Purpose For Paradise

In this episode I discuss the romantic and feminine nature of French phrases and how it’s a valuable practice to have a phrase to abide by. I discuss how I like to abide by “La vie en rose” which translates to “Life in Pink” ( seeing the world through rose colored glasses) I discuss some things we can learn from Mary Magdalene being given the task to “Announce The Resurrection.” How celebrating and loving our femininity is testifying that we view our life as a gift, and thus we look forward to our eternal life.

In a way we “Announce The Resurrection” when we live our lives like the gift that they are. The world and the devil want us to hate being a woman, curse our femininity, and celebrate death. God wants us to value our womanhood, love the gift of our femininity, and celebrate life. When we choose to celebrate our femininity we choose to announce the gift of our lives, thus testifying to The Resurrection.

You can watch the episode on Youtube here : "Allowing Your Femininity To Announce The Resurrection" or simply listen as always!

Enjoy the Easter Season! Xo

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

In this episode I discuss the “Snow White Live Action” controversy, some exercises and lessons to gauge where your femininity is at, lessons from Queen Esther in the Bible, how a feminine woman is an intentional woman, how beauty and style are important points of influence as a woman, and more.

You can watch the episode on Youtube here : Watch Here ( Subscribe to my Youtube Channel “Purpose For Paradise” so you don’t miss a new episode!) Or as always you can simply listen to the episode on here, Apple Podcasts, Spotify & more.

This is a good episode, and I recommend paying attention to the lessons and exercises I discuss to gauge how you are doing in the expression of your femininity.

With the Snow White Live Action controversy being a hot topic, this notion came to my mind : Disney needs a new princess and you’re at the audition. If you were asked to put on a pretty dress, twirl around, and smile, could you do it, or would you feel uncomfortable? If you say would feel uncomfortable, it’s a sign that something might be off with your femininity. You should not feel uncomfortable expressing your femininity. 93% of communication is non-verbal. It’s body language. Movement is a big proportion to feminine expression, and a big element to a Princess audition. Why is everyone upset with the new Snow White Live Action movie? Because they stripped Snow White of her FEMININE TRAITS, that make her undoubtedly lovely. People are saying this girl would have made a better Snow White, no this one, people are identifying women who have feminine traits and applying it to being able to play a princess well. So let’s say you got cast as a princess for a Disney movie. Would the general public be mad at you for butchering the role? Or would your feminine expression be so harmonious, that you utterly ooze femininity and ace the role?

Could people identify some princess-like traits and virtues in you, and say you would be good for the role? But here’s the thing being a Princess isn’t just an acting role - it’s the Heavenly reality of your soul, as a daughter of The King. So it’s VERY important to not allow your feminine expression to not be diluted and watered down, because we are called to strive to be the women God created us to be.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

Season 2 is here! New episodes will be every Monday, and I’ve taken this Podcast on camera! As always, you may just listen to the episode on Substack, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and now you can also watch it on Youtube! Make sure you subscribe to my Youtube Channel “Purpose For Paradise” if you would like to watch the episodes! Watch this episode here : "How To Be More Feminine & Thrive In Your Femininity"

In this episode I discuss how to be more feminine and thrive in your femininity. Topics include expressing your Heavenly Identity, making the connection between faith and feminine expression, celebrating the gift of your femininity and boldly proclaiming it; the importance of style & dressing up, the importance of being fabulous, how girlhood ties into motherhood, the kind of mother I want to be, being a gracious woman, viewing everything through your feminine lens, not having victim mentality, honoring your inner child, if the devil can't destroy you he will water down and dilute you, and how part of honoring God means loving being a woman, and more!

I want to give you my take on Matthew 18:3 when Jesus says “Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Essentially it’s about returning to the bold display of femininity we possessed and expressed as little girls which revealed our heavenly identity. The enemy has been on a mission to water down a woman’s femininity, and the watering down of femininity is contrary to the effervescent and full of life woman that God desires and created us to be. When we were little girls we desired to wear princesses dresses everyday like it was our uniform and we twirled around endlessly, played dress up, and lived life like it was a celebration. We were actually displaying our true identity as Daughters of The King, and now women need to be reminded of that which they have always known to be true. The sweet and innocent display of your femininity before the world, people’s opinions, societal pressure, temptations, the enemy, sufferings and wounds got in and influenced you negatively and watered down your feminine expression is a key component to flourishing in your femininity and faith.

Similar notion for men. Little boys wanting to dress up like superheroes is expressing the true call of masculinity. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for her” - Ephesians 5:25 Essentially the call of men is to be a hero, sacrifice, and lay down one’s life for others.

