Muhammad listening to the Archangel Gabriel

27.1.  THE INCARNATION - THE DIVINE MATERNITY

God speaks to Satan: "I will put enmity between you and the woman." (Genesis 3:15) (..because I will incarnate Myself of the woman. "I, the Lord, shall go forth as a Mighty Man." Isaiah 42:13; 35:4-6 - Douay Bible. And she shall be called 'The Mother of God'. Luke 1:35) "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) ...which means "God-with-us." (Matthew1:23) "God Himself will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:4) And the angel Gabriel was sent from God..... to the virgin.....Mary.....and he said to her, "You shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and you shall call Him Jesus. ("...because He is the One who will save His people from their sins." Matthew1:21) He shall be called the Son of the Most High...and He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever." (Luke 1:32) "...The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you...and the Holy which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God." Mary said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38) And so it was that: "the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

(Celebrated annually, on the 8th December, since 1854)

On this day, so dear to every Catholic heart, we celebrate, in the first place, the moment in which Almighty God showed Mary, through the distance of ages to our first parents, as the Virgin mother of (the Messiah) the Divine Redeemer, the woman destined to crush the head of the serpent. (Genesis 3:15)

And as by eternal decree she was miraculously exempt from all stain of original sin, and endowed with the richest treasures of grace and sanctity, it is meet that we should honour her glorious prerogatives by this special feast of her Immaculate Conception.

We should join in spirit with the blessed in heaven, and rejoice with our dear Mother, not only for her own sake, but for ours, her children, who are partakers of her glory and happiness.

Secondly, we are called upon to celebrate that ever-memorable day, December 8th 1854, which raised the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady from a pious belief to the dignity of a Dogma of the Infallible Church, causing universal joy among the faithful.

Reflection:
Let us repeat frequently these words applied by the Church to the Blessed Virgin: "Thou art all fair, O Mary! And there is not a spot in thee." (Solomon's 'Canticle of Canticles', 4:7)

Added into the volume of 'Lives of the Saints' compiled by Father Alban Butler (1710 - 1763).