LITTLETON, Colorado (LifeSiteNews) — With confusion and darkness engulfing the world, a group of Catholic women in Colorado is fighting back with a return to tradition.
More than 200 Catholic women from at least five U.S. states were blessed to hear compelling speakers, experience Holy Mass and spiritual witness, pray the rosary, connect with one another, and more at a traditional women’s conference held at a parish in Littleton on August 25-26.
A Return to Tradition Women’s Conference was presented for the second year in a row by a group of women eager to share the faith with others. It surpassed the inaugural event in attendance and garnered marked positive response from attendees.
While women who attended the event had the opportunity to deepen their faith, the small core team behind the conference also walked in faith by inviting other women to experience the beauty of tradition as the answer to what ails the world today.
“This is a fight that we’re in, and we need to stick together,” said organizer Jane Brennan. “And we need to be around like-minded women to give us courage to carry on amidst this chaos, and confusion, and darkness.”
“We see all the chaos and the confusion and the darkness in the world,” Brennan said. “We see it; we live it.”
“How did we get here?” she asked. “How did we get here, and how can we get out of it? We think we must return to tradition.”
Brennan and her team of conference organizers attend Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, FSSP, in Littleton. They formed a non-profit, Restore Tradition, to present the conference.
Brennan credits the help of many volunteers, both men and women at the parish, and the support of parish leadership for the event’s success. And more importantly, her group gives all the glory to God and Our Lady of Mount Carmel for making the Return to Tradition conference happen.
The concept of a return to tradition behind the conference encompasses both society and the Church, which is not immune to the world’s darkness, because traditional values pertain in both realms.
“There’s no confusion in tradition,” said Brennan. “Men know who they are, women know who they are. It’s the truth.”
That was the faith that was passed down to us, the faith of our fathers, she said, and “Not only in the church, but in the culture, we need to return to tradition, because there’s no confusion in tradition.”
Brennan cites feminism as destructive to society, relationships, and families, noting as well, the warning from Fatima visionary Sister Lucia about the final battle between good and evil centering on the family.
Traditional roles for men and women and God’s plan for women and authentic femininity are not oppression, she said, “That’s beauty, that’s giving glory to God.”
Among the conference speakers were journalist Diane Montagna; convert from Judaism, author, and podcaster Roy Schoeman; convert from Islam and author Derya Little; writer and artist Anna Kalinowska; and Dana Stur, a refugee from Communist Czechoslovakia and homeschooling mother of 10, who, along with her husband operates a Catholic non-profit offering spiritual formation.
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Father Matthew McCarthy, FSSP, pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, addressed attendees, saying that it’s important for women to be able to come together but that this was not just a social event. The conference will serve its purpose, he said, only if those who are in attendance are reinvigorated to strive for holiness.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parochial Vicars Father Daniel Nolan, FSSP, and Father Eric Krager, FSSP, also gave presentations at the conference.
Nolan offered an in-depth analysis of “Adam & Eve: The First Pathological Marriage,” and Krager examined “Supra Quae – Abel, Abraham, Melchizedek, the Pre-Cursors to the Sacrifice of Christ.”
“Everyone loved the conference,” said Brennan. “We’ve gotten so many compliments. They loved last year, but they think this year was, like, beyond. It’s going to be hard to top it.”
Prayer was integral throughout planning and execution of the event.
“I feel it went very well,” said Kathy Cole, a member of the core team. “But then, [we all] prayed many prayers and novenas to Our Lady, and she answered our prayers. Some of our core team actually felt Mary’s presence, especially at the High Mass on Saturday.”
Jennifer Traughber was also part of the organizing team.
“The conference provided a full audience, engaging speakers, a feminine ambience, and a beautiful presentation of the traditional elements of the Catholic faith,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoyed our speakers and felt incredibly encouraged being surrounded by so many authentic women seeking the return to tradition.”
Traughber said it was “such an unexpected gift getting to be a part of the planning team for the conference.”
Preparation meetings had a family familial and caring environment that flowed forth into the event, she said, and despite any stressful logistics that emerged, “There were always people on the team to provide the reminders that God is in charge and our Lady will take care of us. And they certainly did.”
Cole said when the “amazing group of women” behind the conference were put all together, “they made a beautiful gift to God. It has always been about what He wants, and to please Him in all things.”
“It cannot be stressed enough, that the women in our group all have such a zeal for souls,” Cole said. “It is contagious. They strive for holiness, and it is so evident.”
Both Traughber and Cole, along with Jodi Lacroix, who worked on planning as well, say their work on the conference had an impact on their faith.
“Bringing over 200 ladies to a two-day conference, where they are learning more in depth about their Catholic faith, and hearing their joy at their experiences, is a super positive experience for me,” Lacroix said. “And I have learned so much myself from all of the speakers from last year’s and this year’s conferences.”
“It has increased my faith so very much,” Cole said. “Jane inspires me to have courage – to be an authentic woman! Each of our group strives to do God’s will, and when you see it up close – personally it has had a huge impact on me.”
Traughber’s conviction of the necessity for the conference was also strengthened while working on the event.
Today’s Catholics are facing unprecedented attacks from the world and their own Church, she said, and women who refuse to fall in line with the feminist agenda are mocked and scorned.
“Traditional Catholic women are in need of encouragement, support, and a bolstering of their faith now more than ever,” said Traughber. “We need to come together as a community to be refueled and nourished. We don’t have to be in this fight alone.”
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Lacroix, who was featured in episode two of the Mass of the Ages series, concurred.
“The world is on fire,” she said. “The Latin Mass is order out of chaos. And this Women’s Conference is a treasure for many of us at this current time. It helps us to bond together and to find a way to journey through the spiritual, emotional, and physical struggles we are facing right now.”
Cole agreed regarding the need to come together for mutual support in the faith.
“It could not be more timely to have the opportunity for like-minded women to come together in support of our traditional faith, and our values,” she said. “With all the confusion and division in the church and the world, it is wonderful to feel ‘at home’ at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. To know, really know you have the truth, to me there is nothing more beautiful than that.”
Brennan and her crew are considering creating a how-to kit with what they’ve learned in presenting the conference and steps for putting together such an event.
The 2024 Return to Tradition conference is already set for August 23-24, and they have their keynote speaker secured.
The women continue to trust the Lord amid the world’s confusion and welcome women to join them in embracing tradition.
“We’re just regular women in the pews,” Brennan said. “We’re wives, mothers, grandmothers, and we see the destruction. We see it happening in our own families. And we think this is the answer.”
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