Mary’s Immaculate Conception is a reminder that only God’s grace can wipe out sin. Mary is the new Eve without sin. Today more than ever we need her “Mirror of Justice” to show us God’s love, truth, beauty, mercy and love. Mary help me to turn to God whenever I sin. Happy Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.

I will certainly go to Mass today. Even though the obligation has been suspended because of the covid, I will go. It's the least I can do. I will admit the current state of the US has me quite depressed but as my confessor said, I can do my own little bit. As Padre Pio said, "pray, hope and don't worry" Ultimately God is in charge.

I don't accept the "dispensations". I proceed as if there are no dispensations. If one loves God, one attends Mass at the very least on Sunday's and Holy Days of Obligation. Dispensations are for pretenders. And I am not talking about those who are legitimately at risk here. So, let's not pile on here with criticisms.

My wife and I have always brought our family to Mass on holy days, no matter what the bishops have said. I think it is ridiculous to transfer holy days to Sundays because it might be too inconvenient for people to go to Mass on, say, a Thursday AND a Sunday!

I once remarked to some of my French friends that I thought it a pity that Corpus
Christi (which the French call simply the « Fête-Dieu » or “Festival of
God”) is nowadays transferred to the nearest Sunday.

They explained to me that the government would allow the Church only one public
holiday that always fell on a Thursday, as people would, inevitably, make it an
excuse for a long weekend – « faire le pont » or “make a bridge,” as they say
and so the bishops settled for Ascension Day.

The notion that there could be a Holiday of Obligation that was not also a public
holiday was quite beyond their comprehension.

That's very interesting, Michael. We, too, have some friends in France, and it is interesting to see how different cultures view life. The French are much better at vacations and relaxing than the Americans are. Most Americans will work all day anyway and try to find either a vigil Mass, an early morning Mass, or a Mass the evening of. The only holy day of obligation that is a national holiday here is Christmas, and that is only because Christmas is also celebrated as a nonreligious holiday.

In France, as well as Christmas day, the Ascension, the Assumption and All Saints are public holidays, as well as Easter Monday and Whit Monday.

New Year's Day used to be considered a religious holiday, but has been re-classified as a national one. The Festival of the Liberation on 8 May is also a double celebration, for it is the anniversary of the raising of the siege of Orleans by St Joan of Arc, a national heroine, as well as a popular saint.

We are too secular here for all those holy days to be national holidays. I believe France was, at one time, officially Catholic. We have never officially had a religion.

"I believe France was, at one time, officially Catholic."

Until the Law of Separation 1905 ((Loi du 9 décembre 1905 concernant la séparation des Eglises et de l'Etat)

Because the two "Lost Provinces" of Alsace and Lorraine were occupied by Germany between 1870 and 1918, the Law of 1905 was never applied there and Napoleon's Concordat of 1801 remains in force. The government pays the salaries of the clergy and the President of the Republic names the bishops of Metz and Strasbourg. This makes France the only country in the world where some Catholic bishops are still appointed by the head of state.

In fact, the Briand-Ceretti Agreement of 1926 gives the President a veto on the appointment of the other French bishops. In both cases, however, diplomacy ensures there is never a conflict over episcopal appointments. Anomalous as the arrangement is, neither side wants to rock that particular boat.

There are other curiosities. The Jules Ferry laws making education "obligatory, free and lay (obligatoire, gratuit et laïque) requires state schools to close for 1 day a week (in addition to Sundays) to allow those parents who wish to provide religious education to their children. They currently close on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. It is a very French arrangement; to allow time off for those whose parents request it would be a breach of Égalité or would require asking them their religion (strictly forbidden). In private schools (mostly Catholic) the state pays the salaries of the teachers and librarians (but not the Principal or other staff) for the pupils have a right to instruction at the pubic expense.

Churches and rectories are public property, maintained by the state.

Amen

Oh as soon as the bishop allowed public Masses I've been there. I am 70 but otherwise in good health and the Mass is worth the miniscule risk of getting the 'rona.

Agreed

Amen! Great post.
(Now apologize to me for saying in a previous discussion that Judas raised a man from the dead. Jesus exhorted the apostles to perform such acts, but nowhere do we have evidence that Judas per se ever did ANYTHING in concert with Jesus' teachings).

Thanks, FF. But I'm not apologizing. Judas was included in the words of Luke 9:1-2, Mark 6 and also in Matthew. It wasn't until much later that satan entered Judas. This shouldn't sound like tin foil hat stuff to you, FF. It's pretty common knowledge among theologians. Do a bit of research.

Sorry, but no specificity is given in those texts. There is a huge task premium and burden to writing at the time the gospels were written down, so there is a paucity of details. Judas is never specified as having done any good deeds. It is all very generic. It could be that he was a terrible apostle the whole time, nothing implies that he was or was not.
He was referred to as a thief in later writings. It's unlikely that the apostles were not aware that he was dipping into the money bag all along, it is certainly implied, at least as much as the implication that he went about doing as told.

it is so important a day that it is obligatory... Unless it's a Saturday or a MOnday... cuase then ehhh not so much.

It's an obligation unless it isn't.

More or less,
it's an obligation unless it's too inconvenient, or you just went yesterday or whatever...

Mary was CONCEIVED sinless. Her life/our lives start there as a new, unique creation.

The implication being that perhaps she sinned in real life? Is that your point?
I don't think we will get very far musing on that subject, we have no evidence for that notion. It might seem possible but why bother with it?

My only point is that a unique human life starts at conception, no place else in the continuum of life. To many these days Mary would become sinless at some point as determined by the mother, father, doctor or some combination.

