It is helpful to share an example from the garden. The pink gooseberry bush has small pink fruit that are delicious. However, no birds or other animals try to eat them  because of  sharp thorns that extend from the branches near the fruit. If a person were to pick the fruit, he or she would invariably prick their fingers. In the spiritual sense, when a soul Consecrates itself to Our Lady, this makes the harvesting of such fruit possible and even joyful. Our Lady helps one not to notice the prick of the fingers that comes from taking the fruit. Instead, the soul is so absorbed in the act of working in the vineyard of the Lord and harvesting that the pricks of the finger go almost unnoticed. Yes, there is pain, but the joy of gathering the harvest for Our Lord makes these efforts sweet. Indeed, those who may not have such a devotion to Our Lady may never be sent to harvest among thorns, but those who do have such a devotion and are able to do such work await great glory in Heaven for doing that which was, by earthly standards, more difficult.