The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady
"Lk 1:26-38"
The angel Gabriel said to Mary, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! ...Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Friday, 8th December 1854, was a cloudy day. At 8am a solemn liturgical procession entered St Peter's Basilica where Bl Pius IX celebrated Holy Mass. After the singing of the Gospel the Cardinal dean prostrated at the feet of the Pontiff asking him for the decree. From this moment to the end of the Te Deum, sung after the Mass, and on a signal from a cannon fired from the Castel Sant'Angelo, for a period of one hour all the bells of Rome rang out together to celebrate a day which, as Mgr. Campana writes, "will be remembered until the end of time as one of the most glorious days in history."
But something else happened that no one had foreseen. During the solemn promulgation a ray of sun opened its way through the clouds and across the stained glass windows to illuminate the face of the Pope, all covered in tears. Everyone saw that light but nobody could ever explain how the sunlight could reach the place where the Pontiff was. The Holy Father interpreted this sunbeam as a heavenly confirmation of the dogma.
At the end of a gifted violinist's concert, when people in the audience were leaving the theatre they found a lovely little girl approaching them and asking, "Did you like it?" When they answered affirmatively, she replied with satisfied pride in her eyes, grinning from ear to ear, "She is my mum!" And we can feel today just like that child, as millions of Angels and Saints and Holy Souls and people contemplate the Immaculate Conception, the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God, the most beloved, the most admired, revered, cherished, esteemed, impressive, extraordinary, magnificent, sublime creature... Rejoice: She is your Mother!
Blessed be your purity, may it be blessed for ever, for no less than God takes delight in such exalted beauty...
