Today we are celebrating the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Destined by God as the Mother of Jesus, Mary was given the very special privilege of being conceived without original sin and of being filled with all the graces needed to make her a fitting Mother for the Son of God.

When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, he acknowledges the extraordinary condition of Mary’s soul in his greeting:

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” Luke 1: 28

The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes on to describe Mary’s Immaculate Conception in this way:

“The ‘splendor of an entirely unique holiness’ by which Mary is ‘enriched from the first instant of her conception’ comes wholly from Christ: she is ‘redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.’ The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person ‘in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ and chose her ‘in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love.'” CCC 492

It is through her Immaculate Conception that Mary is prepared to mother Jesus in a manner that both preserves and ensures His redemptive role as Savior. And by responding “Yes” to the angel Gabriel when he presents the Father’s request (Luke 1: 38), Mary in turn becomes the first person eternally saved by the Mercy of Jesus and the Love of God.

From an early age, Pope John Paul II carried a deep love for the Blessed Mother. When a young Karol Wojtyla lost his own beloved mother at the age of nine, his father, before an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pronounced, “From today on, she will be your mother.”

In his Angelus address on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8, 1997, Pope John Paul II described the transformative effect of a relationship with the Virgin Mary:

“‘Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ (1 Samuel 16: 7) And Mary’s heart was fully disposed to the fulfillment of the Divine Will. This is why the Blessed Virgin is the model of Christian expectation and hope. In contemplating the biblical scene of the Annunciation, we understand that the divine message does not catch Mary unprepared; on the contrary, it finds her watching and waiting, recollected in profound silence, in which echo the promises of the prophets of Israel, especially Isaiah’s famous messianic prophecy: ‘Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.'” (Isaiah 7: 14)

It is inspiring and hopeful to witness the transformative power of Mary’s intercession on Pope John Paul II’s life.

It is also perfectly fitting that we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary at the start of Advent, the season in which we anticipate and prepare for the Nativity of Jesus, for it was through Mary’s total trust in God’s will for her life that a Love like no other entered the world.

We too can be transformed by Mary’s maternal love. Here is a beautiful prayer to Mary, written by Pope John Paul II. It is purported that he said this prayer daily:

Totus Tuus (translated, “Totally Yours”)

Immaculate Conception, Mary my Mother,
Live in me, Act in me,
Speak in me and through me,
Think your thoughts in my mind,
Love through my heart,
Give me your dispositions and feelings,
Teach, lead me and guide me to Jesus,
Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior,
Possess my soul,
Take over my entire personality and life, replace it with Yourself,
Incline me to constant adoration,
Pray in me and through me,
Let me live in you and keep me in this union always.

Note: The origin of the icon above — titled Our Lady of Perpetual Help — is unknown. Today, the original icon is displayed within the Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome.