"Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you"
Today we honor the greatest of all Saints of our Church, the most privileged woman who ever lived. We remember a singular grace that was given to her alone. Whether it be the Rosary, the Memorare or numerous other prayers and devotions, the well worn Catholic prayer the "Hail Mary," a parish Church such as ours here, a massive Renaissance Basilica, a University, or countless other ways we honor the Mother of Jesus: Miriam - "Mary." You say the name Mary and Catholics immediately know you are not referring to some unidentified girl or woman but to the famed and greatly honored mother of the Savior, Jesus the Christ, Mary of Nazareth.
The cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary takes various forms over the centuries but there is no doubt that even the writers of the Gospel reflected the honor that the early Christians had for her. That honor has continued in the Catholic Christian communities down through the centuries with the risk of maybe forgetting Mary's humanity. She was born of earthly parents and not conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit as her Son was. She lived a typical Jewish life in ancient Israel but most of that life is unknown and lost in speculation and legend. A tradition claims that she was presented in the Temple as a child then basically was left there to be raised and decided on a life of consecrated virginity. However, if that was true, why would she become betrothed, essentially married, to Joseph? As a personal note, we see nearly all depictions of Mary to show her as white, blond, blue eyed young woman, at least to our western eyes. She tends to look more Nordic, Irish, northern European. There are certainly exceptions: Our Lady of Guadalupe, the "black" Madonna of Poland, even a Japanese depiction among others. She is mother to all humanity.
Yet, I personally wish for a middle eastern, Jewish looking woman. As she truly was and is. Darker skin, dark hair, dark eyes, etc. So, perhaps that life of virginity was a life of prayer and dedication to God was until the right man would come along or more common, until the parents of each chose to have them wed. Such speculation may be interesting but little if any historical verification is available. So we rely on the Gospel writers.
In the Gospel of Luke Mary comes upon the scene as a young virginal maiden, likely in her mid to late teens, when the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel, comes to visit her in an encounter that was startling (Luke 1: 26 - 38). Here we know that Mary was for all practical purposes already married to Joseph, likely older than her but certainly not an old man as he is often imagined. Life expectancy was not much beyond 40 anyway in that time. Yet there were exceptions no doubt. But the most enriching and beautiful words we read in this passage from Luke 1: 28 in which the Angel addresses the startled young woman before him: "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you . . ."
Notice the Angel does not address her - "Hello Mary!" or "Let me introduce myself to you , Mary." He never uses her given name but identifies her spiritual state. Yes she is "full of grace" or another translation states: "O highly favored" indeed by God. Chosen from all other women on the earth. But, the angel recognizes: "The Lord is with you."
For one to have the Lord with them, they are in the state of grace already. In this particular moment, the angel knew that Mary was filled with grace, pure, receptive, unstained, ready to receive this miraculous event we call the incarnation - God who takes on a human nature. In order to receive the Son of the living God in human form, she would need to be. A perfect mother for a perfect child. She would need to be immaculate, free of the stain of sin.
Thus the dogma we recall today is something the Church held from early times. Though it was not specifically defined until 1854 by Pope Pius IX, it was held in common and implied long before that. That Mary, from the moment of her conception, was kept pure with no stain of sin, no weakness brought on by the inheritance of "Original Sin," as all humanity is born into. Yet, it is one that our non-Catholic brethren sometimes have a tough time with. Baptism, we believe, takes away the mark of original sin yet we inherit a flawed human nature in need of saving grace.
Mary alone was preserved from that stain in order that she would be ready to receive the angel's announcement. This was a "singular" grace given to Mary alone. It enhances not only her dignity but even more so emphasizes the holiness of her Son.
In 1858, just four years after the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was defined formally by the Church, in the little backwater town of Lourdes, in southern France, the Virgin Mary appeared in a series of apparitions to the youthful Bernadette Soubirous. That very popular shrine today stands since as a place of prayer and healing. There, speaking to Bernadette, the woman told her: "I am the Immaculate Conception." Bernadette, being unlearned, had no idea what those words meant but went to tell her priest who was already suspicious of Bernadette's claims. Having known what that title meant, the priest was convinced that the young fourteen year old Bernadette could not be making up such things but her claim became credible. In fact, after those words were spoken to Bernadette, she ran to tell the priest, repeating over and over again those strange words so that she would not forget.
So today we honor Mary, the pure Virgin Mother of God, who is for us a spiritual Mother as well. May this extraordinary woman, pray for all of us that we too may resist, by God's grace, all that would separate us from him.
"O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have
recourse to you."
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