Below is a whole lot of reading that I have posted. These are all readings from the Traditional Breviary for December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I have highlighted statements from these readings that I found especially enlightening about the nature and work of our Blessed Mother. She is such a wonderful gift, one of our greatest defenses against Satan and all his works of evil. She is the best advocate we have between us and her Son. I once heard Mary compared to Esther in the Bible, who was made queen of Babylon, and who intereceded on behalf of her Jewish people and saved them from complete destruction. We will never know in this lifetime how often Mary has interceded on our behalf and saved us from what would have been a just punishment.
The Lesson is taken from a Sermon by St. Jerome the Priest
Who and what was the blessed and glorious ever-Virgin Mary, hath been revealed by God by the message of an Angel, in these words : Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women. It was fitting that a fulness of grace should be poured into that Virgin who hath given to God glory and to man a Saviour, who hath brought peace to earth, who hath given faith to the Gentiles, who hath killed sin, who hath given law to life, who hath made the crooked ways straight. Verily, she is full of grace. [Mary became part of Christ's redemptive work when she said yes to the Holy Spirit] To others grace cometh measure by measure ; in Mary grace dwelleth at once in all fulness. Verily, she is full of grace. We believe that the holy Fathers and Prophets had grace ; but they were not full of grace. But into Mary came a fulness of all the grace which is in Christ, albeit otherwise than as it is in him. Therefore is it said : Blessed art thou among women, that is, Blessed art thou above all women. The fulness of blessing in Mary utterly neutralized in her any effects of the curse of Eve. In her praise Solomon writeth in the Song of Songs, Rise up, my dove, my fair one, for the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. And again, Come from Lebanon, my Spouse, come, thou shalt be crowned.
Not unjustly then is she bidden to come from Lebanon, for Lebanon is so named on account of its stainless and glistening whiteness. The earthly Lebanon is white with snow, but the lonely heights of Mary's holiness are white with purity and grace, brilliantly fair, whiter far than snow, sparkling with the gifts of the Holy Ghost―she is undefiled like a dove, all clean, all upright, full of grace and truth. She is full of mercy, and of the righteousness that hath looked down from heaven, and therefore is she without stain because in her hath never been any corruption. She hath compassed a man in her womb, saith holy Jeremiah, but she conceived not by the will of fallen man. The Lord, saith the Prophet, hath created a new thing in the earth : a woman shall compass a man. Verily, it is a new thing. Verily, it was a new work of power, greater than all other works, when God, whom the world cannot bear, and whom no man shall see and live, entered the lodging of her womb, breaking not the blissful cloister of her virgin flesh. And in her body he was borne, the Infinite inclosed within her womb. And from her womb he came forth, so that it was fulfilled which was spoken of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying : This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it ; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. Hence also in the Song of Songs it is said of her, A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, thy perfumes are a garden of delights. Verily a garden of delights, filled with the perfumes of all flowers, rich with the sweet savour of grace. And the most holy Virgin herself is a garden enclosed, whereinto sin and Satan have never entered to sully the blossoms, a fountain sealed, sealed with the seal of the Trinity. [Satan hates Mary above all of God's creation because he never had any power over her in any way, and this makes her one of our greatest spiritual defenses against Satan]
The Lesson is taken from the Acts of Pope Pius IX
The fact that the Virgin Mother of God had at the moment of her Conception triumphed over the foul enemy of man, hath ever been borne out by the Holy Scriptures, by the venerable tradition of the Church, and by her unceasing belief, as well as by the common conviction of all Bishops and faithful Catholics, and by marked acts and constitutions of the Holy See. At length the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX, in compliance with the wishes of the Universal Church, determined to publish it as a truth of faith, on his own absolute and unerring authority, and accordingly, on the 8th day of December, 1854, in the Vatican Basilica, in presence of a great multitude composed of the Fathers Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and Bishops from all parts of the earth, he, with the consent and jubilation of the whole world, declared and defined as follows : That doctrine which declareth that the most blessed Virgin Mary was in the first instant of her Conception preserved, by a special privilege granted unto her by God, from any stain of original sin, is a doctrine taught and revealed by God, and therefore is to be held by all faithful Christians firmly and constantly.
