200203_Sisters Today72n02_Of_Pillars_and_Spores_The_Genius_of_Woman 200203 Sisters Today72n02 Of Pillars And Spores The Genius Woman

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Of Pillars and Spores: The Genius of Woman
SIS1ER RENEE MIRKES, O.S.F., Ph.D.

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our first reaction to the
title of this essay ma-ybe
was something like this:
"What have pillars and
spores got to do with the genius of
woman?" Pillars and spores are images used by Saint Edith Stein
(1891-1942) in one of her essays on
woman. The woman who becomes
or is pecoming who she is meant to
be, Stein explains, is "like a pillar to
which many fasten themselves,
thereby attaining a firm footing." 1
Further, women who are on their
way to becoming whole persons
can, in turn, help others to realize
their personal fulfillment. In this
way, Stein argues, women are like
"healthy, energetic spores supplying healthy energy" to all whom
God puts in their path. 2 In my
essay I will demonstrate how the
metaphors of pillar and spore provide easy-to-remember associational images of how Stein defines
the constitutive nature, vocation,
and genius of woman.

I will be reinforcing Stein's philosophy of woman with congruent
teaching from Pope John Paul II.
Fortuitously I happened to be reading the second volume of the Collected Works of Edith Stein (Essays On
Woman) at the 'Same time that I was
studying John Paul II's encyclical,
Dignitatem Mulieris (The Dignity of
Women). It is reasonable to argue
that the writings of the Pope who
has consistently exhibited interest in
phenomenological thought would
be influenced by Edith Stein, a student of Edmund Husserl and Max
Scheler and an acclaimed devotee of
phenomenology. Whether their similarity of vision regarding the
human person and womanhood is
merely a matter of coincidence or of
studied intent or both, I believe that
cross-pollinating their ideas produces a vigorous hybrid.
From her reading of Genesis and
her general observation of people,
Edith Stein concludes that the

1 L. Gerber and Romaeus Leuven, O.C.D., The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Vol. II: Essays on
Woman, 2nd edition (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1996) 260.
2

Ibid.

Sister Renee Mirkes, O.S.F., Ph.D, is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity,
Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Currently, she serves as director of the Center for NaProEthics [the ethics
division of the Pope Paul VI Institute, Omaha] and editor of its ethics publication, The
NaProEthics Forum. Together with two undergraduate degrees and a master's degree in music,
Sister Renee received her master's degree in moral theology from the University of St. Thomas,
Houston, Texas, and her doctorate in theological ethics from Marquette University, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. To her current position in which she deals with natural procreative ethics, she brings
experience in clinical ethics, as well as broad experience in bi:oethics as a research fellow with the
Pope John Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

OF PILLARS AND SPORES: THE GENIUS OF WOMAN

135

.....,.
l

species of humanity, homo sapiens, is
further divided into the double
species of man and woman. Pope
John Paul II teaches the same when
he describes mankind as a bifurcated race. To be a member of the
human race, the Pope insists,
means being so as a male or a female. Between the two sexes, Stein
Femininity or masculinity
leaves its mark on the person's soul. Intellectual faculties, or spiritual"organs," of
the male and female soul develop differently.
insists, "[T]here is a difference not
only in body structure and in particular physiological functions, but
also in the entire corporeallife."3
The male-female bodily dissimilarities have implications for the distinctive way the male body relates
to the soul of a man as opposed to
the way the female body relates to
the soul of a woman. Stein believed
that women and men have distinct
psychosomatic identities. Furthermore, femininity or masculinity
also leaves its mark on the person's
soul. Consequently, intellectual faculties, or spiritual"organs" of the
male and female soul-the emotions, intellect, and will-develop
differently.
The feminine species expresses a unity and wholeness
of the total psychosomatic
3
4

