Today we celebrate the conception of Mary, our Blessed Mother. Specifically, we celebrate that she was preserved by the grace and power of God and through the merits that Christ won on the Cross from all stain of Original Sin. While I find the theology of this interesting, it is very nuanced and runs the risk of putting even interested people to sleep. Instead, let us reflect on what happens because of this amazing gift our Blessed Mother was given. Completely free from sin, she is the most free human being to ever live. Holy, blessed, and full of grace even before Gabriel spoke to her, she is a beacon of God’s grace for all of us.
St. Germain, who became bishop of Paris in the 6th century, wrote beautifully on our Blessed Mother.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, holier than the Saints, higher than the heavens, more glorious than the Cherubim, more honorable than the Seraphim, and the most venerated thing that the hands of God have made. Hail, O dove, bearing in thy beak the olive-branch of peace that tells us of salvation from the spiritual flood, O Dove, blessed omen of a safe harbor, 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, where to His glory grow 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, in whom has sprung up the true Tree of life; he who tastes of it he shall live forever.
What beautiful images!
When recognizing Mary as the dove, who bears an olive branch of peace, we are reminded of the dove who brought tidings of safety after the flood in Genesis. Our world is, sadly, flooded with sin. As we struggle to find safe harbor, our Mother offers us an olive branch, giving us hope and guiding us to safety as she beams with the light she reflects from the Holy Spirit. May we strive to imitate her as beacons of hope for those around us, showing a place of refuge for those suffering from the belief that the only way to survive in this world is to join it in the cold, inhuman, and insatiable thirst for power, domination, and wealth.
Mary is the living Garden of Eden, who offers “healing of them that have drunk in death from the blighting and pestilential breezes of the bitter West.” The West here is an image of all those places that have not accepted Christ and have not been reborn in his Resurrection. This beautiful garden gives glory to God, and in its beauty, we are refreshed and reminded that peace and joy are found when we live our lives united to God.
Finally, we hear of the greatest ornament in this new Eden: the Tree of Life. The Tree of life is Christ, who destroyed the power of sin and death by being nailed to a tree. St. Germain leads us now to a most curious moment, saying “the true Tree of life; he who tastes of it he shall live forever.” How can we taste this Tree of Life? The answer is before our eyes: in the Eucharist.
Let us follow today our Blessed Mother, who in complete freedom followed our God with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength. May she lead us to safe harbor, reveal to us the glory of her Son, and, like any good mother, ensure that we have received that food from Heaven that unifies us and brings us peace and salvation.