My eyes lit up when I saw today’s Gospel reading: the Annunciation. I could talk about Mary forever. For the sake of your attention span (and mine as I sit here and write), I won’t. Or, at least, I’ll try not to.
For the longest time, I didn’t know that having a relationship with Mary was even possible. Yes, I knew that she is the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Queen of Heaven and Earth and all that good stuff. What I was really focused on, however, was cultivating a relationship with God. I didn’t realize that the two could go hand-in-hand until I got to college.
While attending Franciscan University of Steubenville, I joined a Marian household, started praying the rosary at least once a week, did Marian consecration twice, took a Mariology class for one of my electives and so much more. Basically, Mary “stalked” me all throughout college and I couldn’t have been more grateful. She became the perfect model for me in being the ultimate beloved of the Father, in spiritual motherhood and true womanhood, in purity and in obedience to God’s will. I strove for her constant intercession and my faith life as a whole hit a new peak.
Growth didn’t just stop in college, however, as my relationship with Mary actually reached an all-time high this past October. In personal preparation for teaching a youth group lesson on the Blessed Virgin, I felt called to pray a daily rosary. Fitting since October is the month of the rosary, right? During that four-week span, I experienced such indescribable joy and consolation as I grew closer to the Lord through His mother.
What goes up must come down, though, and I fell into a period of spiritual desolation shortly after. Since I was in the midst of such a spiritual high, the desolation felt much deeper, prayer was nonexistent and the Lord seemed so far away.
I knew I wasn’t going to get out of this funk without some help so I went to go see my spiritual director. In the middle of our most recent session, he stopped to ask if I minded praying a decade of the rosary with him, right then and there. After we prayed together, we sat in silence for a few minutes until he asked what the Lord had put on my heart. I told him that those few Hail Marys ended up being the most meaningful prayer I had offered since, well, my daily rosaries and I had no explanation as to why. Looking back on that afternoon, now I know. The peace and the small stirring I felt in my heart was all because of you, Mary. It hasn’t been easy to climb out of desolation but I know I can do it with the help of my mother, your mother, our mother.
Now, you might be thinking, “All of that is great, but what does Mary have to do with the season of Advent?” Everything, really.
Think about it. We celebrate two Marian feast days during this liturgical season – Immaculate Conception (December 8, Holy Day of Obligation) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12). We hear the Annunciation passage today on December 20th and, if we are in Cycle B, we hear it again on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. If you look into the Christmas season, we also celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, on January 1. Another Holy Day of Obligation. None of these feast days, solemnities and readings, etc. are coincidences.
Mary embodies so much of what the Advent season is about – that waiting and hoping and longing. From the moment of original sin in the Garden of Eden, God prepared for the coming of the Messiah starting with Mary’s Immaculate Conception. She would be preserved from the original sin that her Son would save us all from. All throughout her life, she pondered what was in her heart, the heart united to her Son, patiently endured His sufferings and obeyed the will of God to the fullest.
If you need help preparing for the coming of Jesus during these final few days of Advent, I urge you to fly unto Mary. Entrust your heart to her this season and every season. We can learn a lot from her.
Come Holy Spirit, living in Mary.
Erin is a Parma Heights, Ohio, native and a 2016 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She uses her communication arts degree in a couple of different ways: first, as an Athletic Communications Assistant at Baldwin Wallace University and, secondly, as a youth minister at her home parish of Holy Family Church. Although both of her jobs are on complete opposite spectrums, she truly enjoys being able to span the realm of communications. You can follow her on multiple Twitter accounts – @erinmadden2016 (personal), @bwathletics (work) and @HFVision (youth ministry).
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