5

136

personality and a harmonious
development of faculties. The
masculine species strives to
enhance individual abilities in
order that they may attain
their highest achievements. 4
The feminine species has two essential characteristics, Stein explains. First, woman is, by nature,
person or subject-focused rather
than thing or object-oriented. Quite
simply, the woman embraces the
personal aspect of life; i.e., she is interested in living, breathing people
and in all of their human needs. A
woman manifests this natural feminine quality in a desire to assert
her own identity and in her interest
in the identity of other persons. In a
statement that obviously arises
from a similar insight, the Pope insists that, because of a woman's
moral and spiritual strength, God
entrusts the human being to the
woman in a special way. 5
Second, woman tends naturally
to wholeness and self-containment.
This characteristic manifests itself
in a woman's desire for her own
wholeness and also in her desire to
help others to become complete
persons. At one point, Stein defines
a woman's self-containment as an
integrity of her inner life which no
extraneous intrusions can imperil.
Here again the metaphor of a pillar
helps us to understand the implications of the woman's desire to attain wholeness of being. Such

Essays, 187.
Essays, 187-88.
Dignitatem Mulieris, 30.4.

SISTER RENEE MIRKES, O.S.F., Ph.D.

f
self-possession is essential for
someone who is called upon to be a
stabilizer for another who might be
in need of a support and a surer
footing. Pope John Paul II points
out that a woman can be a source of
spiritual strength for other people
as they discover the great energies
of her spirit. 6
Because the woman yearns for
optimal perfection in herselfemotionally, volitionally, and intellectually-she also desires that
same psychosomatic wholeness for
others with an equal intensity. In
this sense, Stein compares a
woman to spores or "potent seeds
of germinating power." 7 She is capable of generating beings like herself whose personal development
is complete.
These two es~sential characteristics of woman-attraction to the
personal and to wholeness-point
to another hallmark of the female
species. Whether it's an awareness
and a sensitivity toward her own
personal being or that of others, it's
the centrality of a woman's emotions that is responsible for this
feminine kind of holistic knowledge and discernment. According
to Stein, without the emotions the
soul of a woman could never know
itself or others in their totality. Each
woman perceives her own being in
the stirrings of her emotions.
Through her emotions each woman

9

Ibid., 30.6
Essays, 96.
Ibid.
DM, 15.3.

10

Essays, 78.

6
7
8

comes to know who she is and how
she is. Through her emotions, a
woman also grasps the relationship
of another being to herself.8
A natural offshoot of her strong
emotional life is a woman's sensitivity to moral and aesthetic values
and a natural desire for God the
source of those values. This hunger
Woman embraces the personal aspect of life; i.e., she is
interested in living, breathing people and in all of their
human needs.
for God, John Paul II points out, is
evident in woman's connaturality
for the things of God, a true resonance for the divine in the mind
and heart of woman. 9 The sensitivity to things good, true, and beautiful is a woman's built-in natural
safeguard. It protects her from
being seduced by anything low or
mean or from "the dangers of seduction and of total surrender to
sensuality." 10
Of what does woman's vocation
consist? Corresponding to the
threefold distinction that characterizes every woman-nature, womanhood, and individuality-Stein
teaches that there is a corresponding tripartite feminine or masculine
call that comes from God.

OF PILLARS AND SPORES: THE GENIUS OF WOMAN

137

From her analysis of Genesis,
Stein concludes that, as human beings, our vocations are threefold: to
be an image of God, to bring forth
posterity, and to be masters over
the rest of creation.U As men or
women, we will be called to realize
this basic vocation in different but
complementary ways. The primary
vocation of a man, Stein explains,
"appears to be that of ruler" and,
secondarily but still integrally, that
The sensitivity to things
good, true, and beautiful is a
woman's built-in, natural
safeguard.
of a father or parent. Woman's primary vocation is that of a mother
and "her role as ruler is secondary
and included in a certain way in
her maternal vocation." 12 Each individual woman is called to live
out her human and gender vocations according to her particular
gifts and temperament. As Stein
points out, " . . . individual gifts
and tendencies can lead to the most
diversified activities." 13
It would make sense that
amongst the attributes of a
woman's vocation we would find
the correlates of woman's primary
qualities-her predilection for
wholeness and self-containment
(summarized in the image of pillar)
and her attraction to the personal
11

