Images of Holy Women in Selected Hagiographic Works for Children and Youth after 1989

Abstract

The Mother of God – as the mother of Jesus and the embodiment of boundless love, goodness and fidelity – is the prototype for the presented models of holy women in contemporary hagiographical works for children becomes. These values constitute the core of all portraits of holy women, regardless of the accepted divisions and their different ways of achieving holiness. They can be found in brides and mystics, virgins and martyrs, teachers and educators, mothers and wives. And it is they who, besides sacrifice, mercy and the ability to look at God and listen to Him, determine the consistency of the portrait of a holy woman. Serving man meant serving God, going beyond one's own egoism, temporal hedonism, and materialism. The spirituality of future saints was shaped by the religious atmosphere of the family home, personal sensitivity and reading. These models were still united by the beauty, delicacy, frail health, serene disposition, and smile shown to people. Some can be treated as special signs, appearing in early childhood, which already then suggested their otherness as well as the gifts received, e.g. bilocation or the surrounding light and shine. The images of saints and the blessed in contemporary hagiographical works for the young reader are in line with the poetics, but they also force us to reflect on the awareness of goals, victory over weaknesses and the power of love.