Celebrating Women Witnesses Note Cards set 1
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Mary of Nazareth: Contemporary scholarship and reflection seek to rediscover Mary the mother of Jesus, the Magnificat woman of Nazareth. Vatican II gently de-emphasized what many saw as "Mary worship" in favor of promoting her role as Jesus' first disciple.
Nevertheless the Church's traditional veneration of Mary provides both women and men with a powerful female model of holiness. There are many feast days for Mary of Nazareth, including September 8 (birthday) and March 25 (Annunciation).
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Teresa of Avila: Threatened by the Inquisition three times, this 16th century Carmelite courageously upheld her radical beliefs. When her accusers quoted the Pauline injunction that women should be silent and never presume to teach in the Church (1 Tim 2:11-14), she countered with words she had received from Jesus in prayer: Tell them they shouldn't follow just one part of Scripture.... and ask them if they can by any chance tie my hands. Feast day: October 15
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Thea Bowman: This 20th century African American "sister of everybody" inspired her listeners with the spiritual power of Black Sacred Songs. She used her music and the wisdom of her elders to break down barriers of culture, class and condition, and "speak truth to power." At her last public appearance, at a 1989 U.S. Bishops Conference meeting, she sang "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" as a prophetic challenge to the question, "What does it mean to be Black and Catholic?" Feast day: March 30
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Dorothy Day: Thanks to this 20th century woman known as "the radical conscience of American Catholicism," many have learned the power of nonviolent resistance and direct action in opposing injustice. This single working mother, author, and social critic co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement and challenged the Church's just war teaching. Her life demonstrated that there is no opposition in Catholicism between a passionate commitment to social justice and intimacy with God. Feast day: November 29
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Angela Merici: At age 61, Angela fulfilled a lifelong vision of a new expression of religious commitment for women controlled "neither by a husband or a wall." Founded in Italy in 1535, her Company of St. Ursula gave women the freedom to live consecrated lives bound only by the love of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After her death, the Company was criticized by Church and civil authorities who imposed monastic rule because they were threatened by women's independence. Feast day: January 27
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Clare of Assisi: In the 13th century, Clare and her sisters resisted Vatican efforts to impose the Benedictine rule instead of allowing them to live their life of intentional poverty without dowry, property, or primacy of an abbess. Distinctions among the women were erased, promoting an egalitarian experience of communal living. Clare was the first woman to compose a Rule of Life approved by the Church. Feast day: August 11
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