Deceember 8 - Immaculate Conception of BVM

+ Today we celebrate the fact that from the first moment of her existence in the womb of her mother, Ann, the Blessed Mother of God was preserved from the effects of original sin by means of a singular privilege and grace from God, granted in view of the merits of Jesus Christ her own future-coming Son. From the first moment of its existence, Mary’s soul was filled with sanctifying grace. She had at least the graces of the first Eve before the Fall and more. This privilege was befitting the one who was to be the mother of the Redeemer.

This doctrine was held in differing degrees by both East and West from the ninth century. The feast was originally known as the Conception of Ann, and celebrated on December 9, but finally the doctrine was defined formally and assigned a permanent feast day by Blessed Pope Pius IX, December 8, 1854, in accordance with the texts of Scripture: “I will put enmities between you (the serpent) and the woman, and your seed and her seed”; and “Hail, full of grace.”

 What is more, this doctrine is established by living tradition, by the writings of the Fathers, by feasts observed in honor of this prerogative, and by the general belief of the faithful. The apparition of Mary to Catherine Laboure in Paris in 1830 and to Bernadette Soubrious in 1834 prompted devotion to Mary as the Immaculate Conception. And at the First Council of Baltimore, held in 1846, the U.S. Catholic bishops chose Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception as the patron saint of their (our) country.

It is Mary’s complete openness to God’s love, God’s gifts and God’s graces that we celebrate today, as well as her sublime status as “woman of absolute faith”; when we utilize fully what the Church has given us by means of life in the Body of her Son – cooperating in faith with graces freely given us - we experience with her the sublime confidence, joy and peace that she always had.

Hail, Mary, full of grace! Pray for us now and at the hour of our death

…and pray for our nation, dear Mary, please pray for our nation, which is dedicated to your patronage under this very title of Immaculate Conception, and which is in perilous danger now, as well as is the world, if swift and decisive changes for the better are not made in Washington, DC, immediately!

Amen!