The Immaculate Conception

I want to try to connect St. Louis de Montfort’s week with our upcoming readings from St. Maximilian Kolbe.  

St. Louis de Montfort encourages us to give Mary EVERYTHING, especially our merits that we win from our sacrifices and our specific prayers.  At first, we are hesitant to do this, right?  How many of us read this and was taken aback?  I WAS! But I LOVE the analogy St. Louis gives us. He says, “It is as if a peasant, wishing to gain the friendship and benevolence of the king, went to the queen and presented her with a fruit which was his whole revenue, in order that she might present it to the king.  The queen, having accepted the poor little offering from the peasant, would place the fruit on a large and beautiful dish of gold, and so, on the peasant’s behalf, would present it to the king.  Then the fruit, however unworthy in itself to be a king’s present, would become worthy of his majesty because of the dish of gold on which it rested and the person who presented.”

Mary is never outdone in generosity.  When we give her our trust and our whole heart, she is going to take care of us and our loved ones, well beyond anything that we can imagine or pray for!

But I want to focus on this point that Mary is able to take the good things we give them and make them more perfect.  What is it about Mary that makes her able to perfect our offerings? SHE IS FREE FROM SIN.  Her soul is pure, beautiful, and free from the stain of sin; free from the stain of selfish motives, half-hearted prayers.  So, when she presents us and our intentions to God, God is pleased with them because he is pleased by her humility.  She is free from sin because of her Immaculate Conception.  Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin.  Once again, Mary is free from sin.  She never sinned.  But she was still a creature, subject to emotions and temptations, the difference is she just always chose to follow God perfectly.

Christ’s work of Salvation, the work that he performed through the events of Holy Week, was all a free gift bestowed to the whole human race. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and the possibility of heaven had been closed to humans.  Sin brought death; so Christ comes to give us the GIFT of himself so to conquer sin and death, making it possible for us to be united back to the Father.  

If Christ wants to bestow gifts upon us, how much more does he wish to bestow gifts on His Most Blessed Mother?  That is the nature of being a son - to honor your parents and gift them with your love and affection.  

This union between Christ and Mary is similar, but also very different from the average mother/son union.  Christ, being God, dwelling in existence in the Trinity before He became flesh, had the unique ability to CHOOSE his Mother; to choose the woman who would bear Him to the world.  

You see, the Son existed before His mother and he was able to choose the mother that would be best for him.  Further, he was able to bestow on this woman all the gifts he would wish as well; there is no limit to God’s giving power.  

One of the gifts that Christ gave to his Mother was at her conception: it is known as the Immaculate Conception.  Many people think this refers to Christ’s conception in the Virginal womb of Mary; but indeed it refers to MARY who was conceived naturally by her parents, Anne and Joachim.  Christ chose to give his gift of salvation to His mother at the moment of her conception - she was “conceived without sin”.  When her soul was created, Christ, in union with His Heavenly Father, kept her free from Original Sin (the sin that we inherit from Adam and Eve; all humans are born with this sin on our soul).  

This teaching of the Church, that Mary was conceived without sin, also applies to her whole life.  She was sin-less. In the gospel account of the Angel appearing to Mary and announcing that she would conceive a son , the Angel first greets Mary as “full of grace.”  “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). These words refer to an abundance of grace that is apart of Mary’s very nature.  A theologian and professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mark Miravalle, says, “It is true that no person with a fallen nature could possess a fullness of grace, a perfection of grace appropriate only for the woman who was to give God the son an identical, immaculate human nature” (emphasis added).  

With the Original sin by Adam and Eve, our human nature tends toward sin. That first sin also lost grace, which was then won for us on the Cross by Jesus.  He opened up the floodgates of grace, which is help from God to be like Him. Sin and grace do not exist with each other; when we sin, we lose grace.  St. Paul says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound? By no means!...For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:1-2, 14). So if Mary is full of grace, then there is no room in her soul for sin. This points to, really, the great mercy of God!  In her Magnificat, Mary’s says, “My soul rejoices in God my Savior”.  “To save men from their sins is a great mercy, but to save one woman from ever sinning is an even greater mercy.  Not only that, sinless as she was...she was still a member of a fallen race, a race to which heaven was closed.  The Savior’ redeeming act opened heaven up for her as well.” (F.J. Sheed).  

Mary was kept sinless so that Christ could dwell in her.  She was the first Tabernacle, destined to hold God-made man.  And the Holy Spirit, also God, would overshadow her and impregnate her.  She was a worthy dwelling for both the Christ and the Spirit as she was free from sin.  

