Mother and Martyr: Saint Julitta

Last week, we celebrated the Feast of Sts. Julitta and Kyrikos, mother and son.  Our church is blessed to have a relic of Saint Kyrikos contained in our altar and in a reliquary so that we may venerate it on his feast day  Theirs is a tremendous and tragic story.

Saint Julitta and Saint Kyrikos

“The Holy Martyrs Cyricus and Julitta lived in the city of Iconium in the province of Lykaoneia in Asia Minor. St Julitta was descended from an illustrious family and was a Christian. Widowed early on, she raised her three-year old-son Cyricus (Quiricus). During the emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians, St Julitta departed the city with her son and two trustworthy servants, leaving behind her home, property, and servants.

Concealing her noble rank, she hid out first at Seleucia, and then at Tarsus. There around the year 305 she was recognized, arrested and brought to trial before the governor, Alexander. Strengthened by the Lord, she fearlessly answered the judge’s questions, and firmly confessed her faith in Christ.

The governor gave orders to beat the saint with rods. During her torments St Julitta kept repeating, “I am a Christian, and will not offer sacrifice to demons.”

The little boy Cyricus cried, seeing his mother being tortured, and wanted to go to her. The governor Alexander tried to sit him on his lap, but the boy broke free and shouted, “Let me go to my mother, I am a Christian.” The governor threw the boy down from the high tribunal and kicked him down the stone steps. The boy struck his head on the sharp edges and died.

St Julitta, seeing her lacerated son, gave thanks to God that He had permitted her child to be perfected before her, and to receive the unfading crown of martyrdom. After many cruel tortures St Julitta was beheaded with a sword.”

~excerpted from the Orthodox Church in America

Would that I had the courage of Saint Julitta and, my children, the devotion of Saint Kyrikos!

How Saint Julitta did not fit the mold:

1. She was widowed young, but did not remarry, nor did she return to her father’s house.  She managed a household, but she did not submit to any male authority.

2. She was tortured and beheaded for Christ.  A lot of us like to fancy ourselves as martyrs, but I’m fairly certain that if someone threatened the lives of my children, I’d have a very difficult time not saying anything they’d ask me to.  I’m ashamed to admit it, but there it is.

Macrina the Righteous, Sister of St. Basil

Macrina the Righteous, Sister of St. Basil

“Saint Macrina, the elder sister of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, was sought after by many as a bride because of her beauty, wisdom, and illustrious birth, and in tender youth was espoused by her parents to a bridegroom of fitting nobility. When her betrothed died, Macrina refused any other suitors, and devoted herself to a life of virginity, asceticism, and prayer. When her brother Basil returned from a brilliant career in the best schools of Constantinople and Athens, puffed up with not a little youthful pride-for knowledge puffeth up-it was the ardent admonitions and holy example of his blessed sister that persuaded him to turn from seeking worldly glory to the service of God. Saint Macrina founded a convent, where she ended her earthly life in the year 379, and was buried by her brother Gregory, who wrote a moving account of her last days and his grief at seeing such a light pass out of the world.”

~excerpted from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America

Why St. Macrina didn’t fit the mold:

1. She never married and never gave birth to any biological children.  She didn’t stay in her father’s house.  She refused suitors.  She CHOSE the monastic life and lived in virginity from a very early age.

2. She rebuked her brother, St. Basil, when he returned home from seminary with a puffed up attitude.

3.  I appreciate the hymn we sing in honor of St. Macrina and I think this illustrates well how this beautiful, humble Saint stayed well outside the patriocentric mold:

“In thee the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother; for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to attend to the soul since it is immortal. Wherefore, O righteous Macrina, thy spirit rejoiceth with the Angels.”

