The Witness of Mary and the Saints
Part 4 of a 5-Part Reflection on Adrienne von Speyr's The Handmaid of the Lord
The Witness of Mary and the Saints
What does it mean to be holy?
Too often we imagine holiness as moral perfection or heroic virtue. I think at times we think its unattainable, or reserved for those who are “special” or “marked” in some manner. Its not for us. Its for them. But the saints, and above all Mary, show us a different path. Holiness is not about striving in our own strength; it is about union with Christ. It is about allowing Christ to dwell within us so deeply that His life becomes our life.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20
Mary, Queen of All Saints, stands at the center of this mystery. Not because she achieved greatness on her own, but because she lived in total surrender to God. Her “yes” was not a single moment but a posture of heart, a constant readiness to receive, to trust, and to follow.
The humility of our Blessed Mother was not weakness. It was an interior strength that renounced control, to welcome mystery, to embrace a plan she could not fully understand. As always, everything in the spiritual life hinges on surrender. The world teaches us to magnify ourselves, to assert our voice, our worth, our identity. But Mary teaches us a deeper lesson: “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46). Holiness begins not in self-assertion, but in self-offering.
Mary does not cling to Christ as her own possession. She gives Him. At Bethlehem, she brings Him into the world. At Cana, she intercedes so that His glory may be revealed. At Calvary, she offers Him in silence and tears. And in the Upper Room, she receives the Spirit once more, for the sake of the Church.
In Mary, we see what it means to be a dwelling place for Jesus.
The saints follow this same pattern. Each in their own way becomes a bearer of Christ. Through their hidden life of prayer, their heroic charity, their silent suffering, or their prophetic witness, they show us that holiness is not sterile perfection, but intimate communion with Jesus. This total surrender to God results in Jesus becoming visible to the world.
The call for each of us is to receive Christ not as a possession to be held for ourselves, but as a gift to be shared. We are entrusted with His presence, not to hoard or hide, but to offer Him to the world, so that others, too, may encounter His love.
Unlike Judas, who handed Jesus over in betrayal to those who rejected Him, we are called to hand Him over in love. As adopted sons and daughters of the Father, we offer Christ to others not as a betrayal, but as a blessing so that through our lives, they might come to know Him. This is the pattern of Mary: she bore Christ in her womb, not to keep Him, but to give Him. First at Bethlehem, then throughout His public ministry, and finally at the Cross.
To be a Christian means carrying Christ within us so that others can see and encounter Him. We make Him present through the way we speak, through acts of compassion, through our willingness to sacrifice, and through the love we offer each day.
To be holy, then, is to echo Mary’s fiat in every season of life. Thanks be to God.
Maybe we can ask yourself today: In what areas of my life am I called to echo Mary’s openness to God? Where do I need to shift from magnifying myself to magnifying Christ? Who in my life needs to encounter Christ through my witness?
© 2025, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.