9781644135945

The Light of the World
me all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits; for my spirit is sweet above honey, and
my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations.
They that eat me shall yet hunger; and they that drink me shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth
to me shall not be confounded; and they that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me
shall have life everlasting” (Epistle).
Mary is the house which eternal Wisdom has built for itself, and the vine that brings forth
wonderful fruit. She has brought forth Christ and His salvation. “Come and hear, all ye that
fear God” (Introit). We shall go to Mary to see her and to find in her Jesus, our God and our all.
“Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible
as an army set in array?” Thus the Church speaks of her in the Communion prayer of today’s
Mass. Mary Immaculate is the dawn; through her, the most pure one, we have the Eucharist
and Holy Communion.
“The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains.” When God sought a habitation for
Himself, he wished that it be pure. What should He find if He were to take up His abode in my
soul today in Holy Communion? I will turn to my most pure mother, that she may establish
me in purity.
“The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains.” What will He find when, at the end
of time, He comes to call us to the abode of light and holiness in the heavenly Sion? In heaven
there is holiness unalloyed. Nothing unclean can ever enter there. How pure and how holy
must also be the advent of our earthly life if we seek to enjoy the blessed Christmas of heaven!
Prayer
O God, who in a wonderful way didst preserve the mother of Thy only-begotten Son from
all taint of Original Sin, grant, we beseech Thee, that, strengthened by her prayers and being
made clean of heart, we may devoutly assist in the keeping of her holy festival. Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
The liturgy places the beautiful feast of the Immaculate Conception in the middle of the Advent
season. In the person of Mary, the sun of the redemption and salvation dawns, and through
her Christmas is brought to us. Through her, Christ the Son of God announces His coming.
“Thou art all fair, O Mary, and the stain of Original Sin is not in thee” (Alleluia verse). Since we
are children of Adam, the moment we are conceived we contract the guilt of Original Sin. From
the first moment of our existence we are children of wrath, an object of abhorrence to God.
Original sin has made us so ugly, so hateful, and so worthless, that its defilement has covered our
whole soul and our whole person. Mary has been preserved from all this. From the first moment
of her existence she was full of grace, perfectly pure and holy, and most pleasing to God in her
heavenly beauty and holiness. She alone of all mankind has been preserved from the stain of
Original Sin. She is the spotless lily, full of purity and light. “Thou art all fair, O Mary, and the
stain of Original Sin is not in thee. Thy vesture is white as snow; and thy face is as the sun. Thou
art the glory of Jerusalem [the Church]; thou art the joy of Israel; thou art the honor of our
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