Mary Magdelene: Myrrhbearer and Equal to the Apostles

Mary Magdelene, Myrrhbearer & Equal to the Apostles

“Saint Mary was from Magdala in Galilee on the Sea of Tiberias, and for this was named Magdalene. When the Lord Jesus cast out seven demons from her, from which she had been suffering, she became His faithful and inseparable disciple, following Him and ministering unto Him even to the time of His crucifixion and burial. Then, returning to Jerusalem together with the rest of the Myrrh-bearers, she prepared the fragrant spices for anointing the body of the Lord. And on the Lord’s day they came very early to the tomb, even before the Angels appeared declaring the Resurrection of the Lord. When Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away from the tomb, she ran and proclaimed it to Peter and John. And returning immediately to the tomb and weeping outside, she was deemed worthy to be the first of the Myrrh-bearers to behold the Lord arisen from the dead, and when she fell at His feet, she heard Him say, “Touch Me not.” After the Lord’s Ascension, nothing certain is known concerning her. Some accounts say that she went to Rome and later returned to Jerusalem, and from there proceeded to Ephesus, where she ended her life, preaching Christ. Although it is sometimes said that Saint Mary Magdalene was the “sinful woman” of the Gospel, this is nowhere stated in the tradition of the Church, in the sacred hymnology, or in the Holy Gospels themselves, which say only that our Lord cast seven demons out of her, not that she was a fallen woman. “Madeleine” is a form of Magdalene.”

~excerpted from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America

How did St. Mary Magdelene break the mold?

1. It appears from Scripture that she was independently wealthy.  The Gospels make no mention of a husband.  Mary freely followed Jesus during his ministry in Galilee, even to His death and burial.  It is also safe to assume that Mary did not live in her father’s house.  When she was found by Jesus, she was possessed by seven demons which He cast out of her.  But she still had money and supported herself and Jesus’ ministry.

2. The resurrected Christ appeared to Mary after the other myrrhbearing women fled the tomb to tell the disciples about His resurrection.  He spoke His first words to her.

3.  Even though the particulars of Mary’s life after Christ’s resurrection are not known, the Church does agree that Mary worked as a missionary, preaching and teaching the Gospel wherever she went and probably not under the authority of a man.  She was an evangelist.

The Mother of God

“We honor the Virgin Mary as ‘higher than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim’ because she is the woman who gave birth to Christ Jesus who is the Word of God made flesh (and therefore, in Greek, the Virgin Mary is called Theotokos or the Mother of God). We call her blessed and think of her as the greatest of missionaries, for her unique mission was to bring the Word of God into the world. (See Luke 1:43, 48: John 1:1, 14; Galatians 4:4.)”  ~Father Steve Tsichlis

And no, we do not worship her.

How Mary didn’t fit the mold: 

1.  Although she was living under her father’s roof and under his authority, she did not ask his permission nor even sought his counsel when the Archangel Gabriel told her that she had been chosen to give birth to God’s Son.  We know that she pondered these things in her heart and didn’t announce to the whole world, or even those closest to her, that she was to be the birthgiver of God the Son.  And it was through HER CHOICE and no one else’s that salvation came to the world.  I wonder why Gabriel didn’t go through her “covenant head” to figure out whether or not she would go through with it.

2. Mary’s wasn’t quiverfull.  In fact, she only had one child- Jesus.  This has been the teaching of the Church for millennia.  Even Martin Luther and John Calvin believed it.  While the Bible does talk about Jesus’ “brothers and sisters,” the Tradition of the Church has held that those people were the offspring of Joseph by a previous marriage.  There is no other explanation for Jesus charging John the Beloved with her care as He hung on the cross.  If He had brothers, even if they were not there with Him at the cross, they would have been the ones in charge of her well-being.

3. Mary was not a “keeper at home” once Jesus began his ministry.  I think its safe to assume that Joseph had already reposed by this point, so it is natural that Mary would’ve followed Jesus around Galillee (although not if she had other children!).  However, Scripture gives us no indication that she was the “woman behind the man.”  She was actively involved in his ministry.  She proclaimed the Gospel to the disciples in the upper room after she, along with the other myrrhbearing women found the empy tomb.  She was with the Apostles in the upper room at Pentecost where she also received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  She points the world to Christ. 

So far, it looks to me like Mary isn’t exactly the model of a patriocentric mother… but it could be the fatigue talking here…

Not Your Mama’s Handmaiden

“Handmaidens of the Lord”

Tonight, as I listened to Karen Campbell’s podcast on patriarchy/patriocentricity, I was inspired to share with anyone who still reads here the stories of great women in Church history who don’t fit the mold of the perfect patriarch’s wife.  Karen shared a bit about female missionaries who are largely ignored by patriarchalists and it got me to thinking about the thousands of females Saints that the Orthodox Church recognizes and venerates each year.

