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December 31

Eve of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Mother benign of our redeeming Lord, Star of the sea and portal of the skies, Unto thy fallen people help afford – Fallen, but striving still anew to rise. Thou who dids’t once, while wond’ring worlds adored, Bear thy Creator, Virgin then as now, O by thy holy joy at Gabriel’s word, Pity the sinners who before thee bow.

-Roman Breviary, Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin

For Reflection

Spend some quiet moments with Mary by reflecting on this antiphon. Journal your reflections.

December 28

“True love of God consists in adhering perfectly to His holy will, not desiring to do or to be other than what God indicates for each of us, to the point of becoming, as it were, “a living will of God.”

-Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD

For Reflection

How does the Blessed Virgin Mary demonstrate true love of God according to the definition given to us in this quote? How and why is she the icon of “a living will of God?” To what extent am I the same? What one strategy in the coming new year can I employ to help me be more so? Add it to my list of resolutions.

December 27

“The Blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been His mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood.”

-St. Augustine

For Reflection

Consider this quote in light of Luke 11: 27-28. Write your thoughts and reflections. How did Mary’s discipleship begin at the moment of the Annunciation and continue throughout her life? To what extent does your discipleship mirror hers? Formulate a new year’s resolution to help you grow in this way in the coming year.

December 26

Her Feet Shod with Holiness

And, if our faith had given us nothing more Than this Example, of all Womanhood, So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good, So patient, so peaceful, loyal, loving pure – This were enough to prove it higher and truer Than all the creeds the world had known before. Virgin, who lovest the poor and lonely, If the loud cry of a mother’s heart Can ever ascend to where thou art, Into thy blessed hands and holy Receive my prayer of praise and thanksgiving. Let the hands that bore our Savior bear it Into the awful presence of God; For thy feet with holiness are shod, And, if thou bearest it, he will hear it.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For Reflection

What qualities does Longfellow cite that underscore for him why Mary is the “Example of all Womanhood?” How have we seen these virtues expressed in the excerpts from A Woman Wrapped with Silence? Which of these virtues do I most need to acquire? What does the poet admit is the benefit of offering our prayers to Jesus through Mary, His Mother?