Mary
THE FEAST OF MARY'S IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
12 14 , 10:39
Written By: Thomas Mulcahy
Prefatory note on the importance of devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Mary entered human existence by a remarkable grace that preserved her from original sin, and which set her apart to become the Mother of God and the harbinger of God's own human existence in the person of Jesus. Mary's Immaculate Conception thus warrants a special devotion, and wearing the Miraculous Medal (first called the medal of the Immaculate Conception), and saying the prayer each morning, "Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,' is one way to effectively practice this devotion. Saints who have been devoted to Mary's Immaculate Conception include Saint Catherine Laboure, Saint Bernadette, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, and Blessed Mother Teresa (whose nuns have given out millions of Miraculous Medals).
Father Faber talks about the power of this devotion to Mary's Immaculate Conception; he indicates that her Immaculate Conception "is the first dawn of the world's redemption." He further indicates that devotion to Mary's Immaculate Conception is calculated to help us greatly in our "present needs...against the torrent of modern impurity" (and Faber was writing around 150 years ago!, so how much more do we need this devotion now!). Perhaps you know someone battling impurity: here is a devotion "eminently calculated" to sanctify our unruly passions. Faber recommends immense devotion to Mary and her Immaculate Conception, calling such devotion "a special power with God." Of the power of Mary's mediation Saint Pope John Paul II once said:
"In Mary's case we have a special and exceptional mediation...Jesus Christ prepared her ever more completely to become for all people their 'mother in the order of grace' "
(Saint Pope John Paul II, Mother of the Redeemer, 39).
This "preparation" began with the Immaculate Conception. If you are interested in the Miraculous Medal devotion, I recommend you read about the amazing conversion story of a Jewish man, Alphonse Ratisbonne. See
The Miraculous Conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne
A FEW BASIC POINTS ABOUT MARY'S IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
1. It is an infallible doctrine of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope Pius IX , ex cathedra (from the chair of St. Peter) on December 8, 1854. The Papal Bull reads:
"We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful."
"With these words in 1854, Pope Pius IX in the Papal Bull ineffabilis Dei, declared Mary's Immaculate Conception to be dogma. Pius was simply affirming a long-held belief of many Christians East and West before him, that Mary was conceived free of the stain of original sin, on account of Christ's work, in order to bear God-made-flesh." (From Saint John Cantius Parish web-site)
2. The dogma is confirmed four years later (in 1858) by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself in the most famous of her apparitions at Lourdes. At Lourdes, when asked her name by St. Bernadette, Mary responded in an extraordinary fashion, saying, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Since then, Lourdes has been the situs of countless miracles.
3. Some of the early Reformers, such as Martin Luther, at least initially stood firmly behind this doctrine in that they saw that Mary would have to be a pure and sinless vessel in order to communicate to Jesus his sacred and holy body. The following quote from Martin Luther is illustrative:
"It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin."
Martin Luther, (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).
4. Contrary to popular belief, the doctrine has strong scriptural support in that:
A. Gabriel announces that Mary is "full of grace" (Luke 1:28). If Mary is full of grace it follows that she is without sin (note how the angel does not call Mary by her name, but rather by a title, saying:"Hail, full of grace" - and the angel is God's messenger). The
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible defend the traditional translation, "Hail, full of grace," as against some modern translations, stating: "[The Greek word used by Luke], kecharitomene, indicates that God has already graced Mary previous to this point, making her a vessel who 'has been' and 'is now' filled with divine life. Alternative translations like 'favored one'... are possible but inadequate." Ref: Ignatius Catholic Study Bible
B. Saint Luke (in his Gospel) and Saint John (in the Book of Revelation) identify Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant, thus comparing her to the all-holy Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. See "Topical Essay: Mary Ark of the Covenant" in The Ignatius Catholic Bible Study or click the following on-line article from This Rock: Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant | Catholic Answers
C. Mary's Immaculate Conception is internally consistent with the doctrine of Original Sin (which flows from a number of Old and New Testament passages, especially at Romans 5:12-21). Since original sin is transmitted by physical generation, it follows logically that Jesus, who was born without sin, would have to be born from a spotless womb. Mary is that pure and spotless vessel: the woman who overflows with God’s grace; and
D. John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother's womb. At Luke 1:15 it states that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. The passage, in context, reads as follows:
[11] And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the alter of incense. [12] And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: [14] And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. [15] For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother' s womb. [16] And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. [17] And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
The angel then identifies himself as Gabriel, the same angel of Mary's annunciation a few
lines later at Luke 1:26, who addresses Mary, not by a name, but by a title, "Hail, Full
of grace." The point is obvious (I think its obvious): if John was filled with the Holy Spirit from
birth, what was done in God's providence to prepare Mary to be the mother of God?
