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. 

Day 21 - The New Eve

"Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living." 

(Genesis 2:20)

In the final book of the Bible, a woman is described. She gave birth to a male child and is "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1). The passage goes on to explain that the ancient serpent wages war against her and she defeats him. The Church teaches that one interpretation of this passage is that the woman is symbolic of Mary, the Mother of God. Mary is the queen of heaven, and it is she who God chose to use to bring Christ into the world to defeat the ancient serpent. 

The imagery in the Revelation passage draws us back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, when the serpent tempted Eve. There is one key difference between these two women. Eve was defeated by the serpent while Mary defeats him. One woman's "yes" to sin was redeemed through another woman's "yes" to give birth to the Savior. St. Ireneus wrote, "The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosened by Mary's obedience. The bonds fastened by the virgin Eve through disbelief were untied by the virgin Mary through faith."  The virtue of Mary created a channel for grace to come back into the world and redeem the sin of Eve. Eve lost her sense of dignity through sin and Mary regained dignity for all women through virtue. 

Mary is the New Eve. "Eve" means "living." Adam gave Eve her name because she was the mother of all the living. Mary became the new mother of all the living by bringing Christ into the world and sharing in His redemptive plan. Mary's "yes" made her the spiritual mother for all the redeemed. Her Son made this clear when he was on the cross. In John 19:26, the Lord gave his mother to John, saying "behold your mother." John took Mary into his home as his own mother from that day on. Christ also said to Mary, "woman, behold your son." Notice, he used the the word "woman," the same word used in Genesis & Revelation. She is the new woman, the new mother of all. The Lord gave his mother to us as our own mother to to take into the home of our hearts. She cares for us like any mother cares for her children. She brought Christ into the world and she continues to lead the world back to Christ. 

We each also have the mission to bring Christ into the world. Christ first entered the world through the womb of Mary and every woman has the opportunity to say, "yes," as she did, to carry Christ into the world through the womb of her heart. We too are called to be "new eves." Our yes to virtue, to live true beauty, opens the channel for grace to pour into our hearts, transform our lives, and to allows us to bring Christ into the world. We are called to be victorious over sin. Taking Mary as our mother, we will begin to imitate her as little children do, and she will lead us to be beautiful signs of new life, "new eves" in the world. 

Beware, the serpent is still at work. In the book of Revelation, after Mary defeats the serpent, he becomes angry and leaves to go after her children. We are in a great spiritual battle to behold and live beauty. We cannot assume that our "yes" is enough. Yet, those who are close to Mary will overcome the serpent with her. She will lead us to victory if we embrace her and follow her example. 

New life comes through living virtue, spiritual life that is deeper and more fulfilling than anything we've ever experienced. Let our "yes" be a new beginning that unties the knots of our sin and opens the channel for grace to flow in our lives. The Ave Maris Stella says, "Peace confirm within us, changing Eve's name." May we each answer the call to become the new eves who change the course of history by bearing the Savior in our hearts. 

Today's Challenge: 

Pray a "Hail Mary" and invite Mary into the home of your heart as your Mother. As her to lead you to her Son. Ask her to help you to live beauty through virtue. 

Today's Prayer: 

Click here to pray the Ave Maris Stella 

Day 20 - Run to Win!

"Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one." 

(1 Corinthians 9:24-25) 

The twentieth day marks the halfway point of this forty day beauty transformation. We have looked at beauty misconceptions and some fundamental truth regarding beauty. From this point on we will be focusing on virtue. I hope that we can commit today to making the remaining twenty days truly sanctifying. Let us think less about what we are giving up and more about what we are putting in. Let's make this a time of prayer and formation in the truth, so that we can live virtue and become truly beautiful. God has a great gift to give us at the end of these forty days, He wants to make us new creations, let's not miss out. 

St. Paul's analogy of running a race did not hit home for me until about four years ago. Growing up, I hated to run. So much so that I would fake illness on track and field day so as to not have to run the mile time test. The thought of the physical pain and emotional embarrassment of coming in last made my stomach turn with anxiety. Needless to say, I never participated in any competitive sport in my school years. It wasn't until my son was born that I began running. Though, you could hardly call it that at first. I would run 30 seconds, walk, run 30 seconds, walk, repeat. Sure I hated it, but for some reason I decided to challenge myself in a way that I never had before and to succeed. 

Sixteen months later, I ran my first 5k race. For me this was a great accomplishment! I never thought I would be ale to run for three miles straight. As I said, I had never done anything competitive in my life, and it showed. I set out in the race with absolutely no intention to win. Victory for me would be to finish and make my self-appointed goal time. I ran at a very comfortable pace, chatting and enjoying the run. I was happy with my time at the end... until I heard the first place winner's time announced for my age group. I was seconds short of winning. I realized something. If I had set out running to win, I could have! 

Our mindset is important, both in sports and the spiritual life. St. Paul relates the spiritual life to running a race. During these forty days we commit to training a little harder, running a little farther than we think we can. God is calling us to be victorious. It is not enough to simply run the race. We can win! Let's pick up the pace and put our whole hearts into it for the remaining forty days...and the rest of our lives. 

