Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
Dec 8 - The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Summary : This feast had its origin in the East as the "Conception of Mary by Saint Anne." It spread through the West during the Middle Ages as the "Immaculate Conception" and was extended to the entire Western Church in the eighteenth century. The feast celebrates Mary, preserved from sin from the moment of conception as the first fruits of her Son's redemption and a prophetic model of what the Church is called to be.
Every Dec.8th the Pope goes to Piazza di Spagna in Rome to commemorate the definition of this doctrine in 1854.
A statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was designed at that time by Luigi Poletti and placed on the top of an ancient Roman column overlooking the beautiful Spanish Steps. (c/f image left and below)
Each year at the ceremony a fireman of the Rome Fire Brigade climbs the ladder and places a wreath of flowers on the arm of Our Lady above the Spanish Steps in Rome. c/f image left
Patrick Duffy outlines the history and doctrine of the feast.
The Doctrine
What the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception means is that from the first moment of her conception, God, foreseeing and anticipating the merits of Jesus's passion and death, and knowing Mary would say "yes" to becoming the Mother of the Saviour, filled her with grace, and preserved her free from all stain of original sin. The Church assumes Mary herself was conceived in the normal way through loving intercourse of her father Joachim with her mother Anne. The date of the solemnity is co-ordinated with that of Mary's Nativity on 8th September (nine months later).
Mary's Parents
The names and tradition about Mary's parents, Anne and Joachim, come from the apocryphal gospel of St. James and the apocryphal gospel of the Nativity of Mary (2nd century). The tradition is that Anne was the youngest daughter of a priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married Joachim, who was a native of Galilee. She was childless for twenty years, but after the fervent prayer of both spouses, they had a daughter who would bring blessings to the whole human race.
Anne is the patron of childless women, pregnant women, and grandmothers;
Joachim is the patron of grandfathers. Both have their joint feast on 26th July.
Brief History of the Feast
The emperor Justinian had a basilica built in Constantinople to honour St Anne; it was dedicated in 550. The Greek Church has kept a feast of the Conception by St Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos on 9th December from that time. Anne's feast was celebrated at Canterbury from 1100 and there is a prayer for the feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Sarum Missal (11th century). France, Spain and Germany have the same feast from around the same time. In 1476 Pope Nicholas IV approved the feast for Rome with its own Mass and Office. This was confirmed in 1568, when Pope St. Pius V published the Roman breviary for the universal Church. There is widespread evidence for the celebration of the feast in Ireland in the 17th century.
Doctrine Disputed
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was a matter of dispute in the Middle Ages. It is surprising that such champions of Mary as St Bernard and St Thomas Aquinas did not see any theological justification for it as a theological opinion. Eadmer of Canterbury (1064-1124), the companion and secretary to St Anselm, presented an argument from congruity (fittingness) that Mary was free from original sin, using the Latin axiom: Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit ("God was able to do it; it was appropriate; therefore He did it").
Theology of Bl. John Duns Scotus (1265-1308)
It was the Scottish-born Franciscan theologian Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265-1308) who formulated the argument from reason in favour of the doctrine. His approach was to start with Jesus, saying it would have been incongruous that the flesh from which the Son of God was to be formed should ever have been subject to the influence of the Evil One, whose power he came on earth to destroy. Then Scotus moves to the universality of original sin as expressed by Paul in Romans 5:12: "It was through one man (Adam) that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned." That would seem to indicate that Mary needed to be redeemed.
But at Mary's conception Christ, the sinless one, had not yet accomplished the redemption. So Scotus argued for a 'pre-redemption' that preserved Mary free from original sin through God anticipating and foreseeing the merits of her Son's passion and death. This was possible for God who is outside time. The question remaining was: when did this happen in time for Mary? When was she, a daughter of Adam, preserved from original sin and its consequences?
To deal with this question, Scotus made a distinction between the order of nature and the order of time. With Mary, conception and sanctification were simultaneous, producing a twofold situation at the first moment of her existence. Mary, as a human descendant of Adam and Eve, would have contracted the debt of original sin, but simultaneously by a privileged infusion of grace and by a special anticipation of the merits of the Saviour, she became a daughter of God, and was preserved from the consequences of the common lot of fallen nature.
