Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation. Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception 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." The Immaculate Conception signifies that Our Lady was preserved from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception. The Church teaches that the Blessed Mother was redeemed by Her Son, just as we are, yet through a Divine anticipation of the merits of the Word-made flesh. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that to become the mother of the Savior, Mary was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." At the moment of the annunciation, the angel Gabriel salutes her as "full of grace." 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. Pope St. John Paul II said, "Mary's heart was fully disposed to the fulfillment of the divine will. This is why the Blessed Virgin is the model of Christian expectation and hope. In her heart, there is no shade of selfishness: she desires nothing for herself except God's glory and human salvation. For her, the very privilege of being preserved from original sin is not a reason to boast, but one for total service to her Son's redemptive mission."
Prayer:
O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for Your Son, grant, we pray, that, as You preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of Your Son, which You foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to Your presence.
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