Be It Done Unto Me According to Your Word

I love Mary. She's the one who I always find myself turning to as I constantly strive for a greater holiness. She's the perfect example of how a strong, beautiful woman of God should be. She's the one I look up to and say to myself, "I want to be just like her when I grow up." She's got a certain something, something special that makes her beauty and love for God shine as if she were on fire. I guess being the mother of God Himself does that to you. But I want that. I guess I can't go as far as being the mother of Jesus, but I do want to have that something that she has. When I say my prayers every morning and every night, I always set aside some "Mom and me" time so that I can talk to her, ask her advice in how I can serve her Son, and ask her to give me strength so that I can make my way through life with God as my Guide and my Light. 
So how does she do it? Well, I found this lovely list from lifeteen that shows her virtues, the armor that she wore as she battled her daily life while she was here on earth. To be like Mary, we've got to arm ourselves with these characteristic virtues so that we can be like her and say "yes" to God. And the dude who wrote the article on lifeteen.com said it really well: One of the coolest things about Mary is that she is not just someone from history; she is still our Mother today and she is always praying for us, supporting us, and leading us closer to her Son.


Ardent Charity: Letting her love for God be the driving force behind every decision
Profound Humility: Knowing who she is before God, nothing more and nothing less
Universal Mortification: Seeking to lay down her life and her will at every moment
Constant Mental Prayer: Always being aware of God’s presence
Blind Obedience: Following God’s call without counting the cost
Divine Wisdom: Always begging for God’s Spirit to guide her
Surpassing Purity: Having a heart immaculately clean and unstained by sin
Angelic Sweetness: Radiating joy and peace to everyone she encountered
Lively Faith: Constantly seeking God’s will and never settling for complacency

Heroic Patience: Always trusting that God was on the move; having more faith in His plans than her own

“My desire is for the young people of the entire world to come closer to Mary. She is the bearer of an indelible youthfulness and beauty that never wanes. May young people have increasing confidence in her and may they entrust the life just opening before them to her.” 
- Pope John Paul II (yeah, I love him, too.)