Definition by Pope Bl. Pius IX (1854)
This argument of John Duns Scotus cleared the path for the theological acceptance and development of the doctrine and paved the way for its solemn definition by Bl Pope Pius IX. In 1849 he consulted the faithful and bishops of the world about the appropriateness of defining the doctrine and received a largely positive response.
The core of the definition was expressed in the Constitution Inneffabilis Deus in 1854:
Visions
It is worth noting that in 1830 St Catherine Labouré experienced a vision in which she saw Our Lady standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words, 'Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee'.
Also noteworthy is that four years after the definition, when Our Lady appeared at Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous, Bernadette asked her, "Would you kindly tell me who you are?", she replied:
"I am the Immaculate Conception".
Iconography
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Mary was without sin for her entire life, but do not accept the formulation of the doctrine that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of original sin at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. However, many icons depicting the Conception by St Anna show Mary as the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.
Baroque era
This theme was not highlighted by painters of the Baroque era. For example, El Greco, Murillo, and Zubaran all made paintings of the Immaculate Conception, showing Mary as the beautiful woman of Revelation 12:1 "clothed with the sun and the moon under under her feet", but no serpent under her feet as the text of Genesis 3:15 (Vulgate) used in the definition might have suggested.
Crushing the Serpent's Head
This way of depicting this mystery seems to have appeared in the West only after 1854, when a statue depicting Mary crushing the serpent's head under her feet, commissioned by Pope Pius IX and designed by Luigi Poletti, was erected at the southern end of Piazza di Spagna in Rome. It is this statue which has been the model for artists depicting the Immaculate Conception ever since.
Every Dec.8th the Pope goes to Piazza di Spagna in Rome to commemorate the definition of this doctrine in 1854.A statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was designed at that time by Luigi Poletti and placed on the top of an ancient Roman column overlooking the beautiful Spanish Steps. (c/f image left and below)
Each year at the ceremony a fireman of the Rome Fire Brigade climbs the ladder and places a wreath of flowers on the arm of Our Lady above the Spanish Steps in Rome. c/f image left
Patrick Duffy outlines the history and doctrine of the feast.
The Doctrine
What the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception means is that from the first moment of her conception, God, foreseeing and anticipating the merits of Jesus's passion and death, and knowing Mary would say "yes" to becoming the Mother of the Saviour, filled her with grace, and preserved her free from all stain of original sin. The Church assumes Mary herself was conceived in the normal way through loving intercourse of her father Joachim with her mother Anne. The date of the solemnity is co-ordinated with that of Mary's Nativity on 8th September (nine months later).
Mary's Parents
The names and tradition about Mary's parents, Anne and Joachim, come from the apocryphal gospel of St. James and the apocryphal gospel of the Nativity of Mary (2nd century). The tradition is that Anne was the youngest daughter of a priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married Joachim, who was a native of Galilee. She was childless for twenty years, but after the fervent prayer of both spouses, they had a daughter who would bring blessings to the whole human race.
Anne is the patron of childless women, pregnant women, and grandmothers;
Joachim is the patron of grandfathers. Both have their joint feast on 26th July.
Brief History of the Feast
The emperor Justinian had a basilica built in Constantinople to honour St Anne; it was dedicated in 550. The Greek Church has kept a feast of the Conception by St Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos on 9th December from that time. Anne's feast was celebrated at Canterbury from 1100 and there is a prayer for the feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Sarum Missal (11th century). France, Spain and Germany have the same feast from around the same time. In 1476 Pope Nicholas IV approved the feast for Rome with its own Mass and Office. This was confirmed in 1568, when Pope St. Pius V published the Roman breviary for the universal Church. There is widespread evidence for the celebration of the feast in Ireland in the 17th century.
Doctrine Disputed
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was a matter of dispute in the Middle Ages. It is surprising that such champions of Mary as St Bernard and St Thomas Aquinas did not see any theological justification for it as a theological opinion. Eadmer of Canterbury (1064-1124), the companion and secretary to St Anselm, presented an argument from congruity (fittingness) that Mary was free from original sin, using the Latin axiom: Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit ("God was able to do it; it was appropriate; therefore He did it").
