St. Thérèse of Lisieux - Patron Saint of Women's Ordination - Celebrating Her Birthday January 2

Thérèse of Lisieux, Patron Saint of Women’s Ordination, Celebrating the Day of Her Birth

Thérèse of Lisieux - patron saint of women’s ordination
- born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin
- lived 2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897
- nun, theologian, playwright, writer
- struggled with exclusion for her call to priesthood
- the greatest saint of modern times according to Pope Pius X 1, 2
- in the official church, she is patron of missionary priests, HIV/AIDS sufferers, florists and gardeners
feast day: October 1
- proclaimed 3rd female Doctor of the Church in 1997

Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of women’s ordination

Thérèse of Lisieux dressed as imprisoned Joan of Arc. Photograph taken by her sister Celine.

The patron saint of women’s ordination, Thérèse of Lisieux was born on this day, January 2 in 1873. A French Carmelite nun, she is officially honoured as saint and third woman Doctor of the Church. She is celebrated as the Little Flower for her Little Way — her genuine commitment to manifesting God’s love in the tasks and people we meet in everyday life. 3 She made the simple things of life the seedbed of her sanctity.
 
But she is much more than this. Church Fathers would have us believe that Thérèse was a demure, sweet, and delicate child. The truth is that she admired Judith of the Old Testament, the warrior Joan of Arc, and she (Thérèse) is one of the first women of modern times to declare her calling to priesthood. She wrote about it and her inner identification with the archetypes of warrior, priest, apostle and martyr. 4

I sense in myself the vocation of Warrior, Priest, Apostle, and Martyr. In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love. 5

—St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Her yearning to be a priest is well documented. Her journals record it. She confided in her sister Céline about the calling. At a young age, Thérèse wrote: ‘I feel in me the vocation of PRIEST; with what love I would carry you in my hands when, at my words you would descend from Heaven.’ 6 She was convinced that she would have been a good preacher and even better than the priests she heard. On her sickbed she composed what she would say from the pulpit. 7

Thérèse of Lisieux preparing ciborium for mass

In testimonies from the process of her beatification there is a detailed statement from Céline. She shared that Thérèse preferred death to the continued painful endurance of living with her unfulfilled call. Thérèse believed God had let her become sick so she would not have to suffer rejection by the Church from priesthood. In her testimony, Céline said:

‘… before she was really ill, Sister Thérèse told me she expected to die that year. ... When she realised that she had pulmonary tuberculosis, she said: 'You see, God is going to take me at an age when I would not have had the time to become a priest ... If I could have been a priest, I would have been ordained at these June ordinations. So, what did God do? So that I would not be disappointed, he let me be sick: in that way I couldn't have been there, and I would die before I could exercise my ministry.' 8

‘The sacrifice of not being able to be a priest was something she always felt deeply. During her illness, whenever we were cutting her hair she would ask for a tonsure [the practice of shaving the crown of the head that was part of the ritual of ordination until it was abandoned by papal order 9 in 1972] ... But her regret did not find its expression merely in such trifles; it was caused by a real love of God, and inspired high hopes in her. The thought that St Barbara had brought communion to St Stanislas Kostka thrilled her. 'Why must I be a virgin, and not an angel or a priest?' she said. 'Oh! what wonders we shall see in heaven! I have a feeling that those who desired to be priests on earth will be able to share in the honour of the priesthood in heaven.' 10

The thought of priesthood preoccupied Thérèse to the end of her life. It is moving that while dying, she wrote of St. Barbara bringing communion to St. Kostka in heaven revealing that Thérèse knew the obstacle for her was one created by men and not God. 11

Too often Thérèse’s call is written out of her story. Today we honour her not so little impact as a courageous voice for women and her fierce love for God. Women are called to priesthood. It is our work to amplify their voices and to work for their welcome in the official Church. In Thérèse’s memory, we reflect on the great loss and scandal caused by the institutional Church turning away so many of God’s servants only because they are women.

