"My eyes, I have filled with Jesus upon Whom I have fixed them at the Elevation of the Host at Holy Mass and I do not wish to replace Him with any other image." St. Colette

If the reformer of the Poor Clares could communicate such an ardent devotion to Jesus, then what would be the thoughts and conduct of the Blessed Virgin Mary? What were her eyes filled with? From the moment of her Immaculate Conception, she was preserved from original sin and its consequences. Her reason was untainted by sin. St. John Eudes in The Wondrous Childhood assures us that she could recognize even in her earliest days that the Almighty had done great things for her.

She saw the Lord as a baby. She saw Him as a youth. She saw Him every day from infancy to manhood and stood heroically at the foot of the Cross as He died. She filled her eyes with Him and the Holy Will of God. She saw Him in prophecy as she waited for the Messiah. She saw Him in the Annunciation when She conformed herself to the Holy Will of God. Our Lady saw Him in the Resurrection. She saw Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

Is this why in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
“her eyes are cast down in holy modesty”?

She embodies all that is good, true and beautiful. To imitate Our Lady, to gain the grace of Her eyes, one has to practice ascetic Marianization. One has to say ‘no’ to things Our Lady would say 'no' to. But, what a beautiful way to be an ascetic, imitating Our Lady! Marian asceticism* isn’t harsh and puritanical. It is good, holy and pleasing. It is especially pleasing to God because Marian asceticism is most humble. We do not choose mortifications of our own; we follow the lead and example of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“He who practices virtue and speaks honestly,
Who spurns what is gained by oppression,
Brushing his hands
Free of contact with a bribe,
Stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed,
Closing his eyes lest he look on evil
He shall dwell on the heights,
His stronghold shall be the rocky fastness,
His food and drink
In steady supply.”
Isaiah 33:15-16

To live what St. Colette speaks of, to imitate Our Lady’s modesty of eyes, one has to be discerning in what goes before the eyes. Do we flip through any magazine? Do we turn our eyes from the supermarket shelves? The billboards? Commercials? Joggers? Bicyclists? Summer “clothing”? This is Marian mortification – training in virtue, in order to become like the Blessed Virgin Mary.

*Marian Asceticism: denying yourself something in order to be more like Mary.