God was able to preserve Mary from sin, Mary: Day 182

God was able to preserve Mary from sin

Was it too difficult for God to preserve Mary from all sin? Not at all, says St. Alphonsus; all things are possible for him.

St. Thomas of Villanova says, “Nothing was ever granted to any saint that did not shine in a much higher degree in Mary from the very first moment of her existence.” And as it is true that “there is an infinite difference between the Mother of God and the servants of God,” according to the celebrated saying of St. John of Damascus, we must certainly suppose, according to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, that “God conferred privileges of grace in every way greater on his mother than on his servants.”

St. Anselm, the great defender of the immaculate Mary, takes up the question: “Was the wisdom of God unable to form a pure dwelling, and to remove every stain of human nature from it?” Is it really possible that God couldn’t prepare a clean habitation for his Son by preserving it from the common contagion of sin?

“God could preserve angels in heaven spotless,” St. Anselm continues, “in the midst of the devastation that surrounded them. Was he then unable to preserve the mother of his Son and the Queen of Angels from the common fall of men?”

Here I may add that, since God could grant Eve the grace to come into the world immaculate, then couldn’t he grant the same favor to Mary? Yes, indeed! God could do it, and did it. For on every account “it was becoming,” as St. Anselm says, “that this virgin, on whom the Eternal Father intended to bestow his only- begotten Son, should be adorned with such purity that it exceeded not only that of all men and angels, but also any purity that can be conceived after that of God.”

St. John of Damascus speaks in still clearer terms. He says: “Our Lord had preserved the soul, together with the body, of the Blessed Virgin in that purity which was fitting for the one who was to receive a God into her womb. Since he
is holy, he reposes only in holy places.” —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
Does it seem impossible to me that God could preserve a human being from all sin? If so, do I recognize that I am trying to limit God’s power?

CLOSING PRAYER
Nothing is impossible for you, Lord God. I praise you for the masterpiece of your creation, the immaculate mother of your Son.

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