Yes, women who knew how to remain steadfast, leaving an indelible mark on the heart of the Church and on their families. I refer to Saint Monica and Saint Marie Eugénie—women who were able to listen to the voice of God through a profound connection with the person of Jesus. From this springs an inexhaustible source: to love and educate unconditionally.
Saint Monica, through tears, knew how to accompany the shadows in her son’s life. Her love for God allowed her to strengthen in Augustine the faith in Jesus Christ. Monica’s passion was so great that it drove her to persevere day and night, so that God Himself might grant her the grace of her son’s conversion. The silent inner struggles she endured became a wellspring of love that generated life even in the midst of suffering. She prepared her son Augustine not only for earthly life but for eternal life—the life that never ends.
It is important to reaffirm that only love moves the human heart, even in the midst of the many battles one may have to face. Only from such an experience of faith can true transformation take place—first in our immediate surroundings, and then for humanity as a whole. It is concrete actions that make this earth a place of hope, love, peace, and goodness. This is not a utopia, but a reality expressed in the fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). These fruits flow from the relationship with the Creator and with the Son. Let us not forget that knowing how to wait is a gift that the Father grants to those who trust in Him. For this reason, it is God who inspires in the human heart the desire to live in continual renewal.
These were women who loved Jesus Christ, and for that reason they worked tirelessly for the life of the Church. They educated with passion, tenderness, and loving discipline. For Marie Eugénie, God was the reason for everything we do on this earth; she insisted that we must “act as representatives of Jesus Christ, doing and saying what He would have said.” This desire can only be born of a deep, intimate encounter with Jesus, yet it requires enough humility to ask for the grace to pray continually and to cultivate this relationship in the experiences life brings us. To live in the light of faith implies renouncing oneself and trusting in the message that has been proclaimed to us.
These were women who encountered themselves, loved their time, trusted in God, and allowed themselves to be shaped by His love, mercy, and goodness through the Incarnate Word. That is why they made the decision to inspire others and to contemplate humanity with a tender gaze full of love and respect—a gaze that sustains, corrects, and teaches from the heart rather than from mere reason. They were women and mothers who risked their lives to live in truth, justice, integrity, simplicity, and joy, with the purpose of bringing a message of resurrection to the generations of their time. Despite fatigue, they knew how to hear the cries for help in their day; they built bonds in their communities; they let themselves be drawn by the Gospel, which moved them to become incarnate in history. Their passion for the Kingdom guided them to harmonize prayer and work. Their testimony was one of educating with love, in order to transform and restore the realities they lived in. They accepted the challenge of acting with true freedom.