Selected quotes of Pope Benedict XVI offered daily for prayer and reflection….

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Feast, Immaculate Conception
 


Mary, the holy Virgin, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, accepted, two thousand years ago, to give everything, to offer her body so as to receive the Body of the Creator. Everything came from Christ, even Mary; everything came through Mary, even Christ.

 
Address, Procession
Grottto of Lourdes, France
14 September 2008

 
 
 
Feast, Immaculate Conception
 


The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which we will celebrate, reminds us of Mary’s singular adherence to God’s saving plan. Preserved from every shadow of sin, in order to be the all holy dwelling place of the Word Incarnate, she always entrusted herself wholly to the Lord.

 
General Audience

7 December 2011

 
 
 
Feast, Immaculate Conception
 


In the humility of the house in Nazareth lived holy Israel, the pure remnant. God saved and saves his people. From the felled tree trunk Israel's history shone out anew, becoming a living force that guides and pervades the world.
Mary is holy Israel: she says "yes" to the Lord, she puts herself totally at his disposal and thus becomes the living temple of God.

 
Homily
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
8 December 2005

 
 
 
Feast, Immaculate Conception
 


The life and faith of believers make it clear that the grace of the Immaculate Conception given to Mary is not merely a personal grace, but a grace for all, a grace given to the entire people of God. In Mary, the Church can already contemplate what she is called to become. Every believer can contemplate, here and now, the perfect fulfillment of his or her own vocation.

 
Angelus Address
Lourdes, France
14 September 2008

 
 
 
Feast, Immaculate Conception
 


Every day, praying the Angelus gives us the opportunity to meditate for a few moments, in the midst of all our activities, on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. At noon, when the first hours of the day are already beginning to weigh us down with fatigue, our availability and our generosity are renewed by the contemplation of Mary’s “yes”. This clear and unreserved “yes” is rooted in the mystery of Mary’s freedom, a total and entire freedom before God, completely separated from any complicity with sin, thanks to the privilege of her Immaculate Conception.

 
Angelus Address
Prairie, Lourdes
14 September 2008