Reflection on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

The Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that the Virgin Mother of God, Mary, at the moment of her conception was exempted, preserved, freed of original sin. This dogma was promulgated by Pope Pius IX in his Apostolic Letter Ineffabilis Deus (Ineffable God) in 1854 after fasting were made, private and public prayers were unceasingly offered, after several considerations, studies of the Sacred Scripture, reflections, debates, petitions and controversies surrounding the teaching in the middle Ages. After all of that, the Holy Father finally declared:

… by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

What this means is that the Blessed Mother through a special grace was preserved free from original stain from the first moment of conception. If this were not the case, the angel would not have referred to Mary at the Annunciation as "full of grace." If this were not the case, our Redeemer would have been contaminated by original sin and would have needed a savior himself. 

But why would God do such a thing? The answer is simple. God wanted to preserve a worthy vessel for the reception of his Son, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God wanted to preserve an incorruptible, unblemished, and spotless vessel for the spotless Lamb of God. The divine Word, God made flesh, the very incarnation of Yahweh, the second Person in the Blessed Trinity, God himself should and must be received by an unstained vessel. Just as the holy of holies in the temple was kept pure and inviolate, so the definitive Temple, the true Ark of the New Covenant, which is Mary herself, should all the more be unstained. This is why the Blessed Mother is called the Vessel of Honor, the House of gold, the Ark of the New Convent and Mother most pure.

But what is significance of Immaculate Conception? First, it reinforces what we already know: that with God all things are possible. God is able and abundantly able to do all things. Secondly, it communicates the length and breadth God is willing to go in his untiring project of saving us. Out of God’s lavished love for us, God was and is ready to do the unthinkable. Love and mercy for humanity “drove” God in the direction of doing the most incredible of all things. Third, the Immaculate Conception shows us God’s repulsion for sin. The ineffable and most Holy God does not dwell in sin and in filth. Do you want to be a fitting abiding place for God? Get rid of sin, invite God and God will come to you.