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March 13
Christina of Persia and Susan B. Anthony
David Barnhart
March 13, 2025
Bridal Veil Falls, Oregon, 2024. Own photo.
Today is the feast day of St. Christina of Persia. Born in Northern Iraq, she converted to Christianity shortly before her arranged marriage to a nobleman. After marriage, she refused to take a submissive role to her husband because she believed that subordination to men was not what God called her to as a Christian woman. She was martyred for her rebellion some time in the sixth century, and today remains a figure of inspiration and reverence for Christian women in the Middle East.
Today also marks the death, in 1906, of Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist, suffragist, and organizer. Her legacy, like many others on my list of saints, is not unmixed, as she still privileged white women’s voting rights over Black people’s voting rights in her organizing. But even this is illustrative of how workers in movements for liberation allow themselves to be siloed and betray or abandon each other. We must each learn how our self-interest is connected to our collective liberation.
Today is marks the death, in 1980, of Lillian Ngoyi, an anti-apartheid activist who co-founded the Federation of South African Women. She was also the first woman elected to the African National Congress executive committee.
Reflection:
Of religion, Susan B. Anthony said,
I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.
and
I pray every single moment of my life; not on my knees but with my work. My prayer is to lift women to equality with men. Work and worship are one with me.
Of activism and organizing, she said,
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.
As an advocate for public and bike transit, this is one of my personal favorite Susan B. Anthony quotes:
Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.
Prayer: Great Midwife of Freedom, all creation is groaning in labor. Guide us skillfully into your new creation, a rule of equity and diversity. Amen.