Vigil of Christmas

Today is a traditional day of fasting and abstinence 

as we prepare for the feast of Christmas!  

O Come, O Come Emmanuel! 

Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Gaudete Sunday and the 7th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice.  Let thy modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh.  Be nothing solicitous: but in everything by prayer let thy petitions be known to God. 

 ~ Philippians 4:4-6

Feast of St Lucy and the 6th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te!

Thou are all beautiful, Mary, 

and the original stain (of sin) is not in thee. 

Thou are the glory of Jerusalem, 

Thou art the joy of Israel,

Thou givest honour to our people. 

Thou art an advocate of sinners. 

O Mary, Virgin most intelligent, 

Mother most merciful. 

Pray for us, 

Plead for us, 

To the Lord Jesus Christ. 

St Lucy, pray for us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe and the 5th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

A great sign appeared in the heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, 

with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  

~ Revelation 12:1

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us!

Pope St. Damasus I and the 4th Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

                       Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858; when she asked the Lady 

                                her name on March 25, she replied “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

                                             Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!

3rd Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

 

Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830 and gave her the Miraculous Medal. 

Its proper name is the Medal of the Immaculate Conception with the prayer "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" inscribed on it. 

Mother Most Pure, pray for us!

                

2nd Day in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

Pope Innocent XII raised it to a feast of the 2nd Class with a Common Octave in 1693.  

This was about 150 years BEFORE Pope Pius IX solemnly defined it as a dogma of the faith in 1844.  

Later Pope Leo XIII raised it to a feast of the 1st Class with a Vigil in 1879.  

Virgin Most Pure, pray for us!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception with a Common Octave

 

The feast of the Immaculate Conception has a Common Octave!

This means the feast gives way to any other feast that occurs during it.  

Since this is Advent there are many lovely feasts, only Dec 9, 10 and the Octave Day on Dec 15 will be the Mass of the Immaculate Conception with the commemoration of Advent. 

 On the other feast days of St Damasus I, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St Lucy, both the Immaculate Conception and Advent are commemorated.  

The Immaculate Conception would also be commemorated on Gaudete Sunday!

Ways to celebrate the Octave at home through Dec 15:  

Display a picture of the Immaculate Conception for the entire Octave

Read the entry in The Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger for each day

Pray a Hail Mary slowly and thoughtfully while pondering the phrase “full of grace”.

Pray the Litany of Loreto 

Pray a Rosary or a Decade of the Rosary (Annunciation)

Sing Immaculate Mary, Tota Pulchra Es or any Marian hymn 

Read the Collect, Secret and Postcommunion of the Immaculate Conception at Mass every day or privately in your home 

Eat a “white” dinner to symbolize Our Lady’s purity and immaculate soul---i.e. Chicken breasts, fettucine alfredo, cauliflower, Creamy basil chicken, etc

Turn on white lights of some Advent decorations, such as the mantlepiece or doorway

O Mary, conceived without sin, 

pray for us who have recourse to thee.