Guest post by Teresa Bilowus, reprinted with permission by Women of Spirit and Faith
Her name is Sister Genevieve. A tiny woman, barely seen amidst the vast ceremonial weight of a papal passing. Yet there she was — present, weeping, breaking all Vatican protocol to stand close to the casket of her dear friend, Pope Francis.
I was struck by the image. This wasn’t just grief. This was presence. This was the Divine Feminine, breaking through yet again in the most unexpected of places: a male-dominated, clergy-only space, where she wasn’t supposed to be. But she was. She always is.
Sister Genevieve had been a friend of Pope Francis for several decades. Their bond was rooted not in ceremony, but in service. She brought the forgotten to him — the homeless, the sick, members of the trans community — and he welcomed them all with quiet compassion. She carried those on the edges of society directly to the heart of the Church, and Francis opened the door.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. There’s something about the way she moved, small and insistent, not with force but with love. This is what the feminine looks like in power – not aggressive, not loud, but unwavering. Open. Vulnerable. Deeply powerful. I saw Sister Genevieve and immediately I saw Her. The Divine Feminine. I saw Mary, Mother of Jesus, at the foot of the cross. I saw the three Marys at the entrance to the tomb. I saw what has always been there, quietly, fiercely, lovingly present.
I’ve spent my entire life wandering through the cathedrals and chapels of the world, seeking traces of Her — the Divine Mother, the Feminine that was supposedly erased. I’ve learned how the old Pagans, under orders from early Christians to build churches on ancient Sacred sites, hid Her in stone and symbols and architecture. She is there in the spirals, and in the hidden and not-so-hidden spaces. She is there in every place where love, healing and softness shine through the cracks of rigid dogma.
And now, here too — at the Vatican, in full view of the word — She shows Herself again. Through a small, fierce nun who weeps at the side of her friend, Through a woman who crossed boundaries, not just in that moment of mourning, but every day of her ministry.
In this moment, the story of the Divine Feminine continues: She who will not be silenced, She who will not stay hidden. She is here. She always has been, for She is the Sacred Thread running unbroken through it all.
