Seven Virtues of Mary – Reflections with Scripture and the Prayer of Women of Faith - When Prayer Becomes Life

Reflections on the Seven Virtues of Mary, inspired by Scripture and the quotes of seven saints, serve as a supplement or a distinct way of praying, devotion, and meditation:

1. Faith – St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

2. Hope – Alicja Lenczewska

3. Love (Caritas) – Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth

4. Humility – St. Faustina Kowalska

5. Patience – St. Teresa of Ávila

6. Perseverance – St. Thérèse of Lisieux

7. Obedience – St. Hildegard of Bingen

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We form relationships in presence — in that time which is not measured (chronos), but lived (kairos), in being with ourselves, with another person, and with God.

What arises from prayer — the transformations, the enlightenment of the heart by God — manifests as virtues. They become a posture, a way of life.

This is how Mary lived. She was always in a state of grace, in the state of virtues — present, listening, treasuring everything in Her heart. Most of the time She spent away from the clamour of the world. She understood God’s work within Herself because She could order the external and emotional in silence, listening with the ears of the heart. With that heart, She heard every whisper of the Creator. Hope uplifted Her, love guided Her, and faith gave direction to Her gaze. She knew God through personal experience. One cannot explain to others the depth of such a meeting. One must enter it in kairos, which transforms the sensory into the spiritual and radiates outward, bearing fruit.

This is also how those who followed Mary’s footsteps lived. They did not create virtues themselves. They allowed God to shape their hearts and what He placed within them. That is why I want to pause at the seven virtues from the crown given by Mary — not as ideals to achieve, but as fruits of relationship: seven rays of one Light, which first ignite in the silence of the heart and then become visible in life.

 Reflections with Scripture and the Prayer of Women of Faith

🌷1. Faith

Mary believed even when she didn’t fully understand. Her fiat—“Let it be done unto me according to your word”—is the perfect example of faith in God’s mysterious will.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

In her "yes," Mary trusted God's plan without knowing the details. What areas of my life require this kind of trust?

— St. Edith Stein, The Science of the Cross

 🌷2. Hope

Mary stood by the cross in silent hope, believing in the promises of resurrection even amid darkness and death.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

Mary teaches me to hope not in outcomes, but in God Himself. Where is God inviting me to choose hope over despair?

— Alicja Lenczewska

 🌷3. Charity

Mary went in haste to help Elizabeth, putting love into action. Her whole life was a gift of self to God and others.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

Love for God and others begins with small acts of kindness. How can I offer charity like Mary today?

— Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth, Seven Ways of Holy Love (essence of her mystical description).

 🌷4. Humility

Though chosen to be the Mother of God, Mary called herself the “handmaid of the Lord.” She did not seek her own glory but pointed always to God.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

True humility is knowing who I am in God’s eyes—nothing more, nothing less. What does Mary’s humility teach me about my identity?

—St. Faustina Kowalska - Diary, 1306

 🌷5. Patience

Mary waited—during pregnancy, in exile, in Nazareth, and at the foot of the cross. Her patience was not passive, but full of quiet strength.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

Mary’s patience encourages me to stay rooted when I want to run. Where is God calling me to be still?

— St. Teresa of Ávila

 🌷6. Perseverance

Mary persevered in faith, even when she didn’t have all the answers—through confusion, loss, and pain.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

Perseverance is born from love and vision. What “race” am I tempted to abandon—and how does Mary inspire me to keep going?

— St. Thérèse of Lisieux

 🌷7. Obedience

Mary’s obedience was total, joyful, and free, not driven by fear, but rooted in love.

Bible verse:

Meditation:

Obedience is not submission to rules, but a response to a relationship. In what area of my life am I called to respond like Mary?

— from Ordo Virtutum (Hildegard of Bingen)

When Prayer Becomes Life

Each of these women of faith allowed God to shape her heart, and the virtues became their way of being. St. Edith Stein discovered in faith the direction and light for her life, as testified in her work The Science of the Cross.

Alicja Lenczewska allowed hope to shape her life. Her trust in God’s presence transformed each day into an experience of spiritual light, which she recorded in Świadectwo — a spiritual journal, and Słowo pouczenia — another collection of spiritual notes and guidance.

Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth made love complete self-giving, and her work The Seven Ways of Holy Love records a life fully devoted to God.

St. Faustina, through humility, opened her heart to grace, as seen in Her Diary, where daily communion with God becomes a source of spiritual life.

St. Teresa of Ávila taught patience in daily trials — in Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection. She shows how perseverance in prayer leads to the depth of the spirit. St.

Thérèse of Lisieux discovered perseverance in small daily choices, and Her Story of a Soul bears witness to life in God’s presence through ordinary acts of love.

Finally, obedience in St. Hildegard of Bingen allowed her to fully entrust herself to God’s will, as reflected in the Book of Divine Works / Liber Divinorum Operum, showing how prayer and obedience become a way of life. Her visions and writings in Scivias show how trust in God’s presence can transform everyday life.

Their lives show that prayer is not just words, but a whole way of being — daily surrender, abiding in God’s presence, and faithfulness to His guidance. Like Mary, they made the virtues their life, allowing them to radiate into the world and touch others with their presence, love, and the light that arose in their hearts.

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