Theology of Bl. John Duns Scotus (1265-1308)
It was the Scottish-born Franciscan theologian Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265-1308) who formulated the argument from reason in favour of the doctrine. His approach was to start with Jesus, saying it would have been incongruous that the flesh from which the Son of God was to be formed should ever have been subject to the influence of the Evil One, whose power he came on earth to destroy. Then Scotus moves to the universality of original sin as expressed by Paul in Romans 5:12: "It was through one man (Adam) that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned." That would seem to indicate that Mary needed to be redeemed.But at Mary's conception Christ, the sinless one, had not yet accomplished the redemption. So Scotus argued for a 'pre-redemption' that preserved Mary free from original sin through God anticipating and foreseeing the merits of her Son's passion and death. This was possible for God who is outside time. The question remaining was: when did this happen in time for Mary? When was she, a daughter of Adam, preserved from original sin and its consequences?
To deal with this question, Scotus made a distinction between the order of nature and the order of time. With Mary, conception and sanctification were simultaneous, producing a twofold situation at the first moment of her existence. Mary, as a human descendant of Adam and Eve, would have contracted the debt of original sin, but simultaneously by a privileged infusion of grace and by a special anticipation of the merits of the Saviour, she became a daughter of God, and was preserved from the consequences of the common lot of fallen nature.
Definition by Pope Bl. Pius IX (1854)
This argument of John Duns Scotus cleared the path for the theological acceptance and development of the doctrine and paved the way for its solemn definition by Bl Pope Pius IX. In 1849 he consulted the faithful and bishops of the world about the appropriateness of defining the doctrine and received a largely positive response.
The core of the definition was expressed in the Constitution Inneffabilis Deus in 1854:
"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."
Visions
It is worth noting that in 1830 St Catherine Labouré experienced a vision in which she saw Our Lady standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words, 'Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee'.
Also noteworthy is that four years after the definition, when Our Lady appeared at Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous, Bernadette asked her, "Would you kindly tell me who you are?", she replied:
"I am the Immaculate Conception".
Iconography
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Mary was without sin for her entire life, but do not accept the formulation of the doctrine that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of original sin at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. However, many icons depicting the Conception by St Anna show Mary as the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.
Baroque era
This theme was not highlighted by painters of the Baroque era. For example, El Greco, Murillo, and Zubaran all made paintings of the Immaculate Conception, showing Mary as the beautiful woman of Revelation 12:1 "clothed with the sun and the moon under under her feet", but no serpent under her feet as the text of Genesis 3:15 (Vulgate) used in the definition might have suggested.
Crushing the Serpent's Head
This way of depicting this mystery seems to have appeared in the West only after 1854, when a statue depicting Mary crushing the serpent's head under her feet, commissioned by Pope Pius IX and designed by Luigi Poletti, was erected at the southern end of Piazza di Spagna in Rome. It is this statue which has been the model for artists depicting the Immaculate Conception ever since.
____________________________________
******************************
Memorable Quote for Today
Let those who say that the Church pays too much attention to Mary
give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord himself
gave ten times as much of his life to her as he gave to his Apostles.
~ Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen ~
******************************
Liturgical Readings for: Monday, 8th December, 2025
8-12 The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Solemnity
This feast celebrates Mary as a person of singular grace who was preserved free of original sin
in view of the merits of her son and Saviour, Jesus
c/f A short history of today’s Feastday can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Genesis 3:9-15. 20
I will make you enemies of each other: your offspring and her offspring.
After Adam had eaten from the tree the Lord God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked.
'I heard the sound of you in the garden;' he replied 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'
'Who told you that you were naked?' he asked. 'Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?'
The man replied, 'It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it'.
Then the Lord God asked the woman, 'What is this you have done?'
The woman replied, 'The serpent tempted me and I ate'.
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
'Because you have done this,
'Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head and you will strike its heel'.
The man named his wife 'Eve' because she was the mother of all those who live.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1,2-3, 4
Response Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
1. Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. Response
2. The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love for the house o f Israel. Response
3. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord all the earth, ring out your joy. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians 1:3-6. 11-12
Before the world was made, God chose us in Christ.
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons,
through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved,
And it is in him that we were claimed as God's own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation Lk 1: -28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you, And also with you
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38
You are to conceive and bear a son.
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.'
She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her,
'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favour.
Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David;
he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.'
