Le Immaculata

 

 

LE Immaculate Conception of Mary o se tasi o vavega sili ona matagofie i le talaʻaga o le faaolataga ina ua maeʻa le Toto-na matua tele lava, na faʻamanatuina ai o ia e Tama o le tu ma aga a Sasaʻe o le "Paia-Paia" (panagia) o ai na…

… Saoloto mai soo se pisipisia o le agasala, e pei ona faia e le Agaga Paia ma fausiaina o se tagata fou. -Catechism o le Katoliko Ekalesia, l. 493

Ae afai o Maria o se "faʻatusa" o le Ekalesia, lona uiga la ua valaʻauina foi i tatou e avea ma Immaculate afuafua faapena foi a'u.

 

THE FIRST CONCEPTION

The Church has pea lava taught that Mary was conceived without sin. It was defined as a dogma in 1854—not invented, but faʻamatalaina then. It should be easy for Protestants to accept this truth on logic alone. For instance, Samson was a type of the Messiah whom God sent to ‘deliver’ the Israelites. Listen to the demands the angel makes of his mother:

Though you are barren and have had no children, yet you will conceive and bear a son. Now, then, be careful to take no wine or strong drink and to eat nothing unclean. (Friday’s first reading)

In a word, she was to be immaculate. Now, Samson was conceived through natural relations, but Jesus was to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. If God demanded that the mother of Samson be pure to prepare for the birth of their deliverer, would the Holy Spirit unite himself to one who is stained by sin? Would the Holy One, God-incarnate, take His very flesh and blood from one whose temple was defiled by original sin? Of course not. Thus, Mary was granted the “splendor of an entirely unique holiness… from the first moment of her conception.” ^[1]CCC, Le. 492 E faapefea?

…by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ. —POPE PIUS IX, Ineffabilis Deus, DS2803

That is, Mary was “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion” ^[2]CCC, Le. 492 through the blood of Christ, which flows down one side of Calvary all the way to Adam, and down the other into the future, into eternity. Indeed, Jesus would some day pray Friday’s Psalm:

On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. 

Mary needed to be “saved” first. Without Jesus, she would be eternally separated from the Father as well—but with Him, she has been granted a singular grace so as to be not only the worthy “mother of my Lord” ^[3]cf. Luka 1:43 and a worthy mother of the Church, ^[4]cf. Ioane 19:26 ae faapena foi a faʻailoga ma fuafuaga of what the Church is and will be.

If any of you still doubt this great miracle, the archangel Gabriel has a simple answer for you in today’s Gospel:

…nothing will be impossible for God.

 

THE SECOND CONCEPTION

No, the Immaculate Conception does not cease with Mary. It is given also to the Church, albeit in a different mode. In Baptism, the stain of original sin is “taken away” ^[5]cf. Ioane 1:29 and through the Holy Spirit, the baptized becomes a “new creation”. ^[6]cf. 2 Kori 5:17

Mary is the sign, but here’s the plan: that you and I would become kopi of the Virgin Mary, conceiving Christ in our hearts and giving birth to Him once again in the world. This is and will be the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, for Christ incarnate came into the world to destroy the power of death:

… O le gaoia o malo ma pule, na ia faia se maimoa faalauaitele ia i latou, ma taʻitaʻi ese atu i latou i totonu manumalo e ia. (Kol 2:15)

While this grace has been given to the Church through the Sacraments for 2000 years, it has been reserved for these “last times” for the Blessed Mother to implore a special grace to descend upon the Church in order to blind and chain the “dragon”. ^[7]cf. Faʻaaliga 20: 2-3 This special grace is a “new Pentecost”, when the “Flame of Love” of her Immaculate Heart (who is the Spirit of Christ), will be poured out upon the Church and the world. This grace, while “crushing” the head of the serpent, will be given amidst sufferings in order to also faapaia and prepare the Bride of Christ for the end of time when Jesus will come in glory to take her to Himself for eternity…

… Ina ia mafai ona ia aumaia ia te ia lava le ekalesia i le matagofie, e aunoa ma se ila poʻo se maanuminumi poʻo se mea faapena, ina ia paʻia o ia ma aunoa ma se ila. (Efe 5:27)

So we must first become that all-holy Bride—essentially a copy of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

O le Agaga Paʻia, mauaina lana Toʻalua Toʻalua ua i ai nei i agaga, o le a afio mai i totonu ia i latou ma le mana tele. —St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, n.217, Montfort Publications

Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (Today’s Psalm) 

This is why Satan is attacking the mama of the Church in these days with all the powers of hell. Because it is precisely the purity of Mary that drew…

…favor with God. (Today’s Gospel)

The darkness of our times is really just the last thrashings of a terrified fallen angel who sees already the “morning star” rising in the hearts of a remnant who will crush him. ^[8]cf. 2 Pete 1: 19

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I write you today to encourage you to fight because God has chosen oe to receive this pentecostal grace to become the Leoleoa. Perhaps you are like Mary as you read this and say, “How can this be…?” ^[9]cf. Today’s Gospel as you prevue things from a purely natural perspective (and perhaps looking into your heart and seeing nothing but weakness, sin, and impurity.) The answer is this: nothing is impossible with God. If you are a sinner, then make haste to Confession where you will become a new creation once more! If you are weak, then hasten to the Holy Eucharist, Who will strengthen you against the wiles of the enemy! And if you are suffering, then make your own the prayer of Mary over and over again:

Tau ina ia faia ia te aʻu e tusa ma lau afioga. (Talalelei o le asō)

…and I assure you:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. (Today’s Gospel)

Can you hear the words in today’s Gospel of Gabriel once again? He is speaking them to you right now: Aua le fefe!

I le taufaaiuiuga o le lalolagi… O le Atua Silisiliese ma Lona Tina Paia o le a faatuina ni au paia sili oe o le a sili atu i le paia o le tele o isi au paia e pei foi o arasi o Lepanona 'olo i luga o tamaʻi laʻau. —St. Louis de Montfort, Faamaoni Moni ia Maria, Mataupu 47

Laʻu fānau e, 'ou te toe galue ai seʻia faia Keriso i totonu o' outou. (Kala 4:19)

 

FAITAU FUAFUAGA

Magnificat of the Woman-Church

The Triumph: Vaega I, vaega II, ma Vaega III

O Le Fetu o le Taeao