A Christmas Gift — From God Himself

Christine Hanus shares a touching story about the providence of God during a distressing time in her life. 

Tomorrow’s Gospel reading prepares us for the birth of Christ with the story of the angel Gabriel visiting the Virgin Mary. When Our Blessed Mother says her historic, momentous, earth-shattering “yes” to God, and agreed to be the mother of the Messiah, she had little idea that she would become the spiritual mother to all of God’s children. Whoever calls the Father “Abba,” becoming an adopted brother or sister of Christ, is taken into Mary’s maternal heart forever. 

As my own children were growing up, it seemed that materialism, immorality, and noise surrounded our family on every side. My husband and I tried to help my children navigate the world, but as our two oldest approached middle school, I worried for their happiness and safety.

I began experiencing significant anxiety about their purity and their relationship with Jesus, so I turned to the Blessed Mother in a new and fervent way. I began prayerfully imagining our family in a garden — the garden of Mary's heart. In this figurative garden, even though we would remain actively engaged in the world, we would also be protected, especially spiritually. My prayer was, “Mother Mary, we want to live always in the garden of your Immaculate Heart.” 

A Distressing Season of Life 

Coincidentally, the year I began praying this way, our family started to experience significant hardship. My husband was unemployed, I was suffering a debilitating physical problem, and my father was dying of cancer. I clung to God like a limpet. Eyes shut, battling against despair, stubbornly hanging on. Our seven-person family was living with my parents during this time. I struggled to recall and believe that our true home, no matter what the circumstances, was the garden of Mary’s Immaculate heart. 

As Christmas approached that year, we knew it would be a modest celebration. In the days leading up to Christmas, my husband took our five young children to buy me a present at a small-town gift shop. Later, my husband admitted this was a serious error in judgement! The quaint shop was jammed full of fascinating items, many of which were fragile. Evidently, my children touched each and every item while bickering amongst themselves over “what to get Mom.”  

When the gift they chose was presented to me, with a certain amount of pomp, on Christmas, my children closely watched me as I tore off the wrapping paper. They were delighted to see that I was moved to tears by the plaque they had chosen, which read, “A mother’s heart is a garden of love.”  

God Sees and God Provides 

I immediately connected this saying to my ongoing prayer for me and my family. While it certainly touched me deeply that my children wanted the words on the plaque to honor me, I was even more moved by the fact that, through my children’s thoughtful gift, I knew I was seen by God. God was confirming that I could trust Him and rely on the intercession of Mother Mary. The same mother who gave birth to, cared for, and accompanied the Savior of the world during his bitter passion was our mother too. She was truly sheltering my family in her maternal heart, giving us a beautiful place in which to undergo the painful, purgative process we had been experiencing.  

Whether things are going well, or we are in over our heads, our Blessed Mother was given to us by Jesus Himself to be the kind of mother that is always “there” for her children, in good times and bad (see John 19:27). When she said yes to being the mother of Jesus, she said yes to you and to me. Her maternal heart will forever be a garden of love for all her “offspring” (see Revelation 12:17). 

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Copyright 2025 Christine Hanus
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