Fr. Gaitley briefly mentions that Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France and proclaimed “I am the Immaculate Conception”.  I want to give you the brief story of St. Bernadette and this apparition. Bernadette Soubirous was a poor 14 year old girl in France when she received visions of a woman dressed in white with a blue sash around her waist.  This woman spoke of the importance of prayer for sinner and penitence of behalf of sinners.  The townspeople thought Bernadette was crazy; even her parish priest had a hard time believing her.  Eventually, this woman appeared to Bernadette and asked her to unearth a very live, powerful spring underneath the Earth.  Still, people thought she was mad. At one apparition in particular, Bernadette asked this woman her name (b/c that’s how poor and uneducated Bernadette was, she didn’t even know to think it was Mary) and that is when the woman said, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. This teaching was declared by the Pope only four years earlier, so there is no way that Bernadette could’ve known the depth and significance of Mary being referred to as the Immaculate Conception.  When she took this to her parish priest, he wept, because he knew, he had no doubt, that it was Mary.

So this is where St. Maximilian is coming from - this is a very new teaching to the Church in his time, and it blows him away to think about it and dwell upon it.  He committed his whole life to meditating on it.  

Why didn’t Mary refer to herself as having been immaculately conceived? This is where he realized there is a CREATED Immaculate Conception - Mary, and an UNCREATED Immaculate conception - The Holy Spirit.  

The Holy Spirit is God - He is one of the three persons of God.  The Trinity is God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the love that is shared between the Father and the Son.  In our Creed that we say at Mass every week, we refer to Jesus as, “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.”  The word “begotten” means “to come forth from”, but it does not mean the same as “created.”  Jesus comes forth from the Father in an uncreated way.  To say someone/thing was created, denotes they were once not existing; that they had a beginning. God is ETERNAL, with no beginning and no end.   “Consubstantial” means, “with the same substance”, so Jesus is one in substance with the Father. We can say the same thing about the Holy Spirit, “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father AND  the Son”. This is why the Holy Spirit is the UNCREATED Immaculate Conception.

And Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit - so just as a woman identifies so much with her husband and their union, she takes on his name, so Mary takes on the name of the Holy Spirit.  Mary and the Holy Spirit are ONE, in union with each other in a non-sexual way, to bring forth Jesus to this world.  

 

“If among human beings the wife takes the name of her husband because she belongs to him, is one with him, becomes equal to him and is, with him, the source of new life, with how much greater reason should the name of the Holy Spirit, who is the divine Immaculate Conception, be used as the name of her in whom he lives as uncreated Love, the principle of life in the whole supernatural order of grace?”  (Maximilian Kolbe).  So, this is why Mary declares herself as THE Immaculate Conception.

Let us thank Christ for having offered His Mother such a sweet gift of Salvation, and thank Mary for having said “Yes” with her full will and consent, to become the Spouse of the Spirit, so that, now, she may present us before God as a worthy offering!

 

Ponder in our hearts

I only have a few things to share this week since we've been reading for only 3 days.  I want to point out some things from the introduction.

First, my FAVORITE scripture verse (and I really do mean that this is my favorite) is Luke 2:19, "Mary kept all these things pondering them in her heart."  Why is this my favorite scripture verse?  Because in this verse, my heart falls in love with Mary as a model of Christian prayer.  Many big events happen in Mary's life.  Have you ever stopped to think about how you would react to some of the things that go on in her life?  Many people say amazing things about her and to her.  Some sad things (Simeon's prophecy that her heart would be "pierced" in the future).  She has some very stressful things happen to her - finding a place to give birth, fleeing to Egypt, losing and finding Jesus in the Temple, etc.  When stressful things happen in my life, I am very quick to act out in anger, or to come to a quick conclusion about myself or God.  Sometimes, I even make very poor decisions "in the heat of the moment".  Oh how I wish I would "ponder" the events of my life in my heart!  How I wish I would "ponder" what my Father in heaven is doing in each moment, before I give into emotions and fears! 

As we journey these 33 days, Fr. Gaitley, and I myself, am encouraging you to ponder these things we are learning about Mary and Jesus.  Ponder how they may be applied to your daily life.  Ponder God's magnificent works in the history of salvation; in the history of your own personal salvation.  Mary's "Magnificat" in Luke 1:46-55 flows very naturally from her heart of prayer.  It certainly is obvious that she knows God's character very well as she proclaims his goodness and his works of mercy.  So, ponder these readings as you go through your day and try to have a constant mental prayer over these next few weeks.

Second, Fr. Gaitley makes the point to not get discouraged and give up. DO NOT GIVE UP!  This is what the Enemy wants.  Satain DESPISES Mary because of her humility and power.  He does not want to see you grow close to her because he knows you will grow in holiness as a result.  If you get a few days behind, get back up, persevere.  I cannot stress how many graces you will receive if you GET BACK UP.  I first consecrated myself to Jesus and Mary 10 years ago, and every year I have tried to re-new the consecration.  Some years I have gotten through it and other years I have not finished and not renewed my consecration.  I missed out on so much grace because I did not finish my preparation and re-consecration.  Every year that I do do it, I see the difference.  And, it is no coincidence that I always finished my preparation and re-consecration when I did in a group or at least along with my husband.  If you miss a Tuesday meeting, THAT IS OK.  Just continue reading and praying.  It is so important to your life of holiness that you have Mary by your side!  I cannot stress this enough! 

