An Aspect of Marian Devotion

The more Mary loves you, the more surely you will act by faith.
~St. Louis de Montfort

Mary was entrusted to bring up our Lord. In entrusting ourselves to her, we could not ask for a better mother to lead us in the way of faith. At a certain point though, the mother must let/allow the fledgling to try his wings. In our case, it is by committing ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary that we gain our wings in the first place.

How do we commit to her? By doing things, everything, to please her and her son, Jesus. Our day should look like this: I am brushing my teeth for you Mary, I am making my bed for you Mary, I am eating breakfast for you Mary, I am folding laundry for you Mary. Each of these things seems so commonplace - part of ordinary life - and have no value in themselves. However, by uniting them to Mary they take on great spiritual value. Mary can use the grace obtained from you brushing your teeth to assist another soul wavering between choosing self or self-denial. Grace is given: 1. Because you gave it to Mary, 2. Because you did your duty, 3. Because you tried to do it well.

At the end of the day, we have concretely given each thing to Mary, who then has more graces to pour out upon others. This is true union with Christ - having done everything for the one human being whose will is and always has been most perfectly allied to his, to the one human being permitted to give life to our Lord - his mother. Thus our actions, having been joined to hers, are also most perfectly allied to his.

Two little things: 1. I forget to do this all the time, and 2. Grace, like love, when shared multiplies. This last one helps me in my moments of selfishness, when I don't want to give my prayers, works and sufferings of the day to Mary (cause then they won't be used for the people I wanted!) Rather, when we hand over to Mary our actions, she has the opportunity to perfect our works, and multiply them for others.