Dear reader,
In the year of Our Lord 1910, the centerpiece of our academic campus was consecrated. This new addition to Mount St. Mary’s came amidst a time of great uncertainty. Europe’s great powers teetered on the edge of the impending doom that was the First World War, while on the homefront a contentious three-way election and rising discontent over abysmal factory conditions in the major cities of the nation resulted in a similar wave of unease sweeping over America as well. The Church too had much reason for concern. The Pope had been a prisoner of the Vatican for the better part of 40 years, with no resolution to the problem in sight, and with the aging Pius X reaching the final years of his earthly pilgrimage, many questioned who could fill the enormous shoes that would be left in his wake. The Church in America was still subject to vast discrimination across the country, ranging from dismissal as a foreign, non-American sect, to open hostility and violence. Yet, despite the uncertainty of the age, the work that had been started by Fr. Dubois continued apace on Mary’s Holy Mountain, now finishing a sacred house worthy of her privileged land. A Marian title for the new chapel was a foregone conclusion, yet of all the titles that could have been chosen, Fr. Dennis J. Flynn chose that of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The fittingness of this title lays in the setting of the Immaculate Conception itself. While we may not know the exact date of Our Lady’s Conception, tradition places it around 16BC, we do know that Our Lady was conceived in uncertain times. The political unrest in the waning Roman Republic was all but crushed by Augustus Caesar, and an uneasy peace now settled over the Roman world. This peace would not subsist in Roman Judea. A province of the newly minted Empire for a little over 45 years, she found herself deeply divided between those supporters of the reign of Herod, current claimant to the throne of David, and radical zealots seeking to overthrow him and his Roman backers. Saints Joachim and Anne too faced their own uncertainty, being advanced in years and still having no success in conceiving a child. Yet, despite this cloud of anxiety, they trusted in the Lord, and He bestowed upon them she who was to bear the Salvation of the human race.
Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception reminds us of the omnipotence of Divine Providence. Despite how rough the waves and uncertain the waters of the world may appear, the Lord may, as in the Gospels, calm the seas and clear the skies in an instant.
The times we now live in seem to share much in common with the world of the first and twentieth centuries. The West teeters on total collapse, the Communist dragon in the east becomes more antagonistic by the day, and economic stagnation, political tension and turmoil, and vast social division threaten to tear our beloved nation asunder. Yet it is precisely in these times that we must turn to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, pure and immaculate. We must entrust ourselves this feast day of the Immaculate Conception to our Blessed Mother unreservedly, and confidently hope that her Son will quell the waves and lead us to safe harbor.
I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. (Ps 29:2)
Nolan Williams, Editor-in-Chief
