Today we celebrate of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On this day, we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived without sin. The Immaculate Conception means that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from original sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. God made Mary a pure vessel to carry His Beloved Jesus in her womb.
Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen year-old girl in Lourdes, France on February 11, 1858. The Blessed Mother told Bernadette to drink from the fountain within the grotto. This fountain was unknown and there was no sign of its location. Bernadette scratched the ground and a spring gushed forth from the spot from which she was asked to build a chapel. This is where the Blessed Mother proclaimed. "I am the Immaculate Conception." Ever since Our Lady appeared to Bernadette, Lourdes has been a site for countless miracles.
Today is the Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America. May Our Lady bless our country and protect and guide us as we pray for the protection and sanctity of all Life, especially for life in the womb, for the restoration of the sanctity of Marriage and for the protection of Religious Freedom in our beloved country.
Christ is the "new Adam". The Church Fathers, Saint Justin in 150 AD and Saint Irenaeus 180 AD, saw Mary as the "new Eve". Mary humbly obeyed God; Eve disobeyed. The Church Fathers also called Mary the "new ark of the covenant" and theotokos, God-bearer. From these titles came the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception and her sinlessness unfolded. Saint Ephrem, the Syrian, in 373AD spoke of Mary as without stain or blemish, calling her "all pure, all immaculate, all stainless, all undefiled, all incorrupt, all inviolate." Saint Augustine left open the possibility of Mary's sinlessness, using language similar to the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
From the Diary of Saint Faustina 564
On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, during Holy Mass, I heard the rustling of garments and saw the most holy Mother of God in a most beautiful radiance. Her white garment was girdles with a blue sash. She said to me, "You give Me great joy when you adore The Most Holy Trinity for the graces and privileges which were accorded Me."
Heavenly Father, You prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy Mother of your Son. You kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us, by her prayers, to live in Your Presence without sin. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
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