Conceived With Out Sin

Posted by admin on Dec 7th, 2006

“I am the Immaculate Conception.”

That is how Our Lady identified herself to St. Bernadette at Lourdes. It always makes my hair stand on end - on my arms - not my head.

All the “Fathers” who blog will have profound, wonderful teaching on this mystery of Our Lady, so I wouldn’t dare discuss her prerogatives or what this feast day means. I’ll just blabber on here.

For me, Our Lady is a paradise upon earth, a refuge for sinners, a consolation in this vale of tears. For the Church to make this feast a day of obligation is a delight. The joy of the Immaculate Conception overflows into our souls, preparing us for the wonderful feast of the Nativity. The Madonna is our Mommie, and she is the Immaculata!

I looked for a painting, but could find nothing to adequately represent Our Lady, so I chose this one by default - although it thrills me. I purchased a fine oil painting reproduction of Murillo’s Immaculada, quite large, for my study where I pray. All of her images disappoint me now. No one can capture this mystery in art, it must be contemplated in spirit. (I’m so sad images no longer work for me - we cannot possess grace through images - they are so much better to glance at and allow the spirit to be raised, as opposed to attempting to somehow capture the spirit of the one portrayed by owning the image. Or something like that.)

I cannot explain the Immaculate Conception, nor can I explain the Trinity. Yet it seems to me I can experience Her…She encompasses the whole of humanity, my humanity and soul. “I am the Immaculate Conception”. God is “I am” she is His “Immaculate Conception”. What is that? I mean, what is that?

A favorite prayer of mine from St. Francis is his “My God! Who are you? And what am I?” Our Lady identified and revealed her name, when she told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception” - doesn’t that thrill you? She causes the soul to go into ecstasy - if you simply wonder, allowing the awe-some to envelope your soul.

It is wonderful to know as the Doctors and Fathers know, the truths of our faith, dogma and definitions, yet it is so much more wonderful to be suspended in awe-some unknowing before the majesty and mystery of the Immaculate Conception. The little ones know this.

I wish I had words, that no one ever has heard, to express this wondrous mystery, this perfect love, this purest being, this paradise wherein sinners find refuge, consolation and healing. If ever I felt like I had the gift of tongues, I could let loose now, in a holy babble of praise.
O Mary, Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee! Repeat that over and over and over.
Or pray, “Thou art all fair O Mary, and the original stain is not in Thee! O Mary! O Mary, conceived without sin! Pray for us who have recourse to Thee!” Over and over and over.
(For her feast, I cannot blog or do email or surf the net, until after vespers tomorrow. May Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception enrapture your souls and enflame your hearts with the Holy Spirit of love! Ah! How I love the Blessed Virgin!)

Now this IS catastrophic!

Posted by admin on Dec 7th, 2006

Pictured, Our Lady of Africa
The genocide in Darfur.
This weekend is being called for as a weekend of prayer for Darfur.
“Religious leaders urge weekend of prayer for Darfur
Mark PattisonCatholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Religious leaders in the Save Darfur Coalition urged prayer the weekend of Dec. 9-10 to call attention to the ongoing atrocities in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
“Nobody knows the exact number” of those killed in the conflict, said David Rubenstein, executive director of the coalition, although he estimated 400,000 have died in the violence.
“There are people dying every day, and at risk of death every day,” Rubenstein said during a Dec. 5 conference call with reporters. “They are being burned from their homes and villages.”
“Mostly, what they need is security,” said Rubenstein, adding that “3.5 million people in toto have been affected by this conflict, and the systems of survival have shut down.
“In a related matter, 78 religious organizations, including five Catholic groups, signed a full-page ad in the Dec. 5 issue of USA Today issuing a “call to your conscience” on Darfur. Catholic signers were the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Pax Christi USA and the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
If churchgoers “knew all of the facts of what was happening in Darfur, they would rise up urgently to stop the genocide,” Rev. Edgar said. “Often Darfur is not on the front page of the newspapers.
“While hesitant to describe Darfur as a civil war, Rubenstein, who visited Darfur earlier this year, said, “The only people who don’t have weapons are the civilians who are being slaughtered by their own government’s agents, the Janjaweed,” who “use rape as a tool of war” and “burning and mutilation as a tool to move them.”- CNS
Now this is something that seems to have a much more “catastrophic effect” than global warming. Let’s pray and maybe try to fast for these our brothers and sisters.

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