Mary of the Immaculate Conception

WE once again celebrate this Solemnity of the Immaculate

Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8, a holy day of

obligation in our country. With it we are reminded of the great

privilege given to one of us, Mary of Nazareth, who was chosen many

centuries ago to be the mother of the Son of God who had to become man

to save us and to bring us back to God, our Father.

             With this celebration, we are told that Mary was conceived

without original sin. This is how the Eucharistic preface of the

solemnity explains the reason why.

  

            “For you (referring to God the Father) preserved the Most

Blessed Virgin Mary from all stain of original sin, so that in her,

endowed with the rich fullness of your grace, you might prepare a

worthy Mother for your Son and signify the beginning of the Church,

his beautiful Bride without spot or wrinkle.”

             The Eucharistic preface continues: “She, the most pure

Virgin, was to bring forth a Son, the innocent Lamb who would wipe

away our offenses; you placed her above all others to be for your

people an advocate of grace and a model of holiness.”

  

            It’s good that we go through these words, this prayer,

slowly if only to savor the tremendous, awesome truth of faith that

should richly nourish our souls and inspire us to pursue holiness

wholeheartedly no matter what.

  

            This truth about Mary in relation to us should fill us

with joy and a great sense of confidence that what seems to us to be

impossible to reach and attain can indeed be achieved.

  

            We may not have the privilege that Mary had of being

conceived sinless and remaining sinless all throughout our life, but

it’s good to look at Mary, now our Mother as given to us by Christ

himself, so we can be inspired and consoled to pursue holiness in our

vale of tears here on earth.

   

            To be sure, Mary, though conceived without sin and sinless

all throughout her life, was exposed to all the temptations and the

sins of men, because she was and continues to be most close and most

identified with her Son who bore all the sins of men.

  

            Her sinlessness was not one of a blissful ignorance of the

reality of sin. Her closeness and complete identification with her Son

made her know the very core of evil and sin in the world. But like her

Son too, she knew how to handle all those. And that is by suffering

the way Christ suffered for our sins. That’s why she’s referred to

also the Mother of Sorrows.

  

            It’s true that she was not crucified the way Christ was

crucified. But her suffering perfectly mirrored the extreme suffering

of her Son. In fact, we can consider her suffering a very heroic since

it was experienced in a quiet and hidden way.

  

            While all of us who try to follow Christ can be regarded

as co-redeemers with Christ in the sense that we also have to suffer,

die and resurrect with Christ, Mary can be described as the

co-redemptrix par excellence.

  

            Deepening our devotion to Mary of the Immaculate

Conception can only help us to effectively handle the reality of evil

and sin in this world as we pursue the real and ultimate purpose of

our life. And that is to be holy as our heavenly Father is holy.

  

            Deepening our Marian devotion should be a task that we

carry out daily. We lose nothing. Rather we have everything to gain!