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Chapter One
The Dignity Of A Woman

1. The Body

Sacred comes from the Latin 'sacer' meaning holy

and consecrated. All holiness is derived from God
Himself. He is the fountain of all that is sacred. We know
that woman was derived from the rib of man. “And the
Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a
woman: and brought her to Adam.” (Genesis 2:18) Man
was made in the image of God 1 and therefore we can
conclude a woman is as well.
We know that Adam and Eve were made to be
adorers of the God (Father, Son, Holy Ghost). They were
made to be adorers of God because they were to worship
and honor God within themselves. For God is the source
of all grace and sanctifying grace. “And they were both
naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not
ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) They were not ashamed
because they retained sanctifying grace. They had God
dwelling inside of them. For their bodies, as well as ours,
are churches. “Or know you not, that your members are
the temple of the Holy Ghost.” (I Corinthians 6:19) There
is a reciprocal action between holiness and dignity. If
holiness grows so does dignity. When a woman is in
sanctifying grace she is infinitely holy for God is within
her. We can finally conclude that she has an infinite
dignity. This is the greatest eternal truth in the
Christian faith.

1 “Let us make man to our image and likeness.” Genesis 1:26

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 2. The Soul

St. Thomas Aquinas writes the soul is both

incorporeal and subsistent. 2 St. Augustine writes that
the soul has three parts, namely the will, the intellect,
and the memory. 3 We know in the previous section that
the soul is an image of God. Therefore the soul has an
infinite value for God is of infinite value.
Now concerning the soul there is sanctifying grace
and the dwelling of God in the soul. Sanctifying grace
allows a woman to be a partaker of the divine nature. In
addition, the whole Blessed Trinity dwells in the mind by
sanctifying grace. 4
A woman derives all her value from the following:
1) She is made in God's image and therefore is a
rational creature.
2) She can possess sanctifying grace.
3) Having God dwell within her.
We must realize that if God is lost through the
commission of mortal sin, the woman still retains infinite
value due to the fact she is made in His image.

2 Subsistent means: actually existing

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I Q. 75 A. 2
3 “Memory, understanding, and will are one mind.” St. Thomas
Aquinas quoting St. Augustine, Summa Theologica, I Q. 79
A. 6
4 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I Q. 43 A. 5

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 Chapter Two
Holiness

We explained the simplicity of the soul. That the

soul consists of the will, the intellect, and the memory.
Now it is through the will that a person obtains eternal
bliss or eternal torments.
The will of a person must obey the will of God to
obtain eternal bliss. If a person does not conform to God's
will they cannot enter into Heaven. “Not every one that
saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in
Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21)
We must give a simple definition of holiness.
“Holiness consists in the faithful and constant fulfillment
of our everyday duties and responsibilities.” The only
way we can fulfill our duties is by beginning to pray. For
praying to God strengthens us with divine grace to fulfill
our duties and responsibilities. For Christ stated: “we
ought always to pray, and not to faint.” 5
We know that responsibilities will change over the
course of a girl's life. There are three different stages in
which each progressive state adds more responsibilities
and keeps the responsibilities of the previous state. 1) A
Girl 2) A Teenage Girl 3) A Woman
I am going to explain briefly the duties of each. 1)
The duty of the girl who obtains reason at the age of
seven must devote herself to acquiring virtues and
learning how to pray to God. 2) The teenage girl must
discern what her vocation is whether it is to the religious
life or to the secular life. 3) The woman must persevere

5 Luke 18:1

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in her chosen vocation until death.
Chapter Three
Choosing A Vocation

“If we make a mistake as to the state to which we

are called, our whole life, as St. Gregory says, will be an
error.” 6 There are three states normally to which a
woman can be called to single state, married, or
religious. It is my opinion that majority of women are
called to the religious state for it is a safer and easier
way to perfection and salvation. However, there are
many women that do not take sufficient time to regard
and think about their dignity and death. If women were
to properly contemplate7 on death they would
understand how great a danger it is to live in the world.
The religious life is a state to which more
abundant graces are given to a woman to perfect herself.
“And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the
things of the world, how she may please her husband.” 8
In the married state a woman must think of the
necessities both spiritual and corporeal for her husband,
her children, and finally herself.

