I am thinking of her today on a small donkey riding to Bethlehem.
Mary was on the same type of animal her Son would be riding into Jerusalem in 33 years. This ride would start His Passion Week.
Mary's ride on the 93 mile road to Bethlehem from Nazareth, with the Baby in the womb, and with Joseph at her side was a time of suffering.
Mary would have experienced the cold and wet of winter. It may have been raining or sleeting the entire four day journey. The nights would have been very cold and the married couple would have had to wear woolens-maybe socks and underthings-to keep warm. They slept outside next to the donkey.
Joseph must have felt terrible that his beloved wife, so good, so pure, so perfect, had to endure this journey.
It would not be the last journey, either.
As a very pregnant woman, Mary would have experienced discomfort. This is her joining in the suffering of her Son, Jesus. This is her sharing in the salvation of all. This is Mary, Co-Redemptorix and Mediatrix of All Grace, on a donkey, in the cold, going somewhere she did not know to have the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
She had the quiet joy of an expectant mother, but she also had peace and pain at the same time. This is the way of the saints, and she is the greatest one. Mary was pure, so did not need purification, but she shared in her Son's salvific role.
Mary knew Who her Son Is. She knew He Is God. She, the Bride, the Daughter, the Theotokos, knew Who He Is and who she is.
That made the journey all the more painful.
The Sorrowful Mother on the way to Bethlehem....let us ask her intercession today for all our needs.
Our Lady of Sorrow, pray for us.