"I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION"

 At Lourdes Bernadette on several occasions asked her 'beautiful lady' her name, but the lady did not reply.   On the last Thursday, however, when Bernadette asked again the lady lifted her arms and her eyes to heaven and replied "I am the Immaculate Conception"   Now only four years before the Pope at the time having consulted all the bishops of the world declared that the doctrine that Mary was conceived free of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve because as Gabriel had said "Hail, Full of Grace......." to Mary, these words had demonstrated that as the Mother of the Saviour there was to be no fault in her nature she could pass on to Jesus.   She was immaculate and free from the stain and weakness to sin that all humanity had inherited from Eve from the moment of her immaculate conception.  But as Eve who was born immaculate had fallen into sin when tempted by the serpent, Mary the new Eve triumphed over temptation, and do not believe for one second that the Serpent did not try.  

Eve bore children after her disobedience and St Justin Martyr wrote in AD 155  "Eve a virgin and undefiled conceived the word of the serpent and bore disobedience and death.   But the Virgin Mary received Faith and Joy when the Angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings"   This comparison between Eve and Mary played a large part in the early Church.

Jimmy Akin, author of the book, THE FATHERS KNOW BEST, wrote the following.   'The Fathers of the Church taught that Mary received a number of distinctive blessings in order to make her a more fitting mother for Christ.   These included her role as the New Eve, corresponding to Christ's role as the New Adam.    Her Immaculate Conception, her spiritual motherhood of all Christians, and her Assumption into Heaven.   These gifts were given to her by God's grace.   She did not earn them but she possessed them nonetheless'.

My sister died in Glasgow in 2005.   I went there to arrange her funeral and was told to speak to the organist about the music.    I named a few hymns then spoke about a hymn to Our Lady.    "I am sorry" she said, "the liturgy committee does not allow hymns to Mary during Mass"    "OK" I replied "I am a visitor to your parish and must abide by what they say".    Dutiful submission I can say was not part of my character in those days.   But let me at last make some comments on this.    The Virgin Mary was the Mother of Jesus, and when Jesus was conceived he blended the nature of God with the nature of  Mary to form one person.    Having no earthly father, his human nature and his human flesh came only from Mary.    Now Jesus is the New Adam and Mary is the New Eve, and when we receive the consecrated host we receive as a member of the Family of God with a new parentage in the sacred host, the New Adam and the New Eve, Jesus and Mary.   The Sacred Host is truly our Bread of Life for our fallen nature when consumed by the immaculate natures of Jesus and Mary become divine.    When at the beginning of the Offertory the priests mixes water into the wine he prays "By the mingling of this water and wine, may we share in the Divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity"   For a long time, although it is called a silent prayer, I have found the words awesome.   Sharing in the Divinity of Christ.   And by sharing in this Divinity when receiving  worthily should not our fallen nature be changed and make us Christlike and immaculate.   Children of the New Adam and the New Eve.   A family of saints.    Yet how badly we treat this precious gift.   The altar rails are taken from us without consultation since of course it cannot be justified.      We are told to stand and receive in the hand, with mumblings that we are going back to the early Church, when indeed we are not.   Instead of tabernacles safes are sometimes put on the altar with handles to try and tell us that the hosts are in safe keeping for the next Mass, when in fact they are a symbol that we are not to adore Jesus between Masses.    Or, yes, let us take Jesus from the altar and put him in a side chapel or even another room.    The Community is the Body of  Christ, and we do not need the living Jesus to watch us - we are a community.    We even had in the recent past a discussion on whether the Real Presence was spiritual.    There was no such discussion in he early church, from the time of the Apostles it had been worked out that at the words of consecration the bread became the Flesh of Jesus and this was taken from the Prophet Malachi 1.10  "From the rising of the Sun until its setting my name is great among the gentiles and everywhere there is offered sacrifice - a spotless victim.   And so from the time of the Apostles they celebrated a Sacrifice.   There are many in the Church today who will face an uncomfortable judgment when they face the King.

Mother Mary, pray for us.