Valentine’s Day weekend is famous for inducing insecurity and stress for women. However, the Women’s Ministry Night on Feb. 13 offered fun activities and formation to kick off the weekend with community instead.  

Over 100 women gathered in the St. Paul VI Center from 7 to 9 p.m. for this event, which was organized by the Office for Evangelization. A huge banquet table covered in charcuterie boards greeted attendees when they arrived, and women filled their plates with fruit, meat, cheese, and more goodies. 

While attendees were eating, emcee Anna Mitchell welcomed them and invited them to start working on the provided vision board craft. Each table was supplied with scissors, glue sticks, cardstock paper, Bible verse stickers, and hundreds of pictures to cut out and use to create vision boards. 

Mitchell encouraged attendees to imagine how they hope to grow and allow those thoughts to guide them as they crafted their vision boards. Some women filled their vision boards with images that reflected their hobbies, like reading or working out. Others designed their vision boards with pictures of saints, sunsets and flowers. As the women worked on their vision boards, laughter and chatting filled the conference room. 

During the formation portion of the evening, Sister Agnes Therese Davis, T.O.R., gave a talk about Lent to attendees. She addressed women’s struggles with perfectionism, struggles that sometimes extend to Lenten observance. She explained that women often get caught up in purifying themselves through Lenten sacrifices, and when they inevitably struggle, they despair that they will never be enough for Jesus. 

Davis had one main encouragement for women: “This Lent, let’s just try enjoying God more.” She maintained that penance has a central place in Lent, but that women should spend less time stressing and more time savoring God’s beauty and goodness. 

After her talk, attendees participated in praise and worship to thank God for the blessings of the evening. Mitchell concluded the event by announcing the newest development in Women’s Ministry: Lenten Pilates every Monday in the aerobics room from 7 to 7:30 a.m.  This announcement was met with lots of cheering.  

Freshman Bridget Hegarty shared that Women’s Ministry Night was a great experience for her. “I think it was really well-timed, in the stress of the semester kicking up, and Valentine’s weekend, to just have some time to waste with the Lord through prayer,” she said. She added that “it was also great to be with other women [and] hear the testimony of the true value of a woman.” 

Not only did attendees like Hegarty return home with homemade vision boards; they also left with positive messages about their immeasurable worth as women.