From Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality The Ladys Name On the eighth of December, 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment 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 exempt from all stain of original sin. In Lourdes, France, on the very same day, Père Dominique Peyramale was appointed the local pastor who would four years later hear the message of the Immaculate Conception from the lips of Bernadette. On the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, 1858, Bernadette felt the internal call to the Grotto of Massabielle. She found the Lady already there. While praying, Bernadette felt that she must again request the name of the Lady, as the Abbé Peyramale had insisted. The Lady smiled and remained silent. Bernadette asked again; another smile. Bernadette asked a third time and then, once more. Finally, the Lady spoke, Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou. Speaking in Bernadettes local dialect, the Lady was naming herself with words of which Bernadette could have no knowledge, I am the Immaculate Conception. Bernadette ran through the streets repeating the words over and over, never understanding what they meant. She reached the gate of the Presbytère. The good and prudent pastor had been skeptical of the apparitions at the Grotto. He did not want to encourage superstition and false idols. It had been three weeks since the last apparition and he was not eager to hear of another message from the mysterious visitor. The last time she spoke, she asked for a chapel and processions, what could be next? Who was she to ask for them? As Bernadette rushed in, Père Peyramale could see the reflection of the Blessed Virgin in Bernadettes face. She repeated the words she had heard, I am the Immaculate Conception. Père Peyramale knew that Bernadette could not understand their significance. This little illiterate shepherdess, who had never been catechized could not possibly know of the dogma as he had never mentioned any of this in any homily or in Lourdes. In referring to a dogma defined less than four years previously, the Immaculate Conception had just identified herself as Mary, the Mother of God. Having accomplished her mission, Bernadette was sent away. Père Peyramale realized the authenticity of the apparitions and began to cry. A theological dogma so difficult for the laity became a reality easily embraced by a simple girl and believable in the reflection of Heaven in her face. Like a blue sky without clouds, the perfectly pure vessel to bear the Son of God is personified to us through a humble messenger on the Feast of the Annunciation. Mary, without the stain of Original Sin, is the perfect Mother of Christ and Heavenly Mother to each of us.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:35:00 +0000
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