Aug. 14, 2012 Tuesday: St. Maximilian Kolbe
ON THE IMMACULATE
by St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
Excerpts from the Writings of St. Maximilian
Immaculate One, Virgin Mother, to Thee I turn in humble
prayer: "Grant that I may praise Thee, O holy Virgin; give me strength
against Thine enemies!" (Bl. John Duns Scotus)
The Immaculate One appears in this world without the least
stain of sin, the masterpiece of God's hands, full of grace. God, the Most Holy
Trinity, beholds the lowliness (that is, the humility, the root of all Her
other virtues) of His Handmaid, and does great things for Her, He the Almighty
(cfr. Lk. 1,49). God the Father gives Her His own Son to be Her Son; God the
Son descends into Her womb; and God the Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ in
the womb of this pure Virgin. And the Word was made flesh (Jn. 1,14). The
Immaculate One becomes the Mother of God. The fruit of the love of God in his
Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculate One is Christ the God-Man.
(Sketches for a Book, SK 1295)
Who is the Immaculate One? To this abrupt question it is not
possible to give a satisfactory answer because this mystery transcends our
human intelligence. She is the Mother of God, and Her name is the Immaculate
One. When God showed Himself to Moses, He said of Himself: I am the One who is
(Ex. 3,14)—in other words, I am Being itself. When St. Bernadette asked the
most blessed Mother Her name, Mary replied: I am the Immaculate Conception.
Such is the Immaculate One defined by Her own words.
But what does the expression Immaculate Conception mean? The
word conception tells us that She is not eternal, that She had a beginning.
Immaculate tells us that from the first instant of Her existence there never
was in Her the least conflict with God's will. The Immaculate One is the most
perfect of all creatures...She was immaculate because She was to become the
Mother of God; She became the Mother of God because She was immaculate.
Mother of God! The human mind cannot grasp what God is.
Neither can we comprehend the dignity of the Mother of God. It is easier to
understand a title like servant of God; daughter of God is more difficult to
grasp; but Mother of God transcends our minds completely.
God calls creatures into being when He creates them. Then,
in their movement of return to God, these creatures draw near to Him and come
to resemble their Creator more and more. God comes to this most perfect
Creature, the Immaculate One; and the fruit of Their love is Jesus Christ, the
Mediator between the Creator and all creatures...
True knowledge of the Immaculate One can only be acquired in
prayer. The purer a soul is, the greater efforts it makes to avoid sin; and if
it does happen to sin, it tries its best to rise from sin and to make up for
its fault by love. The more humble it is, and the more spirit of penance it
shows, the more and better it will get to know the Immaculate. (Conference
26.VII.39)
-from http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/IC-MAX.htm
