Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Universal Church celebrates on this date (8th December) the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ. In the Philippines, this day is a Holy Day of Obligation. This year, we remember the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, as declared by His Holiness, Pope Pius IX through the bull Ineffabilis Deus. The Dogma clarified with finality the long-held belief of the Church that Mary was conceived free from original sin. In proclaiming the Immaculate Conception of Mary as a dogma of the Church, the pope expressed precisely and clearly that Mary was conceived free from the stain of original sin. This privilege of Mary derives from God's having chosen her as Mother of the Savior; thus she received the benefits of salvation in Christ from the very moment of her conception. (The picture above shows her mother, Anna, with the infant Mary within her womb.) This great gift to Mary, an ordinary human being just like us, was fitting because she was destined to be Mother of God. The purity and holiness of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a model for all Christians.

As we commemorate this Solemn celebration, may we pray the prayer of the Church:

Father You prepared the Virgin Mary
to be the worthy Mother of Your Son.
You let her share beforehand
in the salvation Christ would bring by His death,
and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.
Help us by her prayers to live in Your presence without sin.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. + AMEN.