Mary said to the angel, 'But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?'
'The Holy Spirit will come upon you', the angel answered , 'and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God'
'I am the handmaid of the Lord,' said Mary 'let what you have said be done to me.'
And the angel left her.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Dec 8th Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Luke 1:26-38
Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his poem, ‘The Blessed Virgin compared to the air we breathe’, concludes with a prayer to Mary, ‘Be thou then, O thou dear Mother, my atmosphere; My happier world, wherein To wend and meet no sin’. Today’s feast celebrates Mary as that happier world wherein we meet no sin. She was untouched by that sin of Adam referred to at the beginning of today’s first reading. Because Adam rebelled against God’s will for his life, he was uncomfortable in God’s presence. He hid from God and God had to call out to him, ‘Where are you?’
Mary had no reason to hide from God because she was always open to doing God’s will. She lived her life in the light of God’s presence. She was, in that sense, full of God. It was because Mary was so full of God from the first moment of her conception that she could respond to God’s call to her through the angel Gabriel with the words, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’.
The principal church in our Dublin Diocese is in Marlborough Street in Dublin city and was commonly called the 'Pro-Cathedral'. However, Pope Leo has recently updated this practice by declaring its official title to be 'Saint Mary’s, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception). We don’t often speak of Mary as Saint Mary. We have other ways of referring to her. Yet, today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sainthood, her sanctity.
We consider Mary the greatest of all the saints because we believe that she was holy from the first moment of her conception. However, no more than any of the other saints, Mary was not removed from the struggles and sufferings of the human condition. Something of her struggle comes through in today’s gospel reading. She was initially deeply disturbed by the words of the angel Gabriel. She was full of questions in response to Gabriel’s good news, ‘How can this come about?’ Luke goes on to tell us in his gospel that Simeon announced to her that a sword would pierce her soul. According to the gospel of John, she stood at the foot of the cross suffering the agony of watching her only Son die a slow and painful death. It was in the midst of all the struggles and pains of life that she lived out her ‘yes’ to God’s will for her life.
Mary’s holiness from her conception does not remove her from us. She is our companion on our pilgrim journey. She is given to us as a perpetual help. That is why, in the ‘Hail Mary’ prayer, we ask her to pray for us ‘sinners’ now and 'at the hour of our death'. Paul reminds us in the second reading that before the world was made God ‘chose us in Christ to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence’. Paul spells out there our calling from the beginning of time. Mary has lived that calling to the full; she was holy, living through love in God’s presence. We look to her to help us to live out that same calling. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, she is an advocate of grace for God’s people, for all of us. She prays for us for the grace we need to be as generous as she was in responding to God’s purpose for our lives.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Fr Martin Hogan's book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is Near to You, on your lips and in your heart published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
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Feast of the Day: Dec. 8th; Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
This feast had its origin in the East as the "Conception of Mary by Saint Anne." It spread through the West during the Middle Ages as the "Immaculate Conception" and was extended to the entire Western Church in the eighteenth century. The feast celebrates Mary, preserved from sin from the moment of conception as the first fruits of her Son's redemption and a prophetic model of what the Church is called to be.
Every Dec.8th the Pope goes to Piazza di Spagna 'the Spanish Steps' in Rome to commemorate the definition of this doctrine in 1854.A statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was designed at that time by Luigi Poletti and placed on the top of an ancient Roman column overlooking the beautiful Spanish Steps. (c/f image left)
Each year at the ceremony a fireman of the Rome's Fire Brigade climbs and places a wreath of flowers on the arm of Our Lady above in Rome. c/f image right>
Patrick Duffy outlines the history and doctrine of the feast.
The Doctrine
What the Doctrine of the 'Immaculate Conception' means is that from the first moment of her conception, God, foreseeing and anticipating the merits of Jesus's passion and death, and knowing Mary would say "yes" to becoming the Mother of the Saviour, filled her with grace, and preserved her free from all stain of original sin. The Church assumes Mary herself was conceived in the normal way through the loving intercourse of her father Joachim with her mother Anne.
Mary's Parents
The names and tradition about Mary's parents, Anne and Joachim, come from the apocryphal (doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true) gospel of St. James and the apocryphal gospel of the Nativity of Mary (2nd century). The tradition is that Anne was the youngest daughter of a priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. Anne married Joachim, who was a native of Galilee. She was childless for twenty years, but after the fervent prayer of both spouses, they had a daughter who would bring blessings to the whole human race.