When Jesus is saying we cannot enter Heaven unless we become as little children again, He is saying remember and connect to what you have always known to be true before anyone or anything influenced you otherwise.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

One of the main things I see Catholic women struggling with is in the area of self development. In this episode I discuss operating out of the different layers of your femininity, being in touch with your natural feminine essence, five signs that you might have stagnant feminine energy, your natural sex appeal as a woman, operating from a place of “big truths” not watering down your womanhood, and more. You’ve got the foundational aspects of the faith down. Mass on Sunday, Holy Hours, Praying The Rosary, Novenas, Spiritual Reading. You’ve got that down. But you stop there, and that’s the problem, and you don’t develop as a woman with understanding on how to live an integrated life. So you become really uptight, make the foundational aspects of the faith your entire focus and don’t flourish in the self development aspects of your womanhood. Integration and thriving as a woman. Think of the spiritual life as building a house. Without the foundation you can’t build up. But if you only lay the foundation and don’t start building well you’ve come to a halt in the progression of the house. Once you’ve got your foundation down it’s time to work on self development and understanding how to flourish in your femininity. Looking in the mirror and asking God “Who is the woman you created me to be?” What things do you enjoy? What are the gifts and talents God has given you? How can you help others with those gifts? How can you flourish in your womanhood? A lot of women make the mistake of saying “Well I didn’t hear this information in Church.” The homilies on Sunday aren’t targeted towards helping you flourish in your femininity. The priest’s homilies on Sunday’s are foundational aspects of the faith to appeal to men and women of all ages. Church is for you to receive the sacraments and give you the tools necessary to get yourself together. You then have to take it upon yourself and correspond with the grace made available to you from the foundation of your spiritual life to work on developing the skills necessary to becoming the woman God created you to be and begin flourishing in your femininity. Keep your foundation strong with a good spiritual life, and then work on pouring into self development as a woman. It’s important to understand that there is an attack on your femininity. This attack is multi-faceted, and you have to make it a priority to strive to thrive in your womanhood or you will be operating from a place of watered down womanhood, which is contrary to operating from a place of flourishing.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

I’ve been thinking a lot about First Ladies, feminine fabulousness, festivity and how important these things are. 

The modern building is functional but it lacks character.  I think character, aesthetic, and that added touch, that added “pazzaz” is an element of beauty & femininity that’s a necessity. A building can stand without the touch of beauty, but wouldn’t you prefer to gaze at the architecture in Paris?  If you could choose between the Sistine chapel and the modern church which are you picking? Do you want to see the First Lady in athleisure or vintage Chanel? Beauty, aesthetic, and the extra added touch is so important. Modernism is settling for functionality without character. Sure it works, but does it inspire? Or stifle? Does it compel or does it repel? 

I’ve been applying the notion of modernism to “the modern woman” and pondering on the attack on femininity and the stripping away of feminine attributes.

I think a lot of what is wrong with our society is the aspect of settling in functionality and mediocrity, and not striving for greatness. This is part of the attack on women, watering down aspects of their femininity so they settle and are affirmed in the low quality version of themselves without any push to strive for flourishing in their femininity. Sure you can walk around in a tank top and leggings when you’re not working out, or you could try and put on a dress and display feminine beauty.

Modern women are so easily deceived and buy into lies, because they are being fed a narrative that affirms the low quality, bare minimum, and worst versions of themselves apposed to motivational encouragement to strive to become the woman they were created to be, and operate out of a place of big truths and realizations. 

This is exactly what the devil does : affirm people in the low quality, sinful versions of themselves. A large part of the narrative that is pushed is “It’s okay if you can just make it through the day.” It’s actually not okay, it’s settling for mediocrity when Jesus Christ said “I came so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” Being “functional” & “operating from a place of abundance” are two different things. Granted, we are never going to be perfect, but we should have the incentive to strive to be great.

Part of femininity contains a certain “entertainment” aspect - hosting / homemaking / decorating etc. Doesn’t everyone love a festive woman with fabulous Christmas decorations?! These things are such important feminine elements. 

When you think of an iconic First Lady you think of Jackie O. Her style, grace and femininity made her a remembered woman! I want to see more iconic and feminine fabulousness!

