“Mary, a virgin not only undefiled but a virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.” St. Ambrose) The gift of being conceived free from sin was God's sign of love for his Son, for Mary and for us. Adam and Eve were created free from sin but later turned away from God. Theirs was the Original Sin. Mary, by virtue of Jesus's future death and resurrection, was preserved from Original Sin and its effects, so that she may be the perfect, pure, virginal vessel in which the Holy Spirit would conceive the Messiah in her womb. This is a revealed mystery of our faith. That is one of the reasons the Angel called Mary, "Hail, full of grace"! We come into the world with Original sin and its effects. By virtue of Baptism, we are freed and reconciled to God, though, as Paul says, the Law of Sin remains within us. Mary's Immaculate Conception was the first of many privileges God has blessed her with. "All generations will call her blessed."