Anne is the patron of childless women, pregnant women, and grandmothers;
Joachim is the patron of grandfathers. Both have their joint feast on 26th July.
Brief History of the Feast
The emperor Justinian had a basilica built in Constantinople to honour St Anne; it was dedicated in 550. The Greek Church has kept a feast of the Conception by St Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos on 9th December from that time. Anne's feast was celebrated at Canterbury from 1100 and there is a prayer for the feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Sarum Missal (11th century). France, Spain and Germany have the same feast from around the same time. In 1476 Pope Nicholas IV approved the feast for Rome with its own Mass and Office. This was confirmed in 1568, when Pope St. Pius V published the Roman breviary for the universal Church. There is widespread evidence for the celebration of the feast in Ireland in the 17th century.
Doctrine Disputed
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was a matter of dispute in the Middle Ages. It is surprising that such champions of Mary as St Bernard and St Thomas Aquinas did not see any theological justification for it as a theological opinion. Eadmer of Canterbury (1064-1124), the companion and secretary to St Anselm, presented an argument from congruity (fittingness) that Mary was free from original sin, using the Latin axiom: Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit ("God was able to do it; it was appropriate; therefore He did it").
Theology of Bl. John Duns Scotus (1265-1308)
It was the Scottish-born Franciscan theologian Bl John Duns Scotus (1265-1308) who formulated the argument from reason in favour of the doctrine. His approach was to start with Jesus, saying it would have been incongruous that the flesh from which the Son of God was to be formed should ever have been subject to the influence of the evil one, whose power he came on earth to destroy. Then Scotus moves to the universality of original sin as expressed by Paul in Romans 5:12: "It was through one man (Adam) that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned." That would seem to indicate that Mary needed to be redeemed. But at the time of Mary's conception, Christ, the sinless one, had not yet accomplished the redemption. So Scotus argued for a 'pre-redemption' that preserved Mary free from original sin through God anticipating and foreseeing the merits of her Son's passion and death. This was possible for God who is outside time. The question remaining was: when did this happen in time for Mary? When was she, a daughter of Adam, preserved from original sin and its consequences?To deal with this question, Bl Scotus made a distinction between the order of nature and the order of time. With Mary, conception and sanctification were simultaneous, producing a twofold situation at the first moment of her existence. Mary, as a human descendant of Adam and Eve, would have contracted the debt of original sin, but simultaneously by a privileged infusion of grace and by a special anticipation of the merits of the Saviour, she 'became' a daughter of God, and was preserved from the consequences of the common lot of fallen nature.
Definition by Pope Bl. Pius IX (1854)
This argument of John Duns Scotus cleared the path for the theological acceptance and development of the doctrine and paved the way for its solemn definition by Bl Pope Pius IX. In 1849 he consulted the faithful and bishops of the world about the appropriateness of defining the doctrine and received a largely positive response.The core of the definition was expressed in the Constitution Inneffabilis Deus in 1854: "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."
Visions
It is worth noting that in 1830 St Catherine Labouré experienced a vision in which she saw ''Our Lady' standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words, 'Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee'.
Also noteworthy is that four years after the definition, when Our Lady appeared at Lourdes to St Bernadette Soubirous, Bernadette asked her, "Would you kindly tell me who you are?", she replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception".
Iconography
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Mary was without sin for her entire life, but do not accept the formulation of the doctrine that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of original sin at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. However, many icons depicting the Conception by St Anna show Mary as the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.
Baroque era
This theme was not highlighted by painters of the Baroque era. For example, El Greco, Murillo, and Zubaran all made paintings of the Immaculate Conception, showing Mary simply as the beautiful woman of Revelation 12:1 "clothed with the sun and the moon under under her feet", but no serpent under her feet as the text of Genesis 3:15 (Vulgate) used in the definition might have suggested.
