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Manual for Women
Manual for Women is for women who seek to grow closer to Christ and his Blessed Mother, for women who seek to discover or rediscover what it means to be a woman after God’s own heart. In Part I, noted Catholic author Danielle Bean, using examples from Scripture, the lives of the saints, and modern life, reminds women of today to embrace and cultivate their distinctive -Receptivity, or an openness and welcoming spirit toward others. -Sensitivity, or an ability to see and understand the needs and feelings of others. -Compassion, or an instinct to suffer with and alleviate the suffering of others. -Beauty, or the recognition that the female body is a reflection of her great capacity for nurturing, whether she ever becomes a mother physically or not. -Generosity, or an extraordinary capacity for self-giving love. She also reminds readers that they will embrace those gifts most perfectly if they imitate that most immaculate of women, Mary of Nazareth. Bean concludes with practical advice which every woman, whatever her state in life, will benefit from. In Part II, readers will be nourished by the depth and richness of the Catholic tradition’s teaching on women. Church documents, wisdom of the saints, relevant passages from Scripture, wisdom from today’s Catholic women, prayers, and hymns will inspire, delight, and edify women, young and old, single and married, consecrated to God in the religious life or a member of the laity. Now, perhaps more than ever, women need to be women. But what it means to be a woman has been so distorted by the various ideologies that the modern world imposes. Manual for Women serves as a reminder to women that authentic femininity (and, yes, authentic feminism) springs from an embrace, rather than a spurning, of the great and unique gifts God has bestowed on them, whether they be married or single, in religious life or a laywomen, a homemaker or a women who works outside the home, or, as so many women in today’s hectic world are, some combination thereof!
- GenresSpirituality
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2019
74 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 27, 2019
Recently I curled up and read Danielle Bean’s latest, A Manual for Women. I’ve long been a fan and follower of Bean’s work and writing, and I found the parts she wrote of this to be as delightfully full of Catholic common sense and down-to-earth hilarity as her other work. However, this beautifully bound book — in teal-covered leatherish binding, with a ribbon marker! — delivers on something different than just good writing from a popular Catholic writer.
Bean wrote Part One, entitled ‟Being the Woman God Made You to Be.” It includes essays and insight on the feminine gifts of receptivity, sensitivity, compassion, beauty, and generosity, as well as a closing chapter that gets practical in a way that Bean has mastered. ‟For me,” Bean writes, ‟one of the most frustrating parts about considering the beautiful ideas of God’s plan for women, by looking at the first woman, Eve, the perfect woman Mary, and the writings of the saints, is that they’re just that: ideas.”
Part Two is entitled ‟Wisdom and Prayers for Women,” and it includes excerpts from major Church documents and the Catechism, a collection of relevant Bible verses, prayers and quotes from saints, and even hymns and poems. I doubt most people will read this section straight through (I’m weird that way), but it is a treasury of things you may have bookmarked and jotted down over the years, all in one handy place.
This book is not just for married women or mothers, but encompasses all Catholic women. Though I am both married and a mother, I was reminded of the beauty inherent in my femininity, shared across the sisterhood of women. It’s a lovely little book, as much for its binding as for its content, and I will be sharing it with the women I love.
Bean wrote Part One, entitled ‟Being the Woman God Made You to Be.” It includes essays and insight on the feminine gifts of receptivity, sensitivity, compassion, beauty, and generosity, as well as a closing chapter that gets practical in a way that Bean has mastered. ‟For me,” Bean writes, ‟one of the most frustrating parts about considering the beautiful ideas of God’s plan for women, by looking at the first woman, Eve, the perfect woman Mary, and the writings of the saints, is that they’re just that: ideas.”
Part Two is entitled ‟Wisdom and Prayers for Women,” and it includes excerpts from major Church documents and the Catechism, a collection of relevant Bible verses, prayers and quotes from saints, and even hymns and poems. I doubt most people will read this section straight through (I’m weird that way), but it is a treasury of things you may have bookmarked and jotted down over the years, all in one handy place.
