PROVIDENCE — Just two days before the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the parish hall of the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul was filled with women of all ages and vocations. Their goal was to rekindle their devotion to Mary ahead of the celebration of the birth of her son.
The annual Catholic Women’s Conference drew in more than 200 attendees, which doubled last year’s attendance, organizers said.
“Our goal was to have a fabulous, faith-filled day to bring women today to learn more about their faith, to grow in fellowship, [and] to meet other women in the diocese,” said first-time lead organizer Rosemary Jacobs, coordinator, Secretariat for Evangelization and Pastoral Planning.
Though the conference has been an annual event for many years now, Jacobs was a first-time organizer.
“This is my first year of planning the conference, and we had a fabulous planning committee that started meeting back in January to make all this happen, a great group of women from parishes all across the diocese.”
“We have a fabulous planning committee, this is my first year of planning the conference, but we had a fabulous planning committee that started meeting back in January to make all this happen, a great group of women from parishes all across the diocese.
From the vendors to the speakers to the souls eager to learn, the women’s conference was filled with heart, right down to the centerpieces on each table. Jacobs said those were handmade in Columbia by a devout Catholic husband and wife team, who graciously prayed for the success of the conference thousands of miles away.
“In Columbia, December 8 is a national holiday for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. They light these lanterns and candles and all kinds of stuff,” Jacobs said. “They’re beautiful, we’re so thrilled.”
This year’s theme was based on Luke 2:19: “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
The day started with Mass in the cathedral at 8:30 a.m., celebrated by Bishop Emeritus Thomas J. Tobin, with special guest Liz Contrupi Pfunder, who single-handedly performed all the music on her guitar. She would also lead the worship music later that afternoon.
“I love Advent — it’s a time in which the themes are so beautiful and the readings and the prayers are so rich,” Bishop Tobin told the hundreds of women at the beginning of his homily.
After Mass, it was down to the church hall to begin the talks. The two speakers this year were EWTN personality Teresa Tomeo, author of more than a dozen faith-based books and has a background in secular broadcast news. The second was local Providence College Theology Professor Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman.
Tomeo started her talk by highlighting the seven virtues of Mary. Traditionally, they are: humble; obedient; joyful; contemplative; trusting; generous; and open.
Tomeo went on to reflect on her time in secular news. She said her experiences made her realize how much we don’t listen to each other anymore in modern society. We’re more apt to take things out of context, use labels, and react to what we see and hear before we fully understand it.
“We see this all the time in the media, especially social media where someone will misinterpret, not listen closely to what someone is saying, or take what someone said out of context. And all of a sudden it becomes a huge story, it goes viral,” Tomeo said. “And the problem with that is because of what? We are not taking a breath, we are judging far too quickly, we are labeling far too quickly, and we don’t listen. And that happens to me at least once a week.”
As an example, Tomeo recalled a time when one of her radio show listeners sent her a rather long email criticizing her choice of interviewing a controversial figure concerning the Catholic Church. As it turns out, Tomeo was talking to someone completely different who had a similar name.
Tomeo used that example to point out that Mary didn’t act on baseless assumptions. She didn’t draw conclusions about the kind of messiah Jesus would be or how becoming the Mother of God would impact her life. Instead, she took little moments to acknowledge the truths she saw and heard and let God reveal the rest of His plan to her in His timing.
“We need to slow down and listen closely, especially to God,” Tomeo said.
In the next talk, Dr. Coolman pointed out that the Greek word for “ponder” or “reflect” can often mean gathering up or pulling together things that are scattered.
“The Lord is also gathering you in,” Dr. Coolman said.
Dr. Coolman also encouraged her listeners to not lose hope in the family members they gather with who don’t yet know Jesus, as God could be working a Christmas miracle that we haven’t quite seen yet.
Grace Marcotte, who attends Holy Apostles Church in Cranston, said she especially loved Tomeo’s point on using a relationship with Mary, our spiritual mother, to reflect on our relationship with our earthly mothers. After all, it was Marcotte’s mother who gifted her the ticket to the conference in the first place.
“We’re pretty close, she kind of is my role model when it comes to the faith, so whenever she suggests something, I know it’s a good idea,” Marcotte said.
Marcotte said that of the seven virtues of Mary, the one that stood out to her the most was “trusting,” especially relating to Mary’s decision to visit her cousin Elizabeth after the Annunciation.
“Like Teresa had said, it’s realistically an hour and a half drive so it would have taken perilous days of traveling and a lot of toil and hard work,” Marcotte said. “To have that type of trust in the Lord and what he’s calling you to do, and trust that it will be okay, and trust that you won’t fail or whatever — it’s beautiful.”