Women are called to priesthood. It is our work to amplify their voices and work for their welcome in the official Church. In Thérèse’s memory, we reflect on the great loss and scandal caused by the institutional Church which has turned away so many of God’s servants only because they are women.

The people of the Church have welcomed the ecclesial and sacramental gifts of women and benefit from their ministries on the margins. We pray for Church leaders to open the doors to dialogue with women called to priesthood and to support them as equals. We know that God does not discriminate.  If the Roman Catholic Church claims to follow Jesus, it must free itself from the sin of sexism and practice radical inclusion just as he did.

Thérèse of Lisieux

The continuing exclusion of women from ordained ministries and decision-making roles in the Catholic Church is an injustice that hurts all of us. It is the sin of sexism and is offensive to God. We must speak out for inclusive leadership in our institutions and empower women to live their authentic callings. We speak out our concern for all priests… including the ones the Vatican won’t yet recognise only because they are women.

St. Thérèse — pray for us, for our work, for all women who struggle with callings to priesthood, and for the women who, in the face of continued Vatican intransigence have prophetically moved forward to action their callings to priesthood on earth now.

St. Thérèse - pray that our Church leaders will be emboldened to decisively take action to end sexism in the Church and start walking with us as equals.

Amen!

-Therese Koturbash, Women’s Ordination Worldwide Communications Team
Therese Koturbash, BA, LLB, GDCL served as Canadian Delegate to Women’s Ordination Worldwide from 2008 to 2013. For all five of those years, she was elected member of WOW's four person International Leadership Circle. She has also been the National Coordinator of Canada's Catholic Network for Women's Equality. Today, Therese serves on WOW’s Communications Team and is a volunteer with WOW member group, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. Her paid work is as a family attorney.

For more about St. Therese of Lisieux, see here: Catherine Broome, OP, The Priestly Vocation of Therese of the Child Jesus: Spirituality (1997), pp. 225-230 found on the website of our member group www.womenpriests.org

———————————————————————————-

1. Descouvemont, Pierre; Loose, Helmuth Nils (1996). Thérèse and Lisieux. Toronto: Novalis. p. 5

2. John Paul 11 (19 October 1997). "Angelus － Proclamation of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face as a "Doctor of the Church"". vatican.va: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

3. St. Therese and Her Little Way, https://www.littleflower.org/therese/reflections/st-therese-and-her-little-way/

4. Broome, Catherine, OP, The Priestly Vocation of Therese of the Child Jesus: Spirituality (1997), pp. 225-230

5. St. Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul, 8 Sept 1896.

6. ibid.

7. op. cit. Broome.

8. St. Thérèse of Lisieux by Those Who Knew Her: Testimonies from the Process of Beatification, ed. and trans. by C. O'Mahony, OCD (Dublin, 1975) pp155-6 as quoted in The Ordination of Women in the Roman Catholic Church, by Eric Doyle OFM

9. tonsure - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsure

10. Op. cit. C.O’Mahony

11. Broome, Catherine, OP, The Priestly Vocation of Therese of the Child Jesus: Spirituality (1997), pp. 225-230.

Ludmila Javorva, A Priest Forever -- on the 49th Anniversary of Her Ordination to Priesthood

Today, December 28, 2019, we honour the 49th anniversary of the ordination to Roman Catholic priesthood of Ludmila Javorova. Born in 1932, Ludmila is a Czech woman who was one of at least 7 women and a number of married men ordained to serve as priests in the underground church of Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia.

