While we are on the subject of Grail history. When was it named the Grail, by whom & for what reason?  How conscious was this feminine aspect in the choice of the name?

  Dorothy Rasenberger:   I think you'll get a lot of answers to this, since it's an 'oft told tale.

The Grail was the name chosen for  the Youth Movement that the "Women of Nazareth" were asked to start in The Netherlands as they were about to take off to the different corners of the world. It was the time of the rise of Fascism in Europe and a different, non militaristic movement of youth was a counter move against it. The movement spread to England, Germany and Australia before it was outlawed in Nazi occupied countries. The Grail was both a myth and symbol thought to appeal to youth for it's challenge to pursue a high ideal. Though the form of the movement changed after World War 2, the name and idea of a world wide women's movement continued.  That's the bare bones of it as I recall.


Trina Paulus:  My understanding is similar and I want to add a bit.  The Grail was the common myth of Christendom thruout Medieval Europe.  In slightly different manifestations it was seen to catching up into a story the heart of the Christian Calling of Charity (Fisher King), with a Eucharistic center, and a hope for peace since the nation that possessed the Grail was to have peace.

The Grail, De Gral, De Greal, etc was also a name - a short name - accessible and similar in different European cultures and languages.

Also, The Grail, as an open vessel, a cup, was always from ancient times, a symbol of woman, the feminine, the receptive.  The overflowing cup, her overflowing hospitality and gift to the world was as the opposite and antidote to the spear, the sword - the extreme masculine polarity.  (Polarities like this, are said in the extreme which we need to each balance, but the basic beauty of this thought about woman seems to remain true to me, and should call us to peace making.)

  The idea of Fr. van Ginneken that the world and the church had never had  the full gift of woman's talents and special leadership and was suffering  from this lack was central to the vision behind The Movement and was the heart of what my first year at Grailville inspired me to do and be.  (statues of FIAT and ADSUM expressed this side of things.)  The need still seems great.  And we ask what our role today is?.  The challenge still seems the same.  Women are still not bringing their full potential to the church and world - in whatever language we choose to express this idea.

Yes. it is past the original 75 years the movement was envisioned to exist.  That time was seen as an 'elbow of time", when things frozen for decades and centuries could change.  Perhaps this time line was said to mean that Fr. VG and our early leaders did not want us to settle into being an "organization", but be a dynamic movement. 

Our challenge today?  Is the world not still in an elbow of time when change is possible and even more essential for survival than ever?  Or have we moved, morphed,  like leaven into other dynamic places and we help the whole dough rise but not titled Grail?  I feel that this is what has gradually happened to me.  I feel inserted into the life of our time  and fulfilling the challenge of The Grail in spite of and with all my faults and talents.   It is The Grail which formed me and makes my immersion in the world possible and effective.  In my particular life I seldom have cause to name the leavening agent.  Is this naming important?