DECEMBER 8, 2024 – THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

• The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Patroness of the United States of America. (Current, Traditional)

ON this day, so dear to every Catholic heart, we celebrate, in the first place, the moment in which Almighty God showed Mary, through the distance of ages, to our first parents as the Virgin Mother of the Divine Redeemer, the woman destined to crush the head of the serpent. And as by eternal decree she was miraculously exempt from all stain of original sin, and endowed with the richest treasures of grace and sanctity, it is meet that we should honor her glorious prerogatives by this special feast of the Immaculate Conception. We should join in spirit with the blessed in heaven, and rejoice with our dear Mother, not only for her own sake, but for ours, her children, who are partakers of her glory and happiness. Secondly, we are called upon to celebrate that ever-memorable day, the 8th of December, 1854, which raised the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady from a pious belief to the dignity of a dogma of the Infallible Church, causing universal joy amongst the faithful.

REFLECTION: Let us repeat frequently these words applied by the Church to the Blessed Virgin: “Thou art all fair, O, Mary! and there is not a spot in thee.” Cant. 4:7.

WORD OF THE DAY

SANATING GRACE. Divine grace in its function of healing (sanare, heal) the ravages of sin, original and personal, in human nature. The healing process affects both the mind and the will. Grace heals the will by giving strength to desire and accept the known will of God, and joy in its performance.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

Advent & The Great Truths

Advent: Short Meditations and The Great Truths Day 12 (Dec 8) The Forerunner’s Office & The Means Provided

ST. ANDREW NOVENA

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, o my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas, will obtain what is asked). This formula of the prayer bears an Imprimatur from † Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York. New York, February 6, 1897.

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