During the Soviet era in Czechoslovakia, Catholic religious orders were banned, and most existing clergy were forced into military service, jailed, sent to forced labour camps, tortured and in some instances, murdered. 1

Ludmila Javorova, today

The Communist state viewed religion with suspicion. Religious issues could not be brought into public life. Male priests were easily identifiable Secret police could be listening in at any moment. If a priest was perceived as a threat to the government, he would be jailed or disappeared. The practice of faith was persecuted. While trying to manage an oppressed church, Czechoslovakia’s Bishop Felix Davidek sensed they were living in a time that was not ordinary—it was a ‘kairos’ moment— a time of opportunity. 2, 3

It was in this climate of fear that he decided to ordain qualified individuals--including women--to be priests. He justified the ordinations by the pastoral needs of a church suffering harsh persecution. He himself had endured fourteen years in Soviet prison for his faith. While a prisoner, he was troubled by the fact that women being held had no priest among them. His concern for their spiritual needs, his intelligence and practicality led him to conclude that priests of the same gender (female) could go under the radar and effectively serve as sacramental ministers for those women. Insisting that canon law must not infringe on God's law, and guided by its principle that it (canon law) should be used in the service of salvation, Davidek discerned he would move forward with ordination of women. In his view that law did not cover every life situation, and the needs of women in prison and the oppressed Church were paramount. 4 ‘The people need the ordination of women. They are literally waiting for it and the church should not prevent it,’ he is reported to have said. 5

Bishop Felix Davidek

Davidek felt that the Holy Spirit was confirming that Ludmila should be ordained a priest. So, on December 28, 1970 she received her ordination and became a Catholic priest.6 During those dark days of oppression and persecution, Javorova celebrated the Mass secretly. Without drawing suspicion of authorities that she was a priest, she was able to visit women in prison who wished to receive the sacraments. ‘She served as she could, even though she had to keep her ordination a secret from most people.’ 7 Later, the Pope declared her ordination illegitimate, but who can guess the status of the Czechoslovakian church if she had not followed the Holy Spirit’s leading?8

‘Javorova’s life is certainly reminiscent of Esther, a woman called upon by God to serve “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Javorova’s story shows us that God’s call cannot be confined by societal expectations. Even though Javorova lived during a harsh time, she may very well have never been ordained if not for the burdensome time in which she lived. God makes use of his servants, and even difficult situations, if we are bold enough to accept God’s call.’9

Ludmila Javorova as a young woman

The series of velvet revolutions that liberated European countries from Soviet domination in 1989 brought democracy back to Czechoslovakia. With religious freedom restored, the hidden church was no longer necessary, and the Vatican began the process of deciding whether to recognize the Holy Orders of the Czechs—single men, married men, and women—whom Bishop Davidek had ordained.10 Many of the priests from the hidden church worried that the Vatican would not recognize their Orders so they chose to remain ‘underground’. Ludmila wasn’t one of them. Although her ordination wasn’t public knowledge, she made no effort to hide it from Vatican officials. The result was predictable. In 1996, she was forbidden to exercise her priesthood on the grounds that her Orders were invalid—not because she had been ordained in the hidden church, but for the sole reason that she was a woman.’ 11 Ludmila obeyed.

Despite her outward obedience to the Vatican, Javorova finds the church’s refusal to ordain women incomprehensible. ‘I cannot understand when it is a matter of salvation or of helping souls in need, why the hierarchy of the church objects if a woman should enter into the process. Who is the priest? Someone to accompany people in their joy and in their suffering, who offers to go together with them, who is an experience of Christ to them, who works together with God.’ 12

Ludmila, a priest forever.

- Therese Koturbash, Women’s Ordination Worldwide Communications Team
Therese Koturbash, BA, LLB, GDCL served as Canadian Delegate to Women’s Ordination Worldwide from 2008 to 2013. For all five of those years, she was elected member of WOW's four person International Leadership Circle. She has also been the National Coordinator of Canada's Catholic Network for Women's Equality. Today, Therese serves on WOW’s Communications Team and is a volunteer with WOW member group, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. Her paid work is as a family attorney.

To learn more about Ludmila Javorova, these are some excellent resources:

1. Peter Hebblethwaite, “Secret ordinations kept Czech church alive.” National Catholic Reporter, 10 September 1993.

2. Dr. Suzanne Tunc, Ludmila Javorova : Histoire de la première femme prêtre. Paris, Temps présent, 2012.

3. Fr. Kerry Walters, ‘My Priesthood As a Woman Has Been Different’, February 24, 2014, The Call: An Online Magazine of the American Catholic Church

4. Miriam Therese Winters, Out of the Depths: The Story of Ludmia Jarovová, Ordained Roman Catholic Priest. Crossroad, 2001.