Crushing the Serpent's Head
This way of depicting this mystery seems to have appeared in the West only after 1854, when a statue depicting Mary crushing the serpent's head under her feet, was commissioned by Pope Pius IX and designed by Luigi Poletti, and erected at the southern end of Piazza di Spagna in Rome. It is this statue which has been the model for artists depicting the Immaculate Conception ever since. ( c/f image right at the top of this article)
____________________________________
******************************
Memorable Quote for Today
Let those who say that the Church pays too much attention to Mary
give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord himself
spent ten times as much of his life with her
than he he gave to his Apostles.
~ Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen ~
******************************
Liturgical Readings for: Monday, 8th December, 2025
12-08 Giniúint gan Smál na Maighdine Beannaithe Muire
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as leabhar Geineasas 3:9-15. 20
Cuirfidh mé naimhdeas idir do shíolsa agus síol na mná.
Nuair a bhí Ádhamh tar éis ithe den chrann, ghlaoigh an Tiarna Dia ar an bhfear: “Cá bhfuil tú?” ar sé leis.
D’fhreagair sé:
“Chuala mé do ghuth sa ghairdín agus bhí eagla orm mar go raibh mé nocht, agus chuaigh mé i bhfolach.”“Cé dúirt leat,” ar seisean, “go raibh tú nocht? An ag ithe a bhí tú den chrann a mhol mé duit gan ithe de?”
“An bhean a thug tú dom mar chéile,” arsa an fear, “ise a thug toradh as an gcrann dom, agus d’ith mé é.”
Agus dúirt an Tiarna Dia leis an mbean: “Cad é seo atá déanta agat?”
D’fhreagair an bhean: “Mheall an nathair mé agus d’ith mé.”
Dúirt an Tiarna Dia leis an nathair:
De bhrí go ndearna tú an rud seo go raibh mallacht ort thar an eallach go léir,
thar na hainmhithe allta go léir; beidh tú ag sní ar do bholg agus ag ithe cré,
gach lá de do shaol. Cuirfidh mé naimhdeas idir tú agus an bhean,idir do shíolsa agus a síolsa.
Brúfaidh sé do cheann agus brúfaidh tusa a sháil.”
Thug an fear Éabha ar a bhean mar gurb í máthair na mbeo go léir í.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 97
Freagra Canaigí amhrán nua don Tiarna óir rinne sé éachtaí.
I. Canaigí amhrán nua don Tiarna óir rinne sé éachtaí.Le neart a dheasláimhe is a chuisle naofa rug sé bua dó féin. Freagra
2. D'fhoilsigh an Tiarna a shlánú. Nocht sé a fhíréantacht do na náisiúin.
Ba chuimhin leis a fhírinne is a ghrá do theaghlach Isráél. Freagra
3. Chonaic críocha uile na cruinne slánú ár nDé.
Gáirigí don Tiarna, a chríocha uile, agus nochtaigí bhur n-áthas dó. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as litir Naomh Pól chuig na hEifísigh 1:3-6. 11-12
Roimh thósú an domhain roghnaigh Dia sinn i bpáirt le Criost.
Moladh le Dia, le hAthair ár dTiarna Íosa Críost,
a bhronn orainn, i gCríost, gach tabhartas spioradálta sna flaithis.
Roimh thósú an domhain roghnaigh sé sinn i gCríost
chun bheith naofa gan locht os a chomhair.
Le barr grá dúinn leag sé amach ó thús de réir mhian a thola féin
go mbeimisne inár gclann aige trí Íosa Críost,
i dtreo go molfaí an grásta as cuimse a roinn sé orainn go fras ina Mhac muirneach.
Mar is i gCríost a roghnaíodh sinne inár n-oidhrí agus a leagadh amach dúinn,
de réir intinne an té úd a oibríonn gach ní de réir chomhairle a thola féin,
a bheith ar na chéad daoinea chuirfeadh a muinín i gCríost chun moladh agus glóire Dé.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Alleluia Véarsa Lc 1: 28
Alleluia! alleluia
Sé do bheatha Muire, atá lán de ghrásta, tá an Tiarna leat; is beannaithe tú idir mná.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. A gus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Lúcás 1:26-38 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Se do bheatha, atá lán de ghrásta, td an Tiarna leat.