Luke then, as you know, makes a direct comparison between Mary and the Ark of the
Covenant, implying the incredible magnitude of her sanctity and holiness. All of this
fits in very nicely with the Church's proclamation of her Immaculate Conception.
FATIMA REVISITED
09 14 , 12:29
Pope Francis' pontificate was consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima last year on May 13. And in May of 2010 Pope Benedict visited Fatima . The Pope Emeritus is linked to Fatima by the very fact that as Cardinal Ratzinger he authored the church's official explanation of the third Fatima secret. This is all very mysterious to us, but the curious thing about Fatima to me is not so much its mysterious nature but rather the compelling - or should I say overwhelming - objectivity of the final apparition. Really, one would be hard-pressed to doubt that something truly magnificent happened on that amazing day! I am referring to the "miracle of the sun" which occurred on October 13, 1917.
In any event, I gathered up some of my Fatima books and reviewed the compelling facts which point to the validity of the Fatima apparitions. From my own review of the facts it would appear that the following circumstances are established beyond any reasonable doubt:
1. The Fatima children (the seers) made known that the Virgin Mary would return to the Cova da Iria on October 13, 1917 and that a miracle would take place at that time to authenticate the apparitions;
2. That a huge crowd, most definitely in the tens of thousands, showed up at the Cova that day to see what might take place; and
3. That (as also reported in the secular press) at the appointed time and place a spectacular solar phenomenon took place which, as the well respected Catholic author Thomas Walsh states, has been established "beyond any doubt"
(p. 150, Our Lady of Fatima).
Francis Johnston sets forth many credible testimonies of this solar miracle in his book, Fatima: The Great sign, including verbatim descriptions of the event from the secular and atheistic press (see chapter 5). In summary, then, the sign promised by the seers to take place on October 13, 1917 did in fact occur. By any reasonable standard of authenticating evidence, the events mentioned above have been firmly and most definitely established. My sense of Fatima is, well, given what took place, pay very close attention to its message.
But the message of Fatima was not an easy one for modern ears, especially with its emphasis on conversion, penance and living an expiatory life-style (in many respects it sounded back to the Gospel message of repent and turn away from sin, reflected not only in John the Baptist and Jesus but in all the writers of the New Testament).
In the strange occurrences following Vatican II, there was a mad rush in certain Catholic circles to redefine Catholicism and, most especially, to rewrite the moral theology text books, with this aim: to make sin, and especially sexual sin, more acceptable. A desperate attempt was made, to varying degrees and progressively, to approve contraception, masturbation, active homosexuality and even abortion (and incredible damage was done to the church, to Catholics and to society by the confusion and immorality which followed, a price we are paying dearly for today).
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit sent us Saint John Paul II, the Fatima Pope, who put the brakes on this mischief (and foul interpretation of Vatican II) by issuing two incredibly important encyclicals: The Splendor of Truth and The Gospel of Life. Even now, given all the harm done, the church is still in recovery mode.
At Fatima, Mary came to us as Our Lady of the Rosary. She came to warn us that God is deeply offended by sin (and our lack of repentance). She offered us the safety and security of her Immaculate heart and, among other things, she urged us to pray the daily rosary.
Dear friend, those rosary beads are one of the most powerful weapons we have to turn away from sin, purify our hearts, and draw closer to Jesus. Dear friend, pray the rosary!!!!!
Tom
P.S. The new and excellent movie, The 13th Day, is a wonderful way to reappropriate the Fatima message. I should add that Francisco and Jacinta, two of the Fatima seers, were Beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 13, 2000 and are now Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto (brother and sister).
Our Lady of Fátima
11 13 , 13:07
The message from Our Lady of Fátima comes from a visitation from the Virgin Mary to three young shepherd children, Lucia dos Santos (9), Francisco Marto (8), and Jacinta Marto (6), in Fátima, Portugal in 1916. The Virgin Mary appeared to them six times from May to October and gave them a message of warning and promise. She said to the children that God’s punishment to the sinning on earth was war, hunger, and persecution of the Catholic church, and that his punishment would become more severe as sinning and unfaithful misconduct become more prevalent. Although her messaged seemed grave, she promised the children that if they prayed everyday, said rosaries, and followed the path of God, they would attain peace. Further, that the same message of peace held true for the population of the world. Specifically, if Catholics had faith and prayed and devoted themselves regularly, following the correct way of God, that they should find peace and be allowed into Heaven.
