The holy Spirit will come upon you

8 DECEMBER (Lk 1,26-38)

Celebrating the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is crying out the omnipotence of the grace of the Lord, that created such a great sanctity on our earth. In view of the merits of Lord Jesus, she was preserved from the stain of original sin. This first truth is a quite a small thing before the other very great gift that her Creator has done her: he filled her with grace, he made her full of grace from the first moment of her conception. Not is Mary immaculate, that is without the stain of original sin, she is also overflowing and full of grace. God dwells with all the power of his being in her heart. The grace is not only the created one, it is also the uncreated one.

Mary is full, from the first moment of her existence, full of God. Her Lord and God is in her heart. The Blessed Trinity is in her heart. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit clothe her soul of their light, truth, charity, love and every other virtue. All of God is all in Mary. Mary is the living tabernacle of her Creator and Lord. In this sense, Mary is not only conceived without sin, she is the Immaculate Conception of God. God conceived an immaculate creature, with no flaws, with no imperfections, shortcomings and natural and spiritual deficiencies. For Mary what the Book of Job affirms concerning the angels cannot be applied and that is, that God looking at them, finds some faults, shortcomings and failings of light even in them.

For a word was stealthily brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it. In my thoughts during visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, Fear came upon me, and shuddering, that terrified me to the bones. Then a spirit passed before me, and the hair of my flesh stood up. It paused, but its likeness I could not discern; a figure was before my eyes, and I heard a still voice: “Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against his Maker? Lo, he puts no trust in his servants, and with his angels he can find fault. How much more with those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed more easily than the moth! Morning or evening they may be shattered; with no heed paid to it, they perish forever. The pegs of their tent are plucked up; they die without knowing wisdom.” (Job 4,12-21).

What is said in this Book about the whole of creation, might never be applied to the Virgin Mary. She is the Immaculate Conception of God. She is the Creature without any stain not of sin, but of being, beauty, holiness, purity, chastity and virginity. God contemplates his Creature and remains enchanted of her supernatural beauty.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Faced with this unique work that came from his hands, God can gladden, rejoice, exult and acclaim to its greatness. It is no longer possible to go beyond this limit in creation. When God saw and beheld Mary, he did not say, as for the whole of creation: “It is very good,” but rather: “Now I cannot go any further. I gave all of myself.” Thus, Mary becomes the ultimate limit of God, beyond Mary there is only deity. If there were still any grace, the Lord would have certainly given it to her, otherwise the angel would have told a lie: “full of grace”, while in reality she is not. Instead Mary is full of all God. She is wrapped with God, clothed inside and out. She shines for eternity with God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us enjoy so much beauty.