Dear Diary,
This morning after Holy Mass, the Readers Club met again under the apple tree behind the Church. We settled ourselves in the grass and Mini curled up beside me, looking very serious, as if she knew this was an important chapter.
Father LeRoy had me open our Reading Club discussion with my chapter summery.
So I stood with my paper and read.
“Today’s chapter is about the wonderful words Our Lady said to Bernadette: I am the Immaculate Conception.
The book says that Our Lady did not say, ‘I am Mary, the Immaculate.’ She said something even deeper. She said, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception,’ as if purity was not only something she had, but something she was.
The chapter explains it in a way I liked very much. Something white can stop being white, but whiteness itself is always white. In the same way, Mary is not only pure. She is like purity itself, because God made her without any stain of original sin.
Then the chapter tells something very dear about Bernadette. She did not even know what the words Immaculate Conception meant. But because Our Lady had said them, Bernadette wanted to remember them exactly. So all the way back to Lourdes, step after step, she kept repeating, ‘Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Conception,’ so she would not forget before she reached the priest.”
When I finished, the group was quiet for a moment.
Sister Mary Claire folded her hands and said, “That part about Bernadette repeating the words is so dear. She did not understand them, but she was faithful to them. Sometimes obedience begins before understanding.”
Robert nodded. “She didn’t try to improve the message or explain it in her own way. She just carried the words exactly as Our Lady gave them.”
Father LeRoy smiled. “That is a very important point. Bernadette was poor, young, and uneducated, but she became a faithful messenger. The words themselves were far beyond her learning.”
I looked down at my paper and said, “I think Bernadette must have been afraid of forgetting. I can just see her walking quickly and whispering the words over and over.”
Sister Mary Claire said, “And perhaps each step became like a little prayer.”
That made me happy, because I had been thinking almost the same thing.
Then Father explained that the Church had solemnly taught the dogma of the Immaculate Conception only a few years before the apparitions at Lourdes. “So when Our Lady used those very words,” he said, “it was like Heaven itself was confirming what the Church had proclaimed.”
After the discussion, Sister Mary Claire brought out Baked Just Right chocolate chip cookies and served them with cold milk. The cookies were soft and sweet, and the milk was so cold that the glasses had little beads of water on them. Mini watched carefully, but Sister told her that cookies were not for Corgis, even very faithful ones and then slipped her a puppy treat.
Before we ended, Father LeRoy asked me to read the Club prayer. So I unfolded my paper and read:
Father made the Sign of the Cross, gave the dismissal, and we all gathered our books.
As I walked away from the apple tree, I kept thinking of Bernadette hurrying along the road, repeating the words at every step.
Immaculate Conception. Immaculate Conception.
I hope I can remember holy things that carefully too.
Love,
Kathy
This morning after Holy Mass, the Readers Club met again under the apple tree behind the Church. We settled ourselves in the grass and Mini curled up beside me, looking very serious, as if she knew this was an important chapter.
Father LeRoy had me open our Reading Club discussion with my chapter summery.
So I stood with my paper and read.
“Today’s chapter is about the wonderful words Our Lady said to Bernadette: I am the Immaculate Conception.
The book says that Our Lady did not say, ‘I am Mary, the Immaculate.’ She said something even deeper. She said, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception,’ as if purity was not only something she had, but something she was.
The chapter explains it in a way I liked very much. Something white can stop being white, but whiteness itself is always white. In the same way, Mary is not only pure. She is like purity itself, because God made her without any stain of original sin.
Then the chapter tells something very dear about Bernadette. She did not even know what the words Immaculate Conception meant. But because Our Lady had said them, Bernadette wanted to remember them exactly. So all the way back to Lourdes, step after step, she kept repeating, ‘Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Conception,’ so she would not forget before she reached the priest.”
When I finished, the group was quiet for a moment.
Sister Mary Claire folded her hands and said, “That part about Bernadette repeating the words is so dear. She did not understand them, but she was faithful to them. Sometimes obedience begins before understanding.”
Robert nodded. “She didn’t try to improve the message or explain it in her own way. She just carried the words exactly as Our Lady gave them.”
Father LeRoy smiled. “That is a very important point. Bernadette was poor, young, and uneducated, but she became a faithful messenger. The words themselves were far beyond her learning.”
I looked down at my paper and said, “I think Bernadette must have been afraid of forgetting. I can just see her walking quickly and whispering the words over and over.”
Sister Mary Claire said, “And perhaps each step became like a little prayer.”
That made me happy, because I had been thinking almost the same thing.
Then Father explained that the Church had solemnly taught the dogma of the Immaculate Conception only a few years before the apparitions at Lourdes. “So when Our Lady used those very words,” he said, “it was like Heaven itself was confirming what the Church had proclaimed.”
After the discussion, Sister Mary Claire brought out Baked Just Right chocolate chip cookies and served them with cold milk. The cookies were soft and sweet, and the milk was so cold that the glasses had little beads of water on them. Mini watched carefully, but Sister told her that cookies were not for Corgis, even very faithful ones and then slipped her a puppy treat.
Before we ended, Father LeRoy asked me to read the Club prayer. So I unfolded my paper and read:
Father made the Sign of the Cross, gave the dismissal, and we all gathered our books.
As I walked away from the apple tree, I kept thinking of Bernadette hurrying along the road, repeating the words at every step.
Immaculate Conception. Immaculate Conception.
I hope I can remember holy things that carefully too.
Love,
Kathy
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