By Thy Holy And Immaculate Conception O Mary, Deliver Us From Evil

Why is this prayer so powerful?

Today’s headlines tell of war, disasters, lawlessness, loss of faith and total disregard for the sacred reality of human life.   Those who have eyes to see recognize this as godlessness in our culture and society, which seems to have now spanned to the four corners of the earth.   Evil seems to be winning.

But those with faith in Our Lord, and trust in the Intercession of Our Lady know with certainty that evil will not win.   Heaven has time and time again given us the weapons and means of protection – the Rosary, devotions, and intercessory prayers.  And with the greatest of importance, Heaven has given us the way back – the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist all merited by the Passion of Our Lord, Jesus!   Our Shepard will not abandon us!

As a key part of devotion to Our Lady of America we are given yet another defense against evil contained in the very short prayer “By thy Holy and Immaculate Conception O Mary, deliver us from evil.” When Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin was conceived without sin, the order of all creation was forever changed.  Before the fall, Adam and Eve were above the angels in dignity and closest of all creation to the Holy Trinity as they enjoyed completely living in the Divine Will, as sin had not yet entered into the world.  After the fall, they fell so distant from the Holy Trinity that they were now under the dominion of the fallen angels.  All humanity from that point forward were vastly separated from the Holy Trinity.  And evil wanted it to stay that way – FOREVER.  But then…

…One of our own was protected from the inherited sin of Adam & Eve and was not under the dominion of evil.   Our Lady, Conceived without Sin was thus elevated to the greatest heights of all creation.  Through the gift of the Immaculate Conception the order of creation which existed before the fall was reclaimed (at least for Our Lady.)  And set into motion was the plan of Heaven to save us who are conceived with sin.

Through the FIAT of Our Lady, Our Savior was born into  humanity and Salvation was brought to mankind! Through the Passion of Our Lord, Salvation was opened to ALL.  Now we could be saved. Praise God!

But in a vain attempt evil has not given up.  We are constantly bombarded by the wickedness and snares of evil.  Not a single moment goes by where we are not in need of grace and protection to withstand these attacks.

The Prayer to St Michael the Archangel is a prayer of protection and deliverance that is well known.  The Our Father is yet another. These prayers are powerful protection and should be prayed often.

One more is given in this devotion.  It is short, sweet and to the point.  It calls on the one who has been assigned by the Holy Trinity to crush evil – Our Lady.  And it asks her to invoke the power of the second greatest gift (the Immaculate Conception) given to mankind which opened the path for the Greatest Gift, the Incarnation and Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The short prayer, “By thy Holy and Immaculate Conception O Mary, deliver us from Evil” calls on Our Lady to exercise the grace of her exclusive gift for our protection and to deliver us from evil. 

But it also calls us to recognize the Immaculate Conception as the model for our own pursuit of purity and perfection; and to use Our Lady as a guide for our lives.  It calls us to seek the life, grace and relationship with the Holy Trinity as it existed before the fall.  Can we achieve that here on Earth?  Not perfectly.  But with prayer, penance, and the Sacraments we can get close and live-in peace even as the headlines tell us the world is not at peace.

I can only imagine what the fruits of the final battle between Our Lady and evil will be. Perhaps the infinite creativity of the Holy Trinity will provide a way where we are once again in complete unity with the Holy Trinity and live in the Divine Will.  There is a hint in the Our Father that gives me hope – “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”.   

Only time will tell how this will be made manifest.   I expect it will be Glorious!