The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

"Therefore, with her immaculate heart, she tells us: Trust in Jesus, He will save you!”

12/08/2010 13:11
VATICAN
The Immaculate Conception, source of hope, more powerful than evil, Pope says
During the Angelus, Benedict XVI underscored that evil, which we all experience, is rooted in the hearts of men, who cannot heal themselves. Mary is instead “full of grace”; she urges us to trust Jesus, who will “save us”. Next event is in Piazza di Spagna this afternoon.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “The mystery of the Immaculate Conception is a source of inner light, hope and comfort. In the middle of life’s trials, especially the contradictions that man experiences in and around himself, Mary, the Mother of Christ, tells us that Grace is greater than sin, that God’s mercy is stronger than evil and can transform it into goodness,” Benedict XVI said in today’s Angelus.
In his address, the Holy Father stressed the value of the Solemnity celebrated by the Church on 8 December, that of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, according to which Mary was never touched by original sin and evil. This dogma was proclaimed in 1854, a few years before the apparitions in Lourdes, where the “Lady” described her as the “Immaculate Conception”.
“Sadly, every day we experience evil,” the Pontiff said, “which manifests itself in many ways in relationships and events, but is rooted in the heart of man, a wounded and sick heart, incapable of healing itself. The Holy Scriptures tell us that disobedience to the will of God is the origin of each evil and that death has taken over because human freedom has succumbed to the temptation of the Evil One. However, God does not fail in his plan of love and life. Through a slow and patient journey of reconciliation he has prepared a new and everlasting covenant, sealed by the blood of his Son who, to offer himself in atonement, was “born of a woman” (Gal 4:4). This woman, the Virgin Mary, benefited in advance from the redeeming death of her Son for she was preserved from the contagion of guilt since conception. Therefore, with her immaculate heart, she tells us: Trust in Jesus, He will save you!” ~ Source
HT to Mrs. L