THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, AN EXTRAORDINARY PRIVILEGE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 8, 2000 (VIS) - At noon today, solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope John Paul appeared at his study window to recite the angelus with the faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

The Holy Father pointed out that "today we contemplate this humble young girl from Nazareth who was preserved, with an extraordinary and ineffable privilege, from the stain of original sin and from every sin, in order to be the worthy abode of the Word made flesh. In Mary, the new Eve, Mother of the new Adam, the original marvelous plan of the Father's love is re-established in a yet more wondrous way."

"Today's liturgy proposes the Gospel account of the Annunciation," remarked the Pope. "The virgin, answering the angel, proclaimed: 'Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word'. Mary showed her total assent of mind and heart to the divine and mysterious wishes and readied herself to receive, first in faith and then in her womb, the Son of God."

He said that Mary's "'Here I am!'" and her "immediate adherence to the divine will constitute a model for all of us believers, so that, in the great events, as well as in ordinary ones, we entrust ourselves entirely to the Lord. With the witness of her life, Mary encourages us to believe in the fulfillment of the divine promises."

After these reflections, John Paul II prayed the angelus and, following that, greeted numerous groups present in St. Peter's Square, including the Pontifical Academy of Mary Immaculate, Italian Catholic Action and the Work for Religious Assistance for the Ill.

ANG;IMMACULATE CONCEPTION; ANNUNCIATION;...;...;VIS;20001211;Word: 280;