Let me back up a step and admit that my children and I were received by chrismation into the Holy Orthodox Church this past Pascha/Easter.  So no, we are no longer Reformed.  And yes, we venerate Saints.

Anyway, the Church has canonized thousands of women who were found worthy to be called Saints and I would like to tell a few of their stories.  Many of these women were martyred, some of them brutally.  Some were tortured as badly as any man would’ve been.  Some of these women were mothers, achieving Sainthood in the raising up of godly children.  Some of these women were warriors, some miracle-workers, some teachers (of men!) and some were even deaconesses.  And none of them fit the mold that has been shaped by modern-day patriarchy- not even the biblical ones.

So I’m going to revive White Washed Feminists a bit and share about the lives of some female Saints who have especially touched my life.  Most of the information I post will be quotes from the Orthodox websites which very succinctly and yet, often poignantly, tell their stories.  If I have anything to add, I will, but I really think that their lives speak for themselves.

I’m not here to instruct anybody or to take down patriarchy.  One thing that becoming Orthodox has taught me is how little I know about anything… but it has also taught me that the portrait of Church History painted by Vision Forum and others is skewed, revisionist, and extremely myopic.  But mostly, I would just like to share these women with anyone who is interested.

So, without further ado…

PS- I’m not at all interested in debating anything and I won’t publish any comment that tries to.  Sorry.

No More Dot Com

Hi, everyone! Due to the infrequency with which this blog is checked and/or posted to, I’ve decided to let the domain lapse. If you have us saved to a reader or bookmark, you will need to switch it back to WhiteWashedFeminist.wordpress.com

Thank you!

What Are We Doing Here?

I’m sure many of you have noticed that this blog hasn’t been updated recently. To be honest, I think Jennifer/Cally and I are done with the Patriarchy issue. I know that this is still important to many of you, and there is so much more to discuss. But really, we’ve said all we want to say on the subject. I’ve learned a lot and I appreciate all those who chose to dialog with us.

A commenter on another post asked what our purpose is here. When we started this blog, it was mostly about finding out where we stood on some of these issues, and working out how we felt about these ideas. We’ve done that. Where we go now is anyone’s guess. Maybe there’s no more need for this blog. For now it will stay here, unchanged. And if either of us feel inspired to add to it, we will.

If you post a comment to something and it isn’t published right away, don’t take it personally. We go for long periods of time without checking on it.

The Other Side

I have decided to post an e-mail I received anonymously.  This is what we have received at the hands of other Christians for daring to disagree with certain ideas being taught.  Note that never are examples given, or any gentle instruction offered.  Instead our character, integrity, and intelligence is questioned.  How sad for us all.

Well, well, well…….how very up-to-date you portray yourselves…how free, how hip, how enlightened. How delusional!

It seems that you have illegally used photos of Lydia Sherman’s blog, or am I delusional,  hallucinating? That puts YOU in a precarious position, does it not?

It also seems you know not your accurate American history, but only the northern, fractured, federal indoctrination version of the bulk  of it. My, my…so easily misled too.Too bad….you are so very limited in your scope of ever being capable of deliberating wisely on the subject. How very pathetic.

It seems too that you simply have no moral mechanism with which to appreciate the Godly advice,admonitions, and inspirations given those of us “who have ears to hear and eyes to see”, by Mrs. Sherman.  Understandable, however, as a sickly condition such as you and yours who have who obviously long-ago abandoned the leading of the Holy Spirit for the leading of your own pride and self-aggrandizement.

You all have been well-indoctrinated by the forces of evil and your futures are set. God have the “amazing grace” to free you all from your strong delusions.

Hoping for your speedy recovery,

Scarlett…a white, black-loving, feminine, artistic, piano-playing, sewing, swimming, book-reading, liberty-loving Jeffersonian, Virginian Southern descendant with plantation ownership who wanted to free the slaves whom we treated as FAMILY, grandmother-of-four. Now, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

The e-mail came from “Scalett O’Hara”.

Now, if anyone knows where we’ve stolen something from Lydia Sherman, please bring it to my attention.  I think we’ve quoted her (always with credit given, and links when possible), but I don’t think we have any photos.  As for the History issue, I reject the e-mailer totally.  My father is a retired American History teacher, and my childhood vacations were often spent at sites that helped me learn about our History.

