And so it happened at Lourdes on March 25, 1858. Mary appeared to the young Bernadette Soubirous for the 16th time in the course of 18 apparitions in the now-famous grotto where countless pilgrims continue to go to pray and often to seek a cure for their ailments.

 

There was at first great skepticism about the visions recounted by the 14-year-old girl who could neither read nor write and whose memory did not show a great capacity of retention. Many, including the Church authorities, urged Bernadette to ask the lady she said she spoke to for her name. 

 

Bernadette had asked before, but only now, late in the series of appearances, did the lady answer. And mysteriously, using these words, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” Mary identified herself directly with the Immaculate Conception.

 

The Lourdes apparitions took place less than four years after Pope Pius IX infallibly declared that the Immaculate Conception was a part of the Catholic Church’s faith. Mary’s identification of herself with that dogma such a short time later underscored its importance for the Church and for the world.

 

On Dec. 8, the whole Church will celebrate again the solemnity that honors that singular event in the history of the human race. And we, as Americans, will also celebrate Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception as our special patroness, a step the Catholic bishops in this country took in 1846, eight years before the Holy Father’s declaration.

 

Understanding the importance of the Immaculate Conception is a deeper way for us to know Mary as faithful members of the Catholic Church and as her children. And that knowledge also helps form our understanding of the world and the spiritual struggle in which each of us takes part.

 

To help us understand what this is all about, we need to return to the Book of Genesis and to the story of creation. There we are told that God made the whole world good, in harmony with Him and with itself. Adam and Eve, our first parents, were highest of the earthly creation, and they too had a special harmony with God.

 

Adam and Eve were given one command to test their trust and obedience. They were not to eat of the fruit of the one tree. But they gave in to temptation and rebelled against God. 

 

In so doing, they broke the harmony between God and the human race. And so, each of us is born outside of God’s grace. We need to be baptized in order to once more become brothers and sisters of Jesus and children of His Heavenly Father.

 

This of course is the background to the story of Christmas. After centuries of preparing the world, God renewed His plan of salvation. He selected the one among us, Mary, the virgin of Nazareth, to be conceived without the stain of sin and to be filled with His grace from her first moment in the womb. That is the meaning of the Immaculate Conception. 

 

And years later, as Mary lived as Eve should have, always loving and obeying God, He sent Gabriel to convey His request that she become the mother of the Savior.

 

It was right and fitting that the door of entry into this world used by Christ as He took on our human flesh and nature should be totally His. No stain of sin could mar the presence and the love of Christ. And this sinlessness of Mary is what we are called to, in this life and in heaven itself.

 

As you prepare for Christmas this Advent, make Mary a part of your prayer and reflection. And make the Immaculate Conception a motivation for seeking holiness and ending your personal sinfulness. Don’t forget to go to Mass on Dec. 8, as it is a holy day of obligation. 

 

However, let us look beyond the obligation of Mass and see it as a gift. The Immaculate Conception is a beautiful invitation to embrace 

 

this important feast as our opportunity to thank our national patroness, to pray for our country and to seek, with our Mother Mary, the personal holiness that can help us be what God intended for all His creation.