Mary, Our Mother Sctn.:

We Should Imitate Mary / Mary is Our Model

Also See: Blessed Virgin Mary (Topic Page)

"[H]er life is an example for all." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"Women should reject the feminist movement and look to Mary as the best example for all women."

"It is therefore the duty of all Christians to imitate in a reverent spirit the examples of goodness left to them by their heavenly Mother." (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)

"Since we cannot, because we are weak, follow the wondrous humility of a God, let us take Mary as our model." (Sequence)

"Let us live as the Blessed Virgin lived: loving God only, desiring God only, trying to please God only in all that we do." (St. John Vianney)

"Imitate her, you holy matrons, who, as towards here only most beloved Son, has set you an example of such virtue: for you have not sweeter sons, nor did the Virgin seek consolation in again becoming a mother." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"Mary's life should be for you a pictorial image of virginity. Her life is like a mirror reflecting the face of chastity and the form of virtue. Therein you may find a model for your own life...showing what to improve, what to imitate, what to hold fast to." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 377 A.D.)

"Let us mull over the words of the Gospel in frequent meditation, let us ever keep in mind the examples of Mary, the blessed Mother of God, so that we also may be found humble in the sight of God, that being subject in due honor also to our neighbor, we may deserve together with her to be exalted forever." (St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church)

"As one that was prudent and wary, timid and bashful, [Mary answered not the angel]. In truth, what could she say? Do thou learn, from her example, to be silent, and to love to speak little, for exceeding great and useful is this virtue. Twice is [Mary] spoken unto, before she speaks once, for it is a thing intolerable that a virgin should be a great talker." (St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church)

"What must stimulate the faithful even more to follow the examples of the most holy Virgin is the fact that Jesus Himself, by giving her to us as our Mother, has tacitly indicated her as the model to be followed. It is, in fact, a natural thing that the children should have the same sentiments of their mothers and should reflect their merits and virtues." (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)

"'Therefore, I beg you, be imitators of me as I am of Christ.' These words, and with greater reason than the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth, can be addressed by the Mother of the Church to the multitudes of the faithful, who, in a symphony of faith and love with the generations of past centuries, acclaim her as blessed. It is an invitation which it is a duty to heed docilely." (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)

"As Mother of God and mother of all God's children, she is exalted above all creatures on the throne of glory; maternity itself is glorified through her. As Virgin, she manifests an incomparable beauty pleasing to God, along with the fruitfulness of virginal purity. As Queen, she evidences the conquering power of a serving love and of purity intact. Every woman who wants to fulfill her destiny must look to Mary as the ideal." (St. Edith Stein)

"Imitation of Jesus Christ is undoubtedly the regal way to be followed to attain sanctity and reproduce in ourselves, according to our forces, the absolute perfection of the heavenly Father. But while the Catholic Church has always proclaimed a truth so sacrosanct, it has also affirmed that imitation of the Virgin Mary, far from distracting the souls from the faithful following of Christ, makes it more pleasant and easier for them. For, since she had always done the will of God, she was the first to deserve the praise which Christ addressed to His disciples: 'Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)

"All, according to their state, should strive to bring alive the wondrous virtues of our heavenly Queen and most loving Mother through constant effort of mind and manner. Thus will it come about that all Christians, in honoring and imitating their sublime Queen and Mother, will realize they are truly brothers, and with all envy and avarice thrust aside, will promote love among classes, respect the rights of the weak, cherish peace. No one should think himself a son of Mary, worthy of being received under her powerful protection, unless, like her, he is just, gentle and pure, and shows a sincere desire for true brotherhood, not harming or injuring but rather helping and comforting others." (Pope Pius XII, "Ad Caeli Reginam", 1954 A.D.)

"In Mary we see how a truly good and provident God has established for us a most suitable example of every virtue. As we look upon her and think about her we are nor cast down as though stricken by the overpowering splendor of God's power; but, on the contrary, attracted by the closeness of the common nature we share with her, we strive with greater confidence to imitate her. If we, with her powerful help, should dedicate ourselves wholly and entirely to this undertaking, we can portray at least an outline of such great virtue and sanctity, and reproducing that perfect conformity of our lives to all God's designs which she possessed in so marvelous a degree, we shall follow her into heaven." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892 A.D.)

"But the cooperation of the Mother of the Church in the development of the divine life of the souls does not come to an end with the appeal to the Son. She exercises on redeemed men another influence: that of example. An influence which is indeed most important, according to the well-known axiom: 'Verba movent, exempla trahunt' (Words move, examples attract). In fact, just as the teachings of the parents become far more efficacious if they are strengthened by the example of a life conforming with the norms of human and Christian prudence, so the sweetness and the enchantment emanating from the sublime virtues of the immaculate Mother of God attract souls in an irresistible way to imitation of the divine model, Jesus Christ, of whom she was the most faithful image." (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.) 

"The general norm 'Through Mary to Jesus' is therefore valid also for the imitation of Christ. Nevertheless, let our faith not be perturbed, as if the intervention of a creature in every way similar to us, except as regards sin, offended our personal dignity and prevented the intimacy and immediacy of our relationships of adoration and friendship with the Son of God. Let us rather recognize the 'goodness and the love of God the Savior,' who, condescending to our misery, so remote from His infinite sanctity, wished to make it easier for us to imitate it by giving us as a model the human person of His Mother. She, in fact, among the human beings, offers the most shining example and the closest to us, of that perfect obedience whereby we lovingly and readily conform with the will of the eternal Father." (Pope Paul VI, 1967 A.D.)

"We must do all our actions with Mary; that is to say, we must in all our actions regard Mary as an accomplished model of every virtue and perfection which the Holy Ghost has formed in a pure creature for us to imitate according to our little measure. We must therefore in every action consider how Mary has done it, or how she would have done it, had she been in our place. For that end we must examine and meditate on the great virtues which she practiced during her life, and particularly, first of all, her lively faith, by which she believed without hesitation the angel's word, and believed faithfully and constantly up to the foot of the cross; secondly, her profound humility, which made her hide herself, hold her peace, submit to everything, and put herself the last of all; and, thirdly, her altogether divine purity, which has never had, and never can have, its equal under Heaven; and so on with all of her other virtues." (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)

Also See: Mary's Virtues | Devotion to Mary / Devotion to Mary is Recommended | Jesus & Mary [Pg.] | Mary's Maternity [Pg.] | Praise of Mary | Mary / Virginity | Marian Facts | Marian Scriptural References | Some Reasons to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary | Some Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary

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