Sa séú mí, cuireadh an t-aingeal Gaibriéil ó Dhia go dtí cathair sa Ghailíl darbh ainm Nazarat chun maighdine a bhí luaite le fear de theaghlach Dháiví darbh ainm Iósaef, agus b’é Muire ainm na maighdine. Agus ar a theacht isteach chuici dúirt:
“Sé do bheatha, atá lán de ghrásta, tá an Tiarna leat; is beannaithe tú idir mná.”
Ach bhí buaireamh uirthi de chionn na cainte, agus bhí sí ag machnamh cén sort beannachadh é seo.
Ach dúirt an t-aingeal léi:
“Ná bíodh eagla ort, a Mhuire, óir fuair tú gean ó Dhia. Agus féach, gabhfaidh tú gin agus béarfaidh tú mac agus tabharfaidh tú Íosa mar ainm air. Beidh sé mór, agus glaofar Mac an Té is airde air, agus tabharfaidh an Tiarna Dia dó ríchathaoir Dháiví a athair, agus beidh sé ina Rí ar theaghlach Iacóib go brách, agus ní bheidh deireadh lena ríocht.”
Dúirt Muire leis an aingeal: "Conas a bheidh seo amhlaidh, óir is maighdean mé?”
Agus dúirt an t-aingeal á freagairt:
“Tuirlingeoidh an Spiorad Naomh ort, agus beidh cumhacht an té is airde ina scáil anuas ort, agus sin é an fáth a mbeidh an leanbh naofa; glaofar Mac Dé air. Agus féach, Éilís do bhean ghaoil, ghabh sise mac freisin ina seanaois, agus is é seo an séú mí aici siúd a dúradh a bheith aimrid. Óir níl ní ar bith dodhéanta ag Dia.”
Dúirt Muire: “Féach, mise banóglach an Tiarna; déantar liom de réir d’fhocail.”
Agus d’imigh an t-aingeal uaithi.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 14th December, 2025
- 14 December 2025 -
Third Sunday of Advent - Gaudete Sunday! - Rejoicing Sunday!
This week the joy of the kingdom is anticipated. The signs of the kingdom are given to the messengers of John the Baptist, and they are very familiar with the prophecies of Isaiah. 'Patient waiting' There should be no complaining, no giving up or losing heart. Joy, prayer and thanksgiving should characterise us as a 'waiting' Christian community.
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah 35:1-6. 10
God himself is coming to save you.
Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy.
The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.
Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
'Courage! Do not be afraid.
'Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.'
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy; for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 145: 6-7, 8-9,10 R/v Is35:4
Response Come, Lord, and save us
or Alleluia!
1. It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free. Response
2. It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger and upholds the widow and orphan. Response
3. It is the Lord who loves the just but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever, Zion's God, from age to age. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St James 5:7-10
Do not lose heart: the Lord’s coming will be soon.
Now be patient, brothers, until the Lord's coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains!You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord's coming will be soon. Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in submitting with patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Gospel Acclamation Is 61:1
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 11:2-11 Glory to you, O Lord
Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?
John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him,'Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?'
Jesus answered,
'Go back and tell John what you hear and see;
the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed and
happy is the man who does not lose faith in me'.
As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John:
'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze?
No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes?
Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces.
Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says:
'Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way before you.'
'I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. http //dltbooks.com/
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 14th December, 2025
-14 - 12- 2025-
AN TRÍÚ DOMNACH DEN AIDBHINT
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as Leabhar Íseáia, Fáidh 35:1-6. 10
Is é Dia féin atá ag teacht do bhur slánú.
Déanadh an díthreabh agus tír an triomaigh lúcháir, bíodh gairdeas ar an ngaineamhlach agus é faoi bhláth;
tagadh bláthanna air chomh tiubh leis an gcróch, déanadh sé gairdeas le gártha agus le ceol.
Maise na Liobáine tugtar dó, scéimh Chairmell agus Sheárón lena chois sin;
beidh maise an Tiarna le feiceáil acu seo agus scéimh an Dé seo againne.
Déanaigí láidir na lámha atá faonlag agus cuirigí téagar sna glúine atá ag lúbadh;
abraigí le lucht an chroí mhearaithe:
“Músclaígí bhur misneach; ná bíodh eagla oraibh.
Breathnaígí! Is é bhur nDia atá ann, tá sé chugaibh leis an díoltas atá ag dul daoibh;
Dia atá ann ag agairt a chúitimh, agus é ag teacht do bhur slánú.”
