Mary, the great gift of God to the human race

"In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Saint Paul reminds us that God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. If we apply our intelligence to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, it can only be in this perspective of an eternal action of God, out of time, before time, before history.

Mary was preserved from original sin because from the beginning, God wanted to preserve in the history of men the possibility of fulfilling His plan of salvation. ...It is not the evil that we do that causes the good that God does, it is the good that God has done that causes in our hearts repentance for the evil that we do.

The Virgin Mary intercedes for sinners because she is inscribed in this eternal will of God to bring salvation to the world. ...It is therefore a great hope for us to recognize in the person of the Virgin Mary the forerunner of the forgiveness that we seek, the mercy that God shows us, and the power of God at work in our life. "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37), the Angel said to Mary, not even extending mercy to sinners."

Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris.

Source: Zenit