Episode 3176: Before the Dawn: Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the Assumption

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The Novena honoring the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary consists of saying the Novena prayer on 9 consecutive days. Since we are starting late we will say a 7-day novena. Spend a few moments each day contemplating Mary and praying with her.
Before we get started I want to mention Fr. James M. Keane, my Dad spoke about him often. These were the days of the 1940’s when Chicago was the hub of everything that is Catholic.
Early Life & Priestly Formation
Before we get started I want to speak about Fr. Keane, Born in Chicago in 1901, Fr. Keane entered the Servite Order, making his first profession of vows in 1921, and was ordained a priest in Rome on August 8, 1926
Promoting Marian Devotion
In January 1937, he initiated the Perpetual Novena in Honor of Our Sorrowful Mother at Chicago’s Our Lady of Sorrows Church. This weekly devotion quickly expanded, ultimately being observed in nearly 2,000 churches and convents worldwide
He also edited the Novena Notes (1937–1941), the publication associated with the novena.
Media & Evangelization
Fr. Keane expanded outreach through media: In 1941, he oversaw a full-length film of a Solemn High Mass held at Our Lady of Sorrows, featuring commentary by Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, aimed at encouraging lay participation in the liturgy
From 1954 to 1956, he hosted the weekly TV program “Behold Thy Mother,” the only television series devoted entirely to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Founding Servite Communities Abroad
A visionary missionary, Fr. Keane established the first Servite foundations in Ireland, creating Benburb Priory in County Tyrone (opened in 1949)
He also brought the Servites to Australia, founding their presence there in 1951
In the mid‑1950s, he edited Queen of the Missions (1954–1955) and its continuation, The Age of Mary (1955–1958), and engaged closely with the Ambassadors of Mary and the Immaculate Heart Center in Chicago

Legacy & Archival Preservation
Fr. Keane passed away in 1975

So I want to do a series titled “Behold Thy Mother” The Writings of Fr. James M. Keane
Before the Dawn: Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the Promise of the Assumption
Welcome back, where we walk together through the treasures of the Faith in the light of Sacred Tradition. As we prepare for the great Feast of the Assumption on August 15, we begin this seven-day journey by going back to the very start not just to the Annunciation, not even to Mary’s birth, but to the very first instant of her existence.
From all eternity, before the sun first shone, before Adam took his first breath, God had already chosen Mary. He willed that His Son would take flesh in time, and for that,
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:28 (Douay–Rheims)
“And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
This is the angelic greeting that tells us everything. “Full of grace” is not just a title it is an identity. Mary is the one whom God has filled with grace from the very beginning.
Theological Reflection
Before the world began, God prepared Mary to be the pure vessel for His Son. This preparation came through the Immaculate Conception, the singular grace by which she was preserved from Original Sin from the first moment of her existence.
Why was this necessary? Because the One she was to carry was not merely a prophet, not simply a king, but God Himself. The dwelling place for the Incarnate Word had to be entirely holy, free from any stain.
In the Old Testament, God commanded that the Ark of the Covenant which would hold the manna from Heaven, the tablets of the Law, and Aaron’s rod be made from the purest acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold (cf. Exodus 25:10–11). This was for a symbol of His presence. How much more fitting that the living Ark of the New Covenant, Mary, be crafted without any corruption, for she would carry the Bread of Life, the Word made Flesh, and the eternal High Priest.
Pope Pius IX defined this dogma in Ineffabilis Deus (1854):
“The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ… was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”
Here’s the beauty: Mary was saved by Christ just like us, but in a more perfect way preemptively. The grace of the Cross reached back to the first instant of her life, so that she never knew the separation from God that sin brings.

