Day 22 - The Most Beautiful

Mary is the most beautiful woman to have ever walked the earth.

God chose to work through Mary to accomplish His plan of salvation for us. Compared to Him, she is nothing. She is His meek and lowly servant and He did not have to use her to accomplish His plan and manifest His glory on earth. God could have chosen a multitude of ways to bring us salvation, but He decided to begin and accomplish the greatest of His works through Mary. Therefore, St. Louis de Montfort said, "we can safely believe that he will not change his plan in the time to come, for he is God and therefore does not change in his thoughts or ways of acting" (True Devotion 15). Jesus came to us through Mary, and so we come to Jesus through Mary. Through Mary the great work of salvation began with the Incarnation of Jesus in her womb, and through Mary God will accept His children back as they humbly come to receive the graces merited by Christ through His life, death and resurrection. St. Louis went on to say, "The kingdom of Jesus Christ exists primarily in the heart or interior of man" (TD 38). We look to the interior of Mary, who was so holy and close to Jesus, to find the virtues which we can practice in order to come to God and make His reign present in the world. In doing so, we will begin to truly live out the mission Christ has given us.

Women cannot simply live in the world as a copy of man. This is not her identity. St. John Paul II wrote, "The personal resources of femininity are certainly no less than the resources of masculinity; they are merely different" (Mulieris Dignitatem 10). Woman has her own special call and purpose in the sanctification of society. She is called to live a life of beauty, virtue, and holiness, in her own gentle and loving way that transforms society. We must seek to realize the fullness of our feminine nature. We have been endowed with our own qualities and are unique. When we look to Mary as our model, we clearly see what is specific and unique to the feminine nature. It is in Mary that all of the features of a godly woman were attained in their full development and unstained by sin. She is the most beautiful woman in the world. 

The work of sanctification belongs to God, but He has willed that we take part in this work by preparing our souls to be in the proper disposition to receive grace and to act on it. Our way of preparation is formation in virtue. As we practice virtue, we prepare our souls to be in the best position to receive the Holy Spirit and serve God. Virtues are necessary for our holiness. Yet for good action to become virtue, we must practice it consistently. In this way, our character is marked by the grace of God and our cooperation with that grace, just as Mary's was. We are so fortunate to have her to learn from. 

In her childhood, Mary played as children do, but also spent time in prayer and studied the sacred scriptures. She listened carefully to explanations of her faith and prepared her heart for the coming of the Divine Redeemer. She folded her tiny hands and raised her innocent eyes to her Father in heaven. We may live in a different time and the distractions that we face may be different, but human nature remains the same. The culture may change like an ebbing tide, but truth, justice, and holiness remain the same, because God doesn't change. Therefore, even though we as women today face different challenges than Mary may have in forming her character, she remains the beautiful example of how to form ourselves in the image of God. 

Throughout the remaining days of this challenge we will focus on the ten principle virtues of Mary, as defined by St. Louis de Montfort. These virtues are: profound humility, angelic sweetness, continual prayer, lively faith, blind obedience, universal mortification, ardent charity, heroic patience, divine purity, and divine wisdom. These are the virttes that will be our guideposts as we seek holiness. As St. John Paul II said, 'but while in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues" (Lumen Gentium 65).  It is through holiness that we will find true interior beauty, to be without spot or wrinkle. So we look to the most beautiful woman who ever walked the earth to be our example. 

Today's Challenge: 

Spend 10 Minutes reading the Gospel. 

Today's Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Mary as the Mother of the Church, my Mother. Help me to imitate her virtues, which are a pure reflection of your image. 

Mary, run with me to the feet of your Son to be transformed. Teach me as a mother instructs her child, to practice virtue. I want to bring Christ into the world, show me how Mother. 

Jesus, I love you more than anything. Amen.