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82.1
First Point
From
all eternity God destined the Most Blessed Virgin to be the mother of his
Son, and so formed her in soul and in body that she was worthy to hold him
in her womb. This is why he preserved her from anything that could be the
least displeasing to him. As it would have been a disgraceful thing for
the mother of God to have had anything to do with sin, God, by an entirely
special privilege, exempted her from original sin. It is true that we
cannot understand how this came about. Nevertheless, it would be
unbecoming for us to doubt the exemption she had from sin in her
conception, since this is the pious and common sentiment of the faithful,
and since the Church accepts it as appropriate.
Honor the Most Blessed Virgin today, then, as the purest of all
creatures and the only one on earth who has been exempt from original sin.
Tell her with the whole Church that she is all beautiful, and that in
her soul there is no stain of sin,[i]
not even that sin which is common to all the human race. Beg her on this
day, in virtue of this extraordinary grace that God gave her, to obtain
for you from God to be entirely freed from the corruption of the world
throughout your life,[ii]
and ask that there no longer be found in you any habit of sin, for this is
what makes a soul unworthy of God's special graces.
82.2
Second Point
Not
only was the Most Blessed Virgin preserved from original sin in her
conception, but she also had at that instant a grace powerful enough to
preserve her from all actual sin. This grace was so efficacious in her
that she never did commit a single sin, which led Saint Augustine to say
that when we speak of sin we must always exclude the Most Blessed Virgin.
The holy Fathers compare her to the Ark of the Covenant, which was made
of incorruptible wood,[iii]
in order to indicate to us that from the very first instant of her being
she received the grace of innocence and original justice, which she never
lost even though, like us, she was able to do both good and evil.
Let us recognize that in the Most Blessed Virgin, there was never
any action that did not make her worthy of God, that her soul was always
filled with him, so that he might prepare her to hold and to form within
herself the body of God.
You have the happiness of often holding within yourself the body of
this same God. Offer him, then, by your holy actions the respect you owe
him, and always act in a manner that is worthy of him, so that he may
desire to come to you and to reside in you. Show by your behavior that you
consider yourself fortunate to possess him, and that, while you cannot
always have his sacred body within you, you do not because of that cease
to possess his Spirit.
82.3
Third Point
In
order to make the Most Blessed Virgin entirely pure at the moment of her
conception, God also preserved her from concupiscence, that is, the
inclination to sin, not willing that anything connected with sin be near
her. As he is holiness itself, he had no desire to unite himself with a
creature soiled by the slightest fault.
Give thanks to God with Mary for the great things he has done in
her.[iv]
Look upon her as the masterpiece from God's hands and ask him to free you
from everything that might contribute to make you fall into the least
fault, especially into any of the sins to which you were inclined in the
world.
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This
feast was first celebrated in the Eastern church and was only gradually
introduced into Europe during the 9th century. It was promoted by the
Franciscans in the 13th century, and the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV
introduced it in Rome in 1477. Pope Clement XI extended it to the
universal church in 1708, so that it received a special impetus toward the
end of De La Salle's life. This may have promoted a special devotion among
the first Brothers, and influenced this meditation by De La Salle. It is
of interest to read in the later regulations of the house of Saint Yon
that:
This feast is kept with great solemnity throughout the Institute,
for it was after vowing to fast on the eve of this feast each year, in
addition to the Friday fast, and to celebrate the feast and its octave
solemnly as far as they were able, that the Brothers obtained Letters
Patent from the king and the Bull of Approbation of the Institute from the
Holy See. Moreover, the Lord has provided the means needed to construct
the chapel and other buildings at Saint Yon, and has given prosperity to
this house in a seemingly miraculous manner. On this day, just as on
Easter Sunday, everything that is most beautiful will be used in the
chapel. There is an indulgence for the celebration, and also for the
exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament. During the octave each day, four
candles are lighted at Mass and three Brothers go to Holy Communion.
This
dogma was defined as an article of faith by Pope Pius IX in 1854; in 1858
Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes declaring herself to be
the Immaculate Conception.
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