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December 2004
Dear
Faithful,
This
December 8th marks the 150th anniversary
of the Bull Ineffabilis Deus in which Pope Pius IX
defined thus the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady: That
the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary,
at the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace
and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of
Christ Jesus, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved
immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed
by God, and on this account must be firmly and constantly
believed by all the faithful.
This
privilege, as all her other privileges, was granted to Mary
because she was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother
of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception entails many things.
The
first is the fact that Mary was preserved from original sin.
Original sin is the sin of nature, the hereditary stain which,
all the children of Adam receive. It renders the soul the
enemy of God, slave to the devil. It is a curse, a state
of injustice, and a spiritual death. It makes us subject
to the law of concupiscence, suffering and death, inasmuch
as these are the punishment for the sin of our first father
who, by his rebellion, lost not only sanctifying grace but
also the preternatural gifts for himself and his descendants.
This
could not be in the mother of the Redeemer who was to have
an essential role to play in the salvation of mankind. It
was impossible for the Mother of God to be at any time, even
for an instant, the enemy of this same God, the slave of the
devil, cursed, rebellious, and unjust. This is why Mary is
so powerful against the devil and why Almighty God wants to
use her to crush his proud head. She was also preserved from
all actual sin and even from evil concupiscence. She is the
Virgin most pure, the tower of ivory. Her intelligence and
will were always perfectly submitted to God. She could not
be deceived by error. She is the Seat of Wisdom, Virgin most
prudent, Mother of good counsel. In her suffering and death
were not consequences of sin like they are for us. In Jesus
and Mary suffering and death were consequences of human nature,
which without a supernatural gift, such as Adam received,
is naturally subject to suffering and death. To be our Redeemer
by His passion and death, Jesus was virginally conceived in
mortal flesh and voluntarily accepted to suffer and die for
our salvation. Mary, in the imitation of her Son, voluntarily
made the same sacrifice to expiate with him in our stead and
so cooperate in our redemption. Far from diminishing her
power to suffer, the Immaculate Conception greatly increased
her capacity to suffer because of her perfection and purity
and charity. We suffer when our self-love, our pride, and
our sensuality are wounded. Mary suffered from sin because
of her great love for God who is offended by sin, and because
of her love for her Son who was crucified for sin, and because
of the damage it does to our souls.
Secondly,
at the same time as she was preserved from original sin, she
was filled with grace, such a plenitude of grace that St Gabriel
makes special mention of it in his salutation: “Hail full
of grace.” Sanctifying grace makes us partakers of the
divine nature, of the very life of God. It is the seed of
eternal life. It is what renders us capable of doing supernatural
acts, meritorious for heaven, above all to love God, i.e.
charity. Our Lady had this grace to the degree necessary
for her to be the worthy Mother of God. St Thomas Aquinas
teaches that: “we must reasonably believe that she who
was to give birth to the only begotten Son of God, full of
grace and truth, received more than anyone the greatest privileges
of grace… The more one approaches to the source of all grace
the more he receives: but Mary approached more than anyone
the source of grace which is Christ.” Therefore
she had a fullness of grace in a degree far superior to all
the angels and saints combined. She received all the gifts
of nature and grace necessary to make her the worthy Mother
of Jesus. She is the masterpiece of God. And far from diminishing
the glory of our Lord she increases it. Is an artist insulted
when others admire his work of art? Could God be offended
when we admire his masterpiece? Does not all the credit return
to Him? This is what she herself did in the Magnificat.
This
definition does not mean that Mary escaped the universal law
of redemption by Christ. The very contrary happened and as
was fitting she was redeemed in a more perfect way. In view
of the merits of Jesus the one and only Saviour, Mary was
not freed from original sin like we were, but she was preserved
from it altogether. It is more perfect to prevent someone
getting an infection than curing it after he has received
it. This is what Jesus did for His mother. Jesus alone was
preserved from sin by his own merits: because of the hypostatic
union, that personal union of his humanity with the person
of the Word and secondly by the virginal conception by the
Holy Ghost so that he does not descend from Adam by way of
natural generation. Mary was indeed redeemed by Jesus, not
because of her own merit, but in view of the merits of her
Son.
Why
is this mystery important? First, because part of the revelation
which Almighty God has graciously made known to us. For this
we must thank Him. Secondly, it shows the greatness of Mary
and her essential place in the work of redemption. Thirdly,
it marks the beginning of what St Louis Marie de Montfort
calls “the latter times” in which Mary’s role in crushing
the serpent will be, by the will of God, more prominent.
“God wishes that His holy Mother should be at present more
known, more loved, more honoured than she has ever been.”
What better way than to have the Church define two great glories
of Mary after Her divine motherhood: her Immaculate Conception
and Her glorious Assumption? This is perfectly in line with
the apparitions of Fatima where she says that in the end her
Immaculate Heart will triumph. It is also very much in line
with the apparitions of our Lady of Good Success in Quito
in which after predicting the apostasy and widespread corruption
even in the Church, she says: "In order to dissipate
this black cloud, which impedes the Church from enjoying the
clear day of liberty, there will be a formidable and frightful
war, in which both native and foreign blood will flow, including
that of secular and regular priests and other religious. This
night will be most horrible, for, humanly speaking, evil will
seem to have triumphed. This will mark the arrival of my
hour, when I, in a marvellous way, will dethrone the proud
and cursed satan, trampling him under my heel and chaining
him in the infernal abyss, finally freeing the Church and
the country from his cruel tyranny.
So,
my dear faithful, we need not worry, even as the corruption
grows daily with every Supreme Court decision and with every
act of Parliament. We must of course pray, sacrifice, protect
ourselves against this corruption of faith and morals, but
we must not worry. When we see these things happen we should
look up and lift up our heads, because our redemption is
at hand. Mary’s time is near. Her Immaculate Heart will
triumph.
Each
year Advent and Christmas remind us that our salvation is
nearer than when we believed. These are times to show ourselves
truly Catholics and not get all caught up in the commercialisation
and worldly celebrations. There is more to Advent than Christmas
parties and so many shopping days till Christmas!
We
thank you for your continued fidelity. Be assured of our
continued prayers for you and all your intentions. May you
all have a blessed, happy and grace filled Christmas.
With
my blessing,
Father Jean Violette
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