# Day 10 – Who Is the Immaculate Conception?
*2018-04-18*

> Bill Young explores the deep mystery of the Immaculate Conception, focusing on the union of the Holy Spirit and Mary as taught by St. Maximilian Kolbe.

## Continuing the 33‑Day Marian Retreat

Good afternoon, I’m Bill Young. We’re on day 10 of our 33‑day preparation for the Marian Consecration, using the booklet prepared by Father Michael Gagli. This is week two of the retreat, dedicated to St. Maximilian Kolbe, the patron saint of our parish, St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

## The Holy Spirit and Mary as the Immaculate Conception

The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception, while Mary is the created Immaculate Conception. In other words, the Holy Spirit, who is eternal and divine, is the source of the immaculate grace that makes Mary uniquely conceived without sin. St. Bernadette’s witness reminds us of this profound mystery.

St. Kolbe explains that the union between the Holy Spirit and Mary is an interior, essential union: the Holy Spirit dwells in her soul from the very moment of her existence and remains there eternally. This divine love—shared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—makes Mary the fertile ground of divine life. Through this union, she becomes the “human Immaculate Conception,” the virgin who bears Christ while remaining untouched by original sin.

## Three Key Points to Remember

First, meditate deeply on these words, for they echo the greatest Marian saint’s lifelong contemplation of this mystery. Second, if Kolbe’s language seems intense, rest assured that Pope Paul VI affirmed the soundness of his teaching. Third, the essential takeaway is that Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit; her union with Him surpasses any human understanding of spousal love.

## Today's Prayer

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

*Mary’s intimate union with the Holy Spirit reveals the deepest mystery of the Immaculate Conception.*