Holy Day of Obligation
Friday, December 8, 2023
6:00 pm Vigil Thursday and 9:00 am Friday at the Basilica of St. Stephen
6:30 am Friday at St. Henry Church
An interesting icon representing Jesus on the lap of the Virgin Mary who is herself on the lap of St. Anne, the mother of Mary.
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854: DS 2803).
This doctrine was revealed through the Scriptures (Mary was “the absolute fullness of grace”) and the long Sacred Tradition of the Church. But it was finally declared as dogma on December 8, 1954, exactly nine months before the celebration of the birth of Mary on September 8. The doctrine is quite logical. How could the flesh of the Son of God be formed through the flesh of one who was a slave to sin? Jesus redeemed his mother’s soul before her birth. As one theologian has stated: “Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit.” Or, in English: “God could, it was appropriate, therefore, He did it.” O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us!
