Lest You Remain

Thus, this gift shows in a special way the Divine Mercy and the primacy of grace. For Mary received this gift not because of her own merits, but because of the future merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Father Stanislaus explained this in Prodromus Reginae artium : “Such a woman was destined to become the mother of God whom the Lord Himself adorned with so many virtues that only a few can enumerate and no mortal can ever possess in their entirety.” 7 For this reason the Immaculately Conceived is the first in the economy of grace: we can call the Most Blessed Virgin Mary the only daughter of God, because she is not one not by body, nor by blood or birth, but by adoption.” 8 And just as “those who are led by the Holy Spirit are children of God” (Rm 8:14), Mary is also led by the Spirit in a particular way. By her acting in the Holy Spirit she overgrew everyone in holiness, being obedient to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit since her youngest years: “In the House of God she was inspired and nourished by the Spirit, becoming like the choicest olive, the receptacle of all virtues.” 9 For this very reason, the first expression of devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. is imitation of her life: to honor the Virgin Mother of God more with love than with speeches.” 10 Deeper layers of the gift of the Immaculate Conception conceal the particular and unique relationship between Mary and God: a Virgin becomes a mother and being a mother she remains a virgin; from the daughter of the Father she becomes the mother of the Son, the bride of the Holy Spirit, the tabernacle of the entire Blessed Trinity.” 11 She is both the paragon of Christian life and this life’s light. Being free from any stain of sin, she demonstrates the victorious power of grace and God’s plan towards man, in other words: the mystery of salvation. In this regard, the Immaculately Conceived is for the faithful the “total hope of eternal life” 12 , as Fr. Papczy<ski states in his Orator crucifixus , because the fruitfulness and effectiveness of the work of salva- tion performed by Christ found in her its expression. The same work of salvation is to be fulfilled in us, both fruitful and equally efficacious. Forms of devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. “But lest you remain without work in the Vineyard of the Lord, to the utmost of your strength you will promote devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God”—this is the task assigned to us as our primary aim by Fr. Stanislaus Papczy<ski . How are we to spread this devotion? What is particularly Devotion to the Immaculate Conception according to Fr. St. Papczy < ski 189 7 S. Papczy<ski , Prodromus reginae artium , 34-35 (1663), Ed. C. Krzyzanowski, Warsaw, 2001, 69 (here and after: PRA). 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid, 34. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid, 35. 12 OC III, 38.