Catholic Women Are Struggling Today Not Because of a Lack of Faith —
But Because of a Lack of Feminine Formation.
For too long, faithful women have had access to faith formation without the human formation needed to carry that faith into daily life — leaving many overwhelmed in their homes, strained in their relationships, depleted in their health, and disconnected from the wholeness that allows a woman to become fully alive.
"The fight for our femininity is not just about achieving freedom — it is about the pursuit towards interior freedom, which is the freedom to choose our highest good."
— January Donovan
Our Culture Is Void of Feminine Formation
"Women are created to be nurturers of humanity. Therefore, the strength of their formation is essential to raising the standard of civilization. Women must take ownership of forming themselves first in order to form the future generations."— January Donovan · Founder, The Woman School
We are living in a time when many women love God, want to do what is right, and sincerely desire to build beautiful lives — marriages, families, homes, and communities — yet still feel anxious, fragmented, underprepared, and alone. For our faith to flourish, we must integrate faith formation with human formation. The Catechism teaches that growth in virtue requires community, habit, and the formation of the whole person — mind, will, and daily life. "Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith." — CCC §1804
The Crisis Is Not Simply Moral Decline.
It Is Generational Deformation.
The sexual revolution robbed women of their God-given nature while suppressing the distinction between men and women. We now live in a time of confusion — where women don't know their nature and no longer understand their role as nurturers of humanity. St. John Paul II called us to something greater: "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being achieved in its fullness." That hour demands formation.
Excellence is no longer a language women feel is attainable for their daily lives. We have robbed the domestic church of the pursuit of virtue — not because of women's fault, but because we have not given women opportunities to deepen their interior lives. Proverbs 31 gives us the model: "A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." That praise requires the formation to pursue it.
The Church has given us tremendous faith formation — scripture, sacraments, spiritual reading. But very little access to human formation. And in a world becoming godless and genderless, generic human development is not enough. Women need formation that is faithful to truth and attentive to the distinct genius, responsibility, and vocation of womanhood as St. John Paul II defined it in Mulieris Dignitatem.
Our domestic churches are struggling to have life in our homes. The Catechism calls the family "the original cell of social life" (CCC 2207) and the domestic church where the Church is first encountered. When women are under-formed, homes weaken. When homes weaken, culture weakens. When culture weakens, the dignity of life itself becomes harder to defend.
Faith Formation Forms Belief.
Feminine Formation Forms the Woman.
Catholic Feminine Formation does not replace faith formation — it integrates with it and gives it practical expression. It helps women live what they believe. Here is what that distinction looks like in practice:
What We Mean by Formation
These are not secular self-help categories. They are grounded in the Church's understanding of the human person — made for truth, beauty, and goodness — and in the irreplaceable genius of woman that St. John Paul II described and championed.
The Catechism affirms: "The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator" (CCC 1704). Formation is the work of ordering that reason toward excellence. It is what the Program of Priestly Formation calls "the necessary foundation" — and women need it too.
St. John Paul II's "feminine genius" — woman's unique capacity for receptivity, sensitivity, generosity, and maternity (Mulieris Dignitatem §18) — is not automatic. It must be cultivated. Feminine formation is that cultivation: the practical, daily work of becoming the woman God made you to be.
What was once transmitted naturally through the domestic church — virtue, domestic order, relational wisdom, self-governance — has been severed by the sexual revolution and the confusion of a genderless culture. Women today are often the first generation without this inheritance.
"In our times, the task entrusted to women is of immense importance." — St. John Paul II, Letter to Women (1995). The feminine genius is not a title to receive but a vocation to live. Catholic Feminine Formation exists to equip women to live that vocation in the fullness of daily life.
Against Heresies, c. 180 A.D.
Life Is Worth Living
A Truly Pro-Life Culture Requires Women Who Are Fully Alive
The transformation of culture from pro-death to pro-life must be anchored in women becoming fully alive — which can only come through the ongoing formation of women. It is harder for women to choose life when there is so little life within them. Formation gives women the capacity to be fully alive, and it is only then that we begin to win the cultural battle for life.
Reclaiming our feminine genius through formation is part of the future of the pro-life movement. It is only when women have life to give that we can truly reclaim what it means to be a pro-life woman. Excellence can only be achieved through formation.
The Feminine Revival Strategy
Catholic Feminine Formation addresses today's crisis through three essential movements. Together, they form a complete vision for the renewal of women, homes, parishes, and culture — one formed woman at a time.
We introduce a renewed model of femininity — not fragile femininity and not vicious feminism, but ordered femininity; a vision of womanhood that allows women to reach the heights of their potential without suppressing their nature, and to embrace their role as nurturers of humanity. Modeled after Our Blessed Mother Mary — the original New Woman — who said yes to God and changed history.
We provide comprehensive mindset and skill-based formation women need to flourish in every season of life. The Woman School is the school created to give women access to that formation in every arena of life. It helps women develop the habits, self-command, emotional maturity, communication, domestic order, and relational excellence needed to live their feminine genius in practical daily life.
Feminine mentorship is the call for women to take responsibility for guiding, supporting, and forming other women — so that feminine formation can be embodied, transmitted, and multiplied across generations, raising the standard of culture one formed woman at a time. Scripture commands this: "Teach what is good… train young women." (Titus 2:3–4). This is how formation scales.
Feminine mentorship is a call to restore spiritual motherhood in a world that has been void of formation.
