Feast of the Immaculate Conception

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It was becoming the honor of the Son of God that she whom He wished to elevate to the dignity of Divine Maternity should be preserved from the stain of original sin. It was meet that she who was destined to crush the serpent's head should not for one moment be under the dominion of Satan. The saintly Pius IX writes in an encyclical: "God has overwhelmed Mary with such a plenitude of His graces that, free from all stain of sin, beautiful and perfect, she possesses a purity and sanctity such as, next to God, no one else possesses or can even imagine." In her Immaculate Conception, Mary is the Lily among the thorns, the spotless Virgin who delights the eyes of the Blessed Trinity with her purity. Therefore God loved the Blessed Virgin from the first moment of her existence with predilection; He loved her as the Master-piece of His hand, as the object of His complacence, as His most perfect image. O pure and spotless Virgin, what joy swells my heart when I think of the inexpressible prerogative that distinguishes Thee!

The contemplation of this mystery calls to my mind the graces that God has bestowed upon me. It reminds me of holy baptism, in which, shortly after entering into this world, I was made a child of God, and liberated from the power of Satan; of the grace of my profession, which anew imparted perfect purity to my soul. But, alas, how have I repeatedly sullied this purity by my my faults and imperfections! How have I darkened its lustre by venial sins! O my Saviour, through the intercession of Thy Immaculate Mother, grant me the grace that the purity of my soul be renewed and I preserve it carefully until death, to the last moment of my life. The prerogative of her Immaculate Conception exempted the Blessed Virgin from the three-fold concupiscence and all consequences of original sin. Her understanding was enlightened, her sentiments and her will were directed to good. Thus Mary proceeded, a second Eve, in immaculate purity, from the hands of her Creator, endowed with all graces and prerogatives of justice and sanctity, so that from the first moment of her existence she surpassed all the angels and saints in sanctity and grace.

O holiest Virgin, who can worthily praise thee? Truly the Most High has in thee sanctified His dwelling. Help me to go ever onward on the path of virtue, that I may be able to offer thy Son, Who daily enters my heart, a pure dwelling.

Affections:  O Mary, my dearest Mother, thou immaculate and purest of Virgins, in all humility I offer thee the homage of my veneration and love. I rejoice at the great dignity and glory with which the Almighty has replenished thee, as also the perfect fidelity with which thou hast corresponded to all graces. Oh, implore for me and all members of my congregation the grace to imitate thy fidelity, and to surrender ourselves unreservedly to the Divine Will. We, too, have offered ourselves with heart and soul and body, with all our faculties and all our strength to the service and glory of God. O Queen of Virgins, entreat for us the grace to serve thy Son with spotless purity and perfection, here below, that we may one day be numbered among the hosts of virgins that follow the Lamb, to glorify Him for all eternity.

Resolution: We will be faithful to every inspiration of grace, and perform all our actions with perfect love of God. 

Spiritual Bouquet: "Thou art all fair, My Beloved, and there is no stain in thee."

The Memorare by St. Bernard

Remember, O most merciful Virgin Mary, that it is unheard of, that any one flying to thee for protection, imploring thy help, or seeking thy intercession, was ever forsaken. Animated by this unerring confidence, I hasten to thee, Virgin of virgins; I fly to thee, O sweet Mother, a wretched sinner, I prostrate myself sighing at thy feet; despise not my prayer, O Mother of the Divine Word, but graciously hear and grant the same. Amen.

Jesus - The Model of Religious 

Frederick Pustet Co.,  1925

Volume One