Bulletins
December 8, 2013
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In the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception the Christian Church celebrates the act of divine intervention when the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived in her mother’s womb preserving Mary from original sin so that she could be a real mother in body, blood, soul and humanity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mary is not Jesus’ mother with an asterisk. Everything that she has was given to her son.
So many of our favorite sacred images of this important event in salvation history depict Our Lady in glory, surrounded by angels and saints who are all marveling at what God in creating her so that we could have a Savior truly born of a human mother.
Allow me to add another kind of image to your meditation on this mystery: the embrace of Joachim and Anne, her parents. Many artists have chosen their kiss as a subject. Here is an icon that might help you remember always what we celebrate in the Immaculate Conception.
God bless you.
Fr. Christopher J. Pollard
p.s. The Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation when December 8 occurs on a day other than Saturday, Sunday and Monday. This year it falls on a Sunday and, since a Sunday of Advent cannot be displaced or omitted, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception transfers in the new liturgical calendar to the next possible day, which will be Monday, December 9.
