Discovering the Feminine Genius presents a framework in which women can discover and understand their human and spiritual journey as a daughter of God, a woman, a unique individual, and spouse of the Spirit. Katrina Zeno, renowned speaker on the theology of the body, explores the role of women in our complex world and explains the concept of the feminine genius.
There is a particular kind of insanity running rampant in the world that compels most women to stuff down, ignore, or hide parts of ourselves in order to be acceptable, attractive, or taken seriously. Which doesn’t work. It actually ensures we remain unfulfilled, miserable, and at war with ourselves—and that is a war no woman can win. So now comes the good news: There is a path to help you become the woman you are aching to become. This path is unruly, messy, a wee bit naughty, and audaciously asks you trust the very parts of you that you previously warred against. While this path has no script, map, or blueprint, you’ll learn to use your sensuous, desirous, wildly feeling female body as a steadfast and trustworthy compass. This is the path of Feminine Genius. To get you started, you’ll have the best of guides: women’s life coach LiYana Silver. “One of the most enduringly inspiring things in my life,” says LiYana, “is to watch a woman slip the Gordian knot of self-loathing, people-pleasing, and over-achieving and become simply and fully herself.” Partly an irreverently reverent feminist treatise and partly a non-denominational devotional hymnal to the Sacred Feminine, Feminine Genius just might change forever what you know about your body, soul, sexuality, intuition, and power. In these pages, LiYana invites you to: Go deep and reconnect with the powerful parts of yourself you’ve hidden awayMeet your innate genius: the wild, creative, and infallible wisdom of your bodyBrighten your everyday with hands-on practicesTap into your inner knowing so you can stop second-guessing yourself and get clear about your next stepsLearn how to embrace your sexuality, emotions, desires, and cycles so you can achieve enormous effectiveness and fulfillment in lifeNavigate your “dark” and work with painful, difficult experiences in healthy waysLearn how you overuse your “masculine” strengths to the point of personal, cultural, and global breakdownDiscover why your “feminine” isn’t weak, but is one of the strongest and most trustworthy parts of youExplore the history, physics, and biology of a universe built for harmony between “masculine” and “feminine”Look in the mirror and see the face of the Goddess gazing back at you If you found a dusty bottle on a shelf of your cellar, there would be only one way to know if it contained an all-knowing genie with the power to actualize your deepest desires: open, and look inside. Feminine Genius is a provocative wake-up call, nudging you to uncork that fabulous flask and find out just how much magic you’ve been hiding. Because you do have a genie in your bottle—and genius in your body. Are you ready to open, and look inside?
Magnify is a book of reflections on virtues geared to deepen a woman's interior spiritual life, so that her exterior life magnifies the Lord. Each day begins with passages from scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the writings of female saints; then readers meditate upon a guided reflection. Women are asked to prayerfully take up an ascetic way of life for 3 months, to give more room to silence for listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we live a simpler life, we can more easily practice the virtues. The introduction offers particular mortifications to root out vices that so frequently blur our pursuit of holiness. This book is for all adult women, no matter her state in life, and may be read independently of the ascetic components.Virtues discussed are: humility, affability, gratitude, magnanimity, prayerfulness, docility, industriousness, zeal, modesty, moderation, foresight, and perseverance. Magnify was initially a response to Exodus 90, a valuable and worthy masculine spirituality endeavor, because women shouldn't do Exodus 90. But it's actually so much more than just that. It's a pursuit of virtue by meditating on the genius of women. God calls us all to be Saints. We women are invited in a particular way to Magnify the Lord like Mary! Prior knowledge of Exodus 90 is not at all relevant for a woman reading Magnify. More details can be found on mag90.com
If you could talk to your younger self, what would you tell her? If you could equip her for the challenges she would face today, with the Church plagued by scandal and the culture on the verge of collapse, what would you say? In Letters to Myself from the End of the World, Emily Stimpson Chapman answers those questions, weaving Catholic theology, biblical wisdom, and her own life experience into forty-five “letters” to her twenty-five-year-old self. Both personal and practical, Chapman’s letters reflect upon sin and grace, the Church’s sacraments and saints, scandals and injustice, social media and prayer, suffering, adoption, motherhood, and much more. Written in real time, during the summer and fall of 2020, while pandemics and riots filled the news and as Chapman and her husband prepared to adopt a second child, Letters to Myself from the End of the World is a faithful guide for pursuing holiness and spiritual maturity in a world broken by sin. It’s also a testimony to the power of grace to heal our hearts, renew our minds, and transform our lives.
