Women of Grace at Our Lady of Mercy in Deerfield Beach, Florida celebrated a grace-filled First Saturday on November 4th. These beautiful sacred sisters attended morning Mass together and then processed through the Holy Doors, designated for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Together they prayed for the Holy Father, Pope Francis's intentions to receive the Plenary Indulgence.
Bonnie Torpey, Susan Jacobsen, Nancy Elhajj, Antonetta Mosca and Lori Citsay represented the Women of Grace sacred sisterhood at an information table at the 16th annual Padre Pio Festival in Vineland, New Jersey on September 25, 2016. Over 8000 people had the opportunity to venerate the heart of Padre Pio that was brought to the United States for the first time by Capuchin Friars from the Shrine of St. Padre Pio in southern Italy.
We received the beautiful letter below from Beatriz Machuca, one of our Texas facilitators:
On August 15, 2016, the Feast Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, West Texas Catholic Communitie
Mrs. Joni Duos, Principal, Our Lady of Fatima School, Lafayette, LAAs a Catholic school Principal of 930 students, my life is very busy but I get to be part of an all girls catholic school and that's an amazing thing. As a mother of two children and 4 grandchildren, my life is full of activity. As a wife, sister and daughter, my life is full of obligations. Time is scarce, energy is never enough and my rope of life seems to want to unravel quite often!
Come on a Lenten journey and discover your mission and the gift of your feminine genius through the Women of Grace Foundational Study, "Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life!" Along the way, you will meet sixteen great women saints, receive wisdom from Holy Mother Church, unpack the life-changing wisdom of Sacred Scripture, and discover how the Blessed Virgin Mary is the exemplar of Christian discipleship and the pathway to her Son, Jesus Christ and into the heart of God the Father.
This year’s Women of Grace® Retreat, which will be held from July 17-19 on the historic 120-acre campus of Orchard Lake Schools in Orchard Lake, Michigan, is the ideal setting for an encounter with the Architect of your life.
Entitled, "My Grace is Sufficient for You: Woman and God's Divine Plan," this retreat will feature Johnnette Benkovic, Fr. Philip Scott, FJ and Dr. Monica Miller in an intensive three-day immersion in what it means to be a daughter of God, and how to live out that call in this our day and time. These restful grounds, which were so dear to the heart of St. John Paul II, are the perfect place to escape the world and acquire the spiritual and emotional nourishment you need in order to empower you to engage in the unique cultural battles of our time.
“The Women of Grace Retreat always awakens what has been hiding inside of me,” says Mary Dillenback of Fishers Landing, New York. “I leave with renewed courage and joy – grateful to know I am a daughter of the Most High God and that much closer to who God needs me to be!” The retreat will be preceded by the Benedicta Leadership Institute for Women on July 16 – 17. Johnnette and Dr. Miller will discuss, “The Authority of Woman: Her Influence, Effect, and Power."
St. Rita Catholic Church Lenten Women of Grace CommencementOn the evening of February 9, 2015, St. Rita Catholic Church in Alexandria, Louisiana gathered 110 women who have committed to the journey of a Lenten Women of Grace® study program. These women are inspired by the life of St. Rita, a woman who well interpreted the "feminine genius" espoused in the study, by living it intensely in day-to-day life and particularly in her gift of spiritual motherhood. The Women of Grace study program is their path to a deeper understanding of their God-given, unique feminine gifts, and the discovery of their particular role in bringing Jesus Christ to the world.
Claire Dwyer and her family.In 1995, I was nearing graduation as a student at the Franciscan University with a degree in theology when I learned about the tragic impact of the radical feminist movement in Beijing, China. My father was a lobbyist at the UN conference on Women in Beijing and I remember sitting on the floor of my dorm room as he told me with great concern about their move to redefine gender. I knew this was wrong, very wrong, and I wanted to find out more about what the Church, in her wisdom, had taught about authentic femininity.
Pictured from left to right: Dr. Theresa Wilfert, Vickie Adams, Regional Coordinator Brenda Dooley, Facilitator Karen Brown, and Pam BilliotKaren Brown has been Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) retreat devotee for 20 years. Karen answered the "call" to become a Women of Grace Facilitator at the 2014 CCRNO Retreat. She recalls, "I desired to do more to share what I had experienced in my life through the Holy Spirit." Karen’s desire and her heartfelt "yes" has certainly born the fruit of that response. The Women of Grace in attendance at this year’s CCRNO Retreat definitely agree as do all the participants from St. John's Parish. We are grateful for the faith-filled support and encouragement of Father Robert Cavalier, Pastor of St. John the Baptist's Parish whose support is indispensable!
The life of St. Catherine of Genoa confirms that spiritual renewal, virtue, holy reflection, and spiritual direction lead to wisdom and discernment. Born into an illustrious Italian family that was connected to two popes, Catherine was known as a quiet and pious child, being both prayerful and obedient.
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