This book is not just for married women or mothers, but encompasses all Catholic women. Though I am both married and a mother, I was reminded of the beauty inherent in my femininity, shared across the sisterhood of women. It’s a lovely little book, as much for its binding as for its content, and I will be sharing it with the women I love.
May 30, 2019
I read this via an Amazon KINDLE Unlimited download.
Ever since Helen Reddy had released her song “I Am Woman”, women have declared:
Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
However, when it comes to Christian women something far more spiritual needs to be included, since they seek to become closer to the Lord as well as Mary, the woman who bore His seed. While all women desire to simply learn what it means to be one, Christian women also desire to learn to be one in the eyes of the Lord.
Young women need some sort of mother figure, and older women need to have a sister, to help them realize that they need to accept and to nurture their God-given abilities of accessibility/understanding to/of others. Along with this is their ability to be compassionate to anyone’s suffering and an unceasing generosity of giving themselves to others out of sheer love. And with her desire in making sure her readers will become this kind of women, just like most perfect of all women, the Lord’s mother, Mary of Nazareth; the author of this book, Danielle Bean, becomes the woman I’d mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, with the addition of the real-world advice that will help them achieve their goals of being a woman.
Yet what good is it for women to know the truth about themselves and their unique purposes without having the knowledge of the Lord’s words which can be found in the scripture of the Good Book. The secular world these days are fraught with a distorting multitude of ideas which intrude on this from happening in the manner the Lord has intended it to be. The remedy for this can be found in the second portion of this author’s devotional manual for all of her Christian “sisters” which is designed to bring forth their true womanliness including that of being a feminist, regardless of their status in society, their age, etc. For having done all of this, as a reviewer of Christian books, I’m glad to give Ms. Bean the 5 STARS she so richly deserves.
Ever since Helen Reddy had released her song “I Am Woman”, women have declared:
Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
However, when it comes to Christian women something far more spiritual needs to be included, since they seek to become closer to the Lord as well as Mary, the woman who bore His seed. While all women desire to simply learn what it means to be one, Christian women also desire to learn to be one in the eyes of the Lord.
Young women need some sort of mother figure, and older women need to have a sister, to help them realize that they need to accept and to nurture their God-given abilities of accessibility/understanding to/of others. Along with this is their ability to be compassionate to anyone’s suffering and an unceasing generosity of giving themselves to others out of sheer love. And with her desire in making sure her readers will become this kind of women, just like most perfect of all women, the Lord’s mother, Mary of Nazareth; the author of this book, Danielle Bean, becomes the woman I’d mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, with the addition of the real-world advice that will help them achieve their goals of being a woman.
Yet what good is it for women to know the truth about themselves and their unique purposes without having the knowledge of the Lord’s words which can be found in the scripture of the Good Book. The secular world these days are fraught with a distorting multitude of ideas which intrude on this from happening in the manner the Lord has intended it to be. The remedy for this can be found in the second portion of this author’s devotional manual for all of her Christian “sisters” which is designed to bring forth their true womanliness including that of being a feminist, regardless of their status in society, their age, etc. For having done all of this, as a reviewer of Christian books, I’m glad to give Ms. Bean the 5 STARS she so richly deserves.
August 7, 2024
"Manual for Women" is a fabulous companion for any Catholic woman. Mrs. Bean fills each page with useful wisdom for women of every age and walk of life. The dedication on the very first page is spot on ... "To the perfect example of feminine genius lived out with perfection, my mother and yours, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thank you for praying me through my stumbling journey towards home." Perfectly imperfect!
March 31, 2020
A beautiful prayer book for all women!
June 27, 2022
Good book to keep around. Many lovely passages, stories of saints and prayers that are great to refer to in any time
July 18, 2022
This is a fantastic collection of prayers, Bible verses, letters from saints, and more. Great for a quick read before bed or first thing in the morning.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews