08/07/2025
The Fast of St. Mary: A Path to Deeper Faith and Bravery
August 7 marks the beginning of the Fast of St. Mary—a two-week period of fasting that prepares us for the Feast of the Assumption on August 22. For Ethiopians, St. Mary holds immense significance. Everyone, especially our children fast as an expression of devotion and gratitude for her intercession, often in fulfillment of a a vowed offering. In fact, we’ve heard that in Ethiopia, even people of other faiths have been known to observe this fast.
St. Mary is a beloved patron saint for many. I remember my confession father used to say back in our college days, “She’s good with the graders.”
A Complicated Relationship
Our own relationship with St. Mary, however, has been… complicated. She is always faithful, holy, patient, and enduring—and we are not. We’ve been stubborn, rebellious, and honestly, a little spoiled for as long as we can remember. If St. Mary is the model Christian—the image we’re all called to reflect—then the path from where we are to where she is can feel impossibly long.
Even during our first childbirth, when we found ourselves praying to her, we felt an odd distance between us. She, the young girl in the manger, and my wife, lying in a modern hospital bed with doctors, nurses, and an adjustable mattress—it all felt worlds apart.
But now, with three children and nearly 26 years of marriage behind us, we’re beginning to find points of connection between us. That gut-wrenching panic when you think your child is lost, only to realize she stayed behind confidently holding court. The calm certainty with which a mother can ask her son to step in and resolve someone else’s crisis. These are deeply human moments we imagine she knew well.
St. Mary lived a real life—not a fairy tale. A life where an angel asked her to embrace an unimaginable path. A death in which she was carried away by angels. But in between, there was real struggle—dirt and blood, sacrifice and pain.
The very fabric of earthly existence. The same kind we all experience—only in her case, marked by extraordinary faith and unshakable courage. The kind of faith and courage that God calls each of us to live out.
For us, this is what the Fast of St. Mary is truly about: cultivating the spirit that allows us to live an extraordinary life in Christ.
May Her prayers be with us!
