WOMEN of the CHURCH

Original Icon by Fr. Theodore Jurievicz Front: Anna, Elizabeth, Mary Magdelene, Nina (evangelizer of Georgia); Back: Juliana of Lavarevsk, Irene Martyr of Thessalonica, Barbara, Alexandra the Empress.

A Prayer For The Times: Litany of Women for the Church
                                      Sister Joan Chittister, OSB

Dear God, creator of women in Your own image,
born of a woman in the midst of a world half women,
carried by women to mission fields around the globe, made known by women to all the children of the earth,
give to the women of our time
the strength to persevere,
the courage to speak out,
the faith to believe in You beyond
all systems and institutions
so that Your face on earth may be seen in all its beauty,
so that men and women become whole,
so that the church may be converted to Your will
in everything and in all ways.

Sts. Benedicta of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Catherine of Siena

We call on the holy women
who went before us,
channels of Your Word
in testaments old and new,
to intercede for us
so that we might be given the grace
to become what they have been
for the honor and glory of God.

Saint Esther, who pleaded against power
    for the liberation of the people, -Pray for us.
Saint Judith, who routed the plans of men
    and saved the community,
Saint Deborah, laywoman and judge, who led
    the people of God,
Saint Elizabeth of Judea, who recognized the value
    of another woman,
Saint Mary Magdalene, minister of Jesus,
    first evangelist of the Christ, pray for us.

St. Scholastica- De Wit

Saint Scholastica, who taught her brother Benedict
    to honor the spirit above the system,
Saint Hildegard, who suffered interdict
    for the doing of right,
Saint Joan of Arc, who put no law above the law of God,
Saint Clare of Assisi, who confronted the pope
    with the image of woman as equal,
Saint Julian of Norwich, who proclaimed for all of us
    the motherhood of God,
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who knew the call
    to priesthood in herself,
Saint Catherine of Siena, to whom the pope listened,

Dorothy Day- B. Tsai, 1998

Saint Teresa of Avila, who brought women's gifts
    to the reform of the church,
Saint Edith Stein, who brought fearlessness to faith,
Saint Elizabeth Seton, who broke down boundaries
    between lay women and religious
    by wedding motherhood and religious life,
Saint Dorothy Day, who led the church
    to a new sense of justice, pray for us.

* * * ******
Mary, mother of Jesus,
    who heard the call of God and answered,
Mary, mother of Jesus,
    who drew strength from the woman Elizabeth,
Mary, mother of Jesus,
    who underwent hardship bearing Christ,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who ministered at Cana,
Mary, mother of Jesus, inspired at Pentecost,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who turned the Spirit of God
    into the body and blood of Christ, pray for us. Amen.

Mary Mother of the Church