Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Lk 1,26-38

I suppose the theme of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is unclear to many good Christians. What could it be about? We know that some human conceptions do not occur out of love, even though we would very much like children to be conceived and born only out of the love of their parents. In theological language, to say someone was conceived impurely does not at all mean conceptions without a loving relationship and responsibility. It is strange, but by ‘impure conception’ is actually meant every human conception simply because it is human, and ‘human’ is meant in the context I mentioned yesterday, as marked by mortality and sinfulness. Yes, one definition of man could be: Man is a sinful mortal. We can debate whether such a definition is pessimistic or just realistic…

Mortality and sinfulness are theologically understood as consequences of the so-called original sin. In Christianity, original sin does not mean any specific, consciously and voluntarily committed evil deed, but rather the human situation in which we are neither “animal” nor “divine.” We are not “innocent” like animals, but we are not “innocent” like God either. We say that man is a rational creature endowed with free will, but we don’t use reason and will only for good. This, and many others, point to the situation of original sin. From a Christian perspective, this situation necessitates God’s pardon or redemption. Catholic Christianity confesses

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from the contradictory situation of original sin in her conception. Therefore, we speak of her beginning in life as immaculate. Christian theologians and poets spoke of Mary as the “new Eve,” as a truly accomplished creation of God, who in this sense became “the mother of all living,” which is, according to the Book of Genesis, the title by which Adam originally named his wife (Genesis 3:20). Mary was therefore born as a normal human child, and when the Church speaks of her in such lofty terms, it does so only in retrospect of her experience with her son Jesus of Nazareth as the risen and God-confirmed Christ. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Mary was so endowed with God’s grace that it can be said of her, as we read in the Gospel of Luke: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)

The feast of the Immaculate Conception was first celebrated after 800 in Constantinople, later in England, and only in 1476 was it adopted in Rome. In 1854, Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. I once read that all Marian dogmas are actually dogmas derived from statements about Jesus Christ. Philosophical language conveys the dogmas about Christ, while poetry, in addition to philosophical language, marks the dogmas about Mary. Poetry can reach heights that most people can’t, but when they try, they experience something beautiful and unforgettable. When we go to a Marian pilgrimage site with a quiet place of prayer featuring an image of the Virgin Mary, we usually notice many tablets expressing thanks for help in times of need. We can certainly ask if these people imagined God’s help, specifically through the Virgin Mary’s intercession; however, the experience of a blessed conversation with Mary clearly exists and often has wonderful consequences.

And so we, the defiled, pray to the Immaculate (or more correctly with the Immaculate), that we too may be pardoned and redeemed from our human vulnerability: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Pray for us, so that not sin and death, but the love of God and man, may be our destiny.