Mary the Sanctuary

Mary is the first altar, and therefore the first sanctuary, where we have been ransomed. We venerate this altar, this sanctuary, the place of our first salvation, and the wonderful temple in which Jesus, for nine months, fulfilled His law of love and devotion to God. Already in the womb of Mary, Jesus offered Himself to His Eternal Father in a spirit of adoration, in a spirit of obedience to His will, in a spirit of love for the Father and for the humanity He came to ransom. He offered himself in a spirit of self-giving, ready to accomplish all that the Father might ask of Him, and ready to give of Himself to poor humanity that they might dispose of Him according to their needs.
(Bishop Giaquinta, Program of Spiritual Life)