Taking second place in a physical race is a great accomplishment. What about the spiritual life? At the end of my life, I sure don't want to find out that if I had pushed myself a little harder I could have won. To run is not enough, we must train. St. Paul went on to say, "So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.  I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). To win we must run with intention, train in virtue,  and live an authentic Christian life. 

I have heard a description of heaven that gives me fervor in the journey. The idea was that getting to heaven would be like ending a long marathon, the finish line is inside a huge stadium and you get to take a victory lap there. When you approach the stadium, the tunnel entrance is lined with your patron saints, people you shared Christ with and helped them get to heaven, your closest relatives, etc. They greet you with cheering and high fives. The whole stadium is filled with voluminous cheering coming from the communion of saints who have been praying for you to finish well. You throw your hands in the air and make your victory lap, taking your place in the communion of saints and becoming part of the cheering squad for the next runner. You ran, you finished, you won the imperishable crown. 

I want that. I want to run to win. 

Today's Challenge: 

What have you given up for these forty days? What have you taken on? Consider what you can do to run a little harder. Ask the Lord to speak to you and convict your heart. 

Today's Prayer: 

Help me Lord to recommit today to making this journey with my heart. Water the soil of my soul so that your new life can grow. Teach me your ways and help me to desire your truth. May I fall more in love with you today. Do not allow me to go through these forty days unchanged. May I choose beauty, virtue, and run this race to win the imperishable crown awaiting me in heaven. Amen. 

Day 19 - A Beautiful Life

"So we do not lose heart. 

Though our outer self is wasting away, 

our  inner self is being renewed day by day."  

(2 Corinthians 4:16)

To live each day with purpose, to seek God's plan for our lives, and to allow ourselves to be wrapped in His grace, is to find a fullness of life like no other. To live in union with Christ and to share Him with others is an intricate part of who we were created to be. Pope Francis has said, “Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties.” In short, it's a beautiful life.

To find joy "even in the midst of difficulties" is beyond human strength, it requires the grace of God. Pope Francis has also said a Christian "must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!" We are called to joy. We must reclaim joy. We must choose joy.

The truly beautiful woman shares the joy of Christ with those she encounters. She finds in Christ her ever-flowing source of joy, comfort, and peace. She brings the good news of the Gospel with her in her smile, tenderness, and love. She is in tune with the Holy Spirit, so to see those around her who are in need of hope, in need of a little joy.

We must seek to be renewed day by day as our Scripture says, to not lose heart, but to find our joy in the Lord. Each day brings its own challenges. The truly beautiful woman rises to those challenges with trust that the weakness of Lord is stronger than her greatest strength, and he will provide the grace she needs to conquer in love. When we seek His will each day and find joy in doing his will, our lives will be more beautiful than we could ever imagine.

Today's Challenge: 
When you encounter a difficulty today, give it over to the Lord and commit to choosing joy in the midst of it.

Today's Prayer: 
Heavenly Father, in you is unending joy. Help me to live so deeply rooted in you even in the midst of suffering I may choose joy. I long to live in you and share you with others, make my life truly beautiful. Help me to live your plan for me, and draw others closer to your heart as I do. I love you, Lord. Amen.

Day 18 - Radiant

"O LORD God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved."

(Psalm 80:19)

The beauty of God is recognizable in those who seek holiness. When the heart is changed it shows on the face.  To become holy as God is holy is a pursuit that cannot be fulfilled without change. In the book of Exodus, Moses goes up Mount Sinai and enters into the "cloud." Those who were watching saw a consuming fire. For six days, Moses remained within the realms of that cloud and fire conversing with the Lord. When he came down from the Mount on the seventh day, he was changed...and it was visible. "As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord" (Exodus 34:29). His face "radiant" with the glory of God. 

Notice the rich imagery and symbolism here. Moses comes down on the seventh day. This is no coincidence. As we know, the seventh day is the sabbath day, the culmination of creation. Moses had been recreated, changed, by the awesome consuming fire and cloud of God's glory. He emerged, not as a completely different person, but as one who was closer to the image his creator had always desired him to be. He entered into the presence of the Lord and came forth resembling the Divine image, the image in which he was originally created.  

Moses didn't know that his face was radiant, but the others noticed it. When we spend time with the Lord and allow His consuming fire to change us, our faces become radiant with the glory of God. Not that we might know it and become vain or prideful, but so that we can share the face of God with others in humility. Like Moses, we can enter into the cloud and emerge recreated. St. Gregory of Nyssa depicted Christ as an artist, "tenderly wiping away all the grime of sin that disfigures the human face and restoring God's image to its full beauty." It is when we allow Christ to enter and gently touch the face of our hearts/souls, wiping away the sin and image that we have made ourselves to be, that he can create us into the perfect image of his glory. It is then that we become the women that he created us to be. Then, our faces will radiate with the light of Christ and the power of God. 