6 St. Alphonsus, The Religious State, Chapter 1.

7 I use contemplate in the broad sense in Ascetical Theology.
We know contemplation is a higher and more perfect prayer
than meditation.
8 I Corinthians 7:34

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 Chapter Four
Dignity Of A Woman In Marriage

In the state of marriage one of the greatest dignity

a woman can have is to bear children in her womb. We
can properly say that she is more intimate with her
children then her husband can ever reach. “Can a
woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the
son of her womb?” 9
The greatest dignity the woman will ever have is
to raise her children in the true eternal saving Christian
faith.10 “A certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her
voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee,
and the paps that gave thee suck. But He said: Yea
rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and
keep it.” 11 This is to show us that bearing children is
very great dignity shown by Jesus Christ's response:
“Yea.” However, a greater dignity is still to be had. And
what is that? “Blessed are they who hear the word of
God, and keep it.”
Let us examine the greatness of teaching children
the Christian faith. “And whosoever shall give to drink to
one of these little ones a cup of cold water...he shall not
lose his reward.” 12 If we give a cup of cold water to a
child there is a reward. Now if we give a child life
everlasting by teaching them the Christian faith, is there
not a greater incomparable reward? It is further

9 Isaias 49:15
10 Those who do not hold to the One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic Church's doctrine passed down from Christ, to the
Apostles, to Our predecessors, and finally to Us, cannot
claim to be Christian. The Church's current Vicar of Christ is
Pope Michael.
11 Luke 11:27-28
12 Matthew 10:42

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confirmed by Christ: “he that shall do and teach, he shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” 13
The mother of St. Louis IX king of France used to
say: “I would rather see you dead than know that you
should live to commit a mortal sin.” The actions and
words of a mother is great upon her children. Many
mother sometimes think nothing of the smallest of their
actions.
“St. Gregory also relates, that a child of five years,
the son of a Roman nobleman, by listening to the
blasphemies of servants, contracted a habit of
blaspheming, and was not corrected for it by his father.
One evening, after having been guilty of several
blasphemies during the day, he was suddenly seized with
terror in the presence of his father, and began to cry out,
'Ah. I see certain black men, who want to carry me away.'
He threw himself in the arms of his father, and expired
in the act of blaspheming. Woe to you, O fathers, who do
not correct your children when they blaspheme; and still
greater woe, if you give them bad example by
blaspheming in their presence.” 14
If a five year old child is damned from contracting
a habit of blaspheming God's holy and sacred Name what
bad habits can a child pick up from her mother? A
mother must realize she must be more perfect than the
angels themselves. She must have an ardent desire for
perfection greater than the highest seraphim.15 For she is
holding a higher office than angels16.

13 Matthew 5:19
14 St. Alphonsus, On the Commandments and Sacraments
15 The highest of the nine choirs or orders of angels.
16 Angel: One of the heavenly spirits, creatures of God who are
employed by Him as His messengers in the governance of
the world. Angels are pure spirits.

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 Chapter Five
Dignity Of A Woman In The Religious Life

According to the teaching of Ascetical Theology, a

professed nun 17 or sister's 18 sole goal is a perfect union
with God. It is actually a goal for every Christian, but
these nuns and sisters must rise to a greater perfection.
“Is it not that holy state in which a woman lives more
purely, falls more rarely, rises more speedily, walks more
cautiously, is bedewed with the waters of grace more
frequently, rests more securely, dies more confidently, is
cleansed more quickly, and rewarded more
abundantly?”19
The religious state the greatest dignity a woman
can ever attain in this life for she can espouse God when
she reaches the seven mansion mention by St. Teresa of
Avila.

“But in this Mansion everything is different.

