Mary the Great Believer

Mary is the great believer who humbly offered herself to God as an empty vessel for him to use in his mysterious plan. She did not try to live according to human calculation but put herself completely at the disposal of God's mysterious, incomprehensible design. All she wanted to be was the instrument and servant of the Word. Therein lies her true fame: that she remained a believer despite all the darkness and the inexplicable demands God made on her. She believed even in the face of certain incomprehensible facts…

Pope Benedict XVI from Dogma and Preaching (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger), quoted in Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI, p140