The Vatican Council has this to say: ‘The Father of mercies willed that the consent of the pre-destined mother should precede the Incarnation, so that just as a woman contributed to death, so also a woman should contribute to life. This contrast was verified in outstanding fashion by the Mother of Jesus. She gave to the world the very life which renews all things, and she was enriched by God with gifts befitting such a role.

‘It is no wonder, then, that the usage prevailed among the holy Fathers whereby they called the Mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin…Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the splendours of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is, at God’s command, greeted by the angel messenger as “full of grace” (cf Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38)’ …’Therefore the holy Fathers see her as used by God not merely in a passive way but as co-operating in the work of human salvation by free faith and obedience.’ (LG 56)

Mary’s Immaculate Conception - whereby, from the first moment of her conception she was freed from all stain of original sin and filled with grace, by the merits of her Son and our Saviour – was declared a doctrine of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Three years later a little French peasant girl saw a beautiful lady in the grotto of Massabielle, at the foot of the Pyrenees at Lourdes. The Lady spoke In the local dialect, and when Bernadette asked her name she replied: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’. Since then Lourdes has become a pilgrimage centre that draws millions of visitors every year. There are sometimes healing miracles, like those recounted in the Gospels; loving service to the sick is joyfully carried out by so many, especially the young, and spiritual light and joy are evident. It is a place where (as one young pilgrim put it) ‘strangers become family.’ In a word, it is a place where Mary’s influence manifests Christ’s Church is in ‘the beauty of holiness.’