Catholic Devotions!

For the ladies!

What is true femininity?

Today, we are fed the lie of modern culture, even within Christian communities, that we are perfect and beautiful just the way we are. We are led to believe femininity is a weakness, that God made women out of Adam's side so we could bow down to men and serve them, and that the Church encourages this. But these are all lies and false truths spun for the purpose of turning women away from traditional femininity and joining the trend that says women can do anything men can do.

Before you get mad at that, I want to share a quote I stumbled across that was incredibly inspiring: "Our generation is becoming so busy trying to prove that women can do what men can do that women are losing their uniqueness. Women weren't created to do everything a man can do. Women were created to do everything a man can't do."

So, what is true femininity, and how can we discover it?

Well, the perfect model of true femininity is right under our noses, though she is sometimes overlooked within certain Christian circles.

True femininity is in the likeness of Mary, the Mother of God. She said yes to God, the King of the universe, and He humbled Himself and became human flesh within her. She carried the Lord God, the same Lord Who banished Adam and Eve because they ate of the fruit, Who flooded the world to cleanse it of sinners, Who made a covenant with Abraham. Mary carried that same giant God with unspeakable grace and glory inside of her, becoming the first Tabernacle, and, thus, becoming the first Christian.

Eve led Adam astray on a whim after the devil told her that if she ate some fruit, her eyes would be opened and she would be like God. But Mary, the New Eve, led Jesus, the New Adam, throughout His entire life, up until the moment He died on the Cross. Mary led her Son not to do her will, like Eve had, but to accomplish the will of the Father.

Christ subjects Himself to Mary at Cana. "Woman, what concern is this to us? My hour has not yet come." Despite common belief and interpretation of the English translation, He does not call her "woman" as if He is indicating she is a minor concern. The original Greek text literally reads "What is this to me and you, woman? My hour has not yet come." Here we see that Jesus includes Mary as a partner in His work of redemption. The hour is not just of the Son, it is of theirs.

As women, we were created not out of man to serve and obey men, living under their authority, but we were created to accompany them. To lead and guide men to fulfill what it means to be masculine. There's a saying that goes "The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."