Saturday, 8 December was the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, Wikipedia-link Immaculate Conception, & Wikipedia-link Feast.
Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
The conception of the Virgin Mary free from original sin by virtue of the merits of her son Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church teaches that Gd acted upon Mary in the first moment of her conception keeping her immaculate.Scripture of That 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, eleven, & twelve;
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."
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!"
Video reflection by Marc DelMonico, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
'Twas also the festival of Saint Eutychian, Pope (died 283), twenty-seventh (XXVII) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
'Twas also the festival of Saint Romaric of Remiremont, Abbot (died 653), founder of the Abbey of Remiremont: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Abbey-link & Wikipedia-link Abbey.
'Twas 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; Martyr-link North America & Wikipedia-link North America.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed Marin Shkurti, Priest & Martyr (1933-1969), martyred in the reign of the Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, one of the thirty-eight Martyrs of Albania: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, third from bottom); Wikipedia-link Albania.
Papal Quote o' That Day
"Mary Immaculate, she who has been redeemed in a privileged manner, is the sign of the beginning of God's project to make all things new. It is she who unveils, with her singular grace, the new life introduced by the God the father into the most intimate depths of the human person."Little Flower Quote o' That Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
"Our Lord never asks sacrifices from us above our strength."Saint Quote o' That Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"Let us run to Mary, &, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence."
—St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church (1567-1622, feast day: 24 January)
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