By Mirette Abraham
Of all the virtues of St Mary, her purity feels a little understated.
We know of her purity.
We recite hymn lyrics and read books about her purity.
We wish to emulate and embody her purity.
But I think we tend to glance over words without truly understanding the fervency in her commitment.
Mary was pure in her sacrifice of both her body and soul, bringing them into complete submission before God. What is even more beautiful about her submission is that her chastity was a choice she had made as a young girl; a young girl with her entire life before her. While girls her age were busy planning their futures and preparing themselves for marriage, she had set her eyes on eternity and consecrated her heart to God.
Think about the magnitude of this sacrifice for a moment!
By choice, she spent her childhood serving in the temple, rather than playing with girls her age and running around the neighbourhood.
By choice, she spent her evenings in the presence of God, rather than drinking and dining with her friends.
By choice, she committed her mind to learning about God, her body to kneeling before Him and her heart to being completely taken over by His love.
Looking at her life through this lens-seeing her life as the complete embodiment of sacrifice and the purest of offerings-we can finally appreciate her response to Gabriel:
“How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34 NKJV)
Giving her heart and body to somebody else wasn’t ever on her agenda. She wanted God alone. She gave her heart to God alone. Her purity, though, was more than simply a vow of celibacy. A vow to keep her body untouched and sanctified.
It was more.
She set aside her whole self-mind, body, spirit. Everything she had, she gave to God. She knew that all the happiness and wealth this world could offer, “could not be compared to the glory” (Romans 8:18 NKJV) that was to be found with God alone.
She lived for more.
She lived in God’s grace.
She lived for Him alone.
She chose Him.
And because of her purity, “all generations shall call [her] blessed.” (Luke 1:48 NKJV)
So, may we learn how to become sanctified for God alone, letting go of all the treasures we are so desperately trying to hold onto here, in this impermanent, imperfect world. Instead, we need to lay down the foundation for our forever-home in heaven, offering up our hearts, bodies, minds, our entire selves, brick by brick. And may we esteem the virtue of purity and learn, from our mother Mary, how to make it a way of life.