Our good God now desires to remove the
scales from the eyes of the soul, that it may
see and understand something of the favor
which He is granting it. First of all the spirit
becomes enkindled and is illumined, as it
were, by a cloud of the greatest brightness. It
sees these three Persons, individually, and
yet, by a wonderful kind of knowledge which

17 A member of a religious order or congregation of women.

Nuns are normally according to the spiritual life are
contemplative not active.
18 A member of a religious order or congregation of women.
Sisters are normally according to the spiritual life are active
rather than contemplative.
19 St. Bernard quoted by St. Alphonsus in The True Spouse of
Jesus Christ

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 is given to it, the soul realizes that most
certainly and truly all these three persons
are one Substance and one Power and one
Knowledge and one God alone; so that what
we hold by faith the soul may be said to here
to grasp by sight, although nothing is seen
by the eyes, either of the body or of the soul,
for it is no imaginary vision. Here all three
Persons communicate Themselves to the soul
and speak to the soul.” 20

Her children are spiritual from converted

apostates, heretics, schismatics, sinners, and souls in
purgatory. God and His spouse, the professed religious
woman, can have a much larger family than any man or
woman in the state of holy matrimony. “A single burning
prayer of the seraphic St. Theresa converted ten
thousand heretics. And her soul, all on fire for Christ,
could not conceive of a contemplative life, an interior life,
which would take no interest in the Saviour's intense
anxiety for the redemption of souls. 'I would accept
Purgatory until the Last Judgment, she said,to deliver
but one of them.'” 21

20 St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle

21 The Soul Of The Apostolate

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 Chapter Six
Death Of A Woman (Secular)

How precious is the death of a woman in the

world! It is much harder to die a good death in the world
than in the convent. That is from the writings and
teachings of the Saints.

“St. Francis Jerome [† 1716] was preaching

as was his wont, in the neighborhood of the
city of Naples. He was speaking of hell and
awful chastisements that await obstinate
sinners. A brazen courtesan who lived there,
trouble by a discourse which aroused her
remorse, ought to hinder it by jests and
shouts, accompanied by noisy instruments.
As she was staining close to the window, the
Saint cried out, 'beware, my daughter, of
resisting grace. Before eight days God will
punish you.' The unhappy creature grew only
more boisterous. Eight days elapsed, and the
holy preacher happened to be again before
the same house. This time she was silent; the
windows were shut. The hearers, with
dismay on their faces, told the Saint that
Catharine had a few hours before died
suddenly. 'Died!' He repeated. 'Well, let her
tell us now what she has gained by laughing
at Hell. Let us ask her.' he uttered these
words in an inspired tone, and everyone
expected a miracle. Followed by an immense
crowd, he went up to the death chamber, and
there, after having prayed for an instant, he
uncovered the face of the corpse, and said in

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 a loud voice, 'Catharine, tell us where art
thou now.' At this summons, the dead woman
lifted her head, while opening her wild eyes;
her face borrowed color, her features
assumed an expression of horrible despair,
and in a mournful voice, she pronounced
these words, 'In hell. I am in Hell.' And
immediately, she fell back again into the
condition of a corpse.” 22

Let us then picture the death of a virtuous mother.

The priest has given her the rites. Her children have
come to their mother's aid. She takes them each aside
giving them instructions on how to sanctify their lives
and their children. For those that detach23 themselves
from the world, must attach themselves to God. A mother
is truly virtuous24 by how well she is detached from all
worldly things, especially her children.

22 Fr. Schouppe S.J., The Dogma of Hell

23 Then only is there a real detachment which sufficiently
mortifies the love of riches, cuts off luxury and vain glory,
and frees from the care for worldly goods. (Catholic
Encyclopedia, Poverty)
24 When you are completely detached from all earthly things
and when, your conscience clear, you are at any moment
ready in heart to leave this present life and to dwell with the
Lord, then you may recognize that you have acquired true
virtue.

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 Chapter Seven
Death Of A Woman (Religious)

Moritur confidentius - “A religious dies more confidently.”

By her prayers, her fasts, her mortifications, and

her self denials she, the Spouse of Christ, conceives
many spiritual children over her lifetime. Her spiritual
children are those apostates, sinners, heretics,
schismatics, infidels, and lukewarm souls she brings
back to the one true faith, the Catholic Faith. Does her
heart cool after giving birth to those spiritual children?
No, her love increases in proportion with the amount of
children she bears with her spouse. All she thinks about
is wishing to conceive with her holy spouse; she
exclaims,“Our bed is flourishing.” 25
Those who have taken the Sacrament of Marriage
may only receive a few children, some are blessed as
many as sixteen.26 But the spouse of Christ could
conceive as many as thousands or even millions of
spiritual children.
After giving birth to many spiritual children over
her lifetime and raising these spiritual children in the
path of virtues, her time on earth has finally expired.
She can finally go to rest. “And I heard a voice from
heaven, saying to me: Write: Blessed are the dead, who
die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labors; for their works

25 Canticles 1:15
26 The greatest recorded number of children born to one mother
in the world, according to the Guinness 2004 world records is
69. In 27 pregnancies, the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev of
Russia gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and
four sets of quadruplets.