Déanfar a súile do na daill an uair sin agus réiteofar cluasa na mbodhar; beidh an bacach ag léimneach mar a bheadh fia ann agus teanga an bhalbháin ag gabháil ceoil le lúcháir,
agus an dream atá saortha ag an Tiarna, leanfaidh siad abhaile é.
Tiocfaidh siad go Síón, ag liúireach le gairdeas, agus aoibhneas síoraí ina choróin ar a gceann;
tiocfaidh áthas agus aoibhneas ag triall ina gcuideachta, agus beidh casaoid agus crá bailithe leo ar shiúl.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 145: 6-7, 8-9,10 R/v Is35:4
Freagra Tar, a Thiarna, dár slanú.
Malairt Freagra Alleluia!
I. An té a sheasann lena bhriathar de shíor, agus a dhéanann ceart don drong atá faoi chois,
is é a thugann bia don ocrach: is é an Tiarna a scaoileann na braighdeanaigh. Freagra
2. Osclaíonn sé súile na ndall, tógann sé suas an dream atá crom.
Cumhdaíonn an Tiarna an coimhthfoch, déanann tacaíocht don dílleachta is don bhaintreach. Freagra
3. Tugann an Tiarna grá don fhíréan, ach cuireann sé slí na bpeacach trí chéile.
Beidh an Tiarna i réim go brách, ina Dhia, a Síón, ó ghlúin go glúin. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as céad Litir Séamus 5:7-10
Ná biodh drochmhisneach oraibh; is gearr go dtaga an Tiarna.
Bíodh foighne agaibh dá bhrí sin a bhráithre go dtí teacht an Tiarna. Féach an feirmeoir agus é ag feitheamh le fómhar luachmhar na hithreach, agus foighne aige leis nó go bhfaighe sé an fhearthainn luath agus dhéanach. Bíodh foighne agaibhse chomh maith. Bíodh misneach agaibh in bhur gcroí mar tá teacht an Tiarna lámh linn. Ná déanaigí casaoid ar a chéile ionas nach dtabharfar breith oraibh; féach, tá an breitheamh cheana féin i mbéal an dorais. A bhráithre, bíodh na fáithe a labhair in ainm an Tiarna mar shampla agaibh den fhulaingt agus den fhoighne.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Alleluia Vérsa Is 61:1
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Tá Spiorad an Tiarna orm. Chuir sé uaidh mé ag tabhairt an dea-scéil do na bocht.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Mhatha 11:2-11 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
An tú an té atá le teacht no an ceart damn bheith ag súil le duine eile?
San am sin chuala Eoin, agus é i bpríosún, iomrá faoi oibreacha Chríost, agus chuir sé scéala chuige trína dheisceabail féin, á rá leis: “An tú an té atá le teacht nó an ceart dúinn bheith ag súil le duine eile?”
Dúirt Íosa leo á bhfreagairt:
“Imígí agus insígí d’Eoin a bhfuil á chloisteáil agus a fheiceáil agaibh:
tá radharc ag daill, tá siúl ag bacaigh, glantar lobhair agus tá éisteacht ag bodhráin,
éiríonn na mairbh agus fógraítear an dea-scéal do bhoicht.
Is méanar don té nach ceap tuisle dó mise.”
Le linn dóibh seo bheith ag imeacht, thosaigh Íosa ag caint leis na sluaite faoi Eoin:
“Cad a chuaigh sibh amach faoin bhfásach a fheiceáil? Giolcach á suaitheadh ag an ngaoth?
Ach cad a chuaigh sibh amach a fheiceáil? Duine a bhí cóirithe go mín?
Iad seo a mbíonn éadaí míne orthu, is i dtithe na ríthe atá siad.
Ach cad a thug amach sibh? Chun fáidh a fheiceáil?
Sea, deirim libh, agus duine ba mhó ná fáidh. Is é seo an té a bhfuil scríofa mar gheall air:
‘Féach, cuirim mo theachtaire romhat a réiteoidh do bhóthar faoi do chomhair.’
“Deirim libh go fírinneach, níor éirigh ar shliocht na mban duine ba mhó ná Eoin Baiste;
ach an té is lú i ríocht na bhflaitheas, is mó é ná eisean.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