Mostly, though, what disappoints me is the tone of the thing.  No one can hope for real discourse, or to truly teach us anything with an e-mail like that.  It was a cowardly, angry thing, sent without benefit of real identity.  If that’s supposed to be my example of a real Christian “lady”, I think I’ll pass.  I may not always be right, and I may not always be as nice as I should be.  But at least I’ll have the courage to err as myself.

What is UP?

(Warning, sarcasm alert!  If your sensibilities make saracsm difficult to swallow, please close this window now).

What is up with the obsessive use of the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary by so many patriocentric families?  Are they aware that 181 years of language has developed since this dictionary was published?  What is wrong with my good ole’ Webster’s that I picked up in college?  You know how some folks believe that a certain edition of the King James’ Bible is the inspired Word of God in English and that it contains no errors, even in the translation?  That’s what this obsession with the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary feels like to me.  And just as conspiracy theories abound when it comes to modern translations, theories abound with “corrupt” dictionaries too!

What is up with that?

Oh, wait… just looked up Vision Forum’s description of this dictionary and I’m getting a much clearer picture:

This gigantic, oversized, heavy book is perhaps second only to the Bible in terms of importance in your home. When Noah Webster first published this book, he understood that whoever defined the words of a culture would capture that culture. So he sought to give the American people a dictionary in which words have meaning in terms of their relationship to Jesus Christ. In fact, this is the only comprehensive dictionary of the English language in print that seeks to communicate a distinctively biblical worldview, even to the point of using Scriptures in the definitions.

This idea goes back to the fallacy that the Bible contains the answer to every possible question… including the definition of words like “machinery” and “rakish”.  The Bible doesn’t answer every question.  It doesn’t even answer most questions.  I look to it for the answers it intends to give, not the ones I project onto it.

Anyway, maybe this dictionary thing really is like the KJV-only controversy.  Do I see the book “New Age Dictionaries” being published in the future?  At this point, nothing would surprise me.

A Father’s Day Tribute

Father’s Day has been bittersweet for me the past four years.  My husband has been a father for four years… but I’ve been without my father for that same amount of time.  I want to celebrate my husband and thank him for the amazing job he does with our children, but at the same time, I feel the loss of my own dad so deeply that it almost makes the day unbearable.  Unfortunately, time has not healed this wound.

To Mark, my husband, I say thank you for your sacrifices in caring for our family.  I have never seen a man lay down his life for others like you have for us.  As a father, you are gentle, endlessly patient, and wise.  You know our children- their interests, their temperments, the little things that make them laugh.  You know their deepest faults and their greatest talents.  You  model to me how Christ loves his church when you care for our children.  You are an example of Christ’s love for children.  You have obeyed God in regards to the treatment of His covenant children.  They have received the sign of the covenant in baptism.  They receive catechesis at home and in the church.  Through your wisdom, they receive the manifold blessings of being part of Christ’s church.  I have no doubt that they will one day be confessing members due to your diligence in teaching and training them.

To my own dad, though you have passed on to glory, I say thank you for being the best of men.  Thank you for your generosity and for the life you poured out in service to others- to your family, your friends, and your community.  Thank you for being my best friend and my protector.  Even through the tests and trials, you guided me through and helped me make the good choices that ultimately led me to the life I have now… a life that I truly love.  Thank you for allowing me to go to Bible school abroad, for it is there that I met my amazing husband.  Thank you for sending me to university so that I could further my intellectual and spiritual development.  Thank you for sharing your faith with me.  Thank you for coming to me when we lost our daughter.  You were one of the very few people who saw her and held her.  Thank you for paying for her gravestone so that there is a tangible reminder that she was here and that she was and is very much loved.  Thank you for showing us the true meaning of “dying with dignity.”  Your incredible faith among the most difficult trial is something I was privileged to witness.  And to see you pass on to glory, to be there at that precious moment… daddy, I’ll never forget it.  You are the first to really know our beloved Grace.  You are another anchor we have in heaven.

Happy Father’s Day to all those blessed men who have undertaken the most incredible task of fatherhood.