December 8, the day we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of all believing Christians. No matter what those in charge say, we will continue to honor our Blessed Mother, even if we have to go to Church twice in one week. Our leaders seem to have abandoned the Faith that comes to us through Jesus Christ, and pronounced by His Apostles. This is the Faith we are to honor and cherish.
Like I said, our leaders have left the ship struggling through the waves without someone competent enough to right it. Our Blessed Mother should be the navigator of the ship, to guide the pilot (the Pope). Weather forecasting is NOT his job. Just sayin'.
In the book of Wisdom, we read: 'For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness.' Wis. vii, 26
Mary herself said that her soul magnifies the Lord, which, to me, means that if we look to her, we will see things more clearly. It is NOT that her being proclaims the Lord, as it is said in the newer version of scripture. Those translations are WRONG! Protestants say that we should go directly to Jesus with our petitions. However, they seem to miss the fact, that if it hadn't been for Mary and her fiat, Christ would not have come in person, unless God had chosen someone else to do it. Granted, God can do whatever He wants, but He chose to come through Mary. Jesus even gave her to us as our Mother when He was on the Cross, when he told John, who was standing in the place of all true Christians, 'behold your mother.' All scripture in the newer bibles has been changed whenever it is about Mary. She is the 'Woman' in Genesis, and is the 'woman'in the Apocalypse, Chapter 12. Scripture started with her, and ended with her. And, remember, even she said at Cana: "Do whatever He tells you to do."
(Also, I'd like to add something. Many people ask you to pray for them, and you do. Why NOT ask the Holy Mother of Christ to pray for you. Her 'batting average' in Scripture is 100%. She asked Jesus to do one thing at Cana, and He complied. NOT a bad average, if you ask me.)
I will now take some words from a book I have entitled 'Half-hours with the Servants of God', printed in 1891.
'That God should have willed that Mary's body should not be endowed with a more excellent purity than that of her soul, is not what could reasonably be expected of His wisdom, since the soul is the noblest part of man.
If the body, according to the expression of the Apostle, is a beautiful vase, the soul is the most precious of liquors which ought to fill it; and consequently the Virginal body of Mary, whose purity surpassed that of angels and near unto God, as St. Bernard says, had to contain a soul still more pure, inasmuch as the purity of the body, without the purity of the soul, can have no value or consideration with God.' Le Pere Houdry, S.J.
There is something in Mary which moves and affects me much more than this privilege of having been exempt from original sin--something which adds additional lustre to this first prerogative. Mary received this grace from the very first moment of her conception; it was a wondrous gift; but what appears to me to be still more wonderful is that she kept this grace until the last moment of her life, as pure, as entire, as when she first received it--no sin, no imperfection, no weakness, no surprise, have ever done her harm.
It is a wonder to see water springing from the bosom of the earth as clear, as fresh, as if it fell from heaven; but it is a thing unheard of that this same water from the well, after having bedewed the fields and dirty places, should flow at last into the sea without a taint of smell, as unpolluted as when it issues from the spring.
This is, however, what our Blessed Lady has done. She lived in this valley of tears for more than seventy years--this, too, in the midst of the same sins and occasions of sins which corrupt daily even innocent souls--without ever losing the purity of her heart. Her humility and patience were put to proofs without a parallel, and she gained fresh lustre from every trial. The Holy Ghost gave her the preference among the many virgins without losing her honor; she had her joys, but she had her dolours too, and though these she never lost for a single moment the peace and tranquility of her soul.
Let us contrast ourselves with this holy and Immaculate Mother. She received grace with life, and, what is more glorious still, she kept it intact until she died.
And we, alas! have been conceived and brought into the world in sin; and we have received the grace of the Sacrament of Baptism which made us friends of God.
But, what is more lamentable, we lose the benefit of this grace almost as soon as we have received it, and then pass the remainder of our days in the dread uncertainty of forgiveness. For it must be confessed, to our shame, that we, for the most part, remain in a state of grace so long as we are unacquainted with sin.
It seems to me that there may be a contradiction between innocence and reason, and that they may clash together unless they are kept asunder. Le Pere de la Colombiere, S.J.
I would like to include part of the sermon for this day, given by Archbishop LeFebvre in 1972:
'The influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary has not ceased. Even now in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary continues to be the Mother of the Mystical Body of Our Lord, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of our souls. She shows it, she proves it, she proves it in every one of us, but she also proves it in her apparitions. Is it not admirable to think that after the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as a revealed truth, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was Immaculate from her Conception — already four years later on March 21, 1858, the Blessed Virgin herself said to little Bernadette, the little shepherdess, "I am the Immaculate Conception."
Remember that Bernadette was incapable of understanding, she could not understand what these words meant, and she left the grotto on her way to her pastor’s house repeating these words which she did not understand, to make sure she would not forget them. The history of the life of Bernadette tells us that it was at that moment that the parish priest of Lourdes, Fr. Pomian, was truly convinced by the apparitions at Lourdes. He realized that the poor little shepherdess was incapable of inventing this herself, and that the dogma had been proclaimed four years before by the Sovereign Pontiff. Thus it was confirmed by the Blessed Virgin herself that she was the Immaculate Conception.'
