Hail Mary, Full of Grace

I’ve written a couple of posts on the topic of Grace and I thought that I would define exactly what it is that Grace means to me. I was raised Catholic and for those others of you that were, the title of this post will ring very familiar to you. It’s the beginning of prayer that Catholics say around the rosary. The first line of it is, “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”

Free and Unmerited Favor

If you look up the word Grace in the dictionary you’ll find that most of the definitions are religious in nature. “The free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.”

Favor of God seems to be a prevailing meaning of the word. I like that definition. I’m a believer in God or Spirit or the Universe or whatever it is that you want to call That Which Has Always Been and is the Creator of All.

I love the idea that we all have access to FREE and UNMERITED favor. And I believe it wholeheartedly. We don’t have to do a single thing to be worthy of favor or blessings. We don’t have to earn them. We just have to be and that is enough. Do you believe that? I sure do.

But Grace is not only for believers in God or Christians. Grace is for everyone. Grace, by definition is not something you have to earn, which means you don’t need to believe IN anything in particular in order for it to be available to you. It’s that whole “just be and that’s enough” thing. Grace and blessings are available to everyone.

Tender Mercy

My definition of Grace as I apply to myself and others is a Tender Mercy.

Offering Grace both to myself and others is a huge part of my life. I have called myself before the “Queen of Self Care” and to me that’s what offering myself Grace means. How can I be kind to myself right now? Especially when I’m beating myself up over something, which I am wont to do. How can I offer myself tender mercy? How can I show myself kindness? Grace?

Offering Grace to someone else is all about extending myself in love and kindness to make someone else’s life better. It can be as simple as telling someone what I find amazing or beautiful about them. Or it can be giving people my time and attention when they need it. It's one of my favorite things to do. 

Hail All of Us, full of Grace. Because we are. Filled with blessings and filled with unmerited love.


This is the third of 31 {or more} posts that I'll be writing on the topic of Grace. I'll be writing about what Grace means to me and the ways in which I've found it in my life. Please leave a reply any time about what Grace means to you or if you have any questions for me about Grace.

Laurie Jacobsen

Squarespace Web and Graphic Designer, Business Mentor & Artist.

https://lauriejacobsen.com
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