Sancta Ecclesia Domestica: March 2024

Introduction

I recently discovered that March is "Women's History Month". I suppose that means that we are supposed to celebrate the liberties that women have received in the workforce and in society over the past 100 years or so. If we really want to go back to the beginning, we can state that Eve was the first woman, and the first woman to become independent of her husband, stepping out from under his authority and leadership. In doing so, she took the lead in the disobedience that has obtained for us the mark of Original Sin, causing Adam to fall (at the same time, it was not only Eve's fault: Adam stood there and, out of fear, did not dispel the demon from the garden which it was his duty to guard; however, since the focus is on women's history month, the focus here is on women).

Woman as Wife and Homemaker

There are many awards for women who make a difference in the workforce, in politics, in climate activism, but where are the awards for women who choose to stay home and joyfully live under their husband's authority? They are the ones who make the greatest difference for society, especially if they take care of the children and homeschool them. They are the ones who give joy to the home or make home life miserable. The author of Sirach says it best:

Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days will be doubled. A loyal wife rejoices her husband, and he will complete his years in peace. A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord. Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad, and at all times his face is cheerful. A wife’s charm delights her husband, and her skill puts fat on his bones. A silent wife is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so precious as a disciplined soul. A modest wife adds charm to charm, and no balance can weigh the value of a chaste soul. Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home. A pious wife is given to the man who fears the Lord. A wife honoring her husband will seem wise to all. Happy is the husband of a good wife; for the number of his years will be doubled. (Sirach 26:1-4, 13-16, 23, 26).

And for the proper understanding of what subjection of wife to husband means, Pope Pius XI had this to say in his encyclical Casti Connubii, On Christian Marriage (paragraphs 26-29):

Domestic society being confirmed, therefore, by this bond of love, there should flourish in it that “order of love,” as St. Augustine calls it. This order includes both the primacy of the husband with regard to the wife and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these words: “Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ is the head of the Church” (Ephesians 5:22-23).
This subjection, however, does not deny or take away the liberty which fully belongs to the woman both in view of her dignity as a human person, and in view of her most noble office as wife and mother and companion; nor does it bid her obey her husband’s every request if not in harmony with right reason or with the dignity due to wife; nor, in fine, does it imply that the wife should be put on a level with those persons who in law are called minors, to whom it is not customary to allow free exercise of their rights on account of their lack of mature judgment, or of their ignorance of human affairs. But it forbids that exaggerated liberty which cares not for the good of the family; it forbids that in this body which is the family, the heart be separated from the head to the great detriment of the whole body and the proximate danger of ruin. For if the man is the head, the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place in love.
Again, this subjection of wife to husband in its degree and manner may vary according to the different conditions of persons, place and time. In fact, if the husband neglect his duty, it falls to the wife to take his place in directing the family. But the structure of the family and its fundamental law, established and confirmed by God, must always and everywhere be maintained intact .
With great wisdom Our predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory, in the Encyclical on Christian marriage which We have already mentioned, speaking of this order to be maintained between man and wife, teaches: “The man is the ruler of the family, and the head of the woman; but because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, let her be subject and obedient to the man, not as a servant but as a companion, so that nothing be lacking of honor or of dignity in the obedience which she pays. Let divine charity be the constant guide of their mutual relations, both in him who rules and in her who obeys, since each bears the image, the one of Christ, the other of the Church.” (Encyclical Arcanum Divinae Sapientiae).

And later, Pope Pius XII wrote the following:

The family is illuminated by its own radiant sun, which is the wife. The wife and mother is indeed like the sun shining in the family. She shines by her generosity and the way she gives herself to others. She shines by her alertness and watchfulness and by her wise and gentle providing of all that can give joy to her husband and children. She radiates light and warmth.

A marriage will prosper if each partner goes into it not for his own happiness but the other’s happiness – but although it belongs to both partners, this emotion, this goal is particularly a quality of the woman. Her very nature as a mother entails it. Her wisdom and prudence mean that even if she encounters troubles she will respond to them with joy; if she is belittled, she will respond with unaltered dignity and respect. She is like the sun that brightens a cloudy morning with the dawn; the sun that illuminates the shower-clouds at dusk.
The wife is like the sun shining in the family with the brightness of her glance and the ardor of her speech. Her looks and words enter into the souls of her family, softening them, touching them, raising them up from the tumult of emotion. They recall her husband to joy in good things and delight in family life after his uninterrupted and often heavy work of the day, whether in an office, in the fields, in trade or in industry.
The wife is like the sun shining in the family by her unforced, transparent sincerity, by her simple dignity, by her decent Christian behavior; by her inward thoughts and her upright heart; and also by the appropriateness of her dress and bearing, adorned by her open and honest way of life. Subtle signs of feeling, shades of expression, silences and unmalicious smiles, little nods of approval – all these give her the grace of an exquisite but simple flower opening its petals to reflect the colors of sunlight.
If only you could know the full depth of the feelings of love and gratitude that such a perfect wife and mother inspires in her husband and children!

It is both Feminism and Communism that push a hyper-egalitarianism on our society, and we must stand up to reject that notion. Pope Pius XII had some words to say in an address to women shortly after the end of World War II.

Equality: Dignity, Role, or Ability?

Men and women are equal in dignity, but in role they are complementary and not the same. Men and women have different roles and abilities that are complementary for the good of the family and the peace of the home. Father Ripperger has some interesting things to say in the following video, Feminism: Women and the Natural Order.

I have already written something about women and the military draft because I believe it is important to put women as wives and mothers into the proper context and to see through the insidious lies of our politicians. Anyone who wishes women to register for the draft is either a willful Communist or a useful idiot of the Communists. The late Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC Ret. (may he rest in peace), also had some forceful, clear comments about women serving in combat, candid comments which cannot be refuted by anyone possessing right reason and common sense.

Feminism: Stunted Roots and Rotten Fruits

Since the beginning of its history, Feminism in the United States has been involved in Satanism and the Occult. Check out these two interviews with Dr. Carrie Gress:

The great thinker G.K. Chesterton had some reflections about women's suffrage, explained in this article, from which I have taken the following relevant excerpt:

The main problem that Chesterton saw with women having the vote was that it would shift the power of society from the home to the state. He was not afraid of women having more power, but of the state having more power.
He argued that women could not possibly be more powerful than they are in the home, where the most important decisions are made, where children are born and raised, and where people eat and drink and live and die.
The basic unit of society must be the family. If the family is atomized into smaller units, “individual rights” take precedence over the needs of the family. But those individuals will regroup into other interest groups, according to race or class or sex, and the rights of those groups tend to undermine the family.
No one today suggests that women should not vote, and few suggest that they should not work. But families have broken up and government has grown, just as Chesterton said.

Femininity, Not Feminism

St. Peter said, "Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of robes, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:3-4). An attitude of disdain for certain "lowly people" makes a woman less beautiful, because beauty is as beauty does. The feminine heart is truly beautiful; the feminist heart is not.