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follow them.”27
“Imagine you see, on the one hand, a princess
dying in a splendid palace, attended by a retinue of
servants, surrounded by her husband, her children, and
relatives, and represent to yourself, on the other, a
religious expiring in her convent, in a poor cell,
mortified, humble, far from her relatives, stripped of
property and self will; and tell me, which of the two the
rich princess or the poor nun, dies more contented? Ah!
The enjoyment of riches, of honors, and pleasures in this
life do not afford consolation at the hour death, but
rather beget grief and diffidence of salvation. While
poverty, humiliations, penitential austerities, and
detachment from the world render death sweet and
amiable, and give to a Christian increased hopes of
attaining that true felicity which shall never
terminate.”28
The hour of death for a Spouse of Christ is an hour
of consolation. Finally at last she can quit the world that
has tortured her from keeping her Beloved away from
her very arms. Those few moments left is the only
barrier that is keeping Jesus and His spouse separated.
Is that not consolation for the soul that ardently loves
Jesus?

27 Apocalypse 14:13
28 St. Alphonsus, The True Spouse Of Christ

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 Chapter Eight
Summary Of Chapters 1-7

The first seven chapters we a very basic summary

on the dignity of a woman. Volumes can be written on
each chapter that I have presented to you. But I am
writing this so the 'little ones' 29 can understand. We
talked about the following:
• Adam, Eve, and their children were made to
adorers of God (the Blessed Trinity).
• We can adore and worship God within our bodies
when we are in sanctifying grace.
• Our bodies if in sanctifying grace are churches for
the God. However, if they are not, they are
desecrated churches.
• The woman is made in the image of God and
therefore has an infinite dignity.
• If a woman loses sanctifying grace, by the
commission of mortal sin and subsequently in the
state of damnation, she still retains an infinite
dignity because she was made in the image of God.
• Holiness consists in the faithful and constant
fulfillment of our everyday duties and
responsibilities.
• Our first duty is to pray unceasingly which is
commanded by Our Lord. 30
• If we do not pray to Jesus we cannot acquire
virtues and subsequently holiness. “For without
Me you can do nothing” 31
• If we make a mistake in choosing our vocation, our
life will be a complete error.

29 Luke 10:21
30 Luke 18:1
31 John 15:5

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• A mother in holy matrimony has a two fold dignity
giving birth to children and to raise her children
as saints for Heaven.
• A professed nun or sister has a higher dignity than
the mother. If she reaches the unitive way
according to Ascetical Theology she is espouses
God. Consequently, she gives birth to spiritual
children and responsible for the salvation of those
under her care.
• A holy death of a mother in the world is precious
for the few who obtain it because few desire to
preserve till death asking for a holy death.
• A holy death of a nun and sister is obtained much
easier. For her state of life prepares her for a holy
death by means of the vows poverty, chastity, and
obedience.

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 Chapter Nine
Signs To The Vocation To The Marriage State

There are four simple signs to whether or not a

woman has a vocation to the state of matrimony.

1. Love of children and desire to see them be Saints.

2. Love of domestic duties.
3. Love of spiritual duties.
4. Desire not to be a perpetual virgin.

Section 1: Love of children

and desire to see them to be Saints.

