“I am the Immaculate Conception.” (Blessed Virgin to Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes).
I have been reflecting on the Blessed Virgin.
When the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in a little grotto in Lourdes, the little girl asked who she was. The Blessed Virgin replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” And this is very important. The Blessed Virgin did not say, “I was Immaculately Conceived.” She did not say, “I am the product of the Immaculate Conception.” Instead, what she said was, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
And this was very significant phrasing, because the Church spent decades trying to understand this message. You see, by phrasing her conception in the PRESENT tense was the whole problem. You see it resonated with God’s answer to Moses on Mount Sinai when God told Moses His name is “I AM.”
In fact, it was decades after Saint Bernadette’s death that another great Marian Saint was inspired by the Holy Spirit to understand the meaning of the Blessed Virgin’s response. You see, Saint Maximillian Kolbe came to understand through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, that the TWO parts of the Immaculate Conception consisted of the Created part of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Uncreated part of the Immaculate Conception God the Holy Spirit – the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin.
And I have been reflecting on why this is such a big deal in the Catholic Church. You see, the Immaculate Conception is a DOGMA of the Catholic Church, which means that it is one of the things that we as Catholics are called to believe in if we wish to call ourselves Catholics.
So, I have been thinking about why this is such an important part of our faith.
And the answer is very simple…
It is all about a stain.
Have you ever bought a brand new dress and tried it on straight from the shop? It is usually beautiful and straight and clean. It is unstained and unblemished. It is not crinkled or damaged. It is pristine.
After that skirt has been worn once or twice or even more, it can crinkle. It may get dirty. It may even become stained. And even if the skirt were washed and ironed, it would still never be quite as pristine as it was that day it was picked up from the shop when it was brand new.
And that is why the Blessed Virgin is the Immaculate Conception – because she is conceived without sin so that she is the unstained vessel to bear God the Son.
Baptism was not enough to cleanse her of her sins, because though Baptism forgives sin, the sin itself once existed. In the case of the Mother of God, there could be no sin. God the Father loved God the Son so much that He would not permit His conception in the womb of a soul once stained by Sin. So instead – for love of God the Son, God the Father created a PERFECT vessel as Spouse of the God the Holy Spirit.
And in this way and for this reason, the Blessed Virgin is the Immaculate Conception.
Because God the Father Loves God the Son THAT much…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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