A Letter to the Woman Interceding to Saint Joseph // Elizabeth Lev

Letters to Women - Exploring the Feminine Genius

This week, we’re celebrating the feast day of St. Joseph - and Pope Francis’ invitation to all of us in 2021 to “go to Joseph” is still ringing in our ears. But what can we learn from St. Joseph as Catholic women - isn’t he more of a saint for the guys?

Today I’m sitting down with Elizabeth Lev. She’s an art historian and tour guide who lives in Rome and she’s recently written a beautiful book on the history of St. Joseph in art. In today’s episode, we’re talking about what we can learn from St. Joseph as women, and the history of incredible women throughout church history who leaned on Joseph and his creative courage when they were feeling underrepresented or burdened with challenges.

Whether you clicked play to learn more about St. Joseph or you, too, are feeling overwhelmed and looking for a silent knight, this letter is for you.

Topics we talked about in this episode:

• What inspired Liz’s new book, The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art
• Why we should turn to St. Joseph and what he can teach us especially as Catholic women
• Why St. Joseph absent from early Christian art and what sparked his appearance onto the artistic scene
• How the (sometimes contradictory!) depictions of St. Joseph throughout the centuries can teach us about the history of the Catholic Church
• What we can do to spark a Josephine renaissance today
• Liz’s favorite depictions of St. Joseph and how her favorite shifted as she wrote this new book
• How leading students and tourists through the Sistine Chapel encourages Liz to embrace the feminine genius in her daily life as a teacher and tour guide in Rome

Resources you should check out after listening to this episode:

• Pick up a copy of Liz Lev’s new book, The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art
• I loved reading Liz’s first book, How Catholic Art Saved the Faith, before our family’s trip to Rome in 2019
• Visit Liz’s website for more information about her tours in Rome
• Naptime Notes, a new monthly newsletter from Chloe
• Pre-order my newest book, Sisterhood: Giving and Receiving the Gift of Friendship
• Check out The Little Catholic Box and access the exclusive bonuses for LTW listeners - this month’s surprise is perfect for my fellow coffee lovers!