Week 16 Questions

Question 1

Dona Lucilia was always vigilant regarding the well-being of her children. Plinio’s health was a constant concern. His progress and achievements at school were very important to her, stressing how these efforts would “… draw down God’s Graces and blessings.” This is so apparent in the exchange of letters at even the least separation.

Dona Lucilia always felt drawn to a beautiful statuary depiction of the Finding of Our Lord in the Temple at Sacred Heart Church. It was known that she prayed there for Plinio’s success in debates he entered into with other students. It could be that she was also devoted to Our Lady’s Motherhood of the Christ Child at this stage of His life.

It is unthinkable that a lack of confidence caused Mary Most Holy such concern at the loss of Our Lord before He was found in the temple. She was of course convinced of the power of Divine Providence, so why did she apply such unsparing effort to seek and find Him?

Our Lady was the model for all of Dona Lucilia’s actions, and must be for ours.

Even though we know that our lives are in God’s hands, why must we do all that we can in the care and formation of our children and in our own spiritual advancement throughout our lives?

Question 2

What a blessed time in so many ways for a well-ordered household. Dona Lucilia and her family enjoyed, in their home, an “ambiance imbued with God’s blessing.” How well she made use of the nightly informative discussions to teach her children important points of history and religion.

Even as her children grew beyond her absolute direction, she “always had an appropriate word to clarify a situation or dispel a doubt.”

She expressed herself mainly on moral points. In “practical matters, she refrained from giving untimely advice, limiting herself to an occasional suggestion.”  How difficult it is for us to achieve this perfect balance.

How can we start early on in our children’s formation to make them aware of the duty they have to make morally correct choices, and to continue to remind ourselves of this duty in every situation throughout our lives?

Question 3

The anti-religious atmosphere of Dona Lucilia’s time disordered people’s thinking. Prayer, the practice of religion and even morality, were considered to be appropriate and necessary only for women.   Strict moral uprightness was demanded of them.

 “Objective” and “enlightened” men, however, were not expected to “practice the chastity of their state, either before or after marriage.”

Was this a sustainable situation? When a whole segment of society – not all, but most, men – felt at liberty to totally ignore God’s Laws, how long could it be before women would demand their “right” to also reject the Commandments and even natural law?

We are now in a state where “liberated” females have accomplished the appearance that all women embrace this anti-religion, anti-God “lifestyle?”

While remaining Lucilian and rejecting the aggressive and strident tone of these anti-feminine “feminists” should we, and how can we oppose these secular standards?