A Vivid Example of Feminine Genius

A true sign of Feminine Genius lies in the understanding that life is sacred and deserves dignity because all life is made in the image and likeness of God.

Signora Bocelli displayed Feminine Genius! Watch and listen:

Husband to a Saint: Pietro Molla has died

Pietro Molla, husband of St Gianna Molla, died on Holy Saturday at the age of 97.  He will be buried tomorrow. 


Gianna is best known for her heroic choice for life, enduring a complicated pregnancy to bring her daughter Giana Emanuela to term. (Interestingly, it was on a Holy Saturday that Gianna gave birth to little Giana. Gianna died a week later, on Easter Saturday.)

After the death of his wife, Pietro was left to bring up their four children, all under the age of five.  One of those children died two years later.

What kind of man lives to see his wife canonized?   Gianna's vocation as mother blossomed out of her vocation as wife.  Perhaps it's worth learning more about Mr Molla and about Gianna's life with him.



St Gianna, pray for Pietro and for us.  May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Feminine Genius in History

Whether you're looking for spiritual reading during Lent or a book for your summer vacation, I highly recommend Isabel of Spain: The Catholic Queen by Warren Carroll.



This wonderful book reads like an adventure novel rather than a dry work of historical dates and facts. Dr. Carroll makes real and compelling the extraordinary events of Isabel's life and times. The reader feels a powerful connection to Isabel across 500 years. Like all saints* of the Church, she becomes accessible as a friend.

Queen Isabel of Spain, in partnership with her husband Fernado, raised five children while managing to unite her fractured and fractious country, finally vanquish the Moorish invaders who had occupied Spain for 770 years, and launch Christopher Columbus on the expedition that would forever change the world. And she did it all in humble service to and for the love of Our Lord her God.

Perhaps more remarkably, Isabel so thoroughly reformed the Church in Spain that it withstood the Protestant Revolution virtually untouched and completely intact.

Dr. Carroll's extensive documentation of the almost unbelieveable events of Isabel's life and reign assure the reader that these accomplishments are indeed fact. This magnificent book is a must read for those seeking proof of the Feminine Genius. It is a beautiful confirmation of the earthly potential of every woman who puts her faith in God and His Church.

*While Isabel has not yet been cannonized, I share Dr. Carroll's hope that she will be 'St. Isabel' one fine day. Check out Daughters of Isabella for more information.

Feast of St Frances of Rome

Poor Frances!  Born in 1384, by the age of eleven she was sure that God was calling her to be a nun.  However, her father was sure Frances was being called to marry (after all, he had arranged the marriage.)

In an effort to do God's will, she finally consented to the marriage.  Her new husband was from a noble family, which meant that the new bride was thrust into Rome's high society.  Doing God's will now meant living up to her mother-in-law's standards of what a society wife should be: attending banquets and paying calls and entertaining.

To her surprise, though, Frances found a kindred spirit in her sister-in-law.  Together they prayed and did works of charity, while performing the roles expected by their family.  When famine came to Rome, they shared as much as they could with the poor.  Frances's father-in-law took exception to her generosity -- how could she give away all their stores when there was a famine on! -- until the contents of the family's granary and wine cask were found to be miraculously replenished.

Over the course of her life, God granted Frances visions (often, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "in the form of drama enacted for her by heavenly personages.")  She was also given the favor of being able to see her guardian angel (who at one point advised her to lay off the bread-and-water and the hair shirt).

Frances continued to persist in her trust in God and in her generosity to the poor through hard years of war and invasion.  She eventually founded the Oblates of Mary, a lay order for women attached to a Benedictine monastery.   After she was widowed, she moved to the Oblates' house to live in community with the other widows of the order:  religious life at last!  She died at the age of fifty-six.

Catholic Online, my main source, has much more about Saint Frances, including this lovely prayer:

Saint Frances of Rome,
help us to see the difference between what we want to do
and what God wants us to do.
Help us to discern what comes from our will
and what comes from God's desire. Amen.

Especially when God's desire comes in a way we're not expecting....