O Mary conceived without sin

Article for Mancipia.

“Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

No other human on earth hears my little prayer, one that is quickly followed-up with the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.

I articulate these two, little, but powerful prayers in the late evenings while performing maintenance chores in my commercial cleaning business.   (I’m now retired!!)

I do have an ulterior motive for repeating the prayer to our Blessed Mother: the protection of our son, James, now serving in the Marine Corps, and to St. Michael the Archangel that he, and his brothers, might never be sent to an unjust war or combat zone.  I also petition St. Michael to protect James from all moral, physical, or spiritual harm.  (James has since been honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.)

I also keep a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Miraculous Medal in my storage room.  The apparition of the most lovely and gracious “Lady of Guadalupe,” first appeared to the humble Aztec Indian, the now St. Juan Diego in 1531.

In the years that followed, it is estimated that over eleven million South Americans were converted to the Catholic Faith, a counter to the millions of Europeans that left the Faith and embraced Protestantism, whether by choice or coercion.  

In these days of uncertainty for our country – as well as for many other western countries, I know of no more powerful an Intercessor than the Mother of Our Lord.

The always-believed doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the Mother of both God and Man, and that Our Lord had both a Divine and Human nature, but is one Divine Person, had to be etched in stone at the third ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431 A.D., under the authority of Pope St. Celestine.

The Council was called in response to the Bishop of Constantinople, Nestorius, claiming – and proclaiming – that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the Mother of Christ, but not God!   He further claimed that there were two persons in Christ, both human and divine. (St. Leo the Great: No Fear, No Compromise, the Lion in the Chair, February, 2008, by Brian Kelly, Catholicism.org.)

“The Council gave its verdict and excommunicated and anathematized Nestorius. The sentence received 198 signatures, and some more were afterwards added. A brief notification addressed to ‘the new Judas’ was sent to Nestorius. The Coptic Acts tell us that, as he would not receive it, it was affixed to his door. The whole business had been concluded in a single long session, and it was evening when the result was known. The people of Ephesus, full of rejoicing, escorted the fathers to their houses with torches and incense.”  (Catholic Encyclopedia; Council of Ephesus.)

As young children, we instinctively ran to our mothers for comfort and succor when we scraped our knee, or felt threatened in some way.

As adults, we may feel threatened in other ways, especially surrounded as we are by those who would diminish or downright eradicate Christianity in general, and Catholicism in particular.

And we, who have recourse to our Mother, should run at breakneck speed to the Queen of Heaven and Earth, for the succor that only She can give.

A man would come away stronger; a woman more womanly, and both better able to faithfully fulfill their particular state in life.  Devotion and confidence shown to Our Lady, not only increases her glory in Heaven, but also sheds rays of grace to those who petition God’s Mother.  And what is one of the most popular ways we can do this?  With the powerful weapon of the Rosary, first given to St. Dominic, -- as related by Bl. Alan de la Roche – we can defend ourselves against the devil and his minions, especially when temptations disturb our peace of mind and soul.

There have been conversions of some of the most hardened of hearts through the recitation of the most Holy Rosary.  

And, as the great feast of the Assumption approaches, here is the post-communion prayer from the Vigil of the Assumption: Grant Thine assistance, O merciful God, to our frailty, that we, who anticipate the festival of God’s holy Mother, may, by the aid of her intercession, rise from our iniquity. 

The Gospel of St. Luke on the feast of the Assumption relates Our Lady’s great Magnificat: My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior; because He hast regarded the humility of His handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.  Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name, and His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him.    

In the same Gospel, St. Luke continues to relate Our Lady’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, who was then with child -- the future St. John the Baptist.

It is quite telling what occurred as the soon to be Blessed Mother entered the household of her cousin: Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.  And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.

We have here the beginnings of the great “Hail Mary,” as well as the sanctification of St. John the Baptist in the womb of his mother.   In addition, we also have a great apologetic for the cause of the pre-born! 

As my now deceased aunt, Sr. Angela Spinelli, of the Religious Teachers Filippini for nearly fifty-eight years, always told me that she prayed for me – to our Blessed Lady -- in a “special way.”  

She knew what she was doing, as I returned to the Faith in the early 1990s after being the Prodigal son for so many years.

Our Lady, help of Christians, pray for us.

E. DeLalla