Rats, I'm a day late.
8 December 2004
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=1568
A Glorious Sesquicentenary: The Immaculate
Conception12/2/2004 - 5:33 AM PST
+J.M.J.+
by Monsignor Charles M. Mangan
©Catholic Online 2004
On September 8, 1953, Pope Pius XII (1939-1958 ) issued his
Encyclical Fulgens Corona (On the Marian Year and the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception). The Holy Fathers letter not only
anticipated the upcoming Marian Year (December 8, 1953-December 8,
1954) but also commemorated the first centenary of the solemn
definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
Each year on December 8, the Church liturgically celebrates this
Dogma of the Catholic Faith. As this Solemnity approaches this
yearthe 150th Anniversary of the definition of the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception by Pope Blessed Pius IX (1846-1878 ) on
December 8, 1854, might we learn something from the teaching of
Pope Pius XII?
The foundation of the dogma is located in Genesis 3:15 (I will
put enmity between you and the woman and her offspring and yours)
and Saint Luke 1:28 (Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you).
The Vicar of Christ contended that if at any time the Blessed Mary
were destitute of Divine grace even for the briefest moment,
because of contamination in her conception by the hereditary stain
of sin, there would not have come between her and the serpent that
perpetual enmity spoken of from earliest tradition down to the time
of the solemn definition of the Immaculate Conception, but rather a
certain subjection. (#7)
It is no wonder, then, that because of their wholehearted
acceptance of this doctrine, the Fathers of the Church lavished
praise upon the Ever-Virgin, using an array of vivid and
informative titles to describe the sinless Mother of God: Lily
Among Thorns; Land Wholly Intact; Immaculate; Always Blessed; Free
From All Contagion Of Sin; Unfading Tree; Fountain Ever Clear; The
One And Only Daughter Not Of Death But Of Life; Offspring Not Of
Wrath But Of Grace; Unimpaired And Ever Unimpaired; Holy And
Stranger To All Stain Of Sin; More Comely Than Comeliness Itself;
More Holy Than Sanctity; Alone, Holy Who, Excepting God, Is Higher
Than All; By Nature More Beautiful, More Graceful And More Holy
Than The Cherubim And Seraphim Themselves And The Whole Hosts Of
Angels. (#9)
It only seems right and just that the Savior of the universe would
have for His Mother one who was entirely pure and devoid of sin.
Jesus really redeemed His Mother, since it was by virtue of His
merits that she was preserved by God immune from all stain of
Original Sin. (#14)
No one may lawfully assert that devotion to Mary takes away from
the adoration we owe the Most Blessed Trinity. Rather, any honor
and veneration which we may give to our Heavenly Mother undoubtedly
rebounds to the glory of her Divine Son, not only because all
graces and all gifts, even the highest, flow from Him as from their
primary source, but also because The glory of children are their
fathers [Book of Proverbs, XVII6] (#15).
As Our Blessed Lady told Saint Bernardette Soubirous within the
cave at Massabielle near Lourdes, France in 1858, Mary is the
Immaculate Conception. The Almighty never allowed the disobedience
of Adam and Eve to disgrace her immortal soul. The universal Church
fittingly honors her for her singular role in our redemption and,
especially on December 8, begs her earnest prayers on our
behalf.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to
thee!