MARY AND OUR HOLINESS

Mary Assists Our Rise in Holiness

The archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary at the Annunciation, he said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you, have found favor with God”[Luke 1:30]. Fear is an effective weapon in the devil’s arsenal to stop us on our journey to holiness and ultimately to Heaven, however, fear never stopped Mary.

Mary Will Lead Us

Mary faced many journeys in her earthly lifetime and like all human beings had the free will to choose. While many of us have chosen to stray from God out of fear, doubts, or temptations, She never strayed from God’s path. By being in perfect unity with God’s will, the Blessed Virgin can help us find the Way to God’s love and mercy.  According to St. Louis de Montfort, Mary will lead us by the hand on our journey to holiness, steady us when we stumble, and help us rise when we have fallen.

Sanctifying our lives without our Lady’s help is difficult to imagine.  God chose Mary to be Mother of Jesus Christ our Savior. God’s grace protected Mary on earth, gave her strength, and ultimately raised her body and soul to Heaven to be Queen of the Most Holy.  The fact that our Lady was born without original sin should not intimidate us nor should we fear that devotion to her could overshadow the adoration owed to the Holy Trinity.

God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Mary is our Holy Mother given to us by God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains how Mary’s role is intimately connected to her relationship with Christ:

CCC 964 Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. “This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death”; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: “Woman, behold your son.”

Our devotion to Mary enhances our adoration of and unity with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Placed in her maternal care, our Lady protects us and helps us to overcome our imperfections and fears.  As our faithful Advocate and Mediatrix, Mary strengthens our connection to Heaven by her intercession and as the dispenser of God’s graces. St. Maximilian, in a journal entry called “Our Purpose”, shines further light on Mary’s role in conjunction with the Trinity:

The aim of creation, the end of man himself, is the love of God, Creator and Father, an ever greater love, the divinization of man, his return to God from whom he came, union with God, a fruitful love. So that love for the Father might become even more perfect, infinitely more perfect, the love of the Son Jesus, made itself manifest. But so that love for the Son might burn more intensely and thus enkindle a still more ardent love for the Father, there has come to help us the united love of the Holy Spirit and of the Immaculata, the mother full of mercy, the Mediatrix of all graces, an earthly creature like ourselves, who strongly attracts hearts to herself and to her motherly heart.

According to St. Maximilian Kolbe, when we unite our will with Mary’s, we unite with God’s will.Then we too can become instruments of His love and mercy through our faith, hope, and charity. That is why our Lady tells us to pray very much, especially the Rosary.  When we reach out to our Lady, she helps us to open our hearts to God’s loving graces so that we can grow in holiness by following the Lord’s Way without hesitation.

Rest assured, Mary knows when to step in and when to step back just as she did at the Wedding Feast of Cana when she said to the servants “Do whatever He [Jesus] tells you” [John 2: 5]. Therefore, let us not be afraid and do whatever Jesus tells us. Then, let us live our faith in unity with the Blessed Trinity and participate in our Lord’s plan for peace and salvation. Through the Blessed Virgin’s intercession to her Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit, let us be pleasing to God.

May God fill us with His loving, merciful graces and raise each of us in holiness during our earthly lives so that we can join Him, body and soul, in eternal joy.