DAY 10
Who are you, O Immaculate
Conception? (Part Two)
So the Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate
Conception and Mary is the created Immaculate Conception.
Why not make it easier and just say that the Holy Spirit is the
Immaculate Conception and Mary was immaculately conceived? Again,
it's all because of Lourdes. Blame St. Bernadette!
In all seriousness, we should thank both St. Bernadette and St.
Kolbe profusely, because their fidelity to grace is now opening up
for us a glorious truth that undergirds the whole theology of
Marian consecration. This truth has to do with the union between
the Holy Spirit and Mary. Kolbe explains this in a passage that is
long and difficult but incredibly rich and deserving of deep
reflection:
What type of union
is this [between the Holy Spirit and Mary])?
It is above all an interior union, a union of her essence
with the "essence" of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
dwells in her, lives in her. This was true from the first instant
of her existence. It was always true; it will always be true.
In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself
is uncreated Love in her; the Love of the Father and of the Son,
the Love by which God loves himself, the very love of the Most
Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful Love, a "Conception."
Among creatures made in God's image, the union brought about by
married love is the most intimate of all (see Mt 19:6). In a
much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy
Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her
very being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of
her existence, all during her life, and for all eternity.
This eternal "Immaculate Conception" (which is the Holy
Spirit) produces in an immaculate manner divine life itself in the
womb (or depths) of Mary's soul, making her the Immaculate
Conception, the human Immaculate Conception. And the Virginal womb
of Mary's body is kept sacred for him; there he conceives in time
- because everything that is material occurs in time — the human
life of the Man-God.
... If among human beings the wife takes the name of her husband
because she belongs to him, is one with him, becomes equal to him
and is, with him, the source of new life, with how much greater
reason should the name of the Holy Spirit, who is the divine
Immaculate Conception, be used as the name of her in whom he lives
as uncreated Love, the principle of life in the whole supernatural
order of grace?35
In light of this remarkable passage, I'd like to make three
points. First, ponder it again, deeply and prayerfully. As you do,
keep in mind that these are the parting words of one of the
greatest Marian saints of all time, answering the very question to
which he dedicated his life and energies. Second, if it seems that
Kolbe has gone a bit overboard with this talk of Mary and her
union with the Holy Spirit, don't worry. Pope Paul VI went out of
his way to reassure the faithful that Kolbe's teaching is
sound.36
Third, if you only get one point from this challenging passage,
may it be this: Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. In fact,
her union with the Holy Spirit is even deeper than what we
understand by a spousal relationship. We'll pick up this thread
tomorrow.
Today's Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary. Unveil for me the
meaning of the Immaculate Conception.
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