Another aspect of the Marian life is the imitation of Mary.

Jesus alone is the “Way” that leads to the Father, He is the only model; but who is more like Jesus than Mary? Of whom more than of Mary can it be said that she has the same thoughts as Christ?

“O Lady,” exclaims St. Bernard, “God lives in you and you live in Him. You clothe Him with the substance of your flesh, and He clothes you with the glory of His Majesty.”

While Jesus dwelt in the Virgin’s pure womb, He clothed her with Himself, communicated His infinite perfections to her, filled her with His sentiments, desires, affections, and divine wishes; and Mary, who gave herself up entirely to His action, was completely transformed.into Him, so that she became a faithful image of Him.

The liturgy says that “Mary is the most perfect image of Christ, formed truly by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, took full possession of Mary’s pure, gentle soul, and traced in it, very delicately and perfectly, all the features and characteristics of the soul of Jesus. Therefore we can well say that to imitate Mary is to imitate Jesus.

This is why we choose her for our model. We do not love Mary for herself alone, but because she is the Mother of Christ; likewise,.we do not imitate Mary for herself, but for Christ, whose most faithful image she is.

Jesus is the one Way which leads us to the Father, and Mary is the surest and easiest way to Jesus. By incarnating in Himself the perfections of the Father, Jesus made it possible for us to imitate them; by retracing Jesus’ perfections in herself, Mary has made them more accessible to us, has brought them within our very reach. None can say as well as she:

“Be followers of me, as I also am of Christ” (I Cor 4,16).

Prayer

O my most sweet Mother, you call me and say to me: ‘If anyone is a little one, let him come to me.’ Children always have their mother’s name on their lips, and they call her whenever they are in danger, fright, or difficulty.

O sweet Mother, O loving Mother, you want me, like a little child, to call upon you always and to have unceasing recourse to you. Permit me then to invoke you constantly.

— Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy. The Marian Life.