As men are conceived in sin, and we do not read of any one who was sanctified in his mother's womb excepting Jeremias and St. John the Baptist; although there is no doubt that the Blessed Virgin, enclosed in her mother's womb, should have been purified by a much more sublime degree of sanctification, seeing that she was to be the sanctuary where God the Son was to be made Flesh. St. Bernard
(Let us, therefore, strive to hold onto the Eternal Truths of Christ's Church, no matter who tries to tell us different. Me.)
Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(with special clause for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception)
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: and that we should praise and bless, and proclaim Thee, in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin: Who also conceived Thine only-begotten Son by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and the glory of her virginity still abiding, gave forth to the world the everlasting Light, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, and the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
And think of this little nugget. This day, as well as all of her Feast days, she will deliver souls from purgatory herself. Maybe she'll deliver someone you know. Ask for it. Who knows?
Read on concerning this day, and what the Church has to say about it. You can use this when dealing with those who are not of the Faith, even those within the walls and call themselves Catholic.
The Immaculate Conception
"Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women".--LUKE i. 28.
The extraordinary dignity and sanctity of the Blessed Virgin is made manifest in the words of today's Gospel. Since she was to become the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, it was not an ordinary messenger but an Archangel that was sent to announce to her this great dignity. And how worthy she was of such lofty honor the angel declares in his salutation. She is "full of grace," the abyss of all heavenly favors; "the Lord is with" her, she possesses holiness beyond all other creatures; she is "blessed among women," because, unlike all others, she was never subject to any sin.
I. The meaning of this dogma. 1. The Immaculate Conception does not refer, as some non-Catholics imagine, to the virgin birth of our Lord, nor to His sinlessness; neither does it imply on the part of the Blessed Virgin that her conception, like our Lord's, was divine, in the sense that it was without a human father. 2. The meaning of this doctrine is that, by a singular favor and privilege of God, and through the foreseen merits of her Son, the Virgin Mary, from the first instant of her conception in the womb of her mother, was preserved free from all stain of sin. 3. Original sin is that moral guilt and stain of soul which we inherit from Adam, the moral head of the human race. Sanctifying grace and many other extraordinary privileges were conferred upon our first parents from their creation, but all these they lost through their sin; and the effect of their fall has descended upon all their posterity, with the exception of Christ, who was sinless by reason of the Hypostatic Union, and Mary, who was conceived immaculate by the special favor of God. 4. Hence, the Blessed Virgin from the first moment of her conception was free from sin and endowed with sanctifying grace. Jeremiah and John the Baptist were sanctified in their mothers' wombs and born free from original sin, but they were not conceived in this state. 5. The grace received by Mary in her conception was far superior to that ever attained by any of the saints throughout their lives, and this grace she never lost, but on the contrary continually augmented in her life. 6. Being a child of Adam, Mary was in need of redemption, not to free her from sin, but to preserve her against sin.
II. Reasons for this dogma. 1. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was not defined until December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX, but it had always been taught in the Church as a divinely revealed doctrine. 2. The Holy Scriptures, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church, contain this doctrine: (a) "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, . . . she shall crush thy head" (Genesis iii. 15). (b) Types of the Immaculate Conception were the ark of Noah, Jacob's ladder, the burning bush, etc. (c) Many words of the prophets can be understood of Mary's sinless conception; e.g., what they say about the holy Jerusalem, the ark of sanctification, the house, built by eternal Wisdom, etc. (d) The salutation which the Angel addressed to Mary on the day of the Annunciation implies this doctrine. 3. The Fathers speak of Mary as the supreme miracle, as nearest to God and above all praise; they declare her superior to Eve in the latter's innocence; they called her the lily among thorns, the virgin earth from which the new Adam came forth, etc., etc.; they hold that sin should not be thought of when there is question of Mary; they call her immaculate, more holy than sanctity, more pure than purity, etc. 4. The Popes have promoted devotion to the Immaculate Conception and have inculcated the doctrine. The Council of Trent in its decree on sin excluded the Blessed Virgin. 5. This doctrine has been universally believed by all classes in the Church, although a few questioned it at different times. 6. The Immaculate Conception was altogether fitting since the Son of God was to take flesh from the Virgin Mary, and He could not permit that His Mother should ever have been subject to His enemy (in sin).
Let us rejoice, dear brethren, in this glorious Immaculate Conception. Let us thank the Lord that He has distinguished the blessed Virgin by so great and extraordinary a privilege; and let us in confidence seek our refuge in the purest of Virgins, so that she may obtain for us, through her powerful intercession, purity of body and soul, and victory over all temptations. Let us address to her in the hours of temptation that brief prayer: "Through thy most holy Immaculate Conception, O Mary, preserve my body and soul from all impurity." Let us often during the day salute the blessed Virgin with the short ejaculation: "Hail Mary, conceived without sin," and we may be sure that she, who is not only the Virgin of Immaculate Conception but also the Mother of God, will graciously hear our prayers and that she will intercede for us with her divine Son; and a more powerful mediator we could not desire. Amen.
Prayer of Praise
O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God's sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion for ever and ever world without end. Amen.
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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