On the way home from piano lessons one day, my girls and I got into a discussion of prayer and grace. We were talking about why we pray, how prayer helps us. I told them to imagine that their soul is a room, and when we pray it's like we are opening wide the door to the room so that sunlight-God's grace-comes flooding in. It bathes the whole room with light. When we neglect our prayers, it's like we are choosing to keep the door shut, the room in darkness. The more we pray, the wider open the door, the more Grace-filled and bright the room.
They were really struck by the word picture, so I kept elaborating. When we pray for other people, it's like we are helping nudge open their doors so that grace can pour in. Everyone has free will, so everyone can choose to let that door slam back shut. But when we pray for others, we're helping open the door to grace in their room. (And because we are praying, our own doors are open wide.)
Beanie said, "And when we sin, it's like nailing shut the door!"
I said, "You're right! That's what mortal sin does. It nails shut the door so the light can't get in. But do you know what removes the nails?" And so we talked about the Sacrament of Penance, and how that's like prying out the nails in the door and opening the door as wide as it can go. And how God's grace is more than just light-it's LIVING light. And when we receive Communion, that's like having that living light come right into the room (not only shining through the doorway), as if a sunbeam could float right into the room and become an orb of light in your ceiling. (Perhaps that strains the metaphor a bit, but the girls saw what I meant.)
Then we talked about what happens when we ask saints to pray or intercede for us-how they hold open our doors for us. I said that sometimes you might feel too tired, or too scared, or too angry, or too sad to open up your own door. So you ask your Guardian Angel or a favorite saint to pray for you, and they hold open your door for you.
And then suddenly I GOT it. "Oh!" I said. "And do you know what the Blessed Mother does? If we ask her, SHE will become the door to our room! She can be the door who is always open to God's grace! The more we turn to her, the more we talk to her, the more she can fulfill this role-helping us keep our souls wide open for God's grace to pour in and bathe us with living, healing, loving light. Like a door, she is a humble part of the room. When a door opens, it moves unobtrusively aside, so that we hardly notice it-and yet without the door, there is no going in or out.
Consecrating yourself to Mary is like asking her to be your door. God allows us the choice of whether to do that or not; we can still have a door that opens wide, even if we know nothing about Mary; but how much better it is to have her as your door! My own door is such a stubborn, scraping, heavy thing, always wanting to swing back shut, badly in need of oil, and with a tendency to warp in bad weather!
I am really beginning to understand it now. (And probably my understanding is only the merest glimmer of true understanding, but it's something, it's progress.)
This all arose from a conversation about how Our Lady of Fatima asked us to pray the rosary every day.
