Among all human beings, there is one creature upon whom God has bestowed a unique predilection, a creature whom He has filled with the most magnificent gifts and in whom He has placed all His delight. She surpasses in beauty, intelligence, and greatness all creatures, and exceeds in holiness all the Angels and all the Saints in Heaven: She is the Blessed Virgin Mary, the masterpiece of the Almighty.
Mary is announced to the world long before Her appearance: already in the Garden of Paradise, when God promises Adam a Savior and declares to the serpent that a Woman will crush its head. To prepare this Woman, blessed among all, God does even more: by a singular privilege, He preserves Her, from the first instant of Her conception, from the original stain that marks every child coming into the world. This unique grace, granted to Her who was to be the Mother of God, is contemplated each year by on December 8, in the solemn feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The most holy Virgin received on earth a home worthy of Her: Saint Joachim as Her Father and Saint Anne as Her Mother. Her childhood unfolded in the Temple like a hidden flower. She prayed, meditated on the holy books, worked with Her hands, and sang the praises of the Lord. All Her youth was a secret communion between Her Heart and the Heart of God. When She became a young woman, She was betrothed to Saint Joseph, the humble and just man chosen by God to be the guardian of this treasure.
One day, while young Mary was in prayer, the heavens opened. An angel entered Her dwelling: it was Gabriel, the messenger of God. He greeted Her, saying:
“Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women.”
The Virgin was troubled by such praise and humbled Herself before God. But the angel reassured Her and revealed to Her the plan of God: She will conceive a Son, who will be the very Son of God, whom She would call Jesus.
Then, in a consent that would determine the destiny of the world, the Virgin Mary responded:
“I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to Me according to your word.”
In that silent moment, the eternal Word took flesh in Her womb: the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished, God became man, and heaven descended upon the earth.
A few months later, in Bethlehem, the Child Jesus was born in the poverty of a manger. Mary did not give Him His divinity, which comes from the Father, but She gave Him His humanity, that Body and Blood through which He would save us. Yet, because the Son She bore is one and the same Person, true God and true man, the Church rightly honors Her with the title Mother of God. Among all the titles our devotion gives Her, none is sweeter to Her Heart than the one that proclaims Her divine motherhood, for it contains, better than the longest discourses, all Her glories and all Her greatness.
On the Cross, on Good Friday, as Jesus was already in agony, He still wished to give us a final proof of His love. Turning toward Mary with a gaze full of tenderness, He said to Her, indicating Saint John:
“Woman, behold Your son.”
Then Jesus looked at His beloved disciple and said to him:
“Son, behold your Mother.”
In that solemn moment, Mary adopted us all in the person of John, and the love She has for us surpasses that of all the mothers of the earth combined.
For our part, we can never have too much gratitude or tenderness toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is through Her that the covenant of love between God and man, broken by the sin of Adam, has been restored. By giving Jesus to the world, She has given us the source of every good. We must love Her with the trusting affection of a child for its Mother and to invoke Her as our most powerful Protector.
Several times a day, it is fitting to address to Her the Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, the sweetest of Marian prayers. It begins with the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee; blessed art Thou among women,” then takes up the words of Saint Elizabeth: “And blessed is Thy Son, Jesus.” The Church has added the final supplication: “Holy Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Our Mother in Heaven has Her hands full of spiritual treasures, and She delights in pouring them out upon docile souls. Let us ask Her to prepare our hearts Herself to receive Jesus in Holy Communion. The Blessed Virgin Mary was the first tabernacle where Jesus dwelt before His birth. She will help us, if we pray to Her, to make a good First Communion. She will place within us something of the reverence and love that filled Her when, at the end of Her life, She approached the holy Table.
Let us then go to Jesus through Mary: to the all‑powerful Son through the all‑good Mother. This is the surest, gentlest, and shortest path into the Heart of God.
It is fitting to have a particular devotion to Saint Joseph, the spouse of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. The one to whom God entrusted the care of Jesus – innocence itself – and of Mary, the purest of virgins, can certainly watch over us and provide for our needs of both soul and body. Each day, we should pray to this great Saint to help us keep a chaste body and a spotless soul, to work faithfully, and to live in silence, faith, and trust.
When we come into the world, each of us also receives, through the goodness of God, a special protector: the Guardian Angel. A pure spirit, the Angel has no body, and our eyes cannot see him, but he sees everything we do. Out of respect for his presence, we are invited to flee from all that is evil. It is fitting to invoke him on every occasion: a discreet companion along the way, he comes to our aid, enlightens us, warns us, and removes, as far as God permits, the stones of temptation that could make us fall on this steep path that leads from earth to Heaven.
The Chronicles of the Friars Minor recount that Saint Francis of Assisi, rapt in ecstasy, once contemplated a vast spiritual landscape. Between earth and Heaven stood two great ladders. One was entirely red, the color of blood and sacrifice; at its summit stood Our Lord Himself. The other was entirely white, radiant like the light of dawn; above it leaned the Virgin Mary, gentle and motherly.
The sons of Saint Francis, full of courage, rushed toward the red ladder. They wished to climb directly to Jesus. They set out, ascended a few steps, but the slope was so steep that they slipped, lost their footing, and fell heavily back to the ground. They tried again, with even greater effort, and once more they fell. Soon, exhausted and covered with wounds, they were on the verge of giving up.
Discouragement drew tears from them: Heaven seemed too high, holiness out of reach.
Seeing this, Francis was deeply grieved. His fatherly heart turned toward the Savior. “Lord, he pleaded, have pity on my brothers. They wish to come to You, but they cannot succeed.” Then Jesus answered him: “Your brothers are not going about it in the right way to reach Me. Tell them to go first to My Mother, by climbing the white ladder.”
Comforted, Saint Francis hastened to pass on Christ’s counsel to his brothers. Raising their eyes to Mary, the brothers implored Her help and began to climb the white ladder. The ascent was not without difficulty: at times they slipped, fell back a rung or two, and had to catch their breath. But they rose again, entrusted themselves to the Virgin, and continued. Step by step – that is, from virtue to virtue, from light to light – they gradually ascended.
As they drew near the top, they felt their strength failing. Heaven was so close, and yet it seemed they were unable to reach it. Then, with one voice, they cried out to Mary. The Blessed Virgin bent down, smiling, and extended Her hand to them. With a motherly gesture, She drew them to Herself, sheltered them beneath Her immaculate mantle, and presented them to Her Son, before whom they found favor.
Through this maternal and all-powerful protection, the brothers were received into Heaven. Jesus welcomed them, and their entrance into glory echoes through the centuries:
Let us go to Jesus through Mary.
To climb Mary’s “white ladder” is simply to go to Jesus by allowing oneself to be guided by His Mother. Practically, this means entrusting one’s life to Her each day through a simple prayer, such as a “Hail Mary,” or:
“O my Queen, O my Mother, I give myself to You; keep me always.”
It also means forming the habit of offering Her our joys, our sorrows, and our efforts, so that She may present them to Jesus. In this way, we advance from virtue to virtue. With Her, the ascent remains demanding, but it is never again solitary.