Shining in Spotless Splendor - Consecration to the Immaculate Conception by Fr. Thaddaeus Lancton, MIC

Saint Stanislaus Papczyński frequently recited the prayer, “May the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception be our health and our protection.” He “always placed his great hope of attaining heavenly goods in this special privilege of the Blessed Mother” – her Immaculate Conception. Following his example, we also share his hope of receiving heavenly graces and blessings – health, salvation, protection, and more – through her Immaculate Conception.

The Immaculate Conception describes the sinless conception of the Blessed Virgin in St. Anne’s womb. But if there were nothing more hidden in this mystery, it would be only her unique privilege. It would not affect our lives nor touch our hearts. Saint Stanislaus Papczyński, however, experienced this mystery as the “sign, strength, and joy” of his vocation, giving purpose, meaning, and direction to his life. This mystery – together with the founding of the Marians – was engraved on his heart.

The Holy Spirit continues to imprint this mystery on our hearts by purifying us of all sin and healing its effects, so that we too may be immaculate like the Virgin. By our entrusting of ourselves to the Immaculata, the Holy Spirit brings this mystery to life in the Church today. “That which the Father brought to pass in the life of Mary through the Holy Spirit, he wishes to realize in us as well, although in a different fashion.” Through these 40 days, we tap into the living reality of this mystery, so that the Holy Spirit may accomplish in us what He first wrought in the Immaculata. By the unpacking of her mystery, the heavenly blessings contained within it can be received, experienced, and shared in the Church and in your life.

The Immaculate Conception is a spring of living water for the Church, bringing us healing and salvation from all physical, moral, and spiritual evil. By opening this fountain of grace, the Immaculata makes the total healing of our person accessible to us. Our Lady willingly shares with those who draw near to her the healing graces flowing from her conception. Her Immaculate Conception is the promise of complete restoration, such that sin leaves no stain, no trace on our bodies or souls. The Immaculata is the sign, the promise, and the guarantee of our hope that the redemption wrought by her Son is capable of radically redeeming all sin and healing all wounds, starting in this life and finding its completion in the next. Her Immaculate Conception reveals that there is unlimited grace available to you to thoroughly transform you from a sinner into a saint.

The Immaculata invites us not only to ponder the mystery from the outside but to enter into it as into a fire. When we allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts, as He filled the Immaculate Heart, then everything in us is transformed into divine life and love. With filial trust, let us ask the Father for this grace to be immaculate like her and consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Conception.