Virtuous Hospitality and Our Lady’s Admirable Heart

Danielle Heckenkamp considers how the Blessed Virgin Mary is our decisive model for the womanly gifts of hospitality, receptivity, and nurturing.

Quickening the soul towards virtuous sanctification is like the cultivation of a garden — each plant has its own needs, yet it strives toward personal perfection. The same may be said for the soul that seeks, even against the body’s fallen nature, to pursue perfect union with God. It is the human heart, when analogous to the soul, that lifts the creature closer to its Creator. A heart that throbs for love of God is a heart that pursues beauty, truth, and goodness. Without question, the heart is an integral aspect of the human body, but beyond its physical function there is a close association with the heart and its ability to endure love, sorrow, and sacrifice.

The heart of the Blessed Virgin overflowed in virtue and harbored a perfect love for God. It was through her faith that Mary united her entire being to God’s will. She grew in holiness throughout her earthly life and obtained triumph and honor through her Assumption and Coronation. With such an example, there is no doubt that every woman should seek to develop a Marian heart as emulated by Our Lady to achieve sanctification.  

Developing a heart like Mary's

By acknowledging that the body, mind, and soul must work in unison toward saintly perfection, it is critical to point out the connection between virtues, etiquette, hospitality, and charity. The actions of our lives should be ordered in that virtuous growth is attainable. The secular world might diminish etiquette and hospitality as archaic behaviors, but to ignore these customs is to disregard the human need for respect, order, and civility.

Through well-ordered living, a person may progress in the spiritual life, as the two must work in harmony. As society deviates from virtue, so too does it stray from Christian etiquette. To achieve saintly perfection and to foster a Marian heart, we must recognize that hospitality and civility hold an integral place in molding a woman’s feminine disposition. 

It was Mary’s admirable heart that glorified God on this earth and led to her crowning glory in heaven. By her love and sacrifices, Our Lady modeled a feminine heart seeped in the necessary virtues to obtain perfection and everlasting happiness.

It is not an easy task to embrace humility and charity, as the world ignorantly deems these virtues as weak. With eyes towards heaven, the standards of the world should not be our compass. Though joy can be found on this earth, it is fleeting and will only leave a soul starving for God. Through Mary’s example, women may discover their true worth, in the eyes of God, and the means to develop a Marian heart through virtuous aptitude. 

Mary: a bridge to reach Christ

It may seem complicated or impossible, but this is not the case if we embrace Mary as a bridge to reach Christ. It is through the melding of prayer and charitable works that women may foster a Marian heart rooted in hospitality. This was evident at the Visitation when Our Lady called upon her cousin Elizabeth, and also when Our Lady petitioned Jesus to assist at the Wedding Feast of Cana. It is no coincidence that Christ’s first miracle was one deeply rooted in humility and hospitality. By Mary’s example, we should also strive to cultivate a heart of charity, hospitality, and sacrifice during this earthly life, while seeking perfect union with God.  

In addition to hospitality, God has endowed women with the gifts of receptivity and a nurturing disposition. It is through these endowments that women may offer glory to God and grow in sanctification by servicing others. However, these feminine abilities, as they are inter-connected to virtues, cannot remain stagnant — they must either be employed and fostered or unemployed and neglected. There is no middle ground on the path toward sainthood, for as many theologians have said that the soul is either progressing towards sanctification, or it is regressing.

A well-ordered feminine heart can easily be neglected and trampled on by the temptations of the world if it is not protected. It is a long rocky path towards heaven, and it takes a lifetime of sacrificial “rebirths,” hospitable enterprises, and charitable undertakings to obtain saintly triumph.  

Our Lady’s heart is the mountain in which all women should strive to emulate, as she attained virtuous and feminine perfection. Developing a Marian heart is no small task. It takes a lifetime of restraint, education, and humility to grow in virtue through charity and Christian etiquette. As Our Lady uplifted her thoughts, words, and actions as prayers to God, so too must we imitate her wise example. She was the epitome of femininity, beauty, goodness, hospitality, and truth. By her unwavering example, she is the decisive feminine model to replicate.

Our Blessed Mother lived more than 2,000 years ago, but her mannerisms and virtue are still poignant and should be imitated without hesitation today in a world that yearns for the truth. Rather than seek comfort in worldly pleasures, let us promote truth through virtuous living and hospitality by emulating the heart of the Blessed Mother who burns with love for God.  

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Copyright 2024 Danielle Heckenkamp
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