A Homily by St. Germanus the Bishop
Hail, Mary, full of grace, holier than the Saints, higher than the heavens, more glorious than the Cherubim, more honourable than the Seraphim, and the most worshipful thing that the hands of God have made. Hail, O dove, bearing in thy beak the olive-branch of peace that telleth us of salvation from the spiritual flood,―dove blessed omen of a safe harbour, whose wings are of silver, and thy feathers of gold, shining in the bright beams of the Most Holy and Light-giving Spirit. Hail, thou living garden of Eden, planted towards the East by the right hand of the Most Merciful and Mighty God, wherein do grow to his glory rich lilies and unfading roses, for the healing of them that have drunk in death from the blighting and pestilential breezes of the bitter West ; Eden, wherein hath sprung that Tree of life, whereof if any man eat he shall live for ever. Hail, stately Palace of the King, most holy, stainless, purest, House of the Most High God, adorned with his royal splendour, open to all, filled with Kingly dainties ; Palace wherein is that spiritual bridal chamber, not made with hands, nor hung with divers colours, in the which the Eternal Word, when he would raise up fallen man, wedded flesh unto himself, that he might reconcile unto the Father them who had cast themselves away.
Hail, O rich and shady Mountain of God, whereon pastured the True Lamb, who hath taken away our sins and infirmities,―mountain, whereout hath been cut without hands that Stone which hath smitten the altars of the idols, and become the head-stone of the corner, marvellous in our eyes. Hail, thou holy Throne of God, thou divinest store-house, thou temple of glory, thou bright crown, thou chosen treasure, thou mercy-seat for the whole world, thou heaven declaring the glory of God. Hail, thou vessel of pure gold, made to hold the manna that came down from heaven, [all different titles for Mary] the sweet food of our souls, even Christ. Hail, o purest Virgin, most praiseworthy and most worshipful, hallowed treasury for the wants of all creatures ; thou art the untilled earth, the unploughed field ; thou art the vine full of flowers, the well overflowing with waters, Maiden and Mother ; thou art the Mother that knew not a man, the hidden treasure of guilelessness, and the clear, bright star of holiness ; by thy most acceptable prayers, strong from thy motherly mouth, obtain for all estates of men in the Church that they may continually tend unto him who is the Lord, and God, and Maker of thee, and of them, and of all, but of thee the Son also, conceived without man's intervention ; obtain this, O Mother, pilot them to the harbour of peace.
Be it thine to clothe God's priests with righteousness, and to make them shout aloud for joy in approved and stainless, and upright and glorious faith. Thine be it to guide in peace the sceptres of orthodox princes, even of princes who put their trust in thee to be the crown of their Majesty, and the Royal Robe of their greatness, and the firm foundation of their dominion, more than in purple, or fine gold, or pearls, or precious stones ; thine be it to put under their feet the unfaithful nations, nations that blaspheme thee, and the God that was born of thee ; thine be it to keep in meek obedience the people that are under them, according to the commandment of God. Behold, this is thine own city, which hath thee for her towers and her foundations,―crown her with victory, gird the house of God with strength, keep undefiled the loveliness of his tabernacles,―as for them that praise thy name, be thou their deliverer from strife and bitterness of spirit. Free thou the prisoner, protect the wanderer, and if there be any that hath no refuge, be thou him a consolation. Stretch forth thine hand help the whole earth―so shall we year by year keep this and all thy feasts, and at last be found with thee in Christ Jesus, who is Lord of all, and verily our God. To him, with the Holy Father, who is the Fountain of Life, and the coeternal Spirit, Three Persons and One Substance, even as there is one Kingdom, be glory and strength, now and for ever. Amen.
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