The Difference a Mary Statue Can Make
It’s a bit hard to explain why we have a Mary statue in our front yard. Honestly, I would describe my relationship with Our Lady as... complicated. I love her, and at the same time I wouldn’t really say I’m close to her.
Not yet, anyway. I keep working on it, because, at least on an intellectual level, I’m in awe of her incredibly special role in salvation history, and I trust the Church when it tells us that Mary is not only the Mother of God but our mother, too.
And I’ve witnessed firsthand how she really does care for us in this valley of tears and brings us closer to her Son. Recently I was sitting on our front steps reading, when a car stopped and the driver rolled down her window and shouted something at me.
I didn't recognize who it was and asked her to repeat what she had said. So she yelled out louder, "Can I ask you for a prayer request?"
A bit stunned, I started walking toward the car, and soon realized the driver was my neighbor from down the street. We'd only crossed paths once in the last few years, but she seemed nice.
Now, out of the blue, she was reaching out to me for prayers, because she’d just heard her dad’s cancer was back for a third time. We ended up praying and talking together for a good while on the driveway, and she shared why she had stopped in the first place: because of our Mary statue! She figured it meant we were people she could go to for prayers.
She also shared that she grew up Catholic, but when she was younger her family had left the church and she hasn't been back since. But with her dad sick, she was feeling called to pray again and maybe even go back to Mass. I truly believe that in the moment she decided to pull over, she was giving her own small "fiat" to the Holy Spirit. Grace is always, always waiting for us!
It was pretty convicting, actually, to hear that the Mary statue inspired her to ask for my prayers. In reality, it makes me a bit uncomfortable to have the statue in our yard. I love the faith, and at the same time I’m also super introverted, and having the statue out there feels bold and somewhat scary. For reasons I can’t explain, though, it’s really important to me that we have it, and I love seeing this simple reminder of Our Lady. And it always makes me smile when I see other homes with a Mary statue, and I pray for the folks who live there as I drive by. And now with our neighbor, I was given the gift of seeing that our Mary statue mattered to someone else, too.
So I keep working on being closer to Our Lady, and by that I mean first and foremost that I'm asking for help in prayer to know her and her Son better. Sometimes I pray along with a recording of the Rosary, rather than trying to struggle through it on my own. Often I can enter into the mysteries more deeply when someone else is leading, and I’ve found the recordings by Kenrick-Glennon Seminary very prayerful. Worth checking out!
It's also been helpful for me to meditate on Mary through reading. I highly recommend the works of Caryll Houselander, who has incredible insights into Our Lady (and pretty much everything!). Brant Pitre's Jesus and The Jewish Roots of Mary was a life changing book for me, and one I return to often. Also, there's some beautiful poetry on Mary in this post: Celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation.
If you have any recommendations on how to draw closer to Our Lady, please do let me know.
Mary our mother, pray for us!
Not yet, anyway. I keep working on it, because, at least on an intellectual level, I’m in awe of her incredibly special role in salvation history, and I trust the Church when it tells us that Mary is not only the Mother of God but our mother, too.
And I’ve witnessed firsthand how she really does care for us in this valley of tears and brings us closer to her Son. Recently I was sitting on our front steps reading, when a car stopped and the driver rolled down her window and shouted something at me.
I didn't recognize who it was and asked her to repeat what she had said. So she yelled out louder, "Can I ask you for a prayer request?"
A bit stunned, I started walking toward the car, and soon realized the driver was my neighbor from down the street. We'd only crossed paths once in the last few years, but she seemed nice.
Now, out of the blue, she was reaching out to me for prayers, because she’d just heard her dad’s cancer was back for a third time. We ended up praying and talking together for a good while on the driveway, and she shared why she had stopped in the first place: because of our Mary statue! She figured it meant we were people she could go to for prayers.
She also shared that she grew up Catholic, but when she was younger her family had left the church and she hasn't been back since. But with her dad sick, she was feeling called to pray again and maybe even go back to Mass. I truly believe that in the moment she decided to pull over, she was giving her own small "fiat" to the Holy Spirit. Grace is always, always waiting for us!
It was pretty convicting, actually, to hear that the Mary statue inspired her to ask for my prayers. In reality, it makes me a bit uncomfortable to have the statue in our yard. I love the faith, and at the same time I’m also super introverted, and having the statue out there feels bold and somewhat scary. For reasons I can’t explain, though, it’s really important to me that we have it, and I love seeing this simple reminder of Our Lady. And it always makes me smile when I see other homes with a Mary statue, and I pray for the folks who live there as I drive by. And now with our neighbor, I was given the gift of seeing that our Mary statue mattered to someone else, too.
So I keep working on being closer to Our Lady, and by that I mean first and foremost that I'm asking for help in prayer to know her and her Son better. Sometimes I pray along with a recording of the Rosary, rather than trying to struggle through it on my own. Often I can enter into the mysteries more deeply when someone else is leading, and I’ve found the recordings by Kenrick-Glennon Seminary very prayerful. Worth checking out!
It's also been helpful for me to meditate on Mary through reading. I highly recommend the works of Caryll Houselander, who has incredible insights into Our Lady (and pretty much everything!). Brant Pitre's Jesus and The Jewish Roots of Mary was a life changing book for me, and one I return to often. Also, there's some beautiful poetry on Mary in this post: Celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation.
If you have any recommendations on how to draw closer to Our Lady, please do let me know.
Mary our mother, pray for us!
My husband has been a deacon in the church for about 7 years. I felt compelled several years ago to get a statue of Mary to put behind our back porch. We often do the liturgy of the hours and say the rosary sitting on the back porch looking at her. It is always restful to see her there as we ready ourselves for a day of working on cars and renting out u-hauls. We love having her there.
Our Lady works in mysterious ways. I am in the process of landscape improvements and was thinking about putting a statue of St. Francis in our front yard garden bed and a statue of Mary on our backyard garden bed. Your story has changed my mind. I’m so grateful to have stumbled on your blog post. I also have difficulty saying the Rosary on my own and I use the Hallow app as my guide. Our church has a group of people who meet daily in our chapel to say the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. If you ever have an opportunity to participate in a group Rosary, I would highly recommend it. It is a powerful experience and the group will be grateful that you joined them. Thank you again for sharing your story.
This is such a lovely and humble story. Thank you. I love your journey into intimacy with Jesus and Mary. The way you tell the story gives me and everyone else room to be on a journey and not perfectly “there” just quite yet.
Recommendation: Fr. Boniface Hicks’ 33 Day Total Consecration to Jesus has stunning art and deep reflections to help us find refuge with Jesus in the womb of Our Lady. I am on day 23 and it is drawing me into deep intimacy with them. If this seems too much, Fr. Michael Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory is also wonderful! Peace to you!
I can relate to this so much! I’ve been hesitant to put a Mary statue in my yard for the same reasons you mentioned, while also feeling the pull to just do it! This was the push I needed. Thanks for sharing!
I love this story! Thank you so much for sharing it. Our Mary statue has moved with us to every home from our first one in 1986–a total of eight times. And she is always out front, with a solar spotlight on her at night. (I’d share a photo but this comment box won’t let me.)
Leave a comment