If we ourselves do not desire to become Saints

destined for Heaven, then would it be the greatest evil to
have children only to end up in Hell? The father and the
mother would be the main cause of those children's
eternal sufferings.
However, “he that shall receive one such little
child in My Name, receiveth Me.” 32 To receive a child or
children in God's name would mean that you are a
steward over those children. These children are not
wholly yours, but rather Gods. For they are made in His
image, He desires to have the child be with Him forever
in Heaven. Should we be so bold as to take away those
divine rights from Him? “Even so it is not the will of your
Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones
should perish.” 33
It is especially a duty for a mother to obtain a high
degree of divine love for her children. For if she does not
love her children in the proper way she may hinder or be

32 Matthew 18:5
33 Matthew 18:14

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a stumbling block for the child's salvation. “And
whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that
believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone
were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the
sea.” 34

Section 1.1: How do I love

my children as a mother ought to?

There are two kinds of love that exists in this

world. There is worldly love, which is a false love, and
that of christian love, which is true love. Christian love is
divine love or what theologians define as the virtue of
charity. If a mother does not have true love for her
children, she does not desire them to reach their last
end, which is God.
We live in a time where the “charity of many shall
grow cold.” 35 To be more clearer we live in a period
where the love of children are non existent. When a
parent truly loves a child that child is filled with the love
of God. For the parent bears the love of God within
themselves. Just as an iron glows red from heat when
stuck in the fire for a long time, so too are children
become flamed with the love of God when their parents
are consumed with fire of divine love. Children are filled
with that holy fire which Jesus Christ ignited upon the
earth. “I am come to cast fire on the earth.” (Luke 12:49)
Parents resemble the office of angels. For parents are
messengers of charity, ie divine love. But however with
parents who do not practice virtue render themselves
and their children as devils.

34 Mark 9:41
35 Matthew 24:12

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 Cause: No fire of charity, ie divine love
Affect: No love of purity

The picture above is a study done from the

government about how few virgins there are in the
United States. 36 The love of purity is to charity as wood
is to fire. Without purity you cannot have charity, so too
without wood the fire would cease to exist.
If parents do not have a pure intention for their
children, that is the salvation of their souls, the children
will miss their final destination. “You ask, and receive
not; because you ask amiss.” (James 4:3) Parents are

36 Sexual Behavior and Selected Health Measures: Men and

Women 15–44 Years of Age, United States, 2002 by William
D. Mosher, Ph.D.; Anjani Chandra, Ph.D.; and Jo Jones,
Ph.D., Division of Vital Statistics

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infinitely (allegorically speaking) more concerned about
temporal, worldly, and sinful things then obtaining the
love of God.
This is the reason why children are so impure
these days is due to parents who are impure in their own
hearts. I am not just talking about the transgression of
the sixth and ninth commandment.37 I am talking about
the love of sin.

“Now, the will of God is the perfection of God

Himself, holy, just, pure, merciful, true; and
anything contrary to these perfections in
thought, word, or deed is sin. The conformity
of man to the will of God, to the perfections
of God, is the sanctity or the perfection of the
human soul; and the more he is conformed to
the will of God, the holier and more perfect
he is. Therefore, to be at variance with God
is to be deformed; and the monstrous
deformity of the human frame is not more
humbling nor more hideous-nay, it is not
humbling and hideous, compared with the
deformity of the soul. When the soul is
unlike to God, when it is departed from the
perfection of God, when instead of purity
there is impurity, instead of justice there is
injustice, instead of truth there is falsehood,
instead of mercy there is cruelty, instead of
the perfections of God there is the direct
contrary of those perfections; no deformity or
hideousness that can strike the eye is so
terrible.” 38

37 Fornication and desire of coveting another's spouse

38 Sin and its Consequences

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“Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.” 39
The reason why so many children are lead astray is
because these parents are not proper guides for they too
are blind to the ways of salvation, sanctification, and
perfection. As Sacred Scripture informs us that “both will
fall into the pit.” 40
If parents were to teach their children only one
motto, one standard, one maxim, let it be this, “Thy will
be done.” 41 These are the words of Christ spoken to us in
the prayer of the Our Father. Without this short little
prayer we cannot obtain Heaven. We cannot without this
prayer love God and subsequently mothers cannot love
their children if they do not teach their children how to
live the words, “Thy will be done.”

Section 1.2: How can I inspire my child to be a Saint?

Fr. Lekeux writes in his book The Art Of Prayer,

“Love attracts love.” We can logically conclude, “Saints
attract Saints.”

39 Matthew 5:8
40 Matthew 15:14
41 Matthew 6:10

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