During her life on earth Mary listened to the voice of God that called her into solitude; from her earliest years she left her father's house and consecrated herself to God in the temple. Nothing could hold her back, not even youthfulness nor bodily weakness, nor love of parents.
Once she became an inhabitant of the temple, Mary fulfilled in the best way possible the duties entrusted to her according to her strength and age. She used her spare time for prayer and meditation; hence, she prepared herself for the very special graces to be bestowed on her by God.
It is a great self-deception to think that young people are not capable of virtue. Mary and the Saints have illustrated how profitable it is for someone to have carried the yoke of the Lord from his/her youthful age.
Do we really reverence God when we give him only the shabby remnants of a life that was given us to spend entirely in His service?
What sort of sacrifice are we offering God when we wait to commit ourselves to His service until when we neither have strength nor means left?
Remember the Parable of the Ten Virgins: Master, Master, cried the foolish virgins, open the door for us! But they came too late and knocked on the door in vain (Matthew 25:11-13).
I will never offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that cost me nothing (2 Samuel 24:24; 1 Chronicles 21:24).
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