"If we want love, why do we often settle for less?" — from the Foreword by Jason and Crystalina Evert Tired of toxic relationships, many young adults want to clean up their love lives. They desire to give their lives to Christ and turn away from sin—but without a concrete plan, they quickly fall back into old habits. Featuring daily reflections and resolutions, this forty-day detox provides a practical "cleanse" for those who want to purify themselves from the poisoned dating culture and live a life of authentic freedom, respect, and love. Inside you'll find: Compelling and clear explanations of "God's plans for love, dating, and sex"Hopeful true-life stories of people who have successfully moved from desiring chastity to actually living itPractical tools, habits, and strategies to live more virtuously with joy and freedom
St. John Paul II propelled the Church into a new era of fruitful contemplation about the dignity and value of women, often reiterating how women — specifically as women — reveal the image of God in the world. But his final contribution to that topic may be his most profound. Just months before he passed into eternity, he summed up his decades of teaching on the topic: “To you, women, falls the task of being sentinels of the Invisible!” In these eye-opening pages, author Melissa Maleski shows how this final bold admonition succinctly embodies the Catholic Church's entire, consistent vision of women as powerful, vital agents for good. Drawing not only on the works of John Paul II and on those of the Church Fathers but also on the example of scores of holy women in the Bible plus the Blessed Virgin Mary and the many female saints of the Church, these pages offer profound and practical insights into the fundamental strengths and habits that distinguish womanhood as a particular way of being human, while giving authentic witness to the divine image of our Creator. Be warned: here you'll encounter no outdated, sentimental ode to “feminine genius.” On the contrary, reaching across time and space, Maleski's straightforward, engaging prose introduces you to the bracing, universal truths of the Church about the inherent strength and supreme vocation of womanhood, equipping you to counter forcefully our secular culture's distorted views of personhood, the human body, gender, sexuality, and the profound, God-ordained complementarity of men and women. Along the way, you'll come to learn: How women, specifically as women, reveal the image of God in the world The full truth about the vital place of womanhood in the Church and in the world “Sentinels of the Invisible”: what the phrase means and why it's so important How womanhood as a “supreme vocation” is part of every personal vocation Why the devil has a special fear of womanhood and a particular hatred of women Why the devil always seeks to promote an imbalance of power between the sexes How modern notions of sexuality and gender pervert God's image and His plan for creation How marriage and religious life empower women rather than oppress them Why St. John Paul II called women “Guardians of the Gospel Message” And much more, in our confused times, to show forth for you “the supreme vocation of women”!
To help celebrate the fourth centenary of the birth of St. John of the Cross in 1542, Edith Stein received the task of preparing a study of his writings. She uses her skill as a philosopher to enter into an illuminating reflection on the difference between the two symbols of cross and night. Pointing out how entering the night is synonymous with carrying the cross, she provides a condensed presentation of John's thought on the active and passive nights, as discussed in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night. All of this leads Edith to speak of the glory of resurrection that the soul shares, through a unitive contemplation described chiefly in The Living Flame of Love. In the summer of 1942, the Nazis without warrant took Edith away. The nuns found the manuscript of this profound study lying open in her room. Because of the Nazis' merciless persecution of Jews in Germany, Edith Stein traveled discreetly across the border into Holland to find safe harbor in the Carmel of Echt. But the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940 again put Edith in danger. The cross weighed down heavily as those of Jewish birth were harassed. Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross's superiors then assigned her a task they thought would take her mind off the threatening situation. The fourth centenary of the birth, of St. John of the Cross (1542) was approaching, and Edith could surely contribute a valuable study for the celebration. It is no surprise that in view of her circumstances she discovered in the subject of the cross a central viewpoint for her study. A subject like this enabled her to grasp John's unity of being as expressed in his life and works. Using her training in phenomenology, she helps the reader apprehend the difference in the symbolic character of cross and night and why the night-symbol prevails in John. She clarifies that detachment is designated by him as a night through which the soul must pass to reach union with God and points out how entering the night is equivalent to carrying the cross. Finally, in a fascinating way Edith speaks of how the heart or fountainhead of personal life, an inmost region, is present in both God and the soul and that in the spiritual marriage this inmost region is surrendered by each to the other. She observes that in the soul seized by God in contemplation all that is mortal is consumed in the fire of eternal love. The spirit as spirit is destined for immortal being, to move through fire along a path from the cross of Christ to the glory of his resurrection. Book includes two photos and fully linked index.
