The Women of Dignity Conference has long been a sacred space where women gather to encounter Christ, embrace their God-given worth, and walk together in faith and sisterhood. Browse through the memories, speaker highlights, and transformative moments from past conferences that continue to inspire women in their vocations and daily lives.
OUR LIFE: In Mary, after Christ, we live and move and have our being. She is our spiritual mother in the order of grace. She's the New Eve, the Mother of All the Living in the New Covenant. We recognize and are grateful we came to life in Christ because of Mary's "yes" at the Annunciation. We all owe our spiritual lives to our mother. Christ gave us His Mother as our mother; she is "our life."
OUR SWEETNESS: When we love someone, we use endearing terms to refer to them. When you spend time with Mary and talk to her, pray to her, she has a way of bringing us joy, hope and sweetness. When we fall, Mary comes as "our sweetness," our loving mother.
OUR HOPE: In the eyes of the world, everything fell apart 2,000 years ago on Good Friday. All hope seemed lost. The disciples ran away. There was one person still standing there whose heart was filled with hope. Even going through a torturous agony in her maternal heart she was not despairing or lacking trust, but was an anchor of hope for St. John and for the Church, even to the present day. When we go through agony and all hope seems lost, she reminds us it is not. As our spiritual Mother, she continues to be hope for us in difficult times, in times of darkness, or when we have trouble seeing what God's plan or purpose is for us. "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope."
We were encouraged by Donna-Marie's faith as she persevered in prayer in the face of many tragedies and trials in her life. She spoke of the hope and help she received from Mary, Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope, her dear friend, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and teachings of the Divine Mercy given through Saint Faustina. Donna-Marie feels called to help others through sharing her own story and offering prayers of support to those who shared their own difficulties with her. She listened with empathy and responded as Saint Mother Teresa often told her - with love. Every soul needs to know the love of Jesus and we are called to show them, and we must see Jesus in each soul and love Him through them.
Jean helped us understand that struggles in marriage are to be expected and read the quote below, after first challenging the women in the audience to tell her where the quote was from. Sadly, NONE of us knew the answer. It was from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1606.
"Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman. Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character."
The Church tells us this is the reality of marriage. But this is not the final answer. She read CCC 1615:
"This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy - heavier than the Law of Moses. [Cf. Mk 8:34; Mt 11:29-30] By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to "receive" the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. [Cf. Mt 19:11] This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all Christian life. [2364, 1642]
Jean followed this with some excellent tools and suggestions that can be used, not only within marriage, but in all the varied relationships of our lives. This was followed by some lively interactions with the audience, ignited hope going forward that through Grace and following the MAP, we will achieve our M: Mission on earth which is Heaven. A: align our words, actions and deeds with that mission, and P: begin with and follow up with Prayer.
Lastly, she reminded us that WE ARE NOT ALONE in our battles or in the success of our Mission and to seek, and be mentors for, one another. Everyone appreciated these tools and concrete examples of how to use them which was a source of great hope in our confused world.
Conference Focus: Our speakers were amazing this year, helping us to understand that really striving to live virtue is the way to be a grace-filled Authentic Catholic Woman. We received a lot of good practical information from Rita on things we can do immediately to live out the virtues in our daily lives and to replace those vices that haunt us with virtues and strengthen us on our journey.
Our next two conferences are focused on this theme and we trust God will work through you as a witness to the men in your lives and within your families, work, and community. Please encourage your husbands, family members and male friends to attend the Men of Integrity Conference on February 28-March 1st. They will receive the support of other men on the journey, grow in their faith and take up the challenge of how Authentic Catholic Men can change our culture today.
1. Rita Taylor is the founder of Fully Integrated Ministries, a small ministry that is dedicated to helping Catholics reclaim virtue in their daily lives.
2. Rachel Wong is a Catholic writer and speaker based in Vancouver. She is formerly the host of The Feminine Genius Podcast that celebrates the diversity of Catholic femininity, one woman's story at a time.
3. Fr. Kris Schmidt is a priest for the Archdiocese of Edmonton, currently serving as pastor for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Camrose.
4. Fr. Antony Cruz Michael is a Pallottine priest and pastor of Holy Family Parish, St. Albert. His homily was so on point to the theme of our Conference that we have included some snippets below.
5 & 6. Janelle and Monique Reinhart led us in prayer and song throughout the weekend. The familial harmony of this duo is like the sound of angels.
We learned so much about St. Zelie Martin, Mother of St. Thérese, this weekend as each of our speakers took the opportunity to dig in and learn how she carried on bravely ... and joyfully ... in a life filled with loss and hardship, to become a Saint and great intercessor for all of us.
Susanna Parent spoke of discernment in all aspects of our lives and to be open to God's Will. He speaks to us in the gentle breeze, not the forceful wind, or as Susanna aptly explained, by following the bread crumbs along the path and being attentive to the small and often subtle ways he shows us His desire for our lives. Yes, there will be challenges. There will be suffering, but as St. Zelie shows us, these allow us to be forged in the fire of His love for us.
It was also great to meet Susanna's family who joined her on the journey of this adventure in her life. Keep an eye on our CFM YouTube Channel as some or all of these talks will be posted there once they are ready for viewing. Susanna's published work can be found at: https://fiatandalily.blogpost.com
Dr. Rebecca Genuis spoke of St. Zelie's perseverance throughout her life ... in the little ordinary things. She shared her love for another saint in our church, St. Josemaria Escriva, who had so many words of wisdom on this virtue. She spoke of growing in perseverance by beginning each day well, rising when we ought, morning offering, daily prayer, daily Mass when possible, frequent confession, strong devotion to Our Lady, aspirations, and ending with an examen that includes resolutions to do better tomorrow. Then she spent time speaking about her passion in life, besides her family of course, which is environmental medicine. The overwhelming problem so many women have with infertility, miscarriage, debilitating cycles is NOT natural. Her goal is to help women find the root causes of these and many other illnesses so that we can be healthy, happy and strong. And in the area of infertility, as a physician she will exhaust all the possibilities to find answers and at the very least, guide women and their children on the path to healthier lives. https://www.rebeccagenuis.com
Amanda Marleau also spoke on aligning our will to God's and on suffering. Because she is a psychologist, she knows the suffering of mental illness is rampant today. She shared many stories of her life where she struggled with depression and knew she wanted to help others understand there are resources and people available to support us through these health issues. She spoke on setting goals and though it will always be a struggle to live in God's Will instead of our own, we can follow the example of Mary. We can always count on God's mercy but need to find the courage to make changes to grow closer to Him. About Amanda Marleau | Counseling | Edmonton, AB T6E 6T9 (inspirationpsychology.com)
Fr. Frank Sharma and Fr. Jim Corrigan, our Mass celebrants, are two wonderful priests who encouraged us to live well our dignity as women. Several other Men in Black were available to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well. Thank you!
The music during Mass and Adoration this weekend literally transported us to the Throne of God. It was led by four beautiful Women of Dignity who also pulled our hearts back into the church before each talk with voices that were angelic and perfectly harmonized. Our Father was surely smiling down at these daughters who joyfully shared their God-given gifts with us. We were blessed. THANK YOU!
