In the final stretch of pregnancy, everything slows down and intensifies. Time feels sacred but stretched. The days are physically heavy, emotionally charged, and spiritually alive. For Our Lady, this wasn’t just the natural rhythm of impending motherhood – it was the culmination of divine trust.

As we journey through Advent, preparing to welcome Christ anew into our hearts and homes, Mary invites us to see these weeks not as a countdown to Christmas but as a sacred season of waiting, surrender, and trust.

She Trusted Without a Plan

Mary didn’t have a birth plan. She didn’t have a crib or a nursery. She didn’t even know where she would give birth. Yet her trust in the Father was unwavering. She set out on a dusty road to Bethlehem – nine months pregnant – not knowing where she would sleep or if her child would be born in safety. She trusted that God would provide, even when there was no room in the inn.

For us, Advent often brings stress, busyness, and the pressure of perfection. Mary reminds us that true preparation is spiritual. That peace isn’t found in a flawless holiday, but in a faithful heart. She didn’t prepare by controlling everything. She prepared by letting go.

She Carried Him in Hiddenness

In those last weeks, no one could see Jesus; only Mary and Joseph knew He was there. She carried Him in the quiet, in the unseen, in the mystery of her womb.

How often do we feel like our spiritual life is hidden or insignificant? Mary shows us that the most profound work often happens in silence. In the waiting. In the stretching. In the things no one else sees.

As we carry our own hopes, prayers, and unanswered questions this Advent, Mary reminds us that hiddenness is not the absence of holiness – it is often the soil in which it grows.

She Let Love Lead

Mary didn’t know what her yes would cost, but she remained faithful. She didn’t know how it would all unfold, but she didn’t retract her fiat. She let love lead her. And love led her to Bethlehem.

Advent is our opportunity to follow that same love. To trust God not only in the big miracles but in the daily sacrifices. To walk toward Christmas not in a frenzy of tasks, but in the stillness of trust.

Let this Advent be like Mary’s. Slow. Sacred. Steeped in trust. Let us prepare not only our homes, but our hearts, to receive Christ again with faith as deep and surrender as pure as hers.