"a unique human life starts at conception"

Except in the case of monozygotic twins. If zygote Z splits to forml twins, A and B, both cannot be the same person as Z, for that would mean they would be the same person as each other; which is absurd.

The zygote, as Miss Anscombe argued, is a "living individual whole whose life is—all going well—to be the life of one, or lives of more than one, human being.”

Ah, got it, thanks. Fine.

The anniversary of the declaration was celebrated in 1904 and 1854, narry a passing though in 2004. One wonders if there will be anyone left to celebrate in 2054.

The Immaculate conception doesn't fit in with current prevailing Catholic attitudes . For one thing it's not ecumenical, and therefore non-essential. Next, with the abandonment of the concept of original sin... What was there for Our Lady to have been preserved from anyway? Then the pronouncement by the pope.

You can abandon teaching about original sin but the truth in defining the human person and our need for God’s grace will remain.

Blessed Immaculate Mother of Christ, pray for this country. We need you more than ever.

Our flag is out and we're going to Mass this morning....wondering how attendance will be. Went to the website of the local parish to check Mass times. A small paragraph said, "Dec 8th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is a holy day of obligation. Masses are at 7am, 8:30am and 6pm. But with the current dispensation, you're not obliged to attend." I was stunned! So, I checked the sites front page for mentions of the names Jesus and Mary. None. The only indication of Jesus was a photograph of a masked wedding party standing on the altar with the Crucifix showing in the background. Every photo was of parishioners and priests proudly masked, save one. It was a young family who had just had their baby baptized. The young priest was included. He was proudly masked but the family was bare faced....it's just so weird.

It’s as if once the Wuhan virus subsides we will no longer die. And our problems will go away. What an illusion.

Also, there are no other illnesses or sicknesses, they have disappeared. If you have symptoms of any kind, it's the Wuhan virus.

The cure may turn out to be more harmful than the infection itself.

This is what I have heard - that yes, we have 200-something thousand "covid deaths" but other deaths usually counted are way down. I believe this, but it would be nice to have statistics to back this up. Hopefully those who are against all of the fear-mongering and ridiculous restrictions will be able to find them.

When was the last case of smallpox?

Good take, eWord. A lot of faith is placed in masks. I recently read a psychologist's remarks who called the mask wearing a delusional psychosis. Fr. Ripperger in his series on communism said that all communist regimes get people to wear something. Arm bands, wrist bands, etc.

Let's pray and put our trust in God. That's where sanity is found.

Catholics are a significant part of the United States, and Mary may be the most important saint even though arguments can be made for John the Baptist, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul. The Immaculate Conception was still a controversial and debated idea when the country was founded.

Still, Catholics are not the most important group in the country, Mary is not the most important part of Catholicism. This idea seems like puffery more than anything else.

Why is the notion of "most important" germane to this discussion? What, pray tell, is the "most important part of Catholicism"? The question makes no sense. Is it God the Father? God the Son or the Holy Spirit? The Trinity? The Incarnation? The Redemption? The Creation?! The Eucharist?! The Resurrection?!

It does seem to me that in the USA there is an “in your face” emphasis on Mary to differentiate from the Protestants, perhaps a tribal identity thing. We don’t see this as much in Canada.

How sad to hear that Canadians are not so much devoted to Mary. You're really missing out. There's nothing like a Mother's love. And Our Mother just happens to be Queen of the Universe. You should start promoting devotions to Our Lady. Start with St. Louis de Montfort's Consecration.

To differentiate from the Protestants?

“It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God’s gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin” - Martin Luther’s Sermon “On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God,” 1527

That seems rather sad to me.
I can guarantee that the Acadians who were removed from Canada don't feel the same way.

I’d like to think Canadians have a balanced and proportionate devotion to Mary, and do not use her as a mascot to rally around. There are all types of course though, I’m sure some do.

Perhaps Canadians do not utilize Our Lady in a divisive way, but there are many shrines to Mary throughout Canada. The Marian devotion of our polite northern neighbors may be discreet, but it is nevertheless intense and sincere.

That definitely used to be the case. There are still an unusually high number of Marian holy days of obligation mandated relative to most other countries.

The bishops can only consecrate the country to America by preaching to and confessing the 100 million abortion deranged great great great great great great great great great great grandchildren of 1776.

Created equal 2026!

Thank you for this essay. I always look forward to your writings.

Good points in the article ..

The Oneness in The Divine Will , to bring Light of Truth of the holiness and power of God that He ever desires to share with each -
The Immaculate Conception is the point of the fusion reaction, with the First ever creature to have lived in the Divine Will , after The Fall , to undo the effects of same ..
to serve as a counter to the degradations and evils , caused by the carnal fires which too have vast origins in these lands as well , spreading same world over ..

https://benedictinesofdivin...

Receiving from the Most Holy Trinity , power , wisdom and love , as oceans , into the very early moments of her tiny origin and sending back waves of love and praise - the glorious events of the Immaculate Conception , well narrated in the early chapters of above ..
on our behalf too , thus requiting the love and gratitude that each of us too owe , from our very beginnings ..
and when done , in Oneness with The Mother , the oceans that can flow into hearts and lives to have vast effects world over , even through all eternity ..

Love and glory to The Most Holy Trinity !

Archbishop Gomez does not recognize the sovereignty of nation states, why would he invoke the blessing of Our Lady on the United States of America?

The U.S. is not a nation, it was initially formed as a federation, and there is no one American nation but many historical nations, or peoples with distinct identities and cultures, even if there has been some homogenization in the 20th ce thanks to mass culture and migration. The error that America is a "nation" is the foundation of tyrannical attempts to convert the Federal Government into the supreme unitary state, and other errors like civic nationalism.

What we need is less political grandstanding by RC bishops and more respect for local identities and cultures.