Mulier fortis (Latin): a strong woman
When one sets out to investigate the mulier fortis, the strong women of history- it should lead to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many Catholics would understand this, but for others it runs the risk of sounding like some terrible ending to a fairy tale. Archbishop Landriot of Rheims realized that this virtue of strength “is most manifest as a gift of the Holy Ghost, it is also manifest in the daily trials of the soldier of Christ who conquers inordinate self-love with God's grace.” Mary is a model of the virtue of valiance, not just for women, but for men too. All are called to live out their lives with valiance, especially in its ordinariness!
This understanding of Mary as the mulier fortis and the idea of being valiant throughout the whole of life has developed over history. This examination will naturally lead to pursuing the purpose of this topic in the life of the Church, in both her faithful and priests.
This investigation is rooted in the biblical text of Proverbs 31:10-31. The sacred text reads:
Who shall find a valiant woman? far, and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her. The heart of her husband trusteth in her…She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands. She is like the merchant’s ship, she bringeth her bread from afar. She hath tasted, and seen that her traffic is good: her lamp shall not be put out in the night. She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hands to the poor.
This passage is upheld by the early Church Fathers and others to highlight the strength in Mary and in the Church. The Fathers saw this application above all to our mother, the Church. This interpretation led to the development in the middle ages to also associate it with the Blessed Mother, who in herself contains all the mysteries of the Church.
That we might get a better angle at this development lets us zoom out to see the view of Mary’s life from Nazareth to Calvary. It obviously begins in the quiet home in Nazareth at the moment of the Incarnation; in which Mary’s path to Calvary is marked out. On this fulfillment, Saint Bernard states, “A lady full of bravery: she traveled through her mortal life upon this evil world, yet through the majesty of her spirit she surpassed all creation. For it was her, the valiant woman, that Gabriel was sent - this very name means ‘God’s valiant man.’ Was she not indeed valiant, this woman, Mary, whose love was stronger than death?”
Mary and the Church both being strong are the instrument in which Christ is brought into the world. Mary at the Incarnation and the Church through the Sacraments. Mary and the Church both endure a long and difficult road through life. Mary to the Cross and the Church throughout history in its many persecutions.
There are many other early Church writings that speak of Mary and the Church as the women that bring strength to the world, but we cannot dive into all of them now. The discovery of this teaching of Mary as mulier fortis from the Fathers reached a high point of development and understanding with the Second Vatican Council, according to Fr. Denis Farkasfalvy, O.Cist., who cautions not to take the thought of Mary as mulier fortis beyond its natural limits.
Following the Council, the then Cardinal Ratzinger gracefully places all this into perspective and gives all meaning by saying that Mary’s “life is not just a reality that lies behind us, nor above us; she precedes us… [Mary] offers a key to interpret our present existence, not in theoretical discourse but in action, showing us the way that lies ahead.” Mary, therefore, is our model in life; our own journey from Nazareth to Gulgathoa.
Why does this matter for the Church and in the priesthood now? This topic is of high importance to the present day Church because, as we’ve seen above, Mary and the Church mirror one another. The Church is what gives birth to our life in Christ at the baptismal font and continues to nurture our souls through the other Sacraments - most especially the Eucharist - as we journey to our own calvary. Simply put, the Church is our Mother on earth; valiantly supporting and nourishing her children in every hour of their life. The Church does not give up on her mission no matter how difficult the waves of the world are battering against her.
As mentioned above, Mary is our model for our own lives and how we are to be valiant like her, even in the ordinary highs and lows that life often presents. We are called to faithful follow Christ to Calvary. The Second Vatican Council document Lumen Gentium explains beautifully Mary’s example of this way of life: “The Blessed Virgin Mary also advanced in the pilgrimage of life faith and faithfully sustained her union with her Son unto the Cross where she stood, not without the divine intention, suffered grievously with her Only-begotten and associated herself with his sacrifice by her motherly spirit, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim born of her.”
This highlights that Mary’s whole life was one consistent act of consenting to the Lord’s mission all the way to the Cross. This is the call of all the faithful of the Church: to live our lives faithfully all the way up until our union with Christ suffering on the Cross. Hugo Rahner put it this way: “Growth in holiness is not only a continual rebirth, but it is also a toilsome journey through the years. That is life. And every step on this journey, be it upon the dusty roads of everyday tasks, be it over the hills of joy or through the nights of pain, is a step nearer the journey’s end. And that is death.”
