Meditation:

After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, it seemed as if the devil had gained a victory against God. Here were two creatures created perfect, given a paradise in which to live but had disobeyed the one command God had given them. Yet God’s plan cannot be thwarted; He does not give up on humanity. He says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers; she will strike at your head while you strike at her heel.” Our Heavenly Father had in mind a woman, one who would be without sin, who would be at total enmity with the devil. She would be the one who would bring forth the Messiah to conquer sin and death. For her to be at enmity, she would have to be without sin, for the first woman had given into sin. Over four thousand years later, God sends the Angel Gabriel to this woman; he addresses her, “Hail, full of grace”. Mary was given this great grace of the Immaculate Conception in order to be a worthy dwelling place for God incarnate. It was not anything on her part but God’s pure gift. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen says, “When God became Man, I believe that He would make His Mother as nice as He could – and that would make her a perfect Mother.” The devil does not want us to honor Mary’s Immaculate Conception, this particular grace given to God’s Mother; here is a creature who has been untouched by sin, never in his grasp. Let us turn to our most pure Mother and seek her intercession in all things.

Mary’s Immaculate Conception is the grace given to prepare her for her role as the Theotokos, the Mother of God. Yet, she is not only Jesus’ Mother, she is our mother as well. At the Cross, the fifth Sorrowful Mystery, He called her “Woman” a name that hearkens back to Genesis 3:15. This time her motherhood comes with much sorrow for we her children do not always accept her motherly love; we think that we can manage fine without her. Yet it was our sins that led Jesus to the Cross and it was there that she stood so faithfully. Our sinless Mother participates in the salvation of humanity; we are called to make reparation for sins against her Immaculate Heart, especially attacks against her Immaculate Conception. This grace was secured for Mary in anticipation of the saving death of Jesus. Mary knew at the Cross that so many would still reject her son’s love as well as her tender motherly love.

St. John the Beloved related in his book of Revelation, “He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God.” The new Jerusalem, the Church, shone in all her splendor. Mary is what the Church is called to be. She is this beautiful bride coming down out of Heaven, adorned with the many graces of God. God prepared His Mother and now He takes her to Himself; we reflect on this in the fourth Glorious Mystery, the Assumption of Mary. We believe that as a result of the Immaculate Conception and the Divine Maternity, Mary was taken up at the conclusion of her earthly life into Heaven, body and soul. Never did corruption touch her pure soul. She is what we are all called to be; with her immaculate conception, she is not hindered from the things that divide us. She reigns in Heaven as our Queen but also as our Mother. We are called to defend our Mother and especially in her Immaculate Conception. This special grace given to her by God shows God’s great love for her and for us; the devil does not want us to see the love God or our Lady has for us. He does not want us to turn to Mary but Mary will not abandon us even though she is in Heaven for she will not rest until all her children are in Heaven. Let this prayer be continually on our lips, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”