In the Prayer “Hail, Holy Queen,” We Call Mary “Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope.” Is This Proper?

How often have we heard people refer to their children as their life? We are not inclined to take this literally. It doesn’t mean that their children have taken the place of God in their lives. It simply expresses how important their children are to them.

So with Mary. She is special but not because she has any super power of her own. She is our life because she is the channel the Father chose to bring us her Son. She is our sweetness and our hope for the same reason. We love her so much because she is God’s Mother. Such consideration of Mary does not diminish the reality of who her Son is; rather, it magnifies it. She is special because of how much more special he is. Or do we think that he doesn’t deserve a mother who could be our life, our sweetness, and our hope? Her soul and everything about her magnifies the Lord.