#womensissues — Public Fediverse posts

Quote of the day, 22 February: St. Edith Stein

The most pure virgin is the only one safeguarded from every stain of sin. Except for her, no one embodies feminine nature in its original purity. Every other woman has something in herself inherited from Eve, and she must search for the way from Eve to Mary.

There is a bit of defiance in each woman which does not want to humble itself under any sovereignty. In each, there is something of that desire which reaches for forbidden fruit. And she is hindered by both these tendencies in what we clearly recognize as woman’s work.

The girl must learn from youth, through a basic upbringing or conditions of life, to adapt, to deny herself, and to make sacrifices; otherwise, she will enter into marriage with longings for undisturbed good fortune and the execution of all her wishes.

At first, she will not learn correctly how to curb herself should she find her spouse disposed to her wishes; she will test how far her control goes, and when she reaches its limits, conflicts will arise. This leads to a rupture or to mutual exhaustion if her sensibility and inner make-up are not reversed.

Such a woman will not find right relationship with her children either, that is, if she does not decline from the outset to take upon herself the burdens of motherhood. Indeed, it will be a question of whether to occupy herself with them or not, depending on her mood. She is apt to pamper them or to treat them severely at the wrong time and to make selfish demands of them. In short, instead of paving their way and encouraging them, she is likely to arouse their resistance and inhibit their development.

Saint Edith Stein

Spirituality of the Christian Woman (excerpt)
Lectures to the Organization of Catholic Women, Zurich (1932)

Stein, E 2017, Essays On Woman, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 2, translated from the German by Oben, F, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.

Featured image: Eve is reaching out, past the head of the crafty serpent, to her husband Adam in this oil on canvas diptych by the Florentine painter Giuliano di Piero di Simone Bugiardini (1475–1554). Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).