( Correction : The episode I referred to about the “remembered woman” is episode 11 “ Woman As The Crown Of Creation - The Iconic & Remembered Woman” and not episode 12. )

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My best friend picked me up at the airport with my favorite flowers and she brought me my favorite drink nice and cold. She wrote me a cute sign too. It got me thinking about feminine attention to detail. A woman doesn’t want a man to get her flowers because she asked him too, a woman wants a man to get her flowers because he KNOWS that she wants them, and he knows exactly what kind of flowers to get her. The feminine heart has a thing for detail. Detail is the little cherry on top, that displays that one cares. Life is sweeter because of the little things. You know how you love to browse on Pinterest and saunter through Target, or Home Goods? What new thing can you stumble on today, to beautify your life? What if you understood that the desires of your feminine heart were put there by God, and the feminine things you innocently love are revelations of your purpose? The goal is to live life alongside God…integration, union. It’s not “I go to Church on Sunday, and then don’t think about my faith, the rest of the week.” It’s “Everything in my life is a continuation of revelation of the beauty and gifts from above, and everything I love leads me closer to God.” The love to browse and shop, pour that into making spaces beautiful, making a house a home. Cultivating design. Decorating. Hosting. It’s the warmth of beauty and detail in a woman’s heart that turns white walls into a cozy and beautiful space. God calls women to make a house a home, why do you think we love to shop so much? The love to shop for clothes, pour that into feminine dress that reveals the beauty of womanhood, and your love of being a woman and dressing femininely. The love for detail, pour that into everything you do, thus making life sweeter. Each and every one of these things can and should be applied to your faith, and can glorify God. This is how you begin living life unified with The Lord, and thriving in your femininity on a spiritual level. You take the natural things you love and apply it to the supernatural. Woman is a revelation of beauty. The things we love reveal to us the call of beauty on our lives. God can be found in the details. It’s why He put a love for them in our feminine hearts. In this episode I also discuss allowing The Lord to bring beautiful details into your life that touch your feminine heart, and how that enhances your relationship with Him. I discuss the beauty of details in various aspects of our lives, the details of Divine Providence, how Jesus loves us intentionally with detail and more!

“Start looking for God in the things that you love.”

“Life is so much more beautiful when you find God in the details.”

“The Lord loves us in such detail, He doesn’t just love us in a generalized sense. He says “I know every hair on your head, I know when one falls.” - what a detail. We love as women in a detailed way. What a beautiful thing to be loved in a detailed way.”

If you’ve been blessed by this episode of “Purpose For Paradise” I kindly ask if you would consider donating to support my content. You can leave a one time donation, (kind of like a tip jar) Or select a membership level, where you will unlock exclusive podcast episodes!

Donate and or become a member here! : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elenasapphire

Let’s Stay Connected :

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- Check out my column on Catholic365.com to stay up to date with my new articles! : https://www.catholic365.com/author/elena-sapphire/ 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

Cycle syncing is arranging your life depending upon where you are in your cycle, to optimize your life in various aspects. Different habits, exercise, routines, nutrition, socialization, events, etc depending upon what phase of your cycle you are in.

Womanhood has four phases/seasons - Follicular : Spring, Ovulation : Summer, Luteal : Fall, Menstruation : Winter 

I want to take cycle syncing a step further and talk about applying it to your spiritual life. Applying cycle syncing to your spiritual life will help you to: thrive spiritually, combat sin, dwell in harmony, and be in tune with your femininity on not just a physical but spiritual level. For example, when you’re in your Follicular phase (Spring) and you feel fantastic, your spiritual life is going great! You can read that book, pray The Rosary, finish that novena, it’s easy! Then the Luteal Phase (Fall) rolls around and you begin slowing down and feeling more emotional. Understanding that during this time of the month, you are prone to higher emotions allows you to work through them, without your spiritual life toppling over due to overwhelm. Perhaps your faith gets rocky during this time of month and you could never figure out why this happens, or you start becoming more scrupulous when just last week you were doing so great, or all those prayers you were praying now seem like a task instead of a breeze. Wonder why chastity is so difficult all of a sudden? You’re probably ovulating! As women, we go through a different season each week of the month, and if you’re not dwelling in harmony, things can be more difficult than they need to be. Changing up your prayer routine and habits depending upon where you are in your cycle will help improve your spiritual life.

The push for women to do everything men can do has severely hurt women - hence the lack of honor and understanding of the uniquely beautiful cycle of a woman.  Honoring your feminine cycle, and working with your body and soul, instead of against it, allows you to dwell in harmony and peace, and flourish in your femininity. What does a world of healed and whole women who dwell in harmony, and are in tune with their femininity look like?

Cycle syncing is arranging your life to your advantage. Understand that the enemy works with the modern world to work against you. 

It’s time to take the whole of your femininity back and thrive in all aspects of your life.

If you’ve been blessed by this episode of “Purpose For Paradise” I kindly ask if you would consider donating to support my content. You can leave a one time donation, (kind of like a tip jar) Or select a membership level, where you will unlock exclusive podcast episodes!