12
13
14

15

16

138

and the living (summarized in the
image of a spore). "Human development," Stein says, "is woman's
most exalted mission." 14 Any kind
of lifeless matter is of interest only
if it serves the personal. A woman
will always be drawn intuitively
and emotionally to the concrete
rather than conceptually and analytically to the abstract.
The vocation to human development is a twofold mission, that of
being a wife and a mother. Relying
heavily on the creation story of
Genesis, Stein describes the vocation of being a wife as standing
alongside her husband as a partner
or companion. Again Stein's image
of pillar is apposite. A wife, she explains, is someone her husband can
lean on. She does this by sharing the
life of her husband-his suffering,
work, and difficulties. She interests
herself in areas of knowledge and
concern that, except they are those
of her spouse, would ordinarily not
engage her mind. The Pope, too, explores the notion of woman as companion and helper. He shows how
Genesis teaches that of all the living
creatures surrounding the first man,
only the first woman is a helper
suitable for him.l5 In this important
sense, man and woman are called to
exist mutually "one for the other."16
Stein believes that, as a mother,
the woman demonstrates a germi-

Ibid., 61.
Ibid., 74.
Ibid., 49.
Ibid., 195.
DM6.4.
Ibid., 7.4.

SISTER RENEE MIRKES, O.S.F., Ph.D.

nating, spore-like quality as she
gives life, care, and encouragement
to her child, forms the child's Godgiven gifts, surrenders herself to
the child's needs and then, when
the child has matured and is able to
pursue his own life, quietly withdraws. A woman is called primarily to guard and teach her own
children, but her basic maternal vocation also fosters life and growth
in her husband and in every person
with whom she associates. 17
Given her own state in life both
as a single woman and later as a
religious, Stein repeatedly reminds
her readers that the maternal quality of woman also includes a vocation to spiritual motherhood, a call
to nourish others in the divine life
and to lead them to God. The Pope
emphasizes that the motherhood of
woman is not only physical but
also spiritual. It expresses a profound listening to the Word of God
and safeguarding it. 18 Whether exercising physical or spiritual maternity, Stein insists that a woman's
mission is universally toward
being rather than having, toward
community and humanity rather
than toward possession and power.
Accordingly, woman is called to
develop her genius by exercising
her unique gift of discernment.
With her ability to grasp the concrete and the living, woman is naturally strong in her receptivity
toward others. John Paul II explains
17

Essays, 46.

18

DM 19.4.
DM14.2.

19

that it is the woman's "readiness to
accept life which marks her 'ethos'
from the 'beginning."' 19 She is naturally capable of adapting herself to
the inner life of others, to their
goals, and to the way they intend to
Woman will always be drawn
intuitively and emotionally to
the concrete rather than conceptually and analytically to
the abstract.

meet those goals. With her discerning heart, she is sent to human
souls to show that the universal desire for union with God reveals the
highest meaning of each person's
life and course of events. With her
gift of discernment, a woman can
uncover the hidden burden laid on
every heart and help to carry it; she
can search every heart for the treasure lying within it and bring it to
its best use for the individual and
the community.
Woman is called to develop this
intuitive gift of discernment by responding to her call to develop the
kind of soul that will capitalize on
this aspect of her genius. The soul
of a woman is called to
. . . be expansive and open to
all human beings; it must be
quiet so that no small weak
flame will be extinguished by
stormy winds, warm so as not
to benumb fragile birds; clear,
so that no vermin will settle in

OF PILLARS AND SPORES: THE GENIUS OF WOMAN

139

dark comers and recesses; selfcontained, so that no invasions
from without can imperil the
inner life; empty of self, in order
that extraneous life may have
room in it; mistress of itself and
also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call,2°
Stein suggests that in working toward this "total condition of the
soul," it can best be thought of in
terms of complete surrender to
God. God's grace can effect these
qualities in a soul. Consequently, a
woman is strengthened in her call
to love self, others, and God, each
in their proper way.
Concretely, Stein advises that no
matter how busy a woman is, she
needs to give the first hour of the
day to the Lord if she hopes to develop her genius of discernment
and spiritual maternity.
The duties and cares of the
day ahead crowd about us
when we awake in the morning (if they have not already
dispelled our night's rest).
Now arises the uneasy question: How can all this be accommodated in one day?
When will I do this, when
that? How shall I start on this
and that? Thus agitated, we
would like to run around and
rush forth. We must then take
the reins in hand and say,
20
21
22

