The meaning of the celebration
+ On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (which is ordinarily celebrated on December 8 but transferred this year because of the Second Sunday of Advent), the Church meditates on the great mystery that, from the moment of her conception, the Virgin Mary was preserved from every stain of original sin.
+ Based on the teachings of great saints and theologians through the centuries, especially Blessed John Duns Scotus, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was solemnly defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854.
+ It is under her title of “Immaculate Conception” that Mary is honored as the patron of the United States of America.
For prayer and reflection
” Let us ask Our Lady for a grace: that she may free us from the misleading idea that the Gospel is one thing and life is another; that she kindle our enthusiasm for the ideal of holiness which is not a matter of holy cards and images, but is about living what happens each day, humbly and joyfully, like Our Lady, free from ourselves, with our eyes fixed on God and the neighbour we meet.”—Pope Francis
Spiritual Bonus
On this day, the Church celebrates the memory of Aztec visionary Saint Juan Diego who, on December 9, 1531, received the first of a number of visions of the Mother of God on “Mount Tepeyac,” near Mexico City. In the final vision, on December 12, the Lady left an image of herself on Juan Diego’s cactus-fiber cloak. Today, this image is enshrined in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Recognizing the long-standing devotion to this indigenous Mexican, Pope Saint John Paul II canonized Juan Diego in 2002.
Prayer
O God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,
grant, we pray, that as you preserved her from every stain
by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw,
so, through her intercession,
we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Father Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...