Donate and or become a member here! : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elenasapphire

Let’s Stay Connected :

- Follow “Purpose For Paradise” on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/purposeforparadise/ & follow my personal Instagram to discover all my new content! : https://www.instagram.com/elenasapphire/

- Subscribe for free to my newsletter “Serviam” : serviam.substack.com

- Check out my column on Catholic365.com to stay up to date with my new articles! : https://www.catholic365.com/author/elena-sapphire/ 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

In this episode I discuss what it means to be a “Remembered Woman.” Many women tell me that they would like to begin veiling at Church but are nervous to be the only one doing so, and or nervous to stand out. 

If this is you, you need to put on your KINGDOM IDENTITY as “The remembered woman.” I’ll give you an example. While in France, I saw Saint Joan of Arc everywhere! A Gigantic golden statue of her riding her horse in the middle of the street in Paris! She’s in churches, restaurants, Joan of Arc is everywhere. She is a REMEMBERED WOMAN. What do the Saints all have in common? They are REMEMBERED, centuries later! Statues, prayer cards, chaplets, Churches named after them, schools, hospitals, people, they are invoked at Mass, there’s litanies, novenas, you name it they have it! Think of the iconic and remembered women throughout history…Marie Antoinette…remembered centuries later, I just bought a bust of her in Versailles!

How do you plan to reach Sainthood if you are nervous about being remembered, when being remembered is exactly what God is asking of you? 

If you are the only woman veiling at Church, let your feminine beauty be a witness to all. While in France, the only women I saw wearing a veil inside the Churches was my mother and myself. I was a bit shocked, because we were at reverent masses. Veiling is an outward expression of feminine beauty, and feminine beauty attracts, captivates, and is a big evangelization tool. 

One big thing I see Catholic women struggle with is confidence. Insecurity is not humility. If God wanted you to live a completely hidden life with nobody looking at you, He would call you to the cloister. While that’s a beautiful vocation, it’s important to understand just what your own call entails. God calls those in the world to help change the world. To those called to the married life the call is to be fruitful and multiply. Essentially, God wants to create other faces from your face. Which tells us it’s a call to be SEEN, to leave a mark on the world, leave a legacy. A rich and beautiful interior hidden life with The Lord is what we are called to have. We are not to hide the gift of ourselves from the aching world that needs our witness.

Do not be afraid to be seen and remembered, women. After all that’s what Saints are….the remembered!

If you’ve been blessed by this episode of “Purpose For Paradise” I kindly ask if you would consider donating to support my content. You can leave a one time donation, (kind of like a tip jar) Or select a membership level, where you will unlock exclusive podcast episodes!

Donate and or become a member here! : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elenasapphire

Let’s Stay Connected :

- Follow “Purpose For Paradise” on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/purposeforparadise/ & follow my personal Instagram to discover all my new content! : https://www.instagram.com/elenasapphire/

- Subscribe for free to my newsletter “Serviam” : serviam.substack.com

- Check out my column on Catholic365.com to stay up to date with my new articles! : https://www.catholic365.com/author/elena-sapphire/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

In this episode I discuss feminine virtue. Discussion points in this episode include the blossoming of femininity, bearing fruit and cultivating virtue, proper feminine disposition, The Ten Principal Virtues of The Blessed Virgin Mary, discovering the titles God has for you, confidence, purpose, femininity inspires masculinity, the importance of maintaining feminine virtue in your relationship with Jesus, and more!

One important discussion point in this episode that I want to make sure to point out to you is the concept of discovering the titles that God has for you. If you look at a litany of The Blessed Virgin Mary, it invokes Her using many different titles, ( Mother of God, Mother Most Pure, Seat of Wisdom, Queen of Angels, etc ) The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Woman whom God found favor in, and who God deemed to be “full of grace” ( Luke 1:27) so much so that She was worthy to be His Mother. Mary was able to receive the titles God had for Her, because She was operating out of a divine feminine state; by being a grace filled Woman, who was wholly surrendered and receptive to the will of God. In order to hear and receive the titles God has for us, we need to be women who’s souls are filled with feminine virtue. We are all called to be Saints. So what are the titles God bestows upon you, in your own litany?

