MARY'S MOMENT OF CONCEPTION - IMMACULATE

Today is exactly nine months to September 8.
It is Mary's blessed moment of (immaculate) conception, a Holy Day of obligation.

Conception (coming from nothing into being) is
more radical than birth (coming from the womb to the outside world).

Let us recognize her dignity and ask her to pray with and for us:

Queen of peace, pray for us!
Our gaze is directed toward you in great fear,
to you do we turn with ever-more insistent faith in these times
marked by many uncertainties and fears for the present
and future of our planet.

Together we lift our confident and sorrowful petition to you,
the first fruit of humanity redeemed by Christ,
finally freed from the slavery of evil and sin:
hear the cry of the pain of victims of war and so many
forms of violence that bloody the earth.
Clear away the darkness of sorrow and worry, of hate and vengeance.
Open up our minds and hearts to faith and forgiveness!

Mother of mercy and hope:
Help every human being of every race and culture
to find and embrace Jesus, who came to earth
in the mystery of Christmas to give us 'His' peace.
Mary, Queen of peace, give us Christ,
true peace in the world!

~Pope John Paul II, 8 December 2003

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Suggested Family Activities on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

A Rose for Mama Mary.  It would be nice to have children place a rose before a picture or image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on this day.

Mama Mary's Candle.  A specially appealing project for today is to make a special candle. This candle can be made by attaching a picture or figure of the Infant Jesus to the base of a large pillar-type candle. You might carve a little niche for a tiny figure in the wax. The figure is then veiled (a piece of cloth fastened with pins) until Christmas Eve, when the veil is removed to reveal the Holy Child.  On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and every evening until Christmas Eve, have the children light "Mary's candle" when they say their prayers, and say the Hail Mary, or read with them her prayer, called the Magnificat (above).

Special Prayers.  The Opening Prayer of today's Mass (below) and the Angelus can be added to the mealtime prayers for Advent at the evening meal, or for family prayers before bedtime.

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,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

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What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says
about the Immaculate Conception of Mary  [Nos. 2177, 490-493]

490. To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role". The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491. Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1844:

"The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854.)

492. The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son." The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love."

493. The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia) and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

For more on the role of Mary in Salvation History, read the entire section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 2177, 490-493, 456-511.