The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8th marks the Christian Feast known as the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a celebration dedicated to the moment in time when she who bore God Incarnate was herself conceived in the womb of her blessed mother Anne. This may be a “Marian Feast,” but it is much more a celebration of the magnificence of God’s saving acts, because it recognizes that the operation and offering of God’s grace long precedes its manifestation to us.
Some Christian circles are confused about us celebrating Mary, when the Church should be celebrating Christ. In fact, we ARE celebrating Christ in this feast of the Blessed Virgin. In Orthodox circles we have a saying; “Mariology IS Christology.” This means that what we say about Mary or celebrate in her memory is actually not solely about her, but about God’s work through her in bringing us the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus.
For example, if we call Mary “Mother of God,” it is not because we are tying to exalt her beyond her humanity, but because we are recognizing that the One Whom she bore in her womb was God Incarnate. Anything less than this belief denies the Divinity of Jesus Christ and thus denies the message of true Christianity. Thus, the statement “Mary is the Mother of God,” is a Mariological statement, but it is also a Christological statement, in that it defines something about Jesus. It can be argued that this is exactly what SS. Matthew and Luke had in mind when, in telling the story of our Lord Jesus in their Gospel accounts, they included references to Mary’s part in the drama of salvation.
In those accounts they remind us that she bore God Incarnate [Mt. 1:23], that she is Virgin and conceived miraculously [Matt. 1:23, Lk. 1:27] , that what she bore in her womb is God Incarnate [Lk. 1:43], that Elizabeth praised her for her role in the drama of salvation [Lk. 1:42], that Mary is to be praised for this role [Lk. 1:48]. The purpose of the Gospel authors was to tell the story of Jesus, yet in telling that story, they found it necessary to tell us something about the Blessed Virgin Mary as well, and what they told us was relevant to who Jesus was [and is].
This brings us back to the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What this feast tells us is that long before the Incarnation took place, God was already working out his plan of salvation. Long before Mary encountered the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation [Lk. 1:26-38], God had already selected her to be the bearer of His Incarnate Son. I have heard it said in some circles that God asked around, as it were, for willing women until He found a cooperative recipient [Mary], but the Feast of the Conception refutes this notion. Before Mary was even conceived, God knew that SHE would be the willing recipient of His saving acts.
The Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, then, is a Marian feast, but even more so, it is a Christological Feast, because it is part of the larger picture of Christ’s saving action. That saving action is one which has been put in motion long before we even knew that we needed it. Long before the salvation offered us WAS offered, God was formulating that salvation. Mary’s conception was a part of that Divine plan, and when we celebrate it, we celebrate her part in it. Most of all, however, we celebrate the Lord Who brought it about, and Who has desired, for so long, to redeem our souls.