“When you are a virtuous and holy woman, God is able to tell you who you are, because you are able to receive it.” If Archangel Gabriel, appeared to you and told you God has found favor with you, and wants you to be The Mother of The Savior of the world….you would probably freak out wouldn’t you? Sometimes God expects big things from us, and unless a high level of virtue is found within our souls, we reject it; due to our lack surrender, trust, virtue etc. Mary being able to surrender Herself completely to the will of God, when God was asking so much of Her, perfectly displays Her feminine virtue; and thus allowed Her to receive the title of “Mother of God” that God had for Her. Perhaps your lack of virtue is preventing you from receiving the titles God has for you; as a lot of the time we prevent God from telling us who we are, and what we should be doing, because we lack the virtue we need to be able to hear it and receive it.

I recommend making yourself familiar with the ten principal virtues of The Blessed Virgin Mary, ( Profound humility, Lively faith, Blind obedience, Continual prayer, Universal mortification, Divine purity, Ardent charity, Heroic patience, Angelic sweetness, Divine wisdom.) Think about if you see any of these virtues in yourself, and ask The Lord to bring them into full bloom. If we pick two or three of these virtues that we think we sort of have, or that we see God wants to gift us with; it’s beneficial to focus on them and ask Jesus to cultivate these virtues within us.

If you’ve been blessed by this episode of “Purpose For Paradise” I kindly ask if you would consider donating to support my content. You can leave a one time donation, (kind of like a tip jar) Or select a membership level, where you will unlock exclusive podcast episodes!

Donate and or become a member here! : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elenasapphire

Let’s Stay Connected :

- Follow “Purpose For Paradise” on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/purposeforparadise/ & follow my personal Instagram to discover all my new content! : https://www.instagram.com/elenasapphire/

- Subscribe for free to my newsletter “Serviam” : serviam.substack.com

- Check out my column on Catholic365.com to stay up to date with my new articles! : https://www.catholic365.com/author/elena-sapphire/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com

In this episode I discuss the importance of maintaining your feminine attractiveness and essence if you are a woman called to live in the world and or enter into married life. The vast majority of canonized Saints in The Catholic Church are in the religious life. There are very few canonized married saints, which means the preconceived idea of “holiness” looks like a nun or a priest. Now, if you are not called to live in a cloister, but called to live in the world and or called to the married life, holiness is going to look different for you. The call of marriage is to be fruitful and multiply, and in order to be fruitful and multiply, well you have to be attracted to somebody! As a woman, you naturally want to feel beautiful, confident, and sexy. It is possible to maintain your feminine essence and attractiveness and achieve holiness while still being modest and elegant!

Failure to understand this results in two things : Women think modesty and holiness means appearing less attractive and dressing frumpy, so they feel out of touch with their natural feminine essence, end up rejecting modesty, and fall into deep sin. Or they become extremely uptight and rigid, feel like a shell of themselves and have a warped view of purity; which results in feeling like their natural attractiveness as a woman is “bad.” Both of these are wrong! Maintaining your feminine essence is what will propel you into further holiness as a woman called to live in the world / get married, because the call to live in the world is a call to change the world. In order to change the world you first have to be able to appeal to the world, so people will want to listen to what you have to say. This is called effective evangelization. People flocked to Jesus because He was charismatic and eloquent.

Men and women in religious life often cut or shave their hair and wear large habits to conceal the body, there is effort to not appear physically attractive in the same way that a women called to the married life may appear, because they have taken vows of lifelong celibacy. Therefore holiness and modesty is going to look different for the two, as the call to live in the world is different than the call to live in a cloister. Many women struggle with scrupulosity over how they can become holy while still enjoying life. Some of the saints were doing extreme things such as sleeping on the ground with a rock as a pillow, and doing extreme fasts and mortifications. Now if you’re a woman called to bear children, doing that would negatively impact your health and fertility. So it’s important to understand that the path to holiness will exteriorly look different for you, then what you read about in the lives of the saints who are in the religious life.

Sainthood and sanctification are achieved by wholeheartedly living out your state in life. Part of the discernment process for marriage includes needing to be attracted to someone. You want a holy, virtuous, and hot spouse! (Lol)

God is raising up new Saints! People who live in the world, appeal to the world, and help change the world.

If you’ve been blessed by this episode of “Purpose For Paradise” I kindly ask if you would consider donating to support my content. You can leave a one time donation, (kind of like a tip jar) Or select a membership level, where you will unlock exclusive podcast episodes!

Donate and or become a member here! : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elenasapphire

Let’s Stay Connected :

- Follow “Purpose For Paradise” on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/purposeforparadise/ & follow my personal Instagram to discover all my new content! : https://www.instagram.com/elenasapphire/

- Subscribe for free to my newsletter “Serviam” : serviam.substack.com

- Check out my column on Catholic365.com to stay up to date with my new articles! : https://www.catholic365.com/author/elena-sapphire/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit serviam.substack.com