Learning from Mary

Our devotion to Mary forms an essential component of the Comboni Missionary vocation. This devotion is born of contemplation—we look first at what the Lord has done in her, touching and regenerating her with his grace and making her an icon of all humanity loved and saved, and therefore a sign of hope for all of us. At the same time, we see in Mary the full availability to be shaped by the merciful love of God each day of her life, thus becoming the first missionary.

Mary stands as a challenge to all of us, a constant invitation to start each day on a journey of conversion to the ways of God in our missionary service, so that his redemptive grace may freely act in us and in history in order to lead it slowly but constantly to its fulfillment.

Her example teaches us that transformation is not a single moment but a daily choice—a continuous yes to being molded by love. In her we learn that true mission begins not with our own strength or plans, but with receptivity to grace. She shows us that the greatest power lies not in controlling outcomes but in faithful presence, and that our surrender to God's purposes makes us instruments of hope for a world in need of redemption. Like Mary, we are called not to perfection but to availability, trusting that what God begins in willing hearts, He will bring to completion.