'Tis the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duae, Wikipedia-link Immaculate Conception, & Wikipedia-link Feast.
Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
This is the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary free from original sin by virtue of the foreseen merits of her son Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne [26 July], but God acted upon her soul, keeping it "immaculate."Video reflection from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Immaculate Conception.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Book of Genesis, chapter three, verses nine thru fifteen & twenty;
Psalm Ninety-eight, verses one, two & three(a/b), & three(c/d) & four;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses three thru six;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses twenty-six thru thirty-eight.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Church Fathers consistently referred to Mary as the New Eve, which is to say, the one who reversed the momentum started by the mother of the human race. The Ave of the angel was seen as the reversal of Eva. While Eve grasped at divinity, Mary said "Let it be done unto me."Video reflection by Laura Brill: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Here’s the liberating paradox: passivity before objective values is precisely what makes life wonderful. Allowing oneself to be invaded and rearranged by objective value is what makes life worth living. And this applies unsurpassably to our relationship with God. The message that your life is not about you does indeed crush the false self that would bend the whole world to its purposes, but it sets free the true self.
The Immaculate Conception itself is concealed in the privacy of salvation history, but the effects of it are on clear display in this Gospel. In the presence of the supreme value, we ought to say, along with Mary, "Be it done unto me!"
Bonus! Song o' the Immaculate Conception
The Daughters of Mary, "Immaculate Mary" from De Profundis (The Last Angry Man)
'Tis also the festival of Saint Eutychian, Pope (died 283), twenty-seventh Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Romaric, Abbot (died 653, of Remiremont), founder of the Abbey of Remiremont: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Noël Chabanel, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (1613-1649), who survived the Iroquois massacres only to be martyred by an apostate Huron, one of the eight North American Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link VIII & Wikipedia-link VIII.
Saint Quote o' the Day
"One obtains from God all that one hopes from him!"
—St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church (14 December)
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