St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Insight
St. Maximilian Kolbe gives us a profound title for her: “the created Immaculate Conception.”
The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception the eternal, divine love between the Father and the Son. Mary is His perfect created reflection, the masterpiece of God’s plan. Her will was so perfectly aligned with God’s that from her first heartbeat she lived in unbroken union with Him.
This absolute purity is not only the beginning it’s the seed from which her Assumption blossoms. Death entered the world through sin, but Mary had no sin. The grave could not claim her. The Assumption is the flowering of the Immaculate Conception the incorrupt one taken body and soul into Heaven.
Patristic & Liturgical Witness
The Church Fathers saw this clearly.
St. Ephrem the Syrian called her “the all-pure, stainless one,” saying:
“You and your Mother are the only ones who are totally beautiful in every respect; for in you, O Lord, there is no stain, and in your Mother, no corruption.”
The liturgy of the Church reflects this connection. In the Preface for the Immaculate Conception in the Traditional Latin Mass, we pray:
“You preserved her from all stain by the foreseen merits of Your Son, that she might be a worthy dwelling for Him, and so that Your people might see in her the promise of the Church’s perfection.”
Spiritual Application
This doctrine is not merely for theological admiration it’s for transformation.
Mary’s purity reminds us that sanctity is possible when we live entirely in God’s grace. Though we were not conceived immaculate, Baptism washed us clean, and the sacraments keep us in that grace if we cooperate with it.
We can imitate Mary’s readiness for Heaven by striving for purity of mind, heart, and body, rejecting sin in all its forms, and making reparation for those who live far from God.
Practical Resolution
Today’s action: Pray the Memorare for someone who has fallen away from the Faith.

Ask Mary, who was prepared from the first moment of her life to welcome Christ, to prepare that person’s heart to welcome Him again.
The Age of Comfortable Silence Is Over
In today’s Gospel, Our Lord speaks with urgency to His disciples: “Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But I will show you whom you shall fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.” These are not words for the timid they are a rallying cry for courage in a hostile world.
We live in an age where silence about the truth is praised as “prudence” and where confessing the fullness of the Catholic Faith can cost you your reputation, your career, and, in some parts of the world, your life. Yet the saints remind us: better to stand alone with Christ than to stand comfortably with the crowd.
Saints Tiburtius and Susanna, whose feast we celebrate today, understood this well. Both lived in the third century under the brutal persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. Tiburtius, a Roman soldier converted to Christ, was burned alive for refusing to worship pagan gods. Susanna, a noble Roman virgin, was executed for rejecting an imperial marriage to a pagan. Both knew the cost of discipleship and paid it gladly.
Epistle Reflection – Hebrews 11:33–39
“…who through faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered strength from weakness, became valiant in battle, put to flight the armies of foreigners.”
The Epistle reads like a roll call of heavenly heroes men and women who endured torture, imprisonment, and death for the sake of the truth. The inspired writer tells us the world was “not worthy of them.”
In the modern Church, faith is too often measured by how inoffensive it can be to the world. But Hebrews 11 gives us another measure: faith that is costly, faith that resists compromise, faith that sees beyond this life to the glory of the next.
Saints Tiburtius and Susanna lived this Epistle. They refused to bow to idols, choosing instead the “better resurrection” that comes from dying with Christ. They show us that the reward of faith is not earthly comfort, but eternal glory
Gospel Reflection – Luke 12:1–8
“I say to you, my friends, be not afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do… But I will warn you whom you shall fear: fear Him, who after He has killed, has power to cast into hell… Everyone who shall confess Me before men, the Son of man also will confess him before the angels of God.”
Our Lord draws a sharp line between fear of men and fear of God. The first is a snare that silences the truth; the second is the beginning of wisdom. The martyrs knew this distinction well.
Fear of men drives the Church today to avoid offending modern sensibilities watering down moral teaching, neglecting the call to conversion, and tolerating sacrilege against the Eucharist. But fear of God leads us to speak truth even when it costs us dearly.
In traditional Catholic life, confession of Christ is not merely a personal belief it is a public witness. Wearing the scapular, making the Sign of the Cross before meals in public, kneeling for Holy Communion these are ways we confess Him “before men.” But above all, we confess Him by refusing to hide the truth of the Faith when the world demands our silence.
Saints of the Day – SS. Tiburtius and Susanna
• St. Tiburtius: A young Roman soldier who embraced Christ and suffered martyrdom by fire in the early 4th century.
• St. Susanna: A noble Roman virgin martyred for refusing marriage to a pagan nobleman, remaining faithful to her vow to Christ.
Both saints remind us that fidelity to Christ may bring us into direct conflict with worldly power but that such conflict is a crown, not a curse, for those who love God above all.
Call to Action for Today
We must recover the courage of the martyrs. The age of comfortable Catholicism is over. We are called, as traditional Catholics, to stand firm for the truth in liturgy, morality, and doctrine regardless of who stands against us.
Let us make the resolution today: I will not be silent about Christ. Whether in family conversations, workplace discussions, or public witness, let us confess Him boldly, trusting that He will confess us before His Father.

Conclusionary Prayer
The Memorare:
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.