It is the Church’s life and the life of all the faithful to identify and live our lives as Christ lived his own. Like Christ, we walk the roads of life and when the time comes we accept the invitation to our final act, death. This takes valiance to live out, but it will be this faithfulness to Christ that we are able to share in the joy of the Resurrection. Therefore, this mirrored image of our now valiant mother in Heaven and our valiant mother on Earth are an aid of encouragement to, as they say, not give up the good fight.
What was said above still applies to priestly life, for it doesn’t not exempt one from the normal experiences and emotions of life. The priest too is called to follow in the model of Mary’s valiance. However, in a particular way the priest is a spouse to the Church and thus, experiences a unique relationship. The Church being the valiant woman is a particular grace, because as spouse of the Church there is this special communion; where there is a receiving and giving taking place. Furthermore, if this circuit is disrupted then there is this danger of searching for communion in other places. This spousal love is not only with the Trinity, but with the one that the Trinity has given all.
John Paul II, in his post-syndol Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, writes “The priest...is in a position to make this a loving choice, as a result of which the Church and souls become his first interest, and with this concrete spirituality he becomes capable of loving …that part of [the church] entrusted to him.” Here the saintly pontiff is underlining the aspect that is unique to the Sacrament of Holy Orders; in which the Church, as a valiant woman, equips the priest with the mission to bring all souls back to God. The priest participating in people’s lives is also Marian, in so far the priest is with people at their last minutes on the cross, where like Mary we can offer them back to the Father. The priest in his own way is too called to be valiant in carrying out this mission entrusted to him. When times are difficult, it is Mary to whom we can look to as a model of how to live our lives and our priesthood, that is with valiance - all the way until the end!
This topic of Mary, and the Church, as valiant women, which even the Second Vatican Council only dedicated a small amount too, is open to much more exploration, development, and progression. We see there is a solid foundation of Scripture and Patristic references, but still room for more of a spiritual synthesis of the topic to be laid out. The universal call to holiness for all, called for anew in the last century, could also benefit from a “catechism of spiritual valence” as it were to aid both faithful and priests to see the roadmap of Mary and the Church journey from Nazareth to Calvary. This topic is of extreme importance for a day and age that is surrounded by an epidemic of unmotivated and underachieving men and women. We live in a world that sells the message of “do what is easy,” and “if it is too hard, give up and do something else.” The Church, as mother, is called to proclaim that there is merit to having valiance and that God’s grace is available, particularly through the Sacraments, to help along the way!
A young priest once said to a group of seminarians that the priesthood was the hardest thing he has ever done, but that it is worth all of it. I think this is true, now as a priest myself, but also of any vocation. Mary being at the foot of the cross was the hardest thing; which took great strength to endure, but she did it and it was worth it. Mary as mulier fortis is a helpful model in all of life. O Mary, pray for us!
Bibliography
Catholic Church, John Paul, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Mary, God's Yes to Man: Pope John Paul II Encyclical Letter, Mother of the Redeemer. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988.
Farkasfalvy, Denis M. The Marian Mystery: The Outline of a Mariology. Staten Island, New York: St Pauls, 2019.
Jennings, Vivien. The Valiant Woman; At the Heart of Reconciliation. New York: Alba House, 1974.
John Paul II. Apostolic Exhortation on the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day Pastores dabo vobis, March 25, 1992.
Landriot, Monseigneur. The Valiant Woman. Fitzwilliam: Loreto Publications, 2005.
Paul VI. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (21, November 1964) § 25, at The Holy See, vatican.va.
Rahner, Hugo and Sebastian Bullough. Our Lady and the Church. Providence: Cluny Media, 2019.
The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Program of Priestly Formation. 5th ed. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2006.
Wonderful article, Fr. Peirano!
Great article. If we tell others something is not a sin, getting drunk for example, and they believe us, then we rob them of the opportunity to grow in the virtue of temperance and self-control and the quality of that person's life is diminished and they will cause misery for themselves and the others who depend on them. It is not loving. But if you say it is a sin and tell them they should quit drinking, they might be offended, but if they listen, their quality of life increases and they grow in virtue. This is love.