The nature, mission, and identity of woman has been obscured over the years, even within the Church. Using the metaphor of the restoration of the Sistine Chapel, Sr Carino Hodder, O.P., invites us to look directly at woman in the light of God and find her true meaning. Taking her inspiration from the apostolic letter of Pope Saint John Paul II, Mulieres Dignitatum (On the Dignity of Women), Sr Carino offers an inspired and inspiring understanding of woman’s nature and mission as virgin, bride, and mother, shaped by the nature and mission of the Church herself, the Bride of Christ.

As a convert to Christianity and a millennial, Sr Carino speaks lovingly to women inside and outside the Church, women young and old, women single, consecrated, and married, both mothers and childless, offering a stirring testimony to their common dignity and importance in the eyes of Christ. With faithfulness, candour, wit, and joy, this book faces down both modern attacks on the dignity of women and misconceptions of the Church’s teaching to reveal the beauty of woman in her very nature and her crucial vocation in the world today.