Immaculate Conception by Esteban Murillo |
Just
imagine the millions of Christmas cards being exchanged right now, going across
the globe, many of which are images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, frequently with
baby Jesus and St Joseph. Just imagine the thousands upon thousands of
nativities being set up and displayed around the world with the Holy Family
taking center stage for the Advent and Christmas season.
The 29
million links and articles to the word ‘Blessed Mother’ produced by Google, is
proof of how dominant she still is in the Catholic church and in Christian
culture around the world. And when I think that more than half of the parishes
in my home country of Malta are dedicated to the Blessed Mother, it shows the
devotion people still have towards her.
Many
were also the classical works written in sacred music, starting with various
Gregorian chants melodies and continuing with the Magnificat, Salve Regina, Regina
Coeli, Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Gregorian Chant and so much more by
many great composers. They all get their inspiration from the image of Mary,
conceived without sin, a privilege that was only granted to her and no one
else. Just as Jesus was considered the new Adam, so Mary is considered the new
Eve.
In
1760, Pope Clement XIII authorized the celebration of the Immaculate Conception
in the Catholic church. But it was only in 1854 that Pope Pius IX, after
consulting with all the bishops of the world, pronounced and proclaimed the
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. This was a rare event and it took another
96 years to have another Dogma proclaimed, this time the Assumption of Mary in
1950. Then another event happened that affirmed the Immaculate Conception of
Mary, only 4 years later, when in 1858, the apparition at Lourdes took place,
Mary revealing herself to Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception.
Immaculate Conception chapel at Naxxar, Malta |
The
Encyclical Ineffabilis Deus that proclaimed the Dogma proclaims that the Blessed
Virgin Mary, “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege
and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of
the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a
doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by
all the faithful.”
I am
happy to share with you also a photo of a chapel where I celebrated Mass this
morning, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception in Naxxar. It is a small chapel
where I’ve been saying Mass there periodically, but this morning it was dressed
up in its finest outfit.
No comments:
Post a Comment