when he created us male and female, in His image. Each sex brings its own flavor towards helping God in the building up of the Kingdom. Too often the male has been seen as the strong sex, but looking back at how God has used women in the Scriptures and as Saints, we can’t help but to see how strong women are. We are all called by God to help build up his Kingdom. Let us answer that call with a resounding, “be it done to me according to thy will”. Men and women work together in building God’s Kingdom. After all, we are His children and brother and sister to each other. There is so much work to do. We must do it together and celebrate what God can accomplish through our strengths and our weaknesses. With God all things are possible.