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garden . In doing so , she discovers the very essence of who she is as a mother and as a person and invites the man to discover himself and his personal fulfilment in fatherhood . 157 This necessarily involves sacrifice on her part , a total self-donation , and a cultivation of trust in placing herself — at her most vulnerable — in the providential care of her spouse .
For his part , the man is called to accept the task given to him in the beginning , 158 to protect the garden of the woman ’ s fertility — and consequently , her integrated feminine dignity as a mother — with the courage and power of sacrificial love . 159 He is called to choose the path of redemption , either by entering the garden with an openness to the Father ’ s will — to procreation and its parental responsibilities — or by mastering his own passions and will through selfdiscipline and abstinence ; in all circumstances , however , he is called to express his care in tender love . 160 St . John Paul II points out that , due to man ’ s objective position “ outside ” the woman ’ s body and therefore , “ outside ” the generative processes of fertility and procreation , he must learn in many respects how to be a father from the mother .” 161 This itself is a process involving a unique challenge as he discovers his fatherhood through his spouse , for the word father means more than just progenitor , but also provider , protector , 162 and leader . 163
This discovery begins , not at the moment of birth , nor even at the moment of conception , but rather in the daily total sexual dialogue between the spouses , in particular whenever the woman turns to the man with the mystery of creation writ large in the signs of her fertility . In the couple ’ s deeply personal sexual dialogue , i . e . the woman offering herself and the man responding in sacrificial love , the mystery of creation and the mystery of redemption are united
157 MD , sec . 18 . 158 Ibid ., sec . 14 . 159 Cf . MD , sec . 14 . 160 John Paul II , “ Truth and Freedom ,” sec . 2 . 161 MD , sec . 18 . 162 Bible Hub , s . v . “ patér ,” accessed May 27 , 2018 , http :// biblehub . com / greek / 3962 . htm . 163 Oxford English Dictionary , s . v . “ patriarch ,” accessed May 31 , 2018 ,
https :// en . oxforddictionaries . com / definition / patriarch .