23

140

"Take it easy! Not any of this
may touch me now. My first
morning's hour belongs to
the Lord. I will tackle the
day's work which He charges
me with, and He will give me
the power to accomplish it." 21
Stein prescribes liturgical prayer as
a further means to help a woman
purify herself and become a fit instrument in God's hand.
For Stein, the formation of a
woman takes place fundamentally
in her soul. There the spiritual powers of intellect, will, and emotions,
like spores, "must grow and ripen
into the perfect gestalt . . . . " 22 or
character. In every woman, although there's an "embryo of the
ideal feminine soul," it (her soul)
requires a very specific and consistent "cultivation if it is not to be
suffocated among weeds rankly
shooting up around it." 23 Only a
process of continual purification
activates the germinating power of
a woman's gifts and leads to what
Stein calls a vocational ethos. Appealing to the metaphor of spores
as descriptive of the qualities of a
woman's nature, she reflects,
[T]here are potent seeds of
germinating power therein,
and life in them is stirred into
tremulous motion through the
ray of light which comes from
the other side of the clouds.

Essays, 132-33.
Ibid., 143.
Ibid., 98.
Ibid., 133.

SISTER RENEE MIRKES, O.S.F., Ph.D.

But it would be necessary that
the gross clods be cultivated in
order for the light to penetrate
to the seeds. 24
Perhaps a good place to start in
the necessary working up of the
soil, rooting up of weeds, and
planting of good seeds is for the
woman to overcome the tendency
to excessive concern for her personal worth. To accomplish this, a
woman must work to be free of a
fixation on herself, to be free of a
vanity that tends to center both her
activities and those of others about
her own person, and to be free of
craving for praise and recognition.25 And it's not enough to make
these changes on one's own power
alone. Stein counsels that "[O]nly
in daily, confidential relationships
with the Lord in the tabernacle can
one forget self, become free of all
one's own wishes and pretensions,
and have a heart open to all the
needs and wants of others."26
Second, woman must overcome
the tendency to fixation on others.
This perversion of the woman's
natural desire for the personal can
manifest itself in "an excessive interest in others as in curiosity, gossip, and in an indiscreet need to
penetrate into the intimate life of
others." 27 This misplaced concern
for others and their development
frequently ends up with an abject
kind of surrender that leads to er24
25
26

27
28

rors of judgment and will. It is a
part of woman's nature to want to
surrender herself to another and to
possess the other completely. But
Stein points out that such total giving over to another can become "a
perverted self-abandon and a form
of slavery" when it is directed toward a human person rather than
toward God.
Third, woman must overcome
the tendency to a unilateral emotional development to the exclusion
of the intellectual and spiritual. The
goal for her own human development as well as that of others is to
become a whole person. That is, she
should strive to be a well-integrated
woman who recognizes that her
body ought to be governed by welldeveloped spiritual powers and her
entire body-soul unity ought to be
subject to God's governance. A respect for the hierarchy of spiritual
faculties means that she recognizes
that emotions are not the only spirit~
ual organs that need to be developed and exercised. "The libidinous
drive is controlled by the will; the
intellect, the eye of the soul, guides
the will" and the individual"along
life's path."28 Therefore, exercise of
her faculty of emotions together
with her intellect, will, and interior
senses is essential in the woman's
quest to realize her genius, her ability to give and receive love in her
distinctively feminine way. +

Ibid., 90.
Ibid., 47.
Ibid., 56.
Ibid., 47.
Ibid., 230.

OF PILLARS AND SPORES: THE GENIUS OF WOMAN

141



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