A feminist Easter liturgy

In Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is "Ruach": a feminine noun. In some representations, it is the form of a woman that symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Contrary to what we have been taught, woman is indeed part of the Holy Trinity.

Although many Christians refuse to see Mary and Mary Magdalene as the figures they actually played—disciples and apostles of Christ—theirs was the most important role among all those assigned to the apostles. It was through their testimony that the proof came that Jesus had fulfilled his promise of Resurrection. 

The proof of the Resurrection is given by the testimony of Mary and Mary Magdalene.

Thomas Mann, through the voice of Adrian Leverkuhn in Doctor Faustus, asserts that the feminine would signify "fide minus," that is, our inability to have faith and dedicate ourselves to the lofty questions of the Spirit. 

However, it was precisely the faith of Mary and Magdalene that made them witnesses. Therefore, they went to see and were also entrusted with the task of spreading the good news: Jesus had risen and was waiting for his disciples in Galilee.

Several apocryphal texts allow us to understand that women played a fundamental role in the beginning of Christianity and that Mary Magdalene in no way corresponded to the subservient figure described in the Acts of the Apostles.

In contrast, Mary Magdalene exercised leadership among the apostles, and it is for this reason that her testimony and that of Mary are received without question.  

After centuries of silencing women's voices by the Church, a decree by Pope Francis elevated Mary Magdalene to the position of Disciple of the Disciples, highlighting the need to consider the Holy Trinity and Christ's earthly experience with the significant presence of the Feminine. But a long road still needs to be traveled, and, as Ivone Gebara states, the Church still seems to want to keep women who fight for the recognition of equality and their dignity at a distance.

Let's remember when Viviany Beleboni, a trans woman, staged a crucifixion at the 2015 LGBT Pride Parade. Several bishops wrote letters stating that the representation had been offensive to the Church.

However, who better than that trans woman to symbolize Christ Crucified, knowing exactly what it is to carry the cross of oppression, violence, and hatred, and transform that symbol into love and hope? Or the women at the forefront of wards and ICUs, risking their own lives to save others? Or the Black women from the periphery, facing the coronavirus pandemic in the absence of the state in the favelas?

Rituals without meaning can signify the death of God. And it is this resistance, which we women embody, against oppression, violence, and hatred, that constitutes the greatest liturgy of baptismal renewal.

And that's what Easter is all about. A time of gratitude for having the joy of renewing our baptism.

Happy Easter.

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Dedicated to Monk Marcelo Barros, who inspired this text and whose words always renew my baptism.