Discovering the Wonders of Femininity with Fr. Karl Stehlin’s “The Dignity, Mission and Vocation of Women”
If you told me when I was a young woman that I would be sitting in an SSPX chapel early on a First Saturday morning with my husband and six children, wearing a modest dress and crowned by a gorgeous chapel veil, bone-tired but grateful for my life of homeschooling and homemaking, I would have never believed you—and I mean never.
For many of us traditional Catholic women, coming to realize the marvelous nature of our God-given femininity is not something that just happened “overnight.” Especially for those of us raised without a traditional Catholic family, it has likely taken much personal prayer, study, and seeking counsel to discover Our Lord’s beautiful designs for womanhood. And even then, we still find ourselves struggling to purify ourselves from the modernistic feminism and other harmful attitudes that have been ingrained into us by the world. Even for those of us who were tremendously blessed to have a solid Catholic upbringing, it can still be challenging to live as a true daughter of God, and appreciate what it really means. At times, it can be far too easy for “traditional cradle Catholics” to take for granted the ethereal truths that have been handed down to them gratuitously by self-sacrificing family members, friends, priests and religious.
One enlightening remedy for women who desire to “find themselves” in the truest sense of the phrase—that is, to find their worth in God’s eyes and realize the mission He has given them—is to immerse themselves in venerable spiritual reading. Personally, I have drawn much inspiration from the words of faithful Catholic priests who highly esteem the feminine nature. Having been raised in a radically feminist, anti-Catholic family and educational environment, I have had to search relentlessly for the absolute truth about human sexuality, womanhood, marriage, motherhood, and more. Over the years, I have especially appreciated the books and sermons of Fr. Karl Stehlin, SSPX, a priest with 35 years of pastoral experience. Fr. Stehlin penned the gem-packed little masterpiece The Nature, Dignity, and Mission of Woman (Angelus Press, 2013), which serves as a lovely contemplation on and defense of authentic femininity. Over the years, it has helped teenage girls and women of all ages rediscover the immense dignity of being a woman when lived out in union with God’s creative designs. Its message helps to ward off the brutal attacks being made upon women—attacks which either find their origins in Protestantism, which tends to view women as less valuable than men with no talents of their own to nurture; or in secular, modernistic feminism, which pressures women to merely imitate men, breaking down the remarkable distinctions between the two sexes. Various topics it covers include:
By pondering the insightful reflections within this book, I have come to comprehend the remarkable worth and mission I have as a beloved daughter of Almighty God. I have also learned how valuable the feminine, maternal nature He has given to women really is, and how the feminine mystique complements that of the masculine. As Fr. Stehlin eloquently states:
The woman, in contrast, is the image of God’s loving devotion to His creation; she shows forth God as the one who is present “in us.” That is why she rests in God, finds her protection, safety, and home in Him. She experiences herself as the house of God, as the chalice, the womb, the receiver, the guardian of divine life and of love. She is the one who principally rests in God, while man is the one who principally seeks God. Her resting in God enables her to be taken up into the mystery of His Fatherhood, into the primordial source of fruitfulness.1
Furthermore, Fr. Stehlin’s words have also encouraged me to embrace my calling as a wife and a mother, in all its splendor. They have helped me understand that the noble desires I have savored since I was a young girl to “be something great” or to “change the world” are ultimately fulfilled as I love my husband and as I rock the cradle, one precious baby at a time. Fr. Stehlin writes:
Now although the bride and bridegroom represent the eternal mysteries of God and His loving deeds in their contrasting characteristics, they do so even more in their union. This union is the prerequisite for motherhood, but in itself it also represents another value. Before she becomes a mother, the bride is the companion of the man. This reveals another aspect of her womanly nature: In their union the two become responsible for each other on their way to God; as her husband’s companion the wife participates in his creative mission. The archetype of this companionship is Mary, the New Eve, the “alma socia Christi,” the most-pure associate of Christ the Redeemer, who as Co-Redemptrix participates in His theandric [divine-human] work.2
The Nature, Dignity, and Mission of Women has also shown me that the struggles of married life, which are often very real and crucifying, are ultimately part of God’s salvific plan for those He holds most dear:
Basically one must always keep in mind the deepest nature of marriage and family. The idyllic situation implied by mindless films and romance novels is a deceptive picture that no one should even dream about. The Christian understands from the outset that life, whatever form it takes, is a way of the Cross, and this way of the Cross and each of its stations must be accepted in advance. Many women have become saints through the difficult sufferings and sacrifices resulting precisely from their marriage. Perhaps the best known example is St. Rita.3
Each effort I make to “love my children to Heaven” bears testimony to the mercy of Christ, alive and at work in this dark world. Each smile I give to my children warms their heart and makes the world a better place; every time I nurse my baby or give a cup of water to my little one, I come closer to Heaven; each time I teach my children something about the wonders of Our Holy Faith, Holy Mother the Church is raised one small step higher.