Lastly, I want to share how my consecration has had an impact in my own life.  Like I said, I consecrated myself to Mary 10 years ago, my freshmen year of college.  As I learned about Mary, I found a very new excitement in my faith.  I couldn't get enough of learning about Mary!  The college I attended, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, really helped foster this.  I joined a Marian Household called Theotokos, which is similar to a sorority, but it is centered around a Christian covenant where we promise to live a certain lifestyle and spirituality and we commit to prayer commitments as sisters.  My household, Theotokos (which is a title for Mary which means, "Mother of God") centered around Mary as the bearer of Jesus to the world and we did the consecration twice a year as a community.  These beautiful women inspired me to grow deeper in a relationship with Jesus and Mary.  I had a relationship with Jesus, but not much of a personal relationship with Mary.  As I learned more about her through readings and books, I found myself having a relationship with her in prayer.  I found so much healing in Mary as my Mother.  I would run to her in prayer, as I meditated and pondered who she was.  I would imagine myself wrapped as a child in her tender arms.  Or I would see myself sitting at her feet, with my head on her lap, her stroking my hair, as I would speak to her about my life's events, or come to her crying and in need of her love. 

I really hope that you, too, will find this relationship with Mary.  I am broken and have broken relationships in my life.  I find myself in despair sometimes in the light of my personal sins.  Mary helps me pick up all these pieces, and brings me to her Son!  Anytime that I turn to Mary, that I devote myself to her as her faithful daughter, is a time of profound intimacy with Jesus in my life.  I am not always perfect at living out my consecration, I will admit.  But the times that I put forth effort to remember Mary and come to her, I am always blessed beyond measure by her sweet, yet powerful, love!  Please walk with me on this journey as we ponder our beautiful Mother and her adorable Son!

Introduction to Consecration to Jesus Through Mary

What is Consecration? Webster's Dictionary defines it as: to make or declare sacred; to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony.  After these 33 days, we will be ready to FORMALLY give ourselves, to formally devote ourselves to Jesus and Mary, and this will be done through a ceremony.  This is LIKE a vow.  It really is a natural step for those of us who want to grow deeper in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus. By formally giving and consecrating ourselves to Jesus thru Mary, we are, ultimately, in my opinion, declaring that WE want to be holy, that WE want to be saints, and that we will attain this through the help of Mary.

St. Louis de Montfort lived in the late 1800s.  He is the first person to outline and write out this way to devote and formally consecrate ourselves to Jesus and Mary.  In his writing, “True Devotion to Mary”, he makes the point that, compared to God, Mary is a creature, she is really truly nothing compared to the great all powerful God, Creator of the Universe.  God truly had no NEED for Mary. BUT the will of God was to raise up Mary when it was His decision to give the world the Only-Begotten Son through Her.  God chose to make Mary necessary by choosing her to be the vessel by which the Incarnation happened!!

 

St. Louis de Montfort says, “The world was unworthy...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 from her.  The Son of God became man for our salvation; but was in Mary and by Mary.”IT WAS THROUGH MARY THAT SALVATION WAS BEGUN…So it is through Mary that salvation will be won for us, on the daily journey of life.  And it will be through Mary that Christ’s final victory will take place!

 

Because Mary was going to play such a pivotal role in our salvation, God granted her many gifts and graces, which she now has the ability to give to US.  We will learn more about this as we go...But trust me when I say, that she has an amazing gift to be able to mold us to be more like her son and more like herself, for they are both FULL OF GRACE AND VIRTUE.  

 

If you think about it, Mary had an intense union with her son.  She was the perfect mother to him and he was the perfect son to her.  If there is anyone who has walked this earth who is intimate with Jesus, it is Mary.  She had and still has the most perfect union with Jesus that is humanly possible.  So let’s take advantage of her help!  Let’s devote ourselves to her so that we can, ultimately, give ourselves more perfectly to Jesus!!!

At the end of these 33 Days, we won’t be ending a process, WE WILL BE BEGINNING a relationship with Mary and a deeper one with Jesus.  You should devote yourself to some kind of formal prayers to Mary and you should devote yourself to continuing to study Mary and learn about her virtues.  You will not be a perfect son/daughter of Mary, but we should strive!

This book by Fr. Gaitley is a simple, refreshing journey to Mary.  St. Louis de Montfort is INTENSE, even for me at times.  So this one that Fr. Gaitley has done is an introduction.  Like I said, it is a starting point.  He takes the wisdom of St. Louis, and adds St. Kolbe, Mr. Theresa, and St. John Paul II.  

We will read from the book everyday and then journal and pray about our readings and what Christ is putting on our hearts.  This is pivotal, because I believe it will really deepen your relationship to Jesus and Mary.