Mary was necessary to God in the Incarnation of the Word

Words to ponder on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord:

It was through Mary that God the Father gave His Only-begotten to the world. Whatever sighs the patriarchs may have sent forth, whatever prayers the prophets and the saints of the Old Law may have offered up to obtain this treasure for full four thousand years, it was only Mary who merited it and found grace before God (Luke 1:30) by the force of her prayers and the eminence of her virtues. The world was unworthy, says St. Augustine, to receive the Son of God directly from the Father's hands. He gave Him to Mary in order that the world might receive Him through her.

The Son of God became God for our salvation; but it was in Mary and by Mary. God the Holy Ghost formed Jesus Christ in Mary; but it was only after having asked her consent by one of the first ministers of His court. 

God the Father communicated to Mary His fruitfulness, inasmuch as a mere creature was capable of it, in order that He might give her the power to produce His Son and all the members of His Mystical Body.

God the Son descended into her virginal womb as the new Adam into His terrestrial paradise, to take His pleasure there, and to work in secret marvels of grace. 

God made man found His liberty in seeing Himself imprisoned in her womb. He made His omnipotence shine forth in letting Himself be carried by that humble maiden. He found His glory and His Father's in hiding Hs splendors from all creatures here below, and revealing them to Mary only. He glorified His independence and His majesty in depending on that sweet Virgin in His conception, in His birth, in His presentation in the temple, in His hidden life for thirty years, and even in His death, where she was to be present in order that He might make with her but one same sacrifice and be immolated to the Eternal Father by her consent, just as Isaac of old was offered by Abraham's consent to the will of God. It is she who nourished Him, supported Him, brought Him up and then sacrificed Him for us.

~St. Louis De Montfort, True Devotion to Mary 

Moved to a filial love of Mary...

"Let the faithful remember that true devotion consists neither in sterile or transitory affection, nor in a certain vain credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the mother of God, and are moved to a filial love towards our mother and the imitation of her virtues."~from The Constitution on the Church of Vatican Council II

Through Mary's intercession...

"Mary is the mediatrix of grace...whatever graces we receive, they come to us through her intercession."~St. Alphonsus Liguori

She mothered Jesus and really wants to mother us too!

"A faithful mother learns to call upon the Blessed Mother often. She mothered Jesus and really wants to mother us too! She was human like us and although she was the mother of Jesus, she also needed to be faithful with her prayer life. She experienced the joys and sorrows of motherhood like any other mother, so she knows about prayer and about the care of the family. She can teach us to find a balance between the two to bring us peace in our vocation. Mary can bring us closer to her Son, Jesus. Let's ask her!"~Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

From Grace Cafe: Serving Up Recipes for Faithful Mothering by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

Mary works miracles!

"Several years ago I was in the hospital, recovering from a procedure following a miscarriage. I remember praying the rosary as I struggled to come out of the anesthesia. I murmured a few Hail Marys, drifted away, prayed a few more and sank back into sleep. By all outward accounts it couldn't have looked like fruitful prayer time. But I remember how powerfully connected to Mary I felt.

I was offering those prayers for my husband, who was still, by his own admission, stubbornly outside the Catholic faith. I asked Mary to pray for me, that I could peacefully accept God's will for the baby we'd just lost, and I offered my suffering for Tom's conversion. My prayers were mumbled and hazy, but the meditation in my heart was clear.

Miraculously, within a couple months, my husband made the decision to be received into the Catholic Church. Mary had gathered my pain and my plea and gently deposited them at the Lord's feet, and he graciously answered my prayers. The Blessed Mother always leads us to her Son."~Karen Edmisten

From The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten 

A sign of mercy and tenderness...

"The face of Christ's Mother will continue to be a sign of God's mercy and tenderness for humanity."~Bl. Pope John Paul II

The charity of the Virgin

"There is no one who prays that does not receive graces through the charity of the Virgin"~St. Bridget of Sweden

Her purpose it to unite us to Jesus

"The Blessed Virgin is the means used by Christ to come to us; and she is also the means we must use to go to Him...Her master purpose is to unite us with Jesus Christ her Son,"~St. Louis De Montfort