# Who Are We? – The Immaculate Conception, Part 1
*2018-04-17*

> In day nine of the Marian Consecration retreat, Bill Young explores a pivotal document written by Fr. Gaylee that Maximilian Kolbe penned two hours before his arrest, focusing on the meaning of the Immaculate Conception.

## Day Nine of the Marian Consecration

Welcome back to Prayer and Lunch. Today is day nine of our "Dirty‑Free Days to Morning Glory" retreat, a DIY preparation for the Marian Consecration created by Fr. Gaylee. Listeners in South Florida can request a free booklet from Anna (305‑205‑207) or by email. Feel free to comment on the podcast and explore our archive of over a thousand episodes.

## The Document Maximilian Kolbe Wrote

Two hours before his arrest by the Gestapo, St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote what he called the single most important theological reflection of his life. He finally answered the question that had haunted him since his earliest religious days: “Who are you, O Immaculate Conception?” The document opens with the words, “Immaculate Conception—these words fell from the lips of the Immaculata herself. Hence they must tell us the most precise and essential manner who she really is.”

## Two Immaculate Conceptions

Kolbe wrestled with the way Mary, in the apparition at Lourdes, said, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” rather than “I was immaculately conceived.” He concluded that the phrase points not only to Mary’s sinless conception but also to the Holy Spirit. In Kolbe’s view, there are two immaculate conceptions:
• The created immaculate conception—Mary, conceived without original sin in the womb of St. Anne.
• The uncreated immaculate conception—the Holy Spirit, who is eternally the love that springs from the Father and the Son. The Spirit, being God, is without sin and thus an immaculate conception in the truest sense.

## Today's Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary, unveil for me the mystery of her Immaculate Conception. Amen.

*Kolbe’s insight invites us to see the Immaculate Conception as both a singular grace given to Mary and the eternal, sinless love of the Holy Spirit.*