Introducing The New Woman
Not fragile femininity. Not vicious feminism. Something entirely new — whole and fully alive, modeled after Our Blessed Mother Mary, the original New Woman. From the sexual revolution's cry, "I am woman, hear me roar," to the new declaration of a formed, free, and feminine woman:
Our Blessed Mother Mary:
The Original New Woman
Mary said yes to God when the world would have said no. She was formed — in virtue, in silence, in surrender, in strength. She bore the Savior, formed Him in her home, stood at the foot of the Cross, and became the Mother of the Church. She is not a passive symbol. She is the model of everything Catholic Feminine Formation calls a woman to become.
"The New Woman is the woman modeled after Our Lady — whole, fully alive, and ordered toward her highest good."
- She is a leader, a servant, a mother, a teacher, a friend, and a warrior for truth, beauty, and goodness.
- A woman of discipline and order — her children and husband delight in her. Her home is a refuge of joy and laughter.
- She forms her character in the quiet duties of day-to-day life, choosing greatness over comfort.
- She respects men and values their irreplaceable contribution. She celebrates the complementarity of men and women.
- She is kind without compromising her standards. Merciful, quick to forgive, slow to anger. Her light is undeniable.
- She fears God above all else. She is a woman fully alive — loved, revered, respected, and valued because she values so many.
- She covers every arena of life: family, self-image, health, friendship, intimacy, contribution, environment, and wealth.
"Our vision is to raise the standard of civilization, one formed woman at a time."
— January Donovan"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
Proverbs 31:30Formation Across Every Arena of Life
The New Woman Masterclass — a 16-class formation program — develops women in the core arenas of a flourishing life. This is not information. It is formation that shapes a woman to be whole and fully alive. The result: I am woman, whole and fully alive in every arena and in every season of life.
The Wholeness Arena
Not just ideas to admire — but habits to build. Not just inspiration to feel — but standards to embody. Not just content to consume — but a way of life to live.
Choose Your Path Forward
The women of today are being failed by a culture that has lost its formative compass. If you've felt the call to bring this work to your own community, there is a clear path forward. Choose the one that fits.
Bring it to your parish.
Give the women of your parish the formation that faith study alone cannot deliver. Catholic Feminine Formation completes the parish discipleship path — it doesn't compete with the programs you already run.
Pastors, parish leadership teams, women's ministry directors.
View the Parish Program →Bring it to your school or campus.
The mental-health crisis on college campuses is, at its root, a formation crisis. Give young women the practical mindset and skills training that prepares them to flourish — not just survive — the seasons ahead.
Newman Centers, Catholic colleges and universities, campus ministry directors, sorority and women's group leaders.
View the College Program →Bring it to your organization.
Catholic-mission organizations are uniquely positioned to form the women in their care. Pregnancy centers, Catholic healthcare systems, religious orders, apostolates, and Catholic-owned businesses are bringing this formation to staff, volunteers, and the women they serve.
Pregnancy centers, Catholic healthcare systems, religious orders, Catholic-owned businesses, apostolates, and mission-aligned nonprofits.
View the Organizational Program →Not sure which path fits?
Diocesan partnerships, community advocates, and custom paths are also available. Share a little about your community and we'll point you to the right next step — or build a custom path with you.
You don't need to hold a title to carry this work. Every woman who has been formed by it is already a mother to the next.
Explore All Partnership PathsThe Fruit Speaks.
Formation is how we bring the Gospel into the nooks and crannies of our lives. Building habits of a Christian disciple through formation illuminates the darkened places within us so that our light for Christ and His Church may shine more brightly.
We are not only forming women — we are forming the future mothers of our domestic church.
I thought I was called to some form of religious life, and everyone said prayer was key to discernment — but nobody had told me how to grow in discipline. Through The Woman School, I learned that the dream of being a saint was the fuel for my discipline and that it could be broken down into goals I could actually focus on. I built a routine to protect my prayer life, and with the new order came clarity. Two years later, I am now a consecrated virgin. I know my vocation, and I have the tools to live it out.
January Donovan
Redefine Success for Women
January Donovan is the founder of The Woman School and the architect of Catholic Feminine Formation — a movement she has spent over seven years building, one formed woman at a time.
As a speaker, author, and formation leader, January has brought this message to parishes, conferences, and women's communities across the country. Her mission is singular: to give women the formation they need to become fully alive — and to raise the standard of civilization in the process.
She believes the renewal of families, parishes, and culture begins not with programs, but with formed women who are whole, equipped, and ready to give life to the world around them.
Bring Catholic Feminine Formation to Your Parish
Parishes have done an extraordinary job providing spiritual nourishment. Now many women are longing for something more integrated — formation that helps them live the truth of the faith with greater maturity, strength, skill, and feminine wholeness. Catholic Feminine Formation does not compete with Walking With Purpose or Endow. It completes the formation path where others leave off.
"Human formation is the necessary foundation… the human personality of the priest is to be a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ."— USCCB · PPF §182 · What the Church asks of priests, women need too.
"Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith."— CCC §1804 · Virtues are not caught. They are formed.
Apply to bring Catholic Feminine Formation to your parish. Learn about parish partnerships, ambassador opportunities, and formation groups available for every size parish.
View the Parish Program Request More InformationWe Would Love to Hear From You
Whether you are a parish leader, a woman personally drawn to this mission, a speaker inquiry, or a mentor in formation — tell us a little about yourself and we will follow up with the right next step.
Thank you for reaching out. A member of our team will review your inquiry and follow up with the next best step.
If your need is time-sensitive, you may also email us directly at [email protected]
"The future of the Church, the home, and the culture will not be rebuilt by sentiment alone — but by formed women who are whole, alive, and capable of giving life to the world around them."
— January Donovan · The Woman School
"The future of the Church, the home, and the culture will not be rebuilt by sentiment alone — but by formed women who are whole, alive, and capable of giving life to the world around them."
— January Donovan · The Woman School