It is one of the chief glories of the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ that it has known how to raise woman to the position of honour and dignity and supreme worth that she holds unchallenged in the hearts of Christian men. As long as a man keeps his respect for womanhood undimmed, there is always hope for him; let his conception of the worth of womanhood be lost, and he is on the verge of spiritual disaster that may too probably be irreparable—he is very near the shipwreck of his soul. Now, the place of women in Christianity, the veneration of women by Christians, the fact that women stand for all that is pure and beautiful in the thoughts of Christians, is combined historically with devotion to our Lady.
The thought of the Virgin Mother of God was its source. Love of that Virgin Mother inspired it through the long ages of Faith, and sustains it today with the same power as in any of the days that are past.
