Prayer On The Immaculate Conception

“Hail Mary, full of grace!”

Immaculate Virgin, here I am at your feet once again,

full of devotion and gratitude….

In you, “humble and highest of creatures,”

divine grace had the full victory over evil.

You are for us, pilgrims on the paths of the world,

the bright model of evangelical fidelity

and the ever-living pledge of sure hope.

Virgin Mother…

Watch over families especially: 

may love sealed by the Sacrament ever reign between spouses,

may children walk on the paths of goodness and true freedom,

may the elderly feel surrounded by attention and affection.

Inspire, Mary, in so many young hearts,

generous replies to the “call for the mission...”

Blessed Virgin, Queen of Apostles!

Assist those who through study

and prayer are preparing to labor

on the many frontiers of the new evangelization.

Drawn By Your Holiness: The Second Sunday of Advent

Every day when we pray the Angelus, we repeat three times: "And the Word was made flesh". During the season of Advent, these evangelical words assume a more intense meaning because the liturgy makes us relive the atmosphere of the expectation of the Incarnation of the Word.

For this reason, Advent is the ideal season for the Solemnity of Mary Immaculate. The humble young woman of Nazareth, who with her "yes' to the angel changed the course of history, was preserved from every stain of sin from the moment of her conception. In fact, Mary was the first one to benefit by the salvation brought about by Christ, chosen from all eternity to be his Mother.

For this reason, today we focus our attention on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, while our heart opens to a heartfelt hymn of thanksgiving. The liturgy celebrates the wonders that God has accomplished through her: "The joy that Eve took from us, you give to us in your Son, and you open the way to the Kingdom of heaven" (hymn of Lauds).

"Splendor Of An Entirely Unique Holiness"

Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a feast very near and dear to Blessed John Paul II’s heart. What exactly are we celebrating on this Holy Day of Obligation? Let us look to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which defines what the Immaculate Conception is and what it means for the Church:

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."¹³² The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".¹³³ In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God,¹³⁴ was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.¹³⁵