Let us enter into the presence of God everyday, praying for holiness, and lasting change. Our faces will then begin to radiate with true beauty as our hearts are transformed. Holiness requires change. It requires that we allow the hand of the artist to wipe away all that is displeasing to Him within us. His loving brush can erase the dull imperfection of sin and paint in its place the vibrant color of virtue. Will you give God the brush? Will you enter the cloud? Will you allow the consuming fire to change you? Will you be the radiant face of God in the world today? 

Today's Challenge: 

Spend five minutes in silence with the Lord. If possible, visit a church and spend this time before the tabernacle. Allow the cloud of His grace to cover you and transform your heart. 

Today's Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, I long to be beautiful. Help me to enter into the cloud of your presence and to be transformed. Surrounded by your grace, may I allow you to consume me, change me, paint me anew. Paint anew the thoughts in my mind so that I might truly believe in my beauty and understand you more fully. I love you Lord, and I am yours. I hand you the brush, recreate me. Amen. 

Day 17 - Choosing Beauty

"Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." 

(Leviticus 19:2) 

Virtue is beauty. 

To be beautiful is a choice. Beauty is virtue. What is virtue? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good." Virtue is to be in the habit of doing the good. We all have a call to holiness, to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. To answer this call and to become the daughters of God that we were created to be, requires the development of virtue. The definition of virtue goes on to say that virtue "allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions" (1803). Virtue is living holiness. It is to embrace the good, choose the good, and perform the good every day, every hour, every minute. 

To become truly beautiful is a journey marked by many small choices to do the good. Choose to do the good in your home, at work, at school. Choose to do the good when you are angry, tired, irritated, impatient, and tempted to choose the lesser good. Choose to do the good when you don't want to. In choosing to do the good  we are choosing God, choosing to become who He created us to be, choosing beauty. St. Gregory of Nyssa said, "The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God." Our goal is to be holy as God is holy (CCC 1803). The practice of virtue leads us not only to do the good but to become good. 

In our pursuit of virtue we choose to imitate God. St. Paul wrote, "Be imitators of God, as dearly children" (Ephesians 5:1). We are daughters of God, and so we are called to be imitators of Him. Children imitate their parents. If you are a parent, you know this well. Our children imitate us, good and bad examples. I have seen my own bad habits surface in my children, and am pleasantly surprised when good habits become natural for them. So it is with us and our Heavenly Father, except He doesn't have bad habits. If we imitate Him, we can become perfect in good habit. 

We imitate those with whom we are in close relationship. Children imitate their parents because they are their closest relationship and most evident role models. When we have a living relationship with God, when we walk in His presence everyday, we will begin to imitate His goodness. Virtue will begin to naturally guide our actions. Then, our souls will shine as living imitations of God, and reveal true beauty to the world. 

Today's Challenge: 

Choose beauty today through virtue. Choose the good where you don't want to. In whatever situation you find yourself in today, choose the good. Choose patience with your children. Choose forgiveness with someone who has hurt you. Choose joy rather than despair. Choose to do menial tasks with love. Choose beauty. 

Today's Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, give me the grace to live as your daughter, to live in you and to imitate you. Help me to choose virtue today over sin. Help me to find you in the difficult choices that I face. Help me to overcome gossip, detraction, greed, envy, quick temper, disrespect, impatience, etc. that I might choose the good. Help me to choose to become truly beautiful. Amen. 

Day 16 - Hiding Place

"I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. 

You are my hiding place and shield, 

I hope in your word." 

(Psalm 119: 13-14) 

The vanities of this world have become an easy hiding place. If we aren't confident and comfortable in our bodies, we have many fashionable options to conceal, flaunt, or enhance. If we don't like our skin, our hair, or nails, then we cover, change, and color them. The vanities of this world can become a way for us to run from a deep inner feeling of being unloved or void of beauty. Do we use cosmetics, fashion, and accessories to hide?

In the book of Genesis, we read that after Eve disobeyed God, she realized that she was naked, found leaves to cover herself, and she found a hiding place. This first sin of Eve was the beginning of concupiscence (the inclination toward sin) for all of us. Through her story, we see that when sin enters our lives, it becomes difficult for us to see ourselves as a beautiful creation of God. Eve was ashamed and she hid. However, even though Eve didn't want God to see her anymore, God continued to seek her. He knew where she was hiding and He would draw her out of that hiding place through His love.


No matter where we've been, what we've done, or how hard we try to hide, God will always be searching for us. Today's Scripture tells us that God is a "hiding place."  In Him is rest. In Him is peace. God doesn't want us to hide in shame or disbelief in our beauty. He wants us to hide in His heart. He longs that we would choose to reside in His truth and know that we are beautiful creations. If we are using vanities to hide behind our own insecurities, He wants to draw us out of those dark hiding places and into His marvelous light. He wants us to believe in our beauty because we have found acceptance and the grace to overcome sin in Him.

Today's Challenge:
Whenever you lose confidence in your beauty and want to hide, let this be your prayer: "Lord, I hide in your acceptance and believe that I am beautiful."

Today's Prayer: 
Heavenly Father, I hate vain thoughts. Help me to overcome them by finding my hiding place in you. You are the desire of my heart and the one I long to please. May I hide your acceptance and believe in my beauty. Amen.

Song Suggestion: "Hiding Place" by Jared Anderson