immaculate conception

One of the biblical basis for the doctrine that Mary was conceived immaculately by her mother St. Anne is the greeting of the angel in our gospel today.  The angel Gabriel in greeting Mary said, hail Mary, full of grace or in our gospel today hail full of grace, the Lord is with you.  The Greek word that was used by Luke was kecharitomene.  This word comes from verb charitoo which means “to fill with grace”. Kecharitomene is perfect passive.  When we say “perfect tense” it means the verb or the action was done in the past but its effects are there even in the present.  So if kecharitomene is perfect passive then it means that Mary was filled with grace in the distant past and the effect of this grace continues even now.  So Mary was full of grace not just during the annunciation when the angel visited her.  No.  She was full of grace even before that.  She was filled with grace in fact at the time of her conception.  That is why there was not an instance when original sin entered Mary’s heart because at the very instant of her conception she was already full of grace.  Kecharitomene.  Maghimaya ka Maria puno ka sing grasya, full of grace.

So when St. Anne her mother conceived her in December 8, Mary was already without stain for she was already kecharitomene.  When she was born September 8, 9 months later, Mary is the Immaculate Conception.  Thus when she appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes she would say, Que soy era Inmaculada Concepcion, I am the Immaculate Conception.  St. Bernadette would recall the name given her by the the Lady she saw in a cave even if in her entire life she never heard the words immaculate conception or the meaning of it.  And when Mary would appear later to St. Catherine Laboure, Mary would show her the model of the Medal to be struck in her honor, the Miraculous Medal with an inscription that would read, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”  Her apparitions would affirm this belief.

The Immaculate Conception, although only recently declared a dogma of the faith by Pius IX in 1854, is already belief of the ancient church on Mary.  Greek Orthodox churches for example believed in Mary’s Immaculate Conception and so also some Anglicans.  Even the Prophet Mohammed and the Muslims believed that all the sons of Adam were touched by the devil “except Jesus and Mary.”  Thus we see that this doctrine of faith held by all Catholics is also believed even by those who do not belong to Catholicism.

The usual image that we make to depict the Immaculate Conception is associated with the painting of Murillo.  This is the style that you will see in Oton for example.  But our formators in the seminary in the past would insist that the real image of the Immaculate Conception is the image you find in the Miraculous Medal because in the medal one can read the inscription O Mary conceived without sin and the image of Mary stepping on the serpent which has the forbidden fruit in its mouth.  This in a way depicts that the ancient promise in the book of Genesis in our first reading today of the woman stepping on the head of the serpent is finally fulfilled in Mary.  In the book of genesis Eve, the first woman would look up to the snake and heed its temptation to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree.  But here in this image we find Mary finally stepping on the head of the serpent, crushing its head.

The Immaculate Conception as I have said a while ago is an action done in the past whose effects continue in the present.  It is peculiar of a perfect tense.  But it is passive voice - it is an action done not by Mary but by God.  The Immaculate Conception is not the power of Mary but the power of God.   The Immaculate Conception illustrates to us God’s power even against the most powerful force deep down there in our hearts.  And what is that powerful force - our tendency to sin, our inclination to sin.  That tendency is called concupiscence - the tinder of sin, ang paamak sa sala.  This is symbolized by the snake.  Thus with Mary stepping on the snake means that finally this is put under control.  Finally the snake is restrained.

Today we look to God, Lord make me like Mary.  Give me the power to step on the snake, to put it under control, that my tendency to sin, my tendency to hate, my tendency to look at things with lust, my tendency to selfishness and greed may finally be restrained and placed under control.  Lord without you I am powerless over sin.  Give me Lord the grace to overcome my sinfulness amen.