Imitation - The Highest Form Of Compliment

Corresponding to Mary's God-planned uniqueness by reason of her co-activity in God's redemptive plan is her equally God-planned uniqueness in holiness. She is one of a kind, both in her "positive" spirituality (her virtue) and in her "negative" spirituality (her sinlessness). Conceived without having been infected by Adam's sin, she was preserved "full of grace" throughout her life. Because of these prerogatives, Mary is indeed "our tainted nature's solitary boast," as the poet William Wordsworth wrote in his sonnet, "The Virgin." Extolled through the centuries as a paradigm of holiness, Mary is the perfect example of how human creatures might relate to their Creator, in absolute conformity to the plan and will of God.

The Second Vatican Council gives us three purposes practicing devotion toward Mary or any saint: to imitate the good example of their life; to enjoy holy, loving fellowship in the "communion of saints," that blessed interfacing of believers in heaven and on earth; and to ask for their intercessory prayer to God for our needs of body, mind, and spirit. In our relationship with Mary, the first of these three purposes should be our top priority, imitating her virtues as we strive for holiness in our walk with the Lord.

There are fifty-six virtues in the "catalogue of virtues” – some two-hundred if all of their subdivisions are included. Mary's soul was bedecked with all virtues to a supereminent degree—a veritable spiritual smorgasbord to choose from for imitation. As I make this observation, I can almost hear the obvious objection erupting: The Bible doesn't command us to imitate Mary or any saint, but only Jesus. It was Jesus, not Mary, who said, "Learn of me…”

This objection is quite valid in some ways; the very meaning of Christian life is indeed the imitation of Christ and the realization of his life in us (see Ephesians 5:1-2). However, Mary has a special place in this scheme of things—one far superior to other saints. She was able to imitate God's virtues better than anyone else; in her, Christ's grace was realized most perectly, by her Immaculate Conception.

While Jesus is the Redeemer, Mary is the one most perfectly redeemed, for God prevented sin from ever touching her life rather than merely removing it. She was not saved from sin but saved from sinning. To have this privilege Mary needed salvation, and she was truly saved. This is why she said "I rejoice in God my Savior” (Lk 1:46). She appreciated her salvation more than any other human creature.

Therefore, among all the saved, Mary is the best Christ-imitator. So our striving to imitate Mary both in her Christlike virtues and in her Christlike sinlessness does not in any way detract from our imitation of Jesus. It actually reaffirms it, but from another perspective—a perspective relative to God's most godly creature, who like us depended him salvation.

Paul himself had no qualms about telling his followers to imitate his own example. To the Corinthians and other Christian communities, he explained the principle that underlay his proposal: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”  (1 Cor 11:1; 4:16; see also 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; Philippians 3:17; Hebrews 6:12; 13.9;  1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 3:13). In other words, he asked them to imitate himself, but only to the extent that his behavior imitated that of Jesus.

There is another response to those who would imitate no one but In the spectrum of Christ's majestic splendor, there are areas that cannot imitated—for instance, his role in creation, his status as founder of the Church and head of the mystical body, and his redemptive love. But Mary provides a model of virtue that is not totally beyond our imitation. Even her sinlessness we can strive to imitate.

If you want to choose any one of Mary’s virtues to imitate I suggest starting with the one that is found at the very fountainhead of her coredemptive role, namely, obedience to will. Mary's overall response was one of perfect conformity with God's will. By her "vocational" conformity she provided fallen humanity with a Redeemer to heal the contaminating effects of nonconformity with God's will (Adam's sin of disobedience). Beyond that, Mary's interior and exterior life was a lived-out conformity to God's will that makes her the supreme example of the mind-boggling effects of total abandonment to God: "Those who obey his commands live in him and he in them" (1 Jn 3:24).

This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.