MARY IMMACULATE: THE CERTAINTY THAT GOD DOES NOT FAIL

On December 8, 2012, the Vatican Information Service published the Angelus address from Vatican City on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI emphasized that Mary is Immaculate "by a gratuitous gift of the Grace of God, which she accepted, however, with perfect willingness and cooperation. In this respect she is 'blessed' because she 'believed', because of her firm faith in God".

The Holy Father continued, "Mary represents that 'remnant of Israel', the holy root announced by the prophets. The promises of the Old Covenant are welcomed in her. In Mary the Word of God is listened to, and finds acceptance, a response; the Word finds the 'yes' that allows it to take on flesh and to dwell among us. In Mary humanity and history are truly open to God and accept his Grace, in readiness to serve his will. Mary is the genuine expression of Grace. She is the new Israel that the Scriptures of the Old Testament describe with the symbol of the bride. ... The Fathers of the Church developed this image and so the doctrine of the Immaculate was born, first with reference to the Church as virgin-mother, and then to Mary".

"The light that emanates from the figure of Mary helps us also to understand the true meaning of original sin. Indeed, in Mary the relationship with God, that may be destroyed by sin, is completely alive and active. There is no opposition within her between God and her being; rather, there is full communion, full understanding. There is a reciprocal 'yes', from God to her and from her to God. ... She is full of His Grace and His love.

"In conclusion, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary expresses the certainty of faith that the promises of God are realized: that His covenant does not fail, but has produced a holy root, from which has grown the Fruit most blessed of all the universe, Jesus the Savior. Mary Immaculate demonstrates that Grace is able to bring about a response, that God’s fidelity can generate a true and good faith".

 Biblical References to Our Lady 

  Foretold in Old Testament: Is 7:14; Mic 5:2-3
Conceived without sin: Gen 3:15; Lk 1:28
A Virgin: Is 7:14; Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:27; 34
Maintained her virginity...
Typified in: Ezek 44:2; Lk 1:34
Mother of God: Is 9:6; Mt 1:23; Lk 1:32; 35; 43;
2:11; Gal 4:4
Highly blessed: Lk 1:28; 48
Was to suffer many sorrows: Lam 1:12; Lk 2:34-35;  48; Jn 19:25

 Meditated on Jesus' words: Lk 2:51
Pondered events in Jesus' life: Lk 2:19
Requested Jesus' first miracle: Jn 2:1-12
Given to us as our mother: Jn 19:25-27
Devoted herself to prayer: Acts 1:14
Enoch and Elijah taken (assumed) to heaven:
  Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5; 2 Kings 2:1-13
Annunciation: Lk 1:28
Blessed are you among women: Lk 1:42-48

St. Anthony's Devotion to the Immaculate Conception

Before She became Mother of God "the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of Her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin..." as Pope Pius IX infallibly stated in 1854 A. D.. This solemn definition reflects the theological insight of Bl. John Duns Scotus (1266-1308), a Franciscan who articulated this truth of Mary's Immaculate Conception with clarity and force some seventy years after the death of St. Anthony. Although the saint of Padua never explicitly preached that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, he nonetheless implicitly upheld this Marian privilege and prepared the way for Scotus and Pius IX.

He quotes and confirms St. Augustine who declared, "Where there is a question of sin, exclude as far as I am concerned, the Blessed Virgin Mary." None of the saints can say, "We have no sin" (1 Jn 1:8). "But," the blessed friar adds, "from the universal confession of sin Mary among all creatures is to be excepted for She was 'full of grace.'" This "superior," "singular" grace was bestowed upon Her "that She might worthily bear in Her womb Him, who from the beginning held in His hands the control of the universe." In his mind "the pure Virgin" was "full of grace" and "free from sin" in view of the divine maternity. In other words, he saw that it was fitting and true that the Mother of God should be "Immaculate"—this is the basis for the Immaculate Conception. "The Father clothed His Son Jesus in a white robe, that is, flesh without any stain of sin conceived by the Virgin Immaculate." Therefore, St. Anthony helped to lay the foundations for the solemn definition of 1854 by the implications of his sermons.

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