"Our Lord Jesus Christ is the glorious Word of the Father, so holy and exalted, Whose coming the Father made known by St. Gabriel the Archangel to the glorious and blessed Virgin May, in whose womb He took on our weak human nature.  He was rich beyond measure and yet He and His holy Mother chose poverty.” 

Letter to All the Faithful by St. Francis

According to the exhortation of our Holy Father, St. Francis, we keep the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary ever before our eyes.  Because she is the Virgin made Church, we hold her in highest veneration and imitate her as the handmaid of the Lord.