With her fifth apparition, the Virgin Mary continued to give the children her important message of sinners and sacrifice. It was during this particular visit that she told them and namely Lucia, the oldest child, that she would perform a miracle in October. She said that Saint Joseph will appear with the child Jesus to bless the world. She also said that she would appear as Our Lady of Dolours and Our Lady of Carmel to bless the world separately.
During her sixth and final visit on October 17, Lucia asked the Virgin for favors. Lucia hoped that the sick may be cured from illness, and that sinners may be converted. The Virgin Mary then told her that she would cure some, but many sinners needed to change the way of their lives and ask forgiveness. When she left, she reflected light as bright as the sun.
In her recollection of the events from the last apparition, Lucia wrote that she was internally inspired to call out to the people of her town. She called upon everyone to gather at Fátima to observe the miracle Mary said she would produce. While 70 to 100 thousand people gathered, believers and doubters alike, Saint Joseph appeared with Jesus; they blessed the world by making signs of the cross. After that apparition had faded, they were followed by images of Our Lady of Dolours and Our Lady of Carmel, respectively, and they both made signs of the cross as Saint Joseph and Jesus had done. As the apparition of the Virgin Mary faded, the sun became a pale spectacle resembling more silver that normal light. The citizens were able to look directly at it, and while they were observing in awe, bright rays shot from the sun as appeared to rotate on an axis, touching earth’s surface with powerful multicolored rays of light. These horrifying light bursts gave the citizens a direct look at the fire ridden vision of hell. Upon seeing hell, the people of the town collapsed to their knees in absolute fear of God’s power. Seeing their fate, the sinning citizens realized that they truly did not want to die in ways of sin, and many begged for mercy. Lucia and the other two children later wrote that the vision of hell was so powerful, they would have been frightened to death, had they not known that they not known of their promised path to heaven.
The days prior to the final miracle were filled with torrential downpours that soaked the earth and the citizens. The pit where the apparition site was turned to puddled mud. The mantle and garments that were put forth for Mary were soaked with water. After the miracle was performed, it was documented that the pit had completely dried, along with the garments.
The people of Fátima collapse to the ground in awe at the Lord’s power.
Jacinta Marto, Lucia Santos, and Francisco Marto holding rosaries.
Newspaper account of the miracle run by a socialist government, and a journalist who did not believe in God. Even he found the miracle undeniable and unexplainable.
Sources:
http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/fatima.htm
http://www.fatima.org/essentials/facts/story1.asp
http://www.fatima.org/essentials/facts/default.aspx
http://www.fatima.org/crusader/truestory/pdf/tspg53.pdf
http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/our_lady_of_fatima.php
http://www.theimmaculateheart.com/
Our Lady of Guadalupe
11 13 , 13:07
The appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe began in December of 1531 with a newly converted Catholic Juan Diego. The virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego and instructed him to build a shrine on Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. When Diego consulted a bishop about constructing a shrine to the virgin Mary, the bishop demanded that the shrine would only be built based on a divine proof of Mary’s appearance. Thereafter, in a second appearance to Juan Diego, Mary instructed him to gather a dozen roses and bring them to the bishop. Diego then gathered the roses in his tilma and opened it in front of the bishop. The roses fell to the floor revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the tilma.
The intricate detail of the image is largely significant to the audience for which it was created. Each and every symbol on the tilma was deliberately crafted to hold a divine significance. Many of the details were put in place to build on the trusted beliefs of the Mexican people. Things such as the bright aura surrounding her, which played off of the ancient Aztec faith in the sun. Other details not only entrust the audience, but also profess the incredible nature of the miracle. Within the virgin’s eye, there are human figures no bigger than 8 or 9 mm in length, a detail which experts say would be near impossible to project onto such a rough material cloth.
Beginning with this miracle and a series of divine actions after, Mexico slowly moved from a nation doubtful in Christianity, to a country which placed great belief and pride in their new faith. Before Guadalupe, Mexicans had only known Catholicism to the extent that they were taught from the missionaries. After the miracle of Guadalupe, the Mexican faith could be based more upon real personal evidence on their native domain. The fact that Catholicism could ring throughout the country beginning with Guadalupe made her a focal point of Mexican Catholicism, and for most Latino Catholics. To this day citizens of Mexico are known for having a strong belief in Catholicism; much of their belief can be attributed to the miracle of our lady of Guadalupe.
Aside from Mexico, the miracle is rejoiced amongst Catholics world wide as a profession of divine evangelism for the catholic faith as a whole. It is just another way of God to shed his light upon people that were in need of faith, and it was done in a miraculous and undeniable manner which is globally recognized as a miracle of God.
Sources
- http://www.virginmotherofguadalupe.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe-image/message-symbols
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=456
- http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629932/Our-Lady-of-Guadalupe