And God now enlists woman in particular in this loving and caring divine devotion to His creature: she can participate in the Fatherhood of God as a perpetually fruitful giver of life, as a mother. She is privileged to serve life with God and in Him, to be the source and mother of life. That is why the name of the first woman is Eve: “Mother of the Living.” For this reason God gave her the peculiar features that she needs for this mission: physical strength to receive, bear, bring forth, nourish, and raise new life. He gave her the special quality of serving life and guarding and protecting it with care.4
If a woman fervently seeks the truth about where she belongs in the Church, in the family, and in society, she will discover that she truly holds a place of tremendous dignity and honor. By entrusting her maternal heart to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, she will live out her role as a magnanimous herald of Christ’s love.
A woman, in contrast, represents God in His attribute of love. Indeed, before all else she wants to love and to devote herself… This urge to love knows no bounds, like an unending stream that rushes along. She gives to the child the gift of life and watches over its growth; she protects and sustains the man’s life by being for him a hearth and home, a place of refuge and security. She is responsive to her fellow men in their need, so as to protect life that is endangered, to help the poor according to her means, and to alleviate suffering. The Fathers of the Church call her the steward of LOVE, the heart of the world. It is quite different with the woman: exceptions aside, she appears nameless; her personality withdraws completely into the background.5
Fr. Stehlin’s work reminds us all of the daunting brevity of life, the grand calling of womanhood, and the short amount of time we have to bring to fruition all that God desires us to.
Your life is only a short exercise in mountain climbing. It is God’s will that during this short time you yourself reach the goal, namely the fullness of your womanhood, that you do whatever is in your power so that others too might recognize this, the only true destination… Your task is to let the ideals of virginity, spousal union, and motherhood reach fulfillment in you, knowing that these are simply the threefold expression of your love, which should increase constantly until death.6
However, he continues, this love will only increase if a woman keeps the presence of the Immaculata alive within her, meditating on her often and “yearning to become an ever more faithful icon of” her. Speaking to the heart of a female reader, he shares that this boundless charity will grow:
IF you direct your unbounded power to love and your womanhood entirely toward Christ and love Him immensely as your “Way, Truth and Life” just as Mary Magdalen loved Him. This is possible, though, only if you constantly get to know Him better, meditate on Him, and thus fall in love with Him in trembling reverence, with all the strength of your heart. Take Him everywhere with you, discuss everything with Him, give Him everything, and trust Him blindly.7
Finally, as a loving father, he exhorts her to belong entirely to the Blessed Mother and consecrate all of her actions to her, and all shall be well.
She should be your prototype in everything, especially in your devotion to God and mankind. Go to her at every moment, find in her your great dignity and a taste for everything that is truly beautiful and pure. Live in her, the Virgin of virgins, the Bride of the Lamb, the Mother of the whole Christ, both the Head and the Mystical Body. In that way you will bring all creation home to God in your heart through Mary.8
Mater Divinae Gratiae, ora pro nobis!
Endnotes
1 Stehlin, Fr. Karl. The Nature, Dignity, and Mission of Woman, Angelus Press: Saint Marys, KS, p. 9.
2 Ibid., p. 45.
3 Ibid., p. 96.
4 Ibid., pp. 9-10.
5 Ibid., p. 43.
6 Ibid., p. 105.
7 Ibid., p. 105.
8 Ibid., p. 106.