5. www.womenpriests.org
   
   _______________________________________

1 Ludmila’s Story: Beliefnet.com Beliefnet.comhttps://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/catholic/2001/05/ludmilas-story.aspx

2 Ritchie, Hilary, Ludmila Javorova: For Such a Time as This : March 26, 2014, CBE International cbeinternational.org/blogs/ludmila-javorova-such-tim

3. ‘kairos’ - ancient Greek word meaning the right, critical, or opportune moment.

4 Tarjanyi, Judy, Female Priest Tells Her Story:Toledo Blade July 14, 2001.

5. ibid.

6. Ritchie, ibid.

7. Ritchie, ibid.

8. Ritchie, ibid.

9. Ritchie, ibid.

10. ‘My Priesthood as a Woman Has Been Different’, February 24, 2014, The Call, An Online Magazine of the American Catholic Church , http://anccthecall.org/2014/02/24/my-priesthood-as-a-woman-has-been-different/

11. ibid.

12. ibid.

_______________________________________________________

This page contributed by Therese Koturbash:

Therese Koturbash, BA, LLB, GDCL served as Canadian Delegate to Women’s Ordination Worldwide from 2008 to 2013. For all five of those years, she was elected member of WOW's four person International Leadership Circle. She has also been the National Coordinator of Canada's Catholic Network for Women's Equality. Today, Therese serves on WOW’s Communications Team and is a volunteer with WOW member group, womenpriests.org and Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. Her paid work is as a family attorney.

The Evidence is There for Women Priests - Therese Koturbash

frescoes Found in Priscilla’s Catacombs in Rome restored in 2013 reveal what could have been women priests in the early Christian church. The female pictured in this fresco has her arms outstretched as if holding Mass.

On All Souls’ Day 2019 Pope Francis celebrated mass in Priscilla’s Catacombs in Rome. This is significant for in these catacombs are ancient frescoes depicting women performing sacramental ministry in the early Church. Early women priests and deacons? Some scoff saying they are nothing of the like and cannot be used to support the case for women’s ordination.

Woman priests or deacons or not, the images are a sign that women were leaders in the early Church and that as things progressed a cork was put in the bottle for development of women's ministries while those for men were allowed a natural historical progression.

I find so frustrating the insistence that there must be precise historical evidence before moving forward with ordination of women. The fact is that Jesus did not ordain anyone yet the development of sacramental ministry performed by men was permitted to progress.

The evidence from the society and culture of the time of the early Church, along with writings of the early Church Fathers, make clear how much prejudice against women was in their thinking. Whether they ever saw women as equals or not, many of these early men failed to experience conversion to the way that Jesus modeled inclusion of women in his ministry.

There are so many signs of this all through his story. His is the only genealogy that names women. His birth is prophesied by a woman, Anna. He comes into the world as a human without the direct contribution of any 'male matter.' (It was a Virgin birth -- from a contribution point of view, as between man and woman, there is more woman in Jesus than man). There is the Samaritan woman at the well, arguably the 1st woman apostle. The only people who anoint him during his life are women. Anointing is a sacramental ministry. Then of course the first apostle to announce the Good News of the Resurrection -- a woman, Mary Magdalene.

From my point of view, while historical evidence of women's early leadership strengthens the case for ordination of women, the lack of historical evidence for anything about men has never stopped their progress in the architecture of the Church.

________

Therese Koturbash, BA, LLB, GDCL served as Canadian Delegate to Women’s Ordination Worldwide from 2008 to 2013. For all five of those years, she was elected member of WOW's four person International Leadership Circle. She has also been the National Coordinator of Canada's Catholic Network for Women's Equality. Today, Therese serves on WOW’s Communications Team and is a volunteer with WOW member group, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. Her paid work is as a family attorney.