The Immaculate Conception

December 8th is the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. This signifies Mary the Mother of Our Lord, being sinless.

-Was The Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin? 

-What does the Immaculate Conception mean?

Those are great questions. I'm going to answer to the best of my ability.

When I started to get back into my Faith, I asked the same questions and I prayed hard on these questions. They were hard for me to understand and this is what The Lord revealed to me.

In Luke 1:26-28 The Angel greets Mary as , " ‘HAIL’ Full of GRACE The Lord is with you."  

- Why would the Angel Gabriel address her as, “HAIL”? 

That's because of her important roll that she is gonna play in God's Kingdom on earth as Mother of the Savior. 

- And what does it mean to be full of Grace? 

That means to be full of God. 

So like the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Law, Mary would be the new Ark of the Covenant, "the place where the glory of The Lord dwells" and I'm sure we can agree that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of Mary, and Jesus of Nazareth is the Son and "The WORD" of God the Father. 

The Word which was in the beginning with God, and The Word WAS GOD (Jn 1:1-2) and this is the same Word that "Became FLESH" (Jn 1:14).

- How did God become flesh? 

By The Holy Spirit, the power of The Most High will overshadow Mary and The Word had to dwell in Mary's Womb for at least 40 weeks.

Mary was filled with God's Divine life. "The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by His Grace."

It is fitting that the Mother of Him in whom 'the fullness of deity dwells bodily' should herself be 'Full of Grace'.

She was by sheer Grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of all creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of The Almighty. 

To be “blessed” is to have favor with God, and to be filled with the Grace is to be filled with the supernatural life-of God. 

It is to possess the kingdom by belonging to the King. As Mother of the King of kings, Mary bore the Kingdom with in her. As Mother of the Messiah, she is as well the Mother of the Church and all Christians.                                                                                      

- Why, then, did God preserve Mary in this way from original sin? 

- Was it necessary that she be filled with Grace from the beginning of her conception? 

- Doesn't this suggest that Mary did not need to be saved? 

First we must note that God desired a holy and perfect vessel for the reception of His Word.

If the Holy of Holies in the Temple had to be kept pure and undefined, it makes perfect sense that the Incarnate Word would reside in a perfect, unblemished Ark of the Covenant.

And Mary's roll in salvation was not to end with giving birth and raising Our Lord Jesus, but continues for all time.

Once a mother always a mother!

It is written "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (Jn 1:17)."  The Blessed Virgin Mary was the nearest to Christ in His humanity: because he received His human nature from her. Therefore it was due to her to receive a greater fullness of Grace than others, not because of relation but because she heard the Word and kept the Word, literally in her womb.

Secondly, Mary is fully human and so needed redemption just like every man and woman. What is distinctive, is not the "if Mary was saved" (she DID need to be saved and her salvation could ONLY come from God), but the "how" she was saved. 

Grace, the life of God, is not bound or limited by time; it exist outside of time and can be applied as God wills and directs. By a sort of pre-emptive, redemptive strike, Christ's Grace removed sin from the Virgin Mary even before the WORD became flesh and dwelt among men. In other word God needs the perfect Tabernacle to bring forth the Salvation of you and me through Jesus Christ. Her womb was The Holy of Holies where The Word will dwelt before becoming Flesh.  

If sin represents the pit in which we all fall into and from which Christ saves us from by pulling us out of the pit of sin, He saves His Mother from sin, from falling not falling into the pit in the first place.                           

I know this is a long answer but it's a complicated question, which I pray to God I was able to shed some light on. This is why Christians believe Mary was born without original sin. 

I hope this was helpful. 

God bless you.

Viva Cristo Rey!

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