Hail Mary, Full of Grace

This month the church celebrates Mary in a very special way. Perhaps your school has had May Crowning or other devotions that honor our Blessed Mother. Mary is the model of perfect virtue. When pondering how to grow in virtue through self-knowledge, Mary should be our touchstone whenever we feel confused or misguided. 

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee…

Grace. Unmerited favor by God. How can we become full of grace like Mary? Mary, who we know simply and beautifully pondered things in her heart . What striking opposition are the temptations of our culture - caught in the distraction of pondering all things in public on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. 

Mary is the model of humility. Mother of the author of all grace. As St. Louis de Montfort reveals, Mary is the secret to discover the grace needed in our quest for holiness and virtue.  

This weekend we made a quick trip up north to unload some materials. The kids were excited to see “Big Jesus” at mass at The Cross in the Woods. Fr. Haney's homily focused on the relationship between Father and Son as they passed on their trade over generations…reflecting on how tools molded themselves to the hands of a father and then when passed on to the son were redefined, but retained the history and shape of the patriarchy in their substance. 

I could go on for hours about this reflection and all that we lack today in substance, in purity, and in tradition. But instead, I’d like to extend Fr. Mike’s challenge to our classrooms and homes. 

He connected the relationship between Jesus and St. Peter to that of father and son…St. Peter he said learned from Jesus and adopted his techniques in bringing the Gospel to the world. Fr. Mike asked all present to think about those with whom we work closely and the techniques of theirs that have helped shape our own vocation.

As a mother, you might think of your mother. You might hear your mother in yourself. What about as a teacher? My first thoughts went to those teachers who inspired me and now to the many leaders that have been role models to me for graceful leadership.

Is your classroom full of grace? How does your relationship with your students model that of Christ and his apostles? What techniques to grow in virtue are your children taking away and passing on from generation to generation with you as their model? 

Or, on the flip side, what do you hope they don’t imitate? What vices do you pray the Holy Spirit will hide from your children that you don’t want them to be like or take with them? Is love at the heart of discipline in your classroom or frustration and disorder? Does it waiver from time to time?  Can there be both? How did Christ do it? How about Mary?  

Jesus wants us to struggle with these questions. He also wants us to remember that what we do in good faith and in His name, even when it goes drastically wrong, in it His providence will reign. 

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee…

This week get to know Mary a little better. Stay by her side. Follow her example like a little boy walks behind in the footsteps of his father and learns his trade or a little girl looks up to her mother and takes into her very being all of her “mother’s secrets.” 

According to St. Louis de Montfort, if we are to grow in virtue by corresponding with God’s grace -  regardless of temperament, charism, neuroscience, or mindset - we must first have:

• sincere humility
• unceasing prayer
• complete self-denial 
• abandonment to divine Providence
• obedience to the will of God 

These are the Pillars of Mary's virtue. Are they yours?