Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

       Our celebration today is the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This can easily be confused with the conception of Jesus within Mary begun at the Annunciation, which we celebrate on March 25th. One of the causes of the confusion is the Gospel reading for today, which is the Gospel reading of the Annunciation. The reading says that Mary will conceive through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

Why does the Church present this reading on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception? The reason is for the first words of the reading, the words of the Archangel Gabriel: “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.” We repeat these words so often when we say the Hail Mary. We repeat them at least 53 times a day when we say the rosary. Perhaps the words of Gabriel have lost a bit of their impact on us merely due to their repetition.

If we look at these words closely, we can come to a better understanding of the Immaculate Conception. There is no question of whom Gabriel is addressing, he says “Hail Mary.” His words cannot be confused with a normal greeting. He is not saying hello. He is using a term reserved for people in the highest ranks of society. People would say, “Hail King, Hail, Caesar.” They would not say, “Hail, Joseph the Carpenter.” Perhaps that is why Mary pondered what sort of a greeting this might be. In her eyes, she is a common, everyday daughter of Israel. Why should the angel address her with a term of such dignity?

It is the angel’s next words that explain why this gospel is used today. He calls her “Full of Grace.” What does that mean to be full of Grace? Grace can be seen as that which leads to union with God, or that which is spiritual union with God. Being full of Grace would mean that in her soul Mary had the fullness of union with God. She was always in sanctifying Grace, from the first moment of her conception. The term “Full of Grace” is not used for any other figure in the Bible. It would be redundant to use it to refer to Jesus because He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, so of course, He has complete spiritual union with God. John the Baptist was called the greatest of the prophets by Jesus Himself, but John the Baptist was not full of Grace. He came to a complete spiritual union with God when he died for the Truth of God. Moses, Elijah, Deborah, Ruth, and all the greats of the Old Testament were men and women of God, but they did not have God dwelling in them. Mary did. She always had a union with God. She was always in sanctifying grace.

You and I were given sanctifying Grace at our baptism. God dwells in us. That is why Jesus said that the least born into the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than even John the Baptist, at least before the Baptist died for the Truth of God.

So, the angel declares, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Lord here refers to Yahweh. God is with her. He dwells within her even before she conceived the physical body of the Son in her womb.

But why? Why was Mary conceived without sin? She was conceived without sin so the Eternal Word of God could come to physical life within her and through her. Mankind had turned away from God from the very beginning of creation, as the first reading from Genesis explained. How could the Holy of Holies dwell in the womb of a creature that was not in spiritual union with God? How could the Holy of Holies dwell within someone who carried mankind’s rejection of God? The rejection of God had to be eliminated. Sanctifying Grace had to be restored. Jesus would do this for all of us on the Cross, sacrificing His Life so we could have Eternal Life. Mary would not have to have the rejection of God eliminated. She would always be in Sanctifying Grace. Theologians would use the term prevenient Grace. The gift of Jesus’ Death would be anticipated for her. You find this word used in the prayer over the gifts. Mary’s reception of prevenient Grace is really defined in the opening prayer for today’s Mass:

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, we too might be cleansed and admitted into your presence.”

What does all this mean to us, though? Why do we celebrate this feast? Is it just to honor Mary? Yes, but it is more than this. Is it to honor the Son by honoring His mother? Yes, Jesus is honored when we honor his mother. Still our celebration is more than that. We celebrate this feast to pray for Mary’s intercession with her Son for us.

Back to the Hail Mary. After the angel’s greeting, and after her kinswoman Elizabeth’s proclamation, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of our womb, Jesus.” We come to the second part of the Hail Mary, our prayer to Mary to intercede for us with her Son, to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

We pray to Mary not just due to what she did, but for who she is. We pray to Mary not just to her accepting her role in the mystery of our salvation; we pray to Mary because she remains full of Grace. She remains in full union with God. In fact, due to who she is, the Immaculately Conceived One, she has the greatest power of intercession with her Son.

Let us look to Mary and ask her to help us keep taking the path of surrender she took. In the words of the Hail Mary, we pray, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." Amen.