Father Jose Antonio Senovilla offers this article on Mary’s Immaculate Conception, a feast that we celebrate every December 8.
“What a very glorious announcement for you, Virgin Mary, because the Sun of Justice, Christ, our God was born of you (Communion Antiphon in the Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary).
God created the world out of love and, in face of man’s sin, He decided to redeem him, also out of love. And to do so, He designed a salvific plan. And He wanted man to take part in that plan, but the plan was unthinkable for man himself, as it was so grandiose and divine. And so He did it. He decided to send His Sone to make Himself one of us. But for a God made man a Mother was needed, and He made Her. He made Her Pure, Clean, totally free of the stain of sin, so that She would reflect, unhindered, the Beauty of God, the Light of God, of the Father, of His beloved Son and of the Divine Spirit, who made Her duly fecund. And She, the Pure, the Clean, the Immaculate Conceived without Sin, engendered the Son, Her Child-God. And then, that same Virgin Mother receives all of us in a new birth: that of children of God.
All this wonder speaks to us of God’s commitment to man, about how far He will go to save those He created in His image and likeness with so much love. We are astonished by what God asked of Abraham the sacrifice of his beloved son, but that was only at test of faith. But what God spared Abraham, He did not spare Himself. He did give His Only-Begotten Son to death, out of love for each one of us. He delivered the Innocent One and, with Him, the Blessed Mother. The Most Pure was so in the Immaculate Conception of Her Blessed Son, and She was so in the new conception of all of us at the foot of the Cross.
“Most pure should She be
Who gave us the Innocent Lamb
Who takes away the sin of the world.
Most pure should She be whom You
destined mong us for your People
As advocate of grace and
Example of holiness” (Preface of the Mass on the Solemnity
of the Immaculate Conception of Mary).
And how are we affected by all this marvel? It helps us in everything because we thus know that we have a heavenly Father who is always close, even when we are mistaken. And we also have a Mother in Heaven. Before God, She can do all, and She learned from God Himself to do everything for us; She helps us always.
Mary is Virginal Purity. And if we go to Her, she keeps our heart pure and purified from past faults. “Hail Mary Most Pure! How many times we have pronounced this short prayer. Every time we did so, Her Immaculate Heart leaped with joy.
To pronounce Mary’s name fills our hearts with sweetness: it’s the Sweet Name of Mary. We say Her name and it is a cry: “Mary!” And She comes immediately to our aid, as a good mother does when her child cries out “Mommy!” She is always available. She always comes immediately. Who pronounced Mary’s name best? Jesus. And what did She do? She left everything immediately and always answered: “Tell me, Jesus.” And She went where he was.
God gave that name to Her who would be His favorite daughter, His Mother, His Bride. The Immaculate Virgin who brought Redemption to the world.
Being your Mother, when you pronounce Her name, She answers pronouncing yours,” calling you by your name. But no creature pronounces your name like that, with that sweetness. She pronounces it as She sees Jesus does . . .
Mary’s voice! When She greeted Elizabeth, mother and son were filled with the Holy Spirit . . . How pure and sweet Mary is! How She fulfills in us Her Son’s request on the Cross!
God doesn’t need anything from us. And yet He does everything for us. How can we pay back so much goodness? How can we make our intention purer? By trying to give back to Him what He gives us? Impossible! He wants us to pay for all the good He does us by doing good to others, thus showing them God’s closeness. He wants us to pay in kind to others what He does for us.
However, sometimes this task becomes arduous, and it’s then that we pronounce definitively the name of the Immaculate Virgin Mary . . . and then hear our name on Her lips.
This happens always, but especially in a moment of temptation: we call to Her and She comes immediately to our side: to defend us and to defend Her Son, who is sheltered in our heart. And then, if we truly realize She is there, with us, we feel secure. No one can take from us the purity, the joy, and the peace of the Most Pure, Cause of our Joy and Queen Peace if She is with us. Mary’s purity and humility confuse and always overcomes the enemy. And never was it said that She failed to go to the defense of a child that invoked Her — never!
“He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4). And He gives us the means to attain such an unreachable goal by our own strength. And Mary’s immaculate purity intervenes there.
This is the great, very simple remedy: not only when we are afraid, but always: call our Mother to our side. Mary! Mother! This is the great remedy to fill hearts with purity, on the street, at work, in teaching centers, in the means of communication, in the social networks . . . the task is imposing. Here, many don’t know what they are doing, and they do themselves harm, letting impurity enter their hearts. However, Mary has already won this battle; She is our hope; She will bring Peace again to the hearts of many confused people, and She will do so with the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. So She promised and so she will do (cf. Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, made by Saint John Paul II in Rome on March 25, 1984).
We can also sing to our Immaculate Mother with a child’s heart, certain that She will like it because it’s a song for God’s glory. “You are purer than the sun, lovelier than the pearls hidden in the seas. Only you among so many mortals were free of Adam’s error (. . . ). And, in Heaven, a voice repeated